Purpose, Personal Power and Commitment

On Tuesday, the mindshifters group watched the second half of the lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce titled, "Purpose, Personal Power, and Commitment". The theme of the second half of this talk was about the process of denial and suppression and how it leads to discomfort and dis-ease within the human energy system. Dr. Ryce traces a path beginning with the suppression of ENTHUSIASM and resulting in total unconsciousness. Throughout the process, the suppression of the natural expression of our connection to our source, Love, and the subsequent reactions to that suppression, build stronger and stronger negative reactions within the system until the system is almost totally shut down.

The process begins when a child is innocently spending time fully engaged in whatever feeds her soul, and then a parent or teacher comes along and demands that they stop being focused and engaged in ENTHUSIASM, and do what the adult thinks they should do. When this ENTHUSIASM is suppressed it results in PAIN for the child. When the child tries to express her PAIN she is punished, and this results in an ANTAGONISTIC response from the child. This is punished and suppressed and that results in OVERT HOSTILITY from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in ANGER from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in COVERT HOSTILITY from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in PROPITIATION, (doing the right thing for the wrong reason), from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in SYMPATHY from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in GRIEF from the child. This is punished and/or suppressed which results in APATHY from the child. This is punished and/or suppressed and results in UNCONSCIOUSNESS from the child.

At each stage of this process the negative energy which is denied and suppressed gets stored in different organs in the body and the energy system, and each of those organ systems begin to shut down, or struggle to function fully. The end result is aging and dis-ease and death. Another way to look at this process is the gradual denial of our connection to our source of Love.

During the first half of the two hour lecture, Dr. Ryce details how the Primary Purpose for each of us is to develop a Viable, Conscious, Spiritual body, and in doing so, we need to tithe, or commit ten percent of our; time, intelligence, money and energy to those activities which help feed and nourish us spiritually. He is clear that this is an individual path and that it will be different for each of us, but that the goal is the same for all - to develop and strengthen a Viable, Conscious, Spiritual body.

He then proposes that each of us develop a Secondary Purpose which will be unique to each of us. He proposes making two lists and then writing out a statement of "What the world will look like, to me, when it is perfect." The first list is a list of ten unique talents, or ten things that I am really good at, just naturally. The second list is ten things that I just love to do, whether I can make money at them or not, and whether anyone else thinks it is a valuable or productive use of my time. Once these two lists are completed and the statement of how the world will look to me, when it is perfect, is written out, then I compose a declaration in the following format. "I now choose to use, ( one, two or three things from the first list), in order to do, (one, two or three things from the second list), in order to help the world become, (insert your statement of how the world will look when it is finished).

Then when I move through my day, and I am faced with a choice of what to do, or a decision about how to spend my time, I can ask myself whether the activity is in line with my Primary Purpose. If it is, then I can ask if it is in line with my Secondary Purpose, and if it is then I should move forward with it. If it fails to be in line with either my Primary or my Secondary Purpose, I should drop the activity and move on to something else.

In this way I will focus my personal power, and become more of what I was created to be.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love! Everything else is false.

The Circle Of Life And How To Play It

Tuesday night the Mindshifters group watched the first half of the lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce titled, The Circle of Life and How To Play It. The lecture describes two different patterns of observing, interpreting and responding to the events in one's life. Following one path makes us Winners in life and following the other path makes us Losers. The key point at the beginning of the lecture is that in order to get where we want to be, we first need to know where we are. The list of traits, behaviors and response patterns for those who choose "the high road", and those who choose "the low road", offers a kind of a road map which we can use to determine exactly where we are, and what we need to change in order to get to where we want to be.

My impression of the central characteristic of those choosing "the high road", is their ability to understand that they are creating their internal reality, and therefore if they are in pain in any way, they are in error and can therefore make a correction. The people choosing "the low road", are essentially blaming others or their circumstances for anything in their life they don't like, and they are busy either playing the role of "victim", or the role of "hero". These people believe that "If I am in pain, you did it to me!" Therefore they are always externalizing their problem and therefore looking for external solutions.

When people who are choosing "the high road" become uncomfortable or experience a negative emotion, they take this as an indication that they need to make a correction because they are somehow creating a false reality which is causing them pain or discomfort. These people welcome the information that comes to them from their discomfort because it offers them an opportunity to learn and grow. When people on "the low road" become uncomfortable or experience a negative emotion, they either deny it and suppress it, or blame it on someone or something outside of themselves. This reinforces their belief that they are powerless and that they are being victimized.

The discussion after the video led to many interesting areas. The area that stood out most for me was the idea of looking to someone else as being a "master" or a "guru". It is common for those who are trying to improve their lives to study, read, listen to, or even "follow" a "master", "teacher", or "guru". We discussed how this pattern creates a sense of "one-up" and "one-down", or "better than" and "less than". I mentioned that the teachings that have resonated most with me, are those in which it is understood that the only significant difference between any two people, is the degree to which each understands that "We are all the same!".

We also discussed how the book of The Way of Mastery frequently mentions that "It takes one to know one.", which means that I cannot recognize the truth taught by a great teacher unless that knowledge already resides somewhere in me. I suggested to the group that rather than talking about how someone else is such a great teacher or great master - it would be interesting to see how it feels to simply say, "What this person teaches, really resonates with me." This leaves the space for recognition that we are all the same and that in order for me to be able to recognize Love, and Wisdom in another, it must already be within me. The work we are engaged in then is simply to continue to uncover, and dismantle, anything within my mind and energy system which is less than Love.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Mindshifters Support Group Watched "The Laws of Living"

This week and last, we watched the video of a lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce titled, "The Laws of Living". In this lecture Dr. Ryce points out the dramatic difference between a natural law and the laws of man. A natural Law is simply a description of how things work. When we function with the knowledge of natural Law and keep our behaviors in accordance with those Laws, we flourish. When our behavior deviates from those described by the Law, the Law does not get broken, we get "broken", or "injured".

The laws created by man, on the other hand, are often in conflict with the natural Law, and therefore result in a very conflicted and dysfunctional society. For example; the natural Law states that your body is an energy system and that there are only two types of energy relative to that system. Integrative energy which builds the system up, and dis-integrative energy which tears the system down. The positive, loving, integrative energy which comes from the positive emotions and Love, are what the energy system is made of, and what it is designed to contain and expand with. The negative, fearful or hostile emotions are energies which disintegrate or tear down the energy system.

Now, our current legal system is based on holding other people responsible for what happens in one's own life. We are encouraged to "press charges" against others, and "sue" others for things that happen in life. Then while the legal process is churning away, the negative emotions are also churning away in my mind and body. I will be angry at the other and feel justified in my anger. I will want revenge, or financial compensation, and again feel angry or hurt if I don't receive it. The longer I hold these negative emotions in my body and mind, (my energy system), the more damage there is to that energy system. I am the one who gets hurt, in any way that really counts, when I choose to blame others for what I am experiencing. "The vessel in which anger, fear and vengeance are stored, always sustain more damage than the object upon which they are poured."

This lecture starts with the question about what is the greatest commandment. The answer to that question is that we need to hold the condition of Love in our minds, whenever we think of God, neighbor, or self. In this context the word neighbor means, anyone we think of. So the first and most important law for healthy living is that we hold the condition of Love in our minds whenever we think of God, neighbor or self. This is a Law. The result of not acting in accordance with the Law is not that the Law gets broken, it is that we get "broken", or damaged or injured, because we are not acting in our own best interests.

Whenever I hold any energy in my body, or my mind, other than Love, I am putting negative and dis-integrative energy into my system and it begins breaking down my energy system. This is not helping anyone else, but most importantly, it is hurting me. This is why we are encouraged, not to just "let go" of negative energy, but to actively dismantle the thought structure and belief system which creates the emotion and the intense negative energy which damages our minds and bodies. This is the reason for all of the tools Dr. Ryce teaches and makes available for free on his website, http://www.whyagain.com

The discussion after the video was once again very lively and wide ranging. There are several group members who are coping with health challenges and others who are coping with relationship challenges. There were a number of different book titles mentioned by different members related to the nature of physical and spiritual health and healing. The crux of the conversation for me was whether one puts more emphasis on the belief of themselves as being a physical being or a spiritual being. We emphasized yet again in the group that we support people in reading and doing any work which leaves them feeling Love and compassion for themselves and others, since that is the energy they need to hold in their system to get and stay healthy, physically and spiritually.

