In my in my last post, I shared a synopsis of Wayne Dyer's introduction to his opening keynote at the Hay House I Can Do It Conference in Tampa. In his opening, Dyer explains that if we want to make our world a better place, we must first change our beliefs about who we are and what is possible for us. If we want to raise the consciousness of our planet, we must first raise our own consciousness to the highest level.
This idea is central to the new book that Dyer will soon begin writing. Wishes Fulfilled will be a look at the work of Neville Goddard:
Man's chief delusion is his conviction that there are causes other than his own state of consciousness. All that befalls a man -- all that is done by him, all that comes from him -- happens as a result of his state of consciousness. A man's consciousness is all that he thinks and desires and loves, all that he believes is true and consents to. That is why a change of consciousness is necessary before you can change your outer world.
Each of us has the innate capacity to live from the highest levels of consciousness. To do this, we must realign ourselves in a God-realized way. We are each a manifestation of the Source from which we came. We are made of the same God-stuff, and share its characteristics. Einstein said that the most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether or not the universe we live in is friendly or hostile. Of course, the answer to that question is that we live in a Universe that is inifinitely friendly towards us, because we are each a manifestation of Source. A Course In Miracles teaches that we have all of the forces of the universe working in us. All the time. It is this consciousness of who we really are that must arise within us before we can fully live out our own personal dharma on this planet.from Neville Goddard, The Power of Awareness.
When we realize who we are, when we finally understand that as a manifestation of Source we share in God Consciousness, we will also realize that our Imagination is the greatest gift we have received. Everything in existence has come through someone's imagination. The laptop I am writing on, the lamp making it possible for me to write after dark, the electricity that powers those, the desk that I picked up at a yardsale, the new rug from Walmart: all these existed first in someone's imagination.
Our imagination is the only tool we possess for manifesting our reality. The fulfillment of our individual dharma -- our mission for being on this planet -- must grow out of our own imagination. For that reason, we must be independent of the opinions of others, and be detached from the outcome of our actions. We must do what we do because it is what we are here to do, regardless of how it might turn out or what others might think.
When we place something in our imagination and hold it there, that is the only way that anything ever comes into this world. This is where Neville's idea of the Power of Assumption comes in: we must always assume that everything we imagine is true. To change the world, we must change our concept of ourselves; imagination is our only tool for making this happen.
What follows is what I understand of Wayne Dyer's six-part process for manifesting our dharma:
1. Hold what you want in your imagination. When you imagine what you want, bring a sense of passion and enthusiasm to your imaginings. Enthusiasm is a word whose parts mean: en = inside; theos = God. Your enthusiasm for anything is God talking to you. This is why your passion and enthusiasm have so much creative power. What are you most passionate about? Einstein once said that imagination is much more important than knowledge. Imagination combined with enthusiasm can create miracles.
2. Think from the end, not about the end. Whatever it is that we are enthusiastically holding in our imagination, ACT AS IF it is already done. This step is critical, but also the hardest. This is where we must change how we think.
When we did the Prosperity Project here on The New Book of Clues, only a handful of people actually wrote down what they were imagining. One person wrote his imaginings all 28 days of the project. In his imagination, he built a woodshop in his backyard, and imagined himself working there. He could smell the sawdust, feel the wood, taste the hot coffee. In his mind, he was there working, building things, enjoying his new space. His imagination of it was so tangible that I could imagine visiting him there, so his shop now exists in both our imaginations. I predict his woodshop is already a reality just waiting to be built. This is an example of thinking from the end.
Many other people read the posts, and in their mind they thought about how they would spend their imaginary money. They made a list in their head, but didn't consistently bring their imagination or their emotions into play as did my friend with his woodshop. This type of thinking lacks passion, and so lacks power. This is what I mean by thinking about the end.
3. Set an intention aligned with God. Take what you imagine, and turn it into a definite intention. Some intentions we might set are clearly from the ego. Yes, we can manifest those as well. Remember, the Universe gives us anything that we feel strongly emotional about as we focus our attention on it. We can manifest illness, accidents, poverty, depression. Many of us have become very good at manifesting these things. We can also manifest ego-driven intentions such as a new car, fancy toys, or lots of money in the bank. When it comes to fulfilling our dharma -- our God-given mission on this planet -- it is important that we align our intentions with the intentions of the Divine.
Motivation happens when you get a hold of an idea and run with it. Inspiration happens when an idea gets a hold of you. Choose a God-inspired intention. We come from Source; we must learn to be like that from which we came. There is an easy test we can use to determine if our intention is ego-driven or inspired by Source. The ego wants to know, "What's in it for me?"; Spirit always asks, "How can I serve?"
When it comes to fulfilling your dharma, choose an intention that allows you to serve others. As a writer, my intention to teach as many other people as possible the power of gratitude comes from a higher place than would an intention to be a best-selling author. Although by fulfilling the first intention I may also one day be a best-selling author, that intention comes from a desire to serve, whereas the second intention comes from an ego-driven desire for fame and fortune. There is a difference. I can either choose to be a host to God, or a hostage to my ego.
4. Assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled. This is where it gets really exciting! As you hold your intention in your imagination every day, as you are thinking from the end, feel deeply all of the wonderful feelings that arise when your intention is fulfilled. Feel the emotions in your body, for that is where emotions live.
Again, this step requires us to monitor our thinking and to guard our dream. Two books that Dyer recommends for this step are Richard Brodie's Virus of the Mind, and Bruce Lipton's Biology of Belief: Unleashing the power of consciousness, matter, and miracles. A third book is Dyer's own, Excuses Begone! (Reviews of these books are planned for future blog posts.) It is no secret that we can get ideas in our heads that act as viruses, destroying our hopes and leaving us feeling powerless. Ever get a great new idea that you share prematurely with your loved ones only to have them tell you all the reasons why it can't work? We call these Dream Stealers. Richard Brodie postulates that these memes, or mind viruses, can spread from person to person and affect the consciousness of an entire culture. Bruce Lipton's book teaches that how we think can affect our own DNA and can actually turn genes on and off. We are no longer victims of our biology. Dyer's book shows us how to counter the 18 most common excuses we give ourselves for not fulfilling our dreams.
Step 4 includes the quality of attention that we give our intention. Negative attention would include all of the excuses that we make about why it can't be done: I can't afford it, I'm too busy, I'm too scared, I don't deserve it. Pick your favorite, and then learn to overcome it. On Dyer's website is a link to download 18 affirmations that we can use to retrain our subconscious mind not to believe the 18 most common excuses we all use. Negativity can also come from other people and from the culture at large. Negativity is the product of a mind virus; don't let it infect your thinking.
Dyer made a distinction between two types of attention. Objective attention is input that you get about your intention from other people, as well as from what you read, hear, and see. Be very selective about what you let into your consciousness. Much of what is out there is negative, and can steal your dreams. Instead, overcome negativity with subjective attention, or what you tell yourself about your intention. This is a good time to remember that we should never believe everything we think. Learn to reprogram your mind using affirmations or any means necessary to consistently believe in your dream.
Remember, Louise Hay was 61 years old when she founded Hay House. Today she is 83, and still going strong. She could have told herself that she was too old to begin something this huge, but instead she believed in her dream and she spoke positive affirmations to herself to overcome any negative thinking she might have had. We can do the same. We are not too old, or too young, or too broke, or too broken. Whatever it is, if we have a passion for it, we can do it.
The secret is to reprogram our subconscious mind. Wordsworth once wrote that "habits rule the unreflecting heart." What we say and do will always reflect what is brewing, hidden, in our subconscious. Much of what is in our subconscious mind does not serve our highest good. We all have some unremembered issues holding us back, making us believe we cannot succeed. But we must be aware that the subconscious realm is where we interact with the universe; it is the part of us that attracts into our lives whatever it is that we get. We owe it to ourselves to retrain our subconscious mind so that it stops working against us. We'll be looking into this more, in later posts.
5. Use the last five minutes of every day to hold what you want in your imagination, think from the end, and assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled. The last five minutes of the day are the most important. What we think about as we are falling asleep marinates in our subconcious mind while we sleep. We work it out in our dreams, and our thoughts become part of our subconscious. Make it a point to spend those crucial last five minutes visualizing your intention with as much passion as you can muster, and you will find that the universe will begin to send you people, places, and things that match up to that vibration.
6. What if it doesn't work? The degree to which what is imagined feels natural to you, is the degree to which you will achieve it. Does what you intend resonate with you as a natural thing for you to do? Then what's stopping you?
* * *
As he does so often, Dr. Dyer brought his daughter Skye out halfway through his lecture, to sing to us. Skye sang two songs. The first, From a Distance, was prepared. The second was a surprise, a gift to her father. She sang an a capella version of Dan Fogelberg's Leader of the Band that left the entire room in tears, including Dyer himself.
The leader of the band is tired
and his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument
And his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt
To imitate the man
I'm just a living legacy
To the leader of the band.
Her song made me realize that most of my spiritual teachers are entering their final years. It is inevitable, really. It takes wisdom to be a spiritual teacher, and wisdom comes with age. It is up to us to take what they have taught us and to use that knowledge to help raise the consciousness of our planet. Yes, our planet has a collective consciousness, just as we each have our own individual consciousness. If we can get a critical number of people to make a positive conscious shift, then we can effect a positive change in the collective consciousness of humanity. Scientists are now discovering that the critical mass of people necessary to make a change of this kind is 3.1416%, better known as pi.
So, let's get busy.
This is great work, Valerie. Thanks for the primer on the work of Neville Goddard. I'm getting ready to fly.
ReplyDeleteG.F.