Causal Sequence of Human Behavior

Slide Notes

Causal Sequence Diagram:

"A man becomes what he thinks. He is constantly remaking himself into his own image of
himself... Every changing attitude of Mind immediately affects the chemistry of his body. It
simultaneously starts to work changing the man's body to conform to his own changing image."
Walter Russel.

When you buy a new car you get an owner’s manual to tell you all about it and how it functions.
When we come into this life we do not get an owner’s manual and don’t know very much about it
and how it, or we, function. We have to write our own manual - and it will be unique and different
from that of everyone else.

What is the primary driver behind our behavior? This certainly can be a very complicated response
depending on where you look at it from. We have found through our study and experience that it
comes down to love and power. We either seek love and power outside ourselves, or we seek the
source within. Seeking love and power outside ourselves will ultimately lead to great pain and
suffering, as the external world crumbles and shatters and changes, which is it's nature to do.
Whereas finding the source within will lead to greater fulfillment, peace, and harmony with
ourselves and our environment.

Our outer life reflects back to us the way we think, feel and behave. The outer world is all effects.
Go to the source inside for all of life’s treasures.

The Four Components of Behavior:

• Physical: External environment, and internal body physiology. Concepts associated with
homeopathy, nutrition, diet, energy methods (sound, sacred geometry, etc.)
• Emotional: release negative emotions stored in the body to allow the body to begin the
healing process
• Mind: recognizing and releasing negative belief system; knowledge, life experiences, karmic
patterns, genetically inherited beliefs and societal dictates
• Spiritual: meditation, aligning with Universal Spiritual Principles

This is a continuous loop process that works on each of the four components concurrently like a
vortex that expands exponentially for all components simultaneously. These can’t be worked on
linearly and expect much growth in one area without working on all of them simultaneously.

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money,
in order to do more of what they want so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the
reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you love to do, in order to have what
you want."

Analogy to Computers and Software:

Human beings can be compared to computers. The hardware is the physical body, physiology,
hormones, genetics, neurons, etc. This is our physical makeup. The primary CPU is the brain.
Different parts of the brain are specialized for different tasks. Some people have some parts of the
brain more developed than others. For example, Einstein had the visual / spacial part of his brain
very well developed which allowed him to visualize thought experiments very successfully.
However, his language processing part of his brain was very underdeveloped and therefore his
language skills were average at best. So everyone has unique capabilities based on their hardware
(i.e., physical makeup) that will allow them to have unique talents and gifts. In addition, this is
why we need to nurture and take good care of our bodies so that they continue to operate at
optimum capacity for our entire lives. We can't neglect them. Our brain hardware is very plastic
as well. It can be modified through changing our belief systems. It's almost like our brains are the
embedded software or the operating system. It can reshape itself. And through reshaping itself it
can reshape the body. At a deeper level, the Earth is also part of our hardware. The Earth is an
extension of our bodies. We take in nutrition provided by the Earth and Sun and utilize the raw
materials from the Earth to co-create our environment. Our Software is used to move our hands
and bodies to work with the Earth.

The software component is the programs or belief systems that we operate under. If we operate
under false belief systems, then we are ineffective at best at performing our optimal best. So we
really need to align our software (belief systems) with truth / nature to flow and be a part of it.
Aligning our software and hardware to truth will allow us to interact with our environment more
effectively. It's like the feedback control systems. If the model of the environment is inaccurate,
then the control system will not work very well. At a deeper level the Universe is an extension of
our software if we're able to connect to it. This is Divine Mind.

The hardware and software work together to create our environment. In addition, it is through our
proper operation of our hardware and software that we will connect to the higher spiritual level
where we finally let go and surrender to Universe.

NOTE: Intelligence from the intellect / ego is over-rated. The reason being that the intellect can
never know everything. It is by definition limited. It is the servant of the desire nature (ego).
Therefore, having more of it, but with false belief systems, will merely allow an individual to arrive
at false solutions (based on illusions) faster and defend and argue for their false position longer,
than someone who is of less intellectual capacity, but is open to receiving and learning, being led
and guided in the moment.

What threatens you? What do you worry about?

When we feel threatened we turn away from soul and become obsessed or egocentric. When we
feel threatened, we let the survival instinct take over. When this happens, we cannot think
because perceived or real threat shuts down the activity of the frontal lobe of the brain where we
can think, reason and make choices. Loss of control for many is a common threat and a serious
obstacle on the spiritual path.

We need to become aware of when we are controlling. And we need to develop and rely on trust
and faith in our soul intelligence, love and power.