Next week we will watch the lecture titled, "The Circle of Life and How to Play it."

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Mindshifters - The Shadow Effect and Codependence to Interdependence

Last week the Mindshifters group was without our usual DVD collection and a member brought in the DVD The Shadow Effect from Debbie Ford. While this movie makes several of the same points that Dr. Ryce makes in his lectures, the whole tone of the movie was dark and rather pessimistic. The key to the movie is that each of us has negative thoughts and judgments, and if we suppress them they come out in stronger, and more negative ways that we are not consciously aware of.

If I am not aware of something, there is nothing I can do to fix, change, or avoid it. So there is great value in increasing my awareness of the unconscious processes in my mind and my emotional beliefs. This is the primary focus of all the lectures by Dr. Ryce, and the practical tools he offers with each of his lectures.

I much prefer the positive and optimistic focus presented by Dr. Ryce, in which the energy of Love is the agent of change, with the realization that we are made of that very energy of Love. So, the process of change and self-improvement can either be seen through the lens which says that we are all filled with dark, negative emotions and beliefs about ourselves which need to be faced and owned - or it can be seen as recognizing that we are made of Love and then beginning the process of removing all of the roadblocks to seeing and living from the energy of Love that lives inside us. I prefer this second option.

The video we watched last night was the first half of the lecture titled "Codependence to Interdependence. This lecture begins with the focus on the beauty and Loving energy that is present when a baby is born. Most people who have been present at the moment of birth, or held a newborn baby, describe the infant with words like, Love, beauty, blessing, joy, etc. Dr. Ryce poses the observation that this is because we are made in the image and likeness of a creator, which is Love. We are made of the very energy of Love and it is our source, and what sustains us. He then describes the process in which we try to hide or change what we are, or how we appear to others, in order to gain or maintain their acceptance and approval. As we do this, we hide our true nature from others and eventually ourselves, as we try to be what we think others want us to be.

The entire process of hiding who and what we are is rooted in denial and suppression. Whenever we deny and suppress something, we give it more energy and store it in our bodies and emotional energy systems. The longer this negative, hidden energy stays in our bodies and emotional energy systems, the more damage it does to our relationships and our physical health. The more damage we do to our relationships and our bodies, the more physical and emotional pain we feel, and the greater chance that we will use people, substances, and behaviors to avoid or numb our selves to the pain. This is offered as an explanation of the process of addiction. It is offered that we use drugs, alcohol, food, sex, hostility, and a host of others substances and behaviors to either avoid pain, or numb our selves to the pain.

The solution which is offered is to remove the pain at its root cause, which is to remove the unconscious negative thoughts, beliefs, and false realities which we have stored in our systems through denial and suppression.

I highly recommend viewing this lecture for anyone who has difficulties with addiction of any kind. It is very empowering to realize that we are the Love we seek!

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false!

Healing Through Relationships - Dr. Michael Ryce

Last night our Mindshifters group watched the first half of the Dr. Ryce lecture titled, Healing Through Relationships. The things which jumped out at me were Dr. Ryce's definition of a Bias, as being "unperceived brain cell energy". He went on to say that any Bias becomes the most powerful creative force in a person's life, as when a Bias becomes active, it blocks us from reason and effectively turns our I.Q. to zero. This is powerful in many ways, but the simple explanation is that whenever something is having a powerful effect on us, and we are unaware of it, there is nothing we can do to change the situation or correct it. When a Bias becomes active in our minds, and remember this means that we are not able to perceive it, the Bias becomes the thing that drives our perception, words and behaviors.

The question then becomes, "how do we learn to break the effect of a Bias if we are unable to know it is there? One way is to monitor our feelings and to understand that "When I am in pain, I am in error." This means that I need to learn to monitor my own thoughts and feelings, as though I were watching myself from the outside. Then whenever I am blocked, or feeling a negative emotion, or thinking negative thoughts, I will be able to catch myself and say, "If I am in pain, I am in error.", and begin looking for the source of my error.

The discussion in the second part of the meeting kept coming back to the need for me to watch my thoughts and emotions, with the innocence of a child, and to catch myself whenever I am judging anyone or anything, including myself. When I develop the habit of watching my thoughts and emotions from a distance, and with the peaceful innocence of a child, I am able to see the error of my ways and to choose another thought or another feeling.

If I see that I am judging someone else and then get angry with myself for being in judgment, I am judging again and adding contraction, pain, frustration and fear, to contraction, pain, frustration and fear. The goal is to be able to watch all of my thoughts and emotions without judging them as good or bad, and to understand that I can choose be in the energy of Love or the energy of fear. I can choose to be in innocence or judgement. Love and innocence are of healing and growing. Fear and judgement are of dis - ease and death.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Getting Into The Feeling

On Friday October 2nd I went to see Dr. Wayne Dyer give a talk. I have been reading and following his works and writings, off and on again, since 1976. I felt as though I was going to see an old friend speak. The talk was very nice. He mentioned at the beginning that he was going to share new material from a new book he is writing, and that this new material was so powerful that we would be able to see the changes in him as he talked about it.

The essence of the new material Dr. Dyer presented is that one needs to see themselves having achieved whatever they want to achieve, and then feel the feelings associated with having already achieved that goal. Now, for many who have watched Dr. Michael Ryce's videos and worked with the Reality Management Worksheets, this is not new material. In fact, there was a book written by Lynn Grabhorn titled, Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting!, in which the primary message of the book is that, 'just thinking positive thoughts is no where near as powerful as letting yourself truly feel the energy of the positive emotions flowing through your body'. So Lynn suggests that we let ourselves "turn-on" the energy flow and be in the energy flow several times a day. All one has to do is to remember a time when you felt a strong positive emotion, and then let yourself remember the moment fully, remembering as many little details as possible about the scene and how it felt until you can actually feel the energy of that emotion flowing through you again.

This is excellent advice and, I believe, it is also the only way to have lasting shifts in your energy and behavior, no matter what form of therapy or tool for self-help one is applying. The power of the energy of your emotions and the energetic shift that happens when we allow ourselves to feel the energy of positive emotions running through our bodies, and our energy systems, is infinitely more powerful than just thinking, passing positive thoughts. This also coincides with the work we do in the Mindshifters group, which acknowledges that Love heals, and that exposing anything that is unlike Love, to the positive energy of Love, results in transmuting/healing anything that is unlike Love. As The Way of Mastery reminds us, "Only Love Is Real", and only Love can heal.

So, it is good to monitor one's thoughts and choose carefully what one allows into consciousness, realizing that we are choosing all that we think, and therefore all that we feel. It is also highly recommended that we use the power of our creativity, and the energy of our emotions to choose to feel good about all the things we will bring into our experience when we have created consciously.

The Way of Mastery talks about the need to choose each thought very, very carefully because each thought we think sends ripples of energy through the field of our consciousness, and those ripples return to us with similar energy. The analogy is that of dropping a stone into a still, clear pool, and watching the ripples bounce off the edges of the pool and return to the center. The book also talks about the farmer who chooses each seed individually, and considers the energy of the seed as well as the physical appearance of the seed, and refuses to plant any seeds until he feels all the conditions are just right and each seed is one he would want to have growing in his garden.

As Mike Dooley always says at the end of his emails, "Thoughts become things. Choose the good ones!"

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Building New Brain Cells - An Example/Analogy

So, we have discussed the idea of needing to question whatever it is we think we know, in order to be open to learning new things. We discussed how the lecture on A Course In Miracles makes a major point about how it is our limited perception which causes most of the pain, suffering and misunderstanding in our world. An example in the lecture is how limiting and destructive it is to look at another person and believe you know them. How limiting and incorrect it is to look at someone and believe that they are just a body. The act of looking at someone and making the decision that you know them, without even being able to see, hear, feel, or perceive in any way all the energies which emanate from them, is truly silly.

Our scientists are just now developing scans which can begin to map the processes of the human brain. Within the past twenty years the physical sciences have been making discoveries which bring into question or downright disprove things which I was taught as "hard science" when I was in high school and college. So the fact that we are still discovering new levels of understanding about our physical bodies and the world we live in, should give us all the evidence we need to understand that we do not know enough to say we, "know" a person. We have barely begun to understand the true nature of our physical world and the energies which comprise our physical experience.

During our last group one of the members commented that the act of looking at someone and labeling them a person, or believing you "know" them, or thinking that they are just a body, is like taking a cup of water from the ocean and studying it and then saying you "know" the ocean. It is ludicrous to think that by looking at a cup of water from the ocean we can understand the experience of the ocean, with all of its life forms, its depths, waves, tides, and power. Yet we do something similar each time we look at a person and label them based on what we perceive as their body. The limited perception allowed by our senses does not allow us to see much more of who a person is by looking at their body, than we can see of the ocean by looking at a cup of ocean water.

I challenge us all to question our perception and our conclusions each time we look at another person, and open to the possibility that what we see in the person's body and their actions is no more the total of what they are, than the cup of water is the total of what the ocean is.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Building New Brain Cells

This week we finished watching the lecture by Dr. Ryce (www.whyagain.com) and the thing that struck me the most as I watched this lecture, yet again, was the level of understanding that I received on several key points, which I had "missed" or only partially understood during the many other times I have watched the lecture.

When I think about the process of counteracting the decades of conditioning I have received through my education, family, and culturally biased experiences, I am reminded of the song by Paul Simon in which the lyrics say, "When I think back on all the crap I learned in High School, it's a wonder I can think at all." We are all programmed to think that what we have "learned" is correct, and that challenges to what we "know" are to be seen as an attack upon us. One of the most critical points in this lecture is how we need to be able to bring into question what we already "know". We must be open to the possibility that what we "know" may be wrong, or at least limited. If we are not willing to accept that we don't know all there is to know, we will not be able to learn anything new.

We are limited by what we think we know in all of its forms. We are limited by bias and prejudice, as well as limited perception. Take the example of the person who grows up in a culture that has no technology or machinery and does not know anything about electronics and remote controls. This person is likely to think you possess some kind of magic if show them a television, which they will view as a box with people inside. Or they may view you as some kind of god if you change the channel and volume with a remote control. The reason for this is because they don't know anything about the electronics which are used to make these events happen. In similar ways, we are just discovering new technologies which would have seemed magical just a few decades ago. Many of us can remember when no one had a cell phone, and it was science fiction to wave your hand at a television screen and have the picture on the screen respond.

The same process is in effect in all our systems of thought, philosophy, science, spirituality, and even personal experience. So as we learn from others and our own personal experience, we open ourselves to new possibilities, but we always run the danger of thinking that what we have learned is "right", or "the truth", and "all there is to know". Each time this happens we create prejudice and bias within our thinking. In order to be open to learning something new, we need to first accept that we do not know all there is to know, or that what we know may be inaccurate, or limited.

As we do this we open ourselves to deeper and deeper levels of understanding of "old" knowledge. It is amazing to me how much more I understand about relationships in families than I did when I was twenty-five and considered myself very knowledgeable. What is even scarier is how I realize now that I understand much more today than I did when I was forty and considered myself an expert. I look at family relationships now and wonder what new things I will learn and come to understand in the next ten years. In some ways this is unsettling because I am beginning to realize how much I do not know. In other ways it is exciting because I look forward to learning more.

In similar ways, I think back to how I looked at this lecture from Dr. Ryce the first time I heard it several years ago, and how different it feels to listen to it today. I have a deeper appreciation for the words and concepts today than I ever could have imagined just a year ago. As I build new levels of understanding, I build new levels of appreciation and new levels of possibility. It reminds me of the quote from the book "The Way Of Mastery" where it says, "The difference between a student and a master is that the master knows, one must always be a student."

I join with you all in questioning everything we think we know, so that we may learn everything we need to learn to continue to grow.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Introduction To A Course In Miracles - With Advanced Understanding.

This week the Mindshifters group watched the first part of the lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce titled, An Introduction To A Course In Miracles - With Advanced Understanding. Dr. Ryce uses the analogy of a person who lives in a two dimensional world, trying to experience and understand a three dimensional basketball. He tries to help the audience imagine the difficulty of getting someone from a two dimensional world to understand something they have never experienced before and something that goes against every experience they have ever had, as well as all of the known history of their family and their culture. He makes the point that if one has limited perception, it will dramatically limit their ability to comprehend something or someone.

In a world where there is only length and width it is not possible to describe height, or thickness. In a world where no one has ever experienced a three dimensional object, there are no words for describing a three dimensional object. If I am only able to see things in two dimensions that does not mean that the third dimension does not exist. Just as my limited vision does not mean that ultra violet light and infra red light do not exist. Just because I cannot hear a dog whistle does not mean that it does not make a sound. In the same way that the limitation of my sense organs filter out much of the light and sound around me and limit my ability to perceive the world, my limited ability to perceive the true nature of people does not mean that they are limited to my label or judgment of them.

One of the keys points of the lecture is that when I judge someone, or look at them and see only a body, it does not change their nature. It simply keeps me from seeing them as they truly are.

If I want to have any hope of perceiving my world accurately I have to begin by accepting the possibility that what I have already seen, or judged, may be wrong. If I am not willing to accept that there may be more to a person than what I have previously thought, I will not be open to new information and I will not be able to change my belief. The first step toward learning anything is the acceptance that there is something I do not know or understand. A mind that "knows" is not able to learn. A mind that is questioning is the only mind that is able to learn.

If I look at someone and believe that I see a body, and I believe that I know who that person is, I have, in that moment, judged them and done them and myself a serious injustice. I have chosen to believe they are only a body, and only a person, and that they are not an infinite energy system made of Love. I have, in that moment, chosen to disregard the miracle of life, and the many miracles of growth and healing that the physical part of their energy system carries out on a daily basis.

This lecture challenges us to question our perception of the entire world, but perhaps most importantly to question our perception of people, and open to the possibility that each person we see is an expression of the infinite energy we call Love, and God.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Getting The Stress You Need - Part 2

This week the Mindshifters group watched the second half of the lecture, Getting The Stress You Need, by Dr. Michael Ryce. One of the primary messages of this lecture is that once the human mind sets a goal, it remains set and active, even if unconscious, until the goal is reached, or it is actively, consciously cancelled. The ability to cancel a goal is one of the functions of the spiritual faculty of Will. The importance of cancelling unfulfilled goals is that each time I set a goal and do not reach it, I continue to use some of my mental emotional energy to maintain that goal. The energy needed to maintain an unfulfilled goal takes away from the energy I have to focus on and accomplish my goals for today.

The analogy used is that of the logging truck which is capable of pulling two or maybe even three loads of logs at a time. The logging company who uses this truck wisely will be very successful. If the logger only hooks up one or two loads of logs at a time, the truck will easily make the needed deliveries and have plenty of power and resources to spare. But imagine that one morning the logger receives an order for three loads of logs to be delivered next week and immediately hooks those loads up to the truck. Then later in the day he receives an order for another load to be delivered three weeks from now and immediately hooks up that load as well. Later he receives an order for two more loads to be delivered tomorrow and immediately hooks those up to the truck. Finally, he receives an order for two loads of logs to be delivered today. He hooks those up to the truck as well, and then tries to make the delivery, but the truck won't budge! He has used all the power and resources of the truck with orders for tomorrow and further in the future, and has nothing left for what needs to be done today.

In the same way, when we set goals and they are not met, they keep running actively in our minds, even though we are not conscious of them, until they are achieved, or actively cancelled. The more unfulfilled, uncancelled goals we have running in our minds, the less resources we will have to do the things we need to do each day. There is an exercise in the lecture in which Dr. Ryce guides the audience through the process of reviewing past, unfulfilled goals and cancelling them, thereby freeing up resources in us for accomplishing the goals we consciously choose to set.