We indulge ourselves when we seek to meet our longings through desires of the personality. We
indulge ourselves when we buy more clothes to make us happy, when we eat another snack to
ease the hunger, when we have an affair to feel powerful or loveable. Any pleasure we get, if we
get any at all, is shallow and short- lived.

The only lasting satisfaction can come from meeting the deep spiritual needs of the soul. We
discover what we are really after in life when we identify the spiritual qualities and needs that lie
behind our desires for material pleasures.
What is it that stands opposed to the new myth in society and at times within ourselves? Is it not
the common habit of viewing the world in which we live from mechanistic, scientific, analytical or
physical perspectives? When we do this we engage our senses without involving the soul. We
thereby remain on the surface of relationships, and give away the power of controlling our own
lives and loves to external forces. We thus find ourselves increasingly disconnected from the world
and others, and we become increasingly afraid of close encounters and intimate connections. In
fact, we make victims of ourselves, feeling and believing that it is other people and situations that
determine our experiences.
"The knower is ever greater than the known, and the seer is greater than the seen. That which is
known is contained within the knower, and that which is seen is in the seer; the vast expanse of
the sky is in the mind, not outside, because the mind is everywhere and there is no outside to it."

- Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

“What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.”

-- Abraham H. Maslow

"Never use violence of any kind. Never threaten violence in any

way. Never even think violent thoughts. Never argue because it
attacks another’s opinion. Never criticize because it attacks
another’s ego. And your success is guaranteed."

-- Mohandas Gandhi

1) Let go, let go, let go...then let go some more. Anything that keeps you
emotionally bound will challenge you greatly.

2) Stay Present. Allow yourself to find and keep the mental space required to
surrender fully into each moment. If you slip into past (woulda, coulda, shoulda)
or future (what if?) thinking, you will be met with great suffering. Stay with each
moment as it arrives.

3) Allow what is to BE... without resistance. Free yourself of dross by realizing

that all is perfectly well in this and every moment. Release yourself of the
responsibility (attachment) of all others while fully understanding that their path
is unique to them as yours is to you.

Every choice moves us closer to or farther away from something. Where are your choices taking
your life? What do your behaviors demonstrate that you are saying yes or no to in life?

When we are basically unconscious, we live according to social roles. We perform as sons and
daughters, mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, employers and employees, as society
expects us to.
As we grow in awareness, we gain the freedom to bring our own unique perspectives to these
roles. We can express ourselves authentically and creatively, without letting our roles dictate how
we should behave.

"Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those voices. Do the hardest
thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth."

We don’t get to “see” all of reality. Only a small portion of it. For example, we only see a small
sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum. Our ears hear only a small portion of the sound spectrum.
Everything else gets filtered out. In addition, our mind “views” events as a whole. We also don’t
need photons to hit our eyes to see objects. We see events (no matter how far away)
instantaneously, in the moment.

What we perceive in the end is not the event itself, but a filtered event that is filtered by our
senses and then filtered by our individual programming. Our individual programming will have a
huge impact in what we perceive. Our programming is subconscious. Our programming can also
be considered our belief systems, or who we are Being. Our belief systems are molded by various
factors that include, but are not limited to, our past experiences, social upbringing, genetic
inheritance, family values and expectations, exposure to environmental toxins.

We can’t “see” that we are filtering the event. That is hidden from our conscious mind. So when it
gets to our mind we think that what we perceive is reality, and that everyone else should “see”
the same thing.

Our brain understands only one language – language of impulses. Our sense organs sense the
information and forward this information to the brain in the form of impulses. Our brain projects
this information in the form of images, sound, taste, smell, or touch. Manifest universe is only a
projection of the information by our brain. Whatever be the method of our observation, ultimately,
the information our brain receives from any physical entity is only an impulse. Thus, we have two
forms of a physical entity; a physical entity and its projected or manifest form.

At any given time, all the properties of a physical entity are observer-independent and hence are
absolute; manifestation of these properties is observer-dependent and hence is relative.

Because this is hidden from our perception we treat the event as the problem and the reason why
we are feeling the way we feel. Therefore we attack or try to survive the trigger.

Our subconscious mind creates our lives perfectly according to how it has been programmed. It
works 24 hours of every day, 365 days per year. It accepts instructions from the conscious mind,
checks on old inner programming and executes.

The subconscious mind acts on old beliefs stored over a lifetime. Many of those beliefs you may
have accepted without thinking. Or you may have absorbed them when you were too young to
exercise choice. Many of the beliefs that govern your life may no longer match what you now hold
to be true.