This part of the lecture was the most powerful for me this week. Despite the fact that I have listened to this lecture and done this exercise at least ten times in the past, I came face to face with an entirely new set of unfulfilled goals. This exercise was also interesting because I found myself integrating several pieces of other lectures, and the book; The Way of Mastery, while doing this exercise. The exercise consists of relaxing, getting comfortable, closing the eyes, and breathing gently while reviewing a series of people and events from your past, about whom/which you may have unfulfilled goals. When Dr. Ryce instructed us to think about any unfulfilled goals for education, my mind flashed on a series of events which surrounded the oral defense for my dissertation in graduate school. For many years now, those events have stood as some of the most traumatic and distasteful events of my entire adult life. As I flashed on those events and the people involved and told myself to cancel any unfulfilled goals related to those people and events, I found myself thinking about another exercise and the Forgiveness Process which Dr. Ryce teaches. I realized that if I was upset about something those people had done, it was only because I recognized that energy in myself. I realized that if it still upset me it was because I had not forgiven myself for having that energy in my thoughts and behavior, whether currently or in the past.

I chose to cancel any goals for those people and those situations, and I chose to cancel any judgement of myself for the times in my life when I had been dishonest or deceitful. As that happened it seemed like the vision of that situation and those people just disappeared with a puff of smoke. I felt myself smiling slightly as I watched that "horrible" series of events just fade away. I was left in awe of the process.

The group process this week was exceptionally lively as members wrestled with their conscious and unconscious goals related to food, body image, relationships, family of origin and other issues. The group showed its usual reverence and respect for each other as we each explored our individual reactions the questions raised and the beliefs explored. I remain unspeakably grateful for each of the individuals who have chosen to participate in making this group one of the most productive and rewarding group experiences of my life.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false!

Getting The Stress You Need

The Mindshifters group on Tuesday watched the lecture titled: Getting The Stress You Need. While this title sounds contradictory because some would say we don't need stress in our lives, the truth is that without stress, as defined in the lecture, we would not survive long. For the purpose of this lecture, stress is defined as the difference between the way we see things and the way we want them to be. By way of a simple demonstration, if I want my body to be comfortable but I happen to sit on a thumb tack, I will immediately experience a difference between the way I want things to be and the way I perceive them to be. This is a good thing because it will motivate me to move off of the tack.

The lecture also talks about how I select certain intentions and elevate them to the level of goals, which is what organizes my behavior. This is how I accomplish everything in my life. It is suggested that I don't do any behavior without first having elevated an intention to the level of a goal. If my goals are determined by my intentions, then the quality of my intentions will determine the quality of my goals and therefore the nature of my behavior. This is why it is important to monitor my intentions and choose only loving intentions. If I choose only loving intentions then my goals will be loving and my actions will be loving. If I hold hostile intentions then my goals will be destructive and my behavior will be destructive. If I hold fearful intentions, my goals will be negative and my behavior will be avoiding.

The discussion in the group included the difficulty some people have in giving up their habit of holding fearful and hostile intentions and perceptions of the world. Many of us have become so familiar with feelings of anger and fear, that we feel these intentions and perceptions serve a useful purpose in our lives. The key here is that any tool can only produce a result which is like the tool. So if I use my anger to accomplish a goal, I am creating negative energy in my body's energy system and sending out angry energy into the atmosphere and relationships around me. Whatever "good" results I believe I have accomplished with the use of anger, I am also creating stress and negativity in my interactions and relationships with others.

I am also creating distorted perceptions for myself whenever I engage in angry or fearful energy. The only way to perceive the world accurately is to hold the energy of Love in my mind. When I am holding the energy of Love, I will be able to identify the highest and the best in another and choose to cooperate only with that part of the other person. When I am feeling fear or hostility, my perceptions are distorted and I will be using inaccurate data to form my "reality". When I am in a potentially dangerous situation and I am triggered to feeling fear, the most productive thing I can do is calm myself down so that I can see actual events more clearly and think more clearly. One of my favorite quotes for difficult situations is, "This is way too important to panic about!" This is because if I move into the energy of fear or hostility, I am distorting my perceptions and leaving myself with bad data to formulate my "reality".

The goal of this work is to teach only Love. The process of this work is to be vigilant about anything in my thoughts and beliefs which block me from recognizing that ...

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false!

Still Point Breathing Session

Last night the Mindshifters group held a special meeting and did a Still Point breathing session. I just want thank the participants who invested their time and energy to make this a most wonderful experience. I have been doing different trainings and experiential workshops for a number of years and I must say that last night was one of the most relaxed, loving, smooth-running, and productive sessions I have ever been privileged to attend. The hosting facility, Relax 4 Life in Barrington, IL, is a wondrous place with a beautiful view and tremendous energy. (www.relax4life.com)

The participants were mostly regular attendees to our Mindshifters group, which means that they are loving individuals who are diligently working to improve their experience of life and the quality of their relationships. This resulted in a very gentle, loving and supportive atmosphere which held us all in Love as we went through the exercise. The Still Point breathing exercise itself is a very gentle breathing exercise which facilitates the process of moving, releasing, and increasing the flow of energy through the body's system in whatever way the innate wisdom of the individual's body sees fit.

I wish to thank Dr. Michael Ryce for his work and for introducing me to this technique and the Mindshifter process which produces such wonderful results for me each time I use it.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

The Power Of Forgiveness

The core tool of Dr. Michael Ryce's work is The Reality Management Worksheet, and the process he refers to as Forgiveness. The definition of Forgiveness in this work is very different from the definition I grew up with. I was raised to believe that to forgive someone meant that I knew they had done something wrong, or bad, to me or someone I loved. I was taught that this action caused me pain, sadness, anger, fear or some other discomfort, or problem. As a result, when I "forgive them" I agree to be the bigger person and "let them off the hook" for what they have done to me. I agree to no longer "punish" them by blaming them for what they caused in me.

The work Dr. Michael Ryce promotes is based on the idea that no one has ever caused me to feel any negative emotion, pain, sadness, fear, guilt, or shame. Since I am a creator of my own reality, there is nothing to forgive anyone else for doing or saying. If I create anger in my reality in response to something someone else does, there is nothing to forgive them for. In this work the term Forgiveness refers to a process by which I dismantle and cancel any false realities in my mind which have given rise to my negative emotions and discomfort.

The primary tool for this, as mentioned, is The Reality Management Worksheet, by which we are reminded the we create our own reality, and we are guided step-by-step through the process of dismantling the false reality which is creating our discomfort. I have encountered only a very few approaches to this process which maintain the same level of strict adherence to the observations that, "My thoughts create my internal reality and the emotions I feel.". One such book is The Way of Mastery, ( www.shantichristo.com ), which states with excellent clarity, and gentle appreciation, the process by which I deny and suppress the negative thoughts, energies, emotions, and judgments in my mind. Once I have done this, I inevitably project them onto my image of others around me. I come to believe that they are the cause of my pain and discomfort, and that they are bad, negative, or wrong.

The process is described by which I can not even identify jealousy, anger, judgment, insult, or any other negative in another person's actions or thoughts, unless I have experienced that very thing. It is because I have experienced that very thing, and passed judgment upon myself for having experienced it, that I have suppressed it and denied it in myself. Once I have suppressed and denied that thought, feeling, or experience in myself it must be projected onto other people and things as a way of rationalizing my experience. So it is that everything I judge another for doing, I have done myself. Every negative thought or action that I take offense from in another is something that I have experienced in myself and judged myself negatively for having experienced it. It is because of this that I need to "forgive" others, because in reality it will be canceling and dismantling the negative judgment of myself in the process.

The goal of this work is to teach only Love. The process of this work is to become perpetually vigilant to anything I create which distracts me from the realization that I am inexorably connected to the Source which created me, Love. It is suggested that when we see that we have judged someone, instead of getting upset with oneself for having judged, we can say:

"Oh, I see that I am judging someone. That is an interesting cloud passing through the sky of my awareness. I wonder if I might be able to make another choice."

It is suggested in The Way of Mastery that we understand that each of us is a conduit of energy, and the degree to which the conduit is clear and open determines the ability for us to radiate the light of Love. When one makes a judgment it is as though one contracts and closes down the conduit, and the flow of energy becomes less and less. As one forgives judgments it is as though one is opening the conduit and thinning the walls so that the conduit which is carrying the liquid of God's Love is expanding and becoming transparent.

"Judgment is contraction."
"Forgiveness is relaxation, peace, trust, and faith."

"Should you then judge yourself if you have noticed you have been in judgment? No. That is a judgment in itself. Only Love can heal. Therefore, when you know you have judged, simply say:

"Ah, yes! That is that energy.
I recognize that cloud that has just passed through the field of my awareness.
But I can choose again."