Belief Systems:
Our belief systems are molded by many factors. They include, but are not limited to, the
following:
1. Genetics: multi-generational traits inherited from parents.
2. Prenatal Environment: what the fetus experienced in the womb. The fetus experienced what
the mother experienced.
3. Upbringing after birth.
4. Education: what education was given to the child?
5. Social Environment: what was socially accepted, not accepted. Social pressures.
6. Traumatic experiences.
7.

Medical Students Disease:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_students'_disease
http://www.medicalstudentsyndrome.com/
During their medical education, students must learn syndromes or symptom lists of various rare
and malevolent diseases. As they read about these diseases, students are susceptible to believing
that they or others exhibit a symptom or sign associated with the disease. Medical students′
disease, also known as medical student syndrome or medical student disorder is a condition
frequently reported in medical students, who perceive themselves or others to be experiencing the
symptoms of the disease(s) they are studying. The condition is associated with the fear of
contracting the disease in question. The condition is associated with immediate preoccupation with
the symptoms in question, leading the student to become unduly aware of various casual
psychological and physiological dysfunctions; cases show little correlation with the severity of
psychopathology, but rather with accidental factors related to learning and experience.
This syndrome is becoming more common as people use the Internet and come to their doctors
anxiously clutching various print-outs of rare disease symptoms, whereas probably all they have
is something common and benign.

In many, many cases nothing is the matter with the patient at all, but when somebody comes
along who makes them believe otherwise, then their own belief changes and the body is changing
with it. For example, when someone wants to be taken care of and enjoys the attention that
others give them for being ill, the person will create the symptoms and make themselves ill to get
that source of "love".

Filtering Systems:
Passive: audible, sight, etc.; i.e., the spectrum range of the senses. Belief systems are also
passive filtering systems.
Active: consciously directed, focused awareness.

Illusion:
Why we experience so much pain and suffering is because we dis-align ourselves from Truth.
Instead we react to illusion. We make ‘what is’ wrong and ‘Bad’ or ‘Good’. It’s this label or
judgment that is the illusion. The illusion is both perceiving the world for something it is not, and
reacting to that false perception with false programming to resist what is. Illusions are beliefs that
are not aligned with truth (of who we are and Universal Principles).

Our imaginations generally keep us in the past or the future, away from the present moment
where life occurs. So instead of responding to the present, we react to the past or future. Even
when we do respond to a present moment event, our reaction generally is filled with the past or
future. Anything that includes the past or future is an illusion. Anything that is pure present
moment is now.

Examples of how our senses manipulate us:

1. The world is flat.
2. The media convinces us of an event that never occurred in order to manipulate public opinion.
For example, the incident where the media staged an event to align the U.S. public to start the
Gulf war by claiming that the Iraqi's were stealing baby incubators and leaving the baby's to die.
This was later found to be a fabricated story.
All illusions are psychological and therefore inhibit expansion of consciousness. Illusions always
involve distorted perceptions of who we are, and consciousness development proceeds through
increasing awareness of who we are.

Illusions block us from experiencing the essence or soul of things and people. They block us from
knowing something as it is or knowing someone as they are. When we perceive another through
an illusion we perceive them as we are in our personality with all our limitations and weaknesses.
In short, when we relate to others from our personality identification we colour our perceptions by
our limitations. When we relate to them from our soul identification we colour our perceptions with
understanding, compassion and support.

An illusion is a misinterpretation which we project when we perceive something. We draw

conclusions or react emotionally on the basis of the projected illusion. Illusion is created when we
make false assumptions about the nature of life and about our own nature. These false
assumptions are basic illusions behind all other illusions.

The illusion of separation is the most basic of all human illusions, and is shared by everyone who
uses the physical senses and the mind to know things. This illusion is the basis of fear. This
illusion is the fundamental cause of war, hatred, racism, conflicts, and manipulation, as well as
disregard for nature and the environment. It is also responsible for the alienation we have from
our soul.

On a form level, where our senses function in order to be able to perceive and experience
particulars, we experience how things are separate from one another. This includes experiencing
ourselves as separate from others and from the whole. We need to honour the separateness of
reality, including our own, in order to come to appreciate and understand uniqueness. It is the
uniqueness of each being, and our own uniqueness, that is the reason for being; it is the purpose
of our existence.

Our Perception is influenced by:

1. What we are focused on (this is an active process that filters what we take in)
o This is why it's so important to be present in the moment to take in what is, rather
than the illusion of the past or future.
2. Background beliefs, i.e., belief systems (this a passive process)
3. Expectations (this is a passive process)
o This is why we have 'change blindness' because we tend to see what we expect to
see. So when something changes we don't see it change.

Emotion is generally triggered when something unexpected happens either 'good' or 'bad'.
For people that cannot feel their emotions (which comes about from certain disorders in the brain) have
a very difficult time making choices because they have no emotional drive one way or the other. In
other words, they are paralyzed.
Our BElief systems color our perception of our environment with emotions.

Our inner journey takes us through the following stages relative to love and fear:

1. UNCONSCIOUS LOVE: When we are born, we exist as pure love but we are not conscious of our
love.
2. UNCONSCIOUS FEAR: Our souls have set the stage for our evolution. As we grow, unconscious
fears arise in our personalities that draw experiences to us that wound us.

3. CONSCIOUS FEAR: Our wounds bring pain and suffering that enable us to become conscious of
our fears.

4. CONSCIOUS LOVE: When we've suffered enough pain, we are motivated to move through our
fears to consciously experience the love that supports all.

Aligning to Truth:
When we align the BE IDentity to truth we get the Female component.
When we align the THINK paradigms, programming to Universal Law we get the Male component.

The amygdala is the center of aggression.

The hypothalamus influences the pituitary gland (which is the mother of all glands that creates
the neuroendrocrine cascade to the other glands), and the autonomic system (which controls the
autonomous functions and responses of the body such as digestion, etc.). The hypothalamus in
turn is influenced by the cortex which is the memory, imagination, and consciousness.
Hypothalmus also influences the genes that get replicated to produce proteins / amino acids. So
the actual genetics call also be influenced by our emotions.

"Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If

encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are
drained." -- Arthur Somers Roche

Our body is a natural system. When we react to an illusion that is not in alignment to reality /
nature, then we create toxicity in our bodies. Aligning to Natural Law aligns our physical bodies to
the natural energy flow.

There are two parts of the brain that do not operate together. They are poles apart. There is the
prefrontal cortex which is the highest part of the brain. Being consciously soul connected requires
one to focus through this part of the brain. In order for this focus to prevail, one must be at
peace, non-combative, and not defensive. Being fearful blocks this part of the brain from
controlling.

When people are afraid, they do not think creatively, compassionately or independently. This kind
of thought requires the use of the higher brain. If we have previously developed this part of the
brain, and have a tendency to use it on a regular basis, it will continue to attract our attention to
cope with situations.

What results when both the higher brain wants to be active, and the primitive, defensive brain is
activated through fear, is a real conflict between the two. This conflict typically produces
heightened stress, chronic anxiety, chaos, confusion and depression.

Changing body physiology through love and touch:

The electro-magnetic energy from our heart becomes coherent when we feel love in any of its
many forms, like appreciation, gratitude, care, forgiveness, and compassion. If we touch someone
or are close to them in this state, our heart energy directly affects their brain waves. Their brain
entrains to our heart, enabling them to be receptive to the love we are feeling. This has been
demonstrated through ECG and EEG recordings.

This linking has a uniting effect and also a strengthening effect on the other’s person’s physiology,
including their immune system. It also then enables them to be more coherent in their own
energies, helping them to have greater mental clarity as well as greater soul access. It can lift
them out of their victimhood or defensiveness, and open them to the power of love, which they
will then want to express to others. What a wonderful way of co- creating a better world!

The energy flow in the yellow loop is stuck as it feeds back on itself resisting the BEingness and
causing disharmony in the body and depleting its energy. Essentially, we use our energy to
survive the trigger (fear) instead of connecting with it. When we judge something as "Bad" we
resist what is and use our personal energy to resist it and go against the natural flow of energy.
Procrastination is also stuck energy. It will continue to cause damage until we release that energy
and let it go. To do that we need to give it an outlet to allow it to dissipate and give space for
something new to arise. We connect male and female. We identify the lie that keeps the energy
stuck, i.e., the false belief system, and replace it with the Truth of who we are and Universal
Principles. That releases the energy and allows it to flow. Our mind, emotions, spirit and physical
begin to balance from there.

By expressing and feeling the emotion you not only release the energy of the emotion, but also
identify the belief system behind the emotion. Once you identify the belief system it no longer has
power over you. Now you can shine the light of Truth to on to the illusion / lie to integrate it with
the Truth. Feeling the emotion means you get deep in identifying the deeper emotions. Much like
a wine connoisseur would taste a fine wine. They go deep to taste and smell all the deeper, more
subtle flavors. That is what allows us to take our power back from our emotions.

On the other hand, when something "Good" happens (i.e., we win the lottery) we don't resist it,
we embrace it. So we don't use our energy against it. Instead we seek and attach to what we
judge as "Good", and we avoid and resist what we judge as "Bad" (EEQ). Attaching to something
also takes energy as we are now using energy to hold onto the "Good". Rather than judge we just
need to be neutral, unattached and embrace it all.