The goal of this work is to Teach Only Love.
The process of this work is to become aware of everything we create which distracts us from the realization that;

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love! Everything else is false.

To Become a Great Teacher

Last year I heard myself tell someone that "To become a great teacher, one must learn to become a perpetually avid student." Then recently I was reading a wonderful book and read, "The difference between a master and a student is that the master knows, one must always be a student."

I have been ending each of my posts with the statement that came to me when I began this blog, "We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false."

It keeps coming to me in all of the books, and lectures, that speak to my soul, that this is the actuality we need to accept if we are to live to our full potential. To me this means staying "a perpetually avid student" about how I block myself from staying aware of this Truth. This means studying my own thought to discover any blockage to accepting my source as Love. This means that all I really have to do is watch to see how I create false realities of things that are less than Love in my mind. When I stop creating my realities from fear, there will be nothing to block my awareness that we are all connected, we are all the same, and that we are all created from Love.

The book I am currently reading which sings to my soul is The Way of Mastery, available through www.shantichristo.com

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

The Circle of Life and How to Play It!

This week the mindshifter group watched the first half of the lecture titled The Circle of Life and How to Play It, by Dr. Michael Ryce. In this lecture Dr. Ryce talks about two different approaches one can take to the events in one's life. The high road, or the low road. Whenever an event occurs in one's life one chooses to take one path or the other. The low road may be summarized as denial, suppression and blame, while the high road may be summarized as responsibility and openness to learning.

When an event happens the choice is always there to take the high road or the low road.

The low road is the path of denial and suppression.

The high road is responsibility.

The low road is loss of information because of denial, and belief that the source of experience is external.

The high road is to accept input and gain information, and know that source of the experience is internal.

The low road takes the role of either victim or hero, and often flips between the two.

The high road gains information and sees things as neutral and lives knowing we create our own realities.

The low road strives for more and more self-esteem no matter the cost.

The high road values source-esteem and wants to maintain awareness of their connection to one's source.

The low road is full of confusion and doubt.

The high road realizes that if I am in pain, I am in error.

The low road focuses on right vs. wrong thinking and is constantly judging self and others.

The high road focuses on right and not right (for me) thinking and thus avoids judging self and others.

The low road experiences the Truth of things as causing stress or them and tries to get rid of the source of the truth, and feels others need to change for them to be comfortable.

The high road sees Truth as desirable, and the source of valuable information, and engages in self-correction to become comfortable.

The low road tries to block stress by using drugs of all types to help deny and suppress feelings, even holding the breath.

The high road stays open to feelings of stress and breathes and engages in self-correction like "forgiveness" to remove false realities from their energy system.

The low road says "If I am in pain, "you/they" are in error." They feel dis-empowered!

The high road says "If I am in pain, I am in error." They feel empowered to make self-corrective change.

The low road feels "destructive-dissatisfaction". They feel that being right is most important and they engage in tantrums and depression.

The high road feels "Constructive-dissatisfaction". Being connected to Love and Truth/Actuality is most important.

The low road craves control and wants total freedom.

The high road exercises their liberty while functioning within the Natural Laws.

The low road feels they know it all - making learning from feedback impossible.

The high road acknowledges their error and welcomes feedback to help make self-correction.

The low road feels things are most important.

The high road feels relationships are most important beginning with awareness of connection to source.

The low road only has fleeting moments of satisfaction and lives to pursue satiation.

The high road feels satisfaction by learning to accept what is.

The low road feels anger and clings to it, and feels that discipline means punishment.

The high road feels love and realizes that is its source, and knows discipline means "properly taught".

The low road engages in all the trappings of pettiness and worrying about everyone Else's business.

The high road provides the strength to mind one's own business.

The low road does not acknowledge self as creator - They are takers and become thieves living in poverty.

The high road acknowledges their role in creating their reality, and knows that giving and receiving are the same, therefore they live in abundance!

The low road always wants something for nothing and they suppress their creativity.

The high road celebrates their creativity and creates from their connection to their source - Love.

So we see that every time an event occurs, we have a choice about how we interpret and respond to that event. Whether we choose the high road or the low road will determine the quality of our lives.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Just Do The Worksheet

This week the Mindshifters group watched the first half of the lecture titled, "Purpose, Personal Power, and Commitment", by Dr. Michael Ryce www.whyagain.com. The thing that struck me most about the lecture this time around was the statement that we need to make a choice between playing the world's game or choosing to build a strong spiritual self. Dr. Ryce makes the point that we have been conditioned for centuries to be good commercial consumers and obedient citizens, by people who want to collect all the material goods for themselves.

Dr. Ryce proposes a way to get clear about what your purpose is, and then use that purpose to focus your energy so that you are much more powerful and productive. He states that each of us has a purpose for being here, and specific talents that will allow us to fulfill that purpose. He also states that each of us has access to the same personal power as everyone else! This means that each of us is potentially more powerful than we can even imagine. This is why we each need to tap into our own internal intelligence, and not try to follow anyone else.

When we were finished discussing the lecture we turned our attention to the work people had done during the week and in last week's group. After some discussion I asked if anyone wanted to do a Reality Management worksheet to demonstrate the process for some of our new members. Since no one else wanted to volunteer, I decided to do a worksheet to demonstrate. I chose what I thought was a very minor topic related to something I had done over the weekend. As I stepped through the process I identified that I had felt sadness, and worry during the events described in the worksheet. As I thought and wrote about the events, I was able to get in touch with the sadness, and the worry, and the specific thoughts that gave rise to each of them but I was not feeling particularly upset. This was, as I had expected, a fairly simple issue which had very little emotional intensity for me, and was only mildly uncomfortable.

As I worked through the worksheet, I reached the step where I created a positive goal for the person whom I identified as the trigger for the emotions I was feeling. Then comes the process of cancelling the goal I hold for the other person, so that I can see the hidden and projected parts of myself.

Much to my surprise when I did this, about this "safe", "little" interaction I had over the weekend, I was moved to tears. I realized that the sadness and worry I felt about the situation were really easy to experience compared to the intense feeling of helplessness that came flooding through when I cancelled my goal for the other person. I shed tears and discussed feelings I had no idea were hiding behind my thoughts, emotions, and punishment thoughts - as outlined in the first few steps of the worksheet process. Feeling helpless is not fun! I had hidden this very effectively, and rationalized feeling sad and worried. Don't worry I feel much better now.

The point of my telling this story is that, once again, I was surprised by the power and effectiveness of the worksheet process, even when I thought the issue was simple and trivial. So, no matter how small the upset, or how trivial the interaction that sparked it, JUST DO THE WORKSHEET! You will often be surprised at what you find. It is seldom what you thought it was upon first review.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Expansion of Step Nine in the Reality Management Worksheet

Reality ManagementWorksheet - Expansion of Step 9 of the 12 step form.

9. A. The first casualty of desire is the Truth! Perception, which was meant to be the light for my earthly life, is the servant of purpose. If I hold any purpose more important than Love, my mind distorts my reality! [My mind will show me “evidence” to “prove” how those things I want are more important than Love.]

[My perception is also distorted whenever I am feeling any form or hostility or fear. When I am aware of feeling any form of hostility or fear, I am perceiving things inaccurately, and reacting from false negative perceptions from the past, as well as creating false, distorted realities in the present moment.]

In order to collapse my false reality, (anything based in hostility or fear), and get back to the Truth, I cancel my goal for #1A to (copy exactly from #6) _______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

9. B. I invite ________________ (Rookha d’Koodsha – Holy Spirit – God), to incline me toward healing __, restore me to my original nature, LOVE __, assist me in keeping LOVE present __, and help me to see and own the inner, deeper, hidden and projected parts of myself __.

[These deeper, hidden parts of myself are what gave rise to my goal for #1A in step #6. I recognize that cancelling my focus on a desire for something outside of me to change, opens up a window for me to see inside myself to the part of me that feels I am not whole and complete, or believes in some way that I do not deserve to have what I am asking for with the goal in step #6. I now take the time, and ask for assistance in seeing how the negative feelings and beliefs I have hidden from myself have actually caused my pain and given rise to the need for me to do this worksheet process today. ]

An Introduction To A Course In Miracles With Advanced Understanding Part 2

Last night the Mindshifters group watched the second part of the lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce www.whyagain.com and iforgive.net The thing that struck me most in this presentation was the following statement, "Exempt no one from your Love, or you will be blocking Love from your own experience." You are the one who suffers from a loss of Love when you withhold your Love from others. "You will not see the true light of your Love until you offer it to All others."

It has taken me several years of working with this material to get to the place where this statement jumped out at me. I am beginning to understand how the many times I heard this statement, and others similar to it, my mind immediately began to throw up objections and rationalizations that gave me permission to withhold my Love and stay in the energy of anger and fear towards others. It is now almost shocking to me that I could have resisted this so strongly when all it does is open the possibility of seeing more of the Love that is already in my life. I am amazed that I wanted to resist this so strongly for so long. I have been thinking since last night about what it is that has had me running away from Love, while convincing myself that all I wanted was Love.

The only answer I have found is that I must be unaware of holding on to negative beliefs about myself, or beliefs about negative things which will happen, if I stay consciously connected to Love. This baffled me. What could possibly be bad or negative about staying consciously connected to Love? So I sat with the thought and tried to reason through this. If I come from Love, am made of Love, and I am Love, then what could possibly be bad about staying consciously aware of that truth? I did not have any luck reasoning through this, so I went about my daily activities and then it hit me.

It is related to one of the quotes from the lecture last week and last night. "All you are asked to do is let the truth in. Remove the false and all blocks to the truth." The truth must be that I am holding on to negative beliefs which have nothing to do with Love and my actual value as a person, but which are so painful and so hidden from my conscious awareness that I am blocking myself from even seeing them. I must be so afraid of them that I won't even let myself see them.

With this in mind I went into a session with a friend of mine, in which we trade services and do energy work on each other. I could not think of anything consciously that was bothering me so I asked her to test my energy system to see if she could find anything. When she found something and we processed it, I was led to remember one of the "worst" times in my young life. I had gone to college reluctantly and ended up at a small catholic college where there was, what I thought of as, a ridiculous amount of alcohol, drug and sexual abuse. I was a "young for my age" freshman and sophomore, and I was mentally and spiritually agonizing about "my faith", God, the priests and other clergy, the bible, etc., etc. This time in my life is what many would call, "a dark night of the soul", because I was so unhappy and felt so hopeless about ever resolving those dilemmas and issues. For me it went beyond simple questions like, "What is the meaning of life?".

The real problem for me was that I craved Love, compassion and a way to spread that around, and create a community of Love and compassion. Yet, the people who were supposed to be the guardians of Love and compassion, those who were supposed to be teaching the tools for creating a community and spreading it around, were some of the most angry, prejudiced, deceitful and unhappy people I had ever known. Today as I was letting myself remember that time of my life, I cried and breathed. As I did so, I began to remember more and more about how sad and trapped I felt. I began to remember how almost every attempt I made to read, study, discuss, listen and explore those issues, was met with ridicule, deceit and disappointment. Today I let myself remember some of the conclusions I reached and then buried in my thoughts about how I must be doing something wrong. Conclusions about how I must be unworthy to have the Love and compassion in my life that I yearned for so strongly.

Now that I have let myself look at those memories and conclusions, it is easy to see how I was just a nineteen year old "boy", who was being driven by idealism and "blockage of personal error", to reach false conclusions about myself and the world. Now that I let myself remember the painful internal events of that time, it is easy to see how they are silly and false, because I also remember other immature or "unripe" conclusions I held at that time, which seem silly to me today. As is the case with so many of the things I have remembered from the past, which were scary to get myself to examine, they seem trivial and obvious once I bring them to the light of day and my conscious awareness.

As I write this note today I feel a little more connected to the Love that is in all things. I feel grateful to the people in the group last night who each did their own work at exploring hidden negative feelings and choosing to consciously connect to the Love that they are made of. I am grateful to people like Dr. Michael and Jeanie Ryce who have devoted their lives to spreading the knowledge of the tools which can help anyone uncover the false realities they have created which block them from feeling and living in conscious awareness of the Love they are made of.

Thank you all!

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love! Everything else is false.

An Introduction To A Course In Miracles - With Advanced Understanding!

This week the  Mindshifters group watched the first half of the lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce titled An Introduction to A Course In Miracles with Advanced Understanding.  Some of the statements made during the lecture which caught my attention were: 

"The world of separateness is an optical delusion.", and

  

"To experience the world we must begin to suspect that what we "know" is limited or false.", and

"Our distorted perceptions produce a dense cover over actuality.", and 

"By perception we have lost sight of the real world.", and 

"You don't have to seek for Love, but merely seek to find within yourself all the barriers you have built against it."

The power of these statements shook me in ways I did not feel in the several previous times I have watched this lecture.  The idea that we try to relate to the world as though nothing exists unless we can perceive it, is ludicrous.  I say this because scientists tell us that we can only hear a small range of the auditory spectrum and we can only see a very limited range of the spectrum of energy we call light.   Yet those same scientists will argue that nothing is real unless they can measure it with their tools and technology.  This just does not make sense!

As I watched the lecture I kept thinking about how so much actually happens around me, and how I am only able to be consciously aware of a tiny fraction of what actually exists.  I am only able to be aware of a tiny fraction of all that exists around me because I am limited by what my senses can perceive, and I am limited because I choose to screen out many things that my senses are able to perceive!  I am limited by everything I believe because when I believe something, I am certain I know the answer.  Whenever I am certain I know that answer to something, I am not questioning it.  If I am not questioning something, I am not open to new information.  If I am not open to new information, I am screening it out.  If I am screening out new information I am not learning.  If I am not learning, I am not growing and I will simply get more of what I already have.

The tools we use in the Mindshifters group are designed to help us become aware of the unconscious beliefs we hold, which limit and distort our perception and keep us locked into repeating the same unproductive patterns which we and our ancestors have repeated for centuries.  These tools are made available for free at www.whyagain.com  Dr. Ryce has also launched a new website for people who use his tools and  do this work, to be able to connect with others who are working this process - www.iforgive.net

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love.  Everything else is false.

The Emotional Freedom Technique - An Added Benefit!

The Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) - created by Gary Craig

http://www.emofree.com

 

 “It’s In Here!”

Some Thoughts About An Important Aspect of EFT

In America, for decades, we have been conditioned to think that other people are responsible for how we feel.  The literature, the television shows, the movies, all tell us stories about how one person offends another, hurts another, makes another angry, sad or frustrated.  Our song lyrics, even the “good ones” say things like, “You light up my life.”, and “You make me so very happy!”, and “You broke my heart when you walked away.”

There are many people who work in the field of psychology and philosophy who study the actual process of thoughts and their relationship to emotions, who have for many decades known that this is not the way the system works.  In reality each of us creates our individual, internal reality.  Each of us makes choices, on a regular basis, about what to focus on, and how we will interpret what we see, hear and feel. 

In actuality thoughts lead to feelings and feelings are the shadows of thought.  If you are to feel an emotion of sadness, you need to focus on thoughts that you interpret as sad, or thoughts about a time in the past when you experienced sadness.  If you wish to feel joy you need to think about things that have happened which you interpret as being good and joyful.  There is nothing inherent about the thing you think of, which makes it a joyful thought.  It is how you think about it and interpret it that makes it joyful for you. 

For example, when asked to let themselves feel joy, some people focus on the first time the held a baby kitten.  For others the thought of holding a baby kitten brings up thoughts of responsibility, expense, and cleaning the carpets and furniture which will be soiled by the kitten. 

One of my favorite quotes from the book The Mirror Theory by Betsy Otter-Thompson is; “The moment you think that someone else has to change for you to be happy, the key to happiness is lost.”.  This is just one of many wonderful quotes which highlight the actuality that, “I cause my own pain, joy, sadness, contentment, frustration, elation, anger, guilt, and shame and joy.”.  I do this by choosing to focus on something and then interpreting it in a way which leads to one of those emotions.  Dr. Michael Ryce writes “If I am in pain, I am in error!” and he has created self-help worksheets which step people through the process of identifying exactly which thoughts are connected to which emotions and how that is causing pain and discomfort in their lives. www.whyagain.com 

Each time I say to someone, “You make me so angry.”  I am choosing to focus on them and their behavior as the cause of my anger and discomfort.  In doing this I prevent my self from seeing the true cause of my anger, which is always inside of me.  It is my thoughts which cause my emotions, not the actions or reactions of anyone else.  Each time I tell someone that they have offended me, I block myself from seeing the actual process of how I have chosen to take offense and then feel offended by what they have said or done.

Gary Craig, in his EFT DVD’s, repeatedly talks about how the source of all the discomfort a person feels is “a disruption in the body’s energy system.”  He teaches people the process of The Emotional Freedom Technique, (EFT), to help them remove the disruption in their body’s energy system.  This is a powerful process which I describe as; "Giving yourself an acupressure treatment for any physical, mental, or emotional discomfort".

I have discovered an added benefit of the EFT process.  When you are tapping or rubbing on the acupressure points on your body, and repeating an affirmation which pairs the  problem with acceptance, love and forgiveness of self, you are physically pointing to the source of your discomfort!  You are continually tapping on YOUR body. You are not tapping on the body of the person who did something you chose to get angry about.  You are tapping on your body, as if to say, “It’s In Here!”, “The source, and therefore the solution to my pain, Is In Here!”

I have found that adding, “It’s In Here!” to my affirmations has helped reinforce the knowledge that I am creating, and therefore can eliminate, most of my pain and discomfort, whether it is physical, mental or emotional.  I alternate using this affirmation in addition to, and instead of, the standard affirmation format recommended in the EFT manual.  When I focus on the anger I am feeling, about something someone said or did, I begin tapping and say The Setup Phrase, “Even though I am angry about what they said, I deeply and completely love, accept and forgive myself, and I know, “It’s In Here!”  Then my reminder phrase is something like, “This anger, that’s In Here”.

Remember that whenever you are using the Emotional Freedom Technique, you are physically pointing to the source of your pain and discomfort.  It may help to verbally remind yourself that, “It’s In Here!”

Thanks for reading, and Happy Tapping!

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love.  Everything else is false.

Healing Through Relationships Part II

I want to dedicate this entry to the wonderful people who give up their Tuesday nights to come to the Mindshifters group, and roll up their proverbial sleeves to work on the difficult, scary, and painful issues that most people run and hide from.  It is an honor to be able to work with you all!

Last night our Mindshifters group watched the second half of the Michael Ryce lecture titled: Healing Through Relationships.  Dr. Ryce talks about how he used to call the lecture: Healing Your Relationships,  but changed the title when he realized that relationships are not sick or broken.  He describes how the process of conflict in relationship is actually a vital process which brings our awareness to negative energy and emotions which we have hidden from ourselves, until such time as our partner in a relationship triggers that negative energy.  He focuses on how this is a blessing because we are not able to dismantle or heal that negative energy unless we become aware of it.

Dr. Ryce details the two things that are necessary for healing.  1) A negative, false reality must come into conscious awareness.  2) Conscious, active Love must be brought to awareness at the same time.  The presence of Love is the mechanism which transmutes all other energy, thereby healing the negative energy, negative emotion, and pain connected with the negative, false reality.  This is critical because it is the negative energy which we store in our bodies and energy systems which end up disintegrating our energy system and creating the physical pain, and illness which eventually leads to aging and death.

In light of this Dr. Ryce makes the statement that "A lack of communication is the  major cause of death".  He explains that every time we refuse to acknowledge and dismantle a negative thought, emotion, or "reality", we refuse to communicate about it and work it out.  When we do this we store the negative energy in our system and it stays hidden there until it begins to disintegrate our energy systems and eventually our physical bodies.

Another point in the lecture talks about "The Commitment", which is the tool they have created for navigating through relationships, in both good times and bad.  The commitment is a tool which helps people interact from the space of Love in a relationship.  Before beginning to use the tool of The Commitment, it is important to decide to have a new purpose for being in a relationship.  For most people raised in this culture, the purpose for being in a relationship is usually two-fold, 1) Deciding who is in charge, 2) Determining how much stuff we can get.  

The suggested new purpose for being in a relationship is:

 "We want to heal!"

Summary:

1) We are creating our realities!

2) Any emotion we feel is  something that comes from inside of us, not from outside events or the actions of other people!

3) The fact that we did not feel this emotion until the other person "did what they did",  means that this negative energy was hidden from us!

4) The fact that the energy was hidden from us means that it was hurting us without our knowledge and would eventually lead to further breakdown in our energy systems and physical bodies.

5) The fact that we are now upset means that we can see the negative energy/ false reality, and do something to correct it and heal from it.

6) The fact that someone "did what they did" that resulted in us getting upset, is a real blessing,  and the only way for us to heal those hidden and repressed parts of our energy system. 

7) The more we work to find and eliminate the negative energy, negative emotions, and painful realities we have hidden from ourselves, the more easily we can see that;

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love.  Everything else is false.

Gregg Braden's Idea of the Biggest Dogma

A few weeks ago the Mindshifters group watched the Mayan Calendar lecture by Ian Lungold in which Ian stated that the biggest unquestioned belief on this planet is the answer to the question,"What Day Is It?".   In Gregg Braden's book, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief, Mr. Braden proposes that there is another, even more insidious, unquestioned belief which may be the root cause of most human suffering.  That belief would be the answer to the question I will paraphrase as, "Is there such a thing as Good versus Evil, outside of the human mind?"

Gregg Braden provides reports on research and scientific theory which supports the idea that human mind energy, the power of our thoughts and beliefs,  may be the greatest force on the planet.  The power of the human mind to create realities for each  of us and to effect our physical bodies and our environment, is being understood more completely than ever before, in recent history.  So if it is true that human thought can effect the energy which makes up our bodies and  our world, and that we create the reality we experience, then it would be critically important to understand how that process works.  

One of the Bottom Line Observations I wrote about in an earlier post is, "The events that happen to me and around me in my life, are not nearly as important as how I interpret and respond to those events."  So if I create my own internal reality and chose to believe that there are good and evil forces in the world battling for control and supremacy, then I will be convinced that I live in a "war zone".  If I am convinced that I live in a "war zone" I will be constantly on guard and in a state of tension which will negatively effect my physical health and emotions.  If I buy into the idea that there are evil spirits, or a "devil" battling a "god" for possession of my soul, I am creating a reality of ultra high stakes danger and fear within which I then live.

What if everything in the world  I experience comes from the same source and is connected by energies I can't yet see or understand?  What if there is no good or evil except as human interpretation makes it so?  What if everything that happens on the physical plane is just exchange of energy at different levels?  What if my job is to learn how to monitor, and how to raise the vibration of my energy to the level it originally came from?  What if my only real job in this world is to learn to stay in the higher vibrational energy that some have called God, and some have called Love.  What if I am creating all the stress, anger, and pain in my life by wanting things to be different than they are?

More and more sources are coming to light which point to the ancient knowledge that the world is all connected and from one source, and that the energy we "see", and "feel", and "hear" is the tiniest fraction of what truly exists.  

What if I am creating all the stress, anger, and pain in my life by wanting things to be different than they are?

What if my only real job in this world is to learn to stay in the higher vibrational energy that some have called God, and some have called Love. 

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love.  Everything else is false.

Mindshifters Group 4-21-2009

This week's group meeting began with discussing reactions to last week's video and the introduction to the book by Gregg Braden, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief. I just began reading this book and I have enjoyed and greatly benefited from several of Gregg Braden's books prior to this one.

The book has an opening page which sounds as though it could be taken directly from Dr. Michael Ryce's lecture titled Empowered to Heal. Dr. Ryce talks in that lecture about how the content of our brain's cells resonates with an energy dependent upon the content of our stored realities. If I have anger stored in my mind it will resonate and send out vibrations which will interact with the world and I will see the world as angry, or as something be angry about. If I have fear in my mind it will resonate and send out vibrations which will interact with the world and I will see the world as fearful or as something to fear. If I have love in my mind it will resonate and interact with the world and I will see the world as loving and lovable.

Gregg Braden has clearly been studying some of the same works as Dr. Michael Ryce, as witnessed by the following paragraphs from the preface to his new book.

"In the instant of our first breath, we are infused with the single greatest force in the universe--the power to translate the possibilities of our minds into the reality of our world. To fully awaken our power, however, requires a subtle change in the way we think of ourselves in life, a shift in belief.

Just the way sound creates visible waves as it travels through a droplet of water, our 'belief waves' ripple through the quantum fabric of the universe to become our bodies and the healing, abundance, and peace -- or disease, lack, and suffering-- that we experience in life. And just the way we can tune a sound to change its patterns, we can tune our beliefs to preserve or destroy all that we cherish, including life itself.

In a malleable world where everything from atoms to cells is changing to match our beliefs, we're limited only by the way we think of ourselves in that world.

This book is dedicated to our acceptance of such an awesome power and our knowing that we are never more than a belief away from our greatest love, deepest healing, and most profound miracles."

So far the book is shaping up to be a real eye opener and a blessing.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Mindshifters and Mayan Calendar Lecture

Last night the Mindshifters group watched the first part of a lecture by Ian Lungold, explaining the nature of the Mayan Calendars, (www.mayanmajix.com).  The biggest thing I took from the first part of the lecture is the validation from a wide variety of cultures that as human beings we are more than just our physical bodies.  The talk begins by explaining how the calendar is the exact dead center of any culture.  This is because the calendar is the culture's agreement about what day and time it is, and how and  when business, rest, and recreation should be conducted.  Ian discusses how our current culture is built around a calendar which was introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregory and is therefore called the Gregorian Calendar.  He explains that this particular calendar tracks the physical movement of our planet around our sun, and nothing else.  Therefore the use of this calendar forces our entire culture to focus on nothing other than the physical aspect of our existence.  Ian points out that many previous cultures had multiple calendars and most of them had calendars with 360 day cycles.  When 'modern' scientists discovered these calendars they assumed that the culture was primitive and that the calendar was inaccurate and only a rough approximation of the time it takes our earth to travel around the sun, (365.25 days).  

The reality is that most of those cultures knew about the time it took our planet to travel around the sun, and some of them had separate calendars for that purpose, but many of them also had 360 day calendars.  It is just that those cultures had determined that there were other realities which were just as important, or even more important than the physical aspect of their existence.  Ian raises the question about what those other calendars were measuring and tracking for those cultures.  He proposes that those other calendars were tracking different cycles of energy and motion, other than the purely physical and very specific movement of our planet around our sun.  He points out that every planet spins, or turns 360 degrees, and that every circle has 360 degrees, and that since so many cultures had calendars with 360 day cycles, it is worth investigating what those calendars had in common and what they may have been tracking.

Ian also points out that once the Gregorian calendar was adopted by the Catholics, the Spanish and the Catholics went out to "save" and convert different cultures which they conquered.  They had to kill many people in those cultures before they were able to force the culture to give up their existing calendars and adopt the Gregorian calendar.  He points out that much of the spiritual and energetic knowledge from each of those cultures was lost as they were forced to accept a calendar that focused exclusively on the physical motion of our earth around our sun.   Ian goes on to discuss two of the three calendars which were used by the Mayan culture for more than five thousand years before they were "discovered" by "modern" scientists in the jungles of South America. 

Two of the Mayan calendars were related to larger, spiritual, energetic forces, other than the physical energy of our bodies and our planet.  The Mayans believed that souls chose what day they were going to be born, and therefore the first name of every Mayan was the name of the day they were born.  This served as a constant reminder to the person about what they wanted to accomplish in their life.  This means that within the Mayan culture there were constant reminders of the energetic and spiritual aspects of existence.   This got me to thinking about how different life would be if there were as many daily reminders on television, radio and in the movies about compassion, gratitude, service to others, energetic connection to all things, and Love, as there are daily reminders about material wealth, accumulation, competition, 'physical beauty', greed, one-up-manship, and sex.  As I let myself think about this possibility I got very emotional and felt chills running through my body.  I realized that I have no idea what a world like this would look like.  I can only say that it would be radically different from the world I was raised in and the world I am living in today.

I have often heard the quote from Gandhi which says, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world".  And it seems like an overwhelming task when I realize how much the culture invests in sending out messages about the physical world and the material possessions and the instant gratification from external sources.  I started to long for a culture which would honor all things equally, both the energetic/spiritual and the material aspects of our world.  Then I realized that it was up to me to work on my own focus and continuously strive to achieve that balance within my own consciousness, and the focus of my conscious thought and intention.

I felt a bit overwhelmed at first.  Then I thought about the people who attend the Mindshifters group and people like Dr. Michael Ryce, Bruce Lipton, Gregg Braden, and countless others who are working, writing, blogging, lecturing and working on themselves to help change the focus of those who are willing.  I am grateful to be living in the age when the Internet and media, which is spewing so much of the message of materialism, greed, and instant physical gratification, is also available to spread the message of balance, energetic and spiritual awareness, and Love.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love.  Everything else is false.

Empowered To Heal Part II

In this week's meeting of the Mindshifters group we watched the second half of the lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce titled, Empowered To Heal.     The first part of the talk focused on the difference between the physical body and the "mind" that accompanies the physical body, and the soul, and the "mind" which accompanies the soul.  The idea was presented of the physical mind being survival oriented and unable to do anything other than react to circumstances in a programmed way, much as the robin that builds the same kind of nest each year, or the salmon which returns to the place of its spawning to lay eggs and die.  The point was made that we have both the physical, "carbon based" memory which is reaction based, and the spiritual, energetically based mind, which allows us to choose our own actions.  The soul and the energetic mind are seen to be the seat of real intelligence and the freedom of choice, or free will, which we have come to view as one of the things which separates us from the rest of the natural world.

One of the most powerful lines in the lecture for me was related to the fact that, "If I don't know how the world works, and how my mind energy influences the world, it is easy for me to see myself as a victim.".  As one of the lines in the Reality Management Worksheet states, "With blame, I hide my power."  If I am blaming others for what I feel and what happens in my life, I am not able to see how I influence the events in my life and how I create all of my emotions and reactions.  

I create my own reality, (my internal experience), and my interpretation and reaction to the events in my life is infinitely more important than the events themselves.  As I mentioned in the last post, the research evidence is clear, we choose to be happy or sad, regardless of the events in our lives.  This is seen clearly in comparing the happiness ratings for people who have won the lottery and those who have become paraplegic, and finding that one year after each event the happiness ratings are nearly identical for those two groups of people.  How could it be that those who became paraplegic a year ago, are just as happy as those who won the lottery a year ago?What could possibly explain this finding?  This is as powerful an example as I can imagine, to demonstrate that we choose to be happy or choose  to be sad, and that the external events in our lives are not nearly as important as how we interpret and respond to those external events.

There is substantial research which demonstrates that we create our own happiness and some of it is reviewed in the book Happy For No Reason, by Marci Shimoff.  In this book, Marci gives examples of people who have every external reason to be sad, angry or depressed, and yet they choose to be happy.  Marci gives a list of exercises which anyone can use to develop the habit of being happy and maintain a positive outlook through the ups and downs of life.   

The last 90 minutes of the Mindshifters group was spent working on Reality Management worksheets.  This is the tool for canceling and dismantling a false reality in our minds. The tool is available for free from www.whyagain.com.  This is a powerful tool for improving one's quality of life by relieving negative emotions and the energy that goes with them.  I did my worksheet on the anger that I felt when a file cabinet was delivered late, and turned out to be the wrong cabinet.  This left me 90 minutes to completely re-arrange and re-organize my office and clean up the resulting mess, before I had to start seeing clients again.  Near the end of this clean up routine and just before my next client was scheduled to arrive, I got angry when I tried to open a garbage bag to put something in it and found it was tied closed with a knot.

My anger at inanimate objects proved once again to be a difficult challenge for  me to overcome.  I realized as I completed the worksheet that I have been trying to hide my anger from others and that this was contributing to my difficulty in resolving the problem.  It is our secrets which keep us sick, and I became aware that my desire to hide my anger was feeding my conclusion that I was unlovable because I had anger.  The real good news is that now I can actively work to end the secret and resolve the problem of my anger response to inanimate objects.  I feel a noticeable relief at recognizing the pattern of trying to keep  my anger a secret and realizing that I no longer need to hide the fact that I get angry when things don't work the way I think they should.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love.  Everything else is false.