Feel your emotions

"The key is to not resist or rebel against emotions or to try to get around them by devising all
sorts of tricks; but to accept them directly, as they are."

-- Takahisa Kora

Emotions are energy in motion. They bring us information if we are willing to experience them.
Unfortunately, many of us are afraid of the energy of emotions and so we automatically resist
them. And when we refuse to experience our emotions, we block them up. They become trapped
and that entrapment drains our energy and brings continuing discomfort.

Don't let emotions push you into action or reaction. Just STOP and PAY ATTENTION. Allow them to
be and to speak to you. Once they are acknowledged, their energy is released.

"Instead of resisting any emotion, the best way to dispel it is to enter it fully, embrace it and see
through your resistance."

-- Deepak Chopra
"We have to become more conscious of our feeling-world. By learning to identify the ‘emotional
baggage’ and manage our feeling-world reactions, we can view life based on current information
instead of being held captive by our past."

-- Doc Childre

"Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge."

-- Audre Lorde

"People are defeated by easy, victorious and cheap successes more than by adversity."
Today’s social standard is one of mediocrity. The status quo rarely challenges our individual
creative power.

Learn to Let Go:

“To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day.”

-- Lao Tzu

How do we take something away? As we cultivate higher awareness, we begin to see just how
much we have added things that really aren’t there to our picture of reality. Our beliefs, concepts
and emotions all add layers of meaning to physical reality, but that meaning exists for us only – it
has no objective existence. For example, the word ‘mother’ has a complicated network of meaning
for each of us.

Become aware of how your beliefs and emotions colour your perception of different events in your
life. See if you can begin to step out of your fabrications to experience the truth and spaciousness
of what is.

“When guilt rears its ugly head confront it, discuss it and let it go. The past is over. … Forgive
yourself and move on.”

In confusion:

“It is while trying to get everything straight in my head that I get confused.”

-- Mary Virginia Micka

When I get confused, when my mind is wrestling with what to do, I have learned to abandon my
thought processes completely. The best solution, I’ve discovered, lies in asking my heart for
direction. This requires that I stop my mental chatter, either by sitting in silence or by doing
something completely different. In quiet, still space, I often know what’s needed, with a clarity I
never get from the labouring of my mind.

And I now know, without doubt, that when I’m confused is never the time to act. I must wait for
clarity.
Growing in Faith:
If you are to grow in faith and trust in the Divine Plan, you are going to have to bump up against
those places that are uncomfortable and take leaps that take you beyond what you know to do as
mere mortal.

It is in those moments of flying across the abyss of your leap with an unknown trajectory, that
you have no other option than to trust that you will land safely.

When you are experiencing your greatest challenge and / or you have the greatest change
happening in your life that is when you will most likely be pushing up against your belief system
boundaries of comfort and you will experience your greatest charge. In these moments when you
are at your lowest point in life is when you have the greatest opportunity for a breakthrough to
the other side of the polarity. Embrace these moments and step into the chaos, pain and hurt with
faith that it is the doorway to an incredible breakthrough to the other side of the polarity.

Transforming painful memories:

We can transform painful memories by re-imagining them from the soul’s perspective of love and
meaning.

Integrating Your Dark Side:

You don’t get rid of your dark side (shadow, ego). Instead you expose it to the light of Truth. You
neutralize the dark with the light. You shine the light of truth on it and transform the experience.
You use the experience for compassion and to form your personality. Your dark side is part of who
you are. You just don’t allow it to rule and drive you. You instead use it to inform you and build
your discernment.

Love your shadows

Each of us has characteristics we define as ‘good’ and those we define as ‘bad.’ The parts of
ourselves that we continually reject want to be acknowledged and loved. Until we honour these
aspects, they will continue to assert themselves. They will do whatever they can to get our
attention.

Through awareness we become empowered and we eventually realize that we have choice in
every situation, that we can choose to respond or to react.

The greatest tension for expanding consciousness and ‘creating soul’ is the tension of opposites
between personality and soul, such as the simultaneous presence of fear (personality) and
courage (soul). The fear prompts one to fight or flight, while the courage prompts one to stand up
to what needs to be faced. These opposite urges naturally and strongly seek resolution so action
can take place. Tension would cease if either of the opposites was repressed or avoided. Both
must remain equally present in order for a transformation to occur.

Many of us unconsciously believe that we’re unworthy or defective. We adopted this belief very
early in our lives when the people we looked up to disapproved of our demands, wishes and
behaviours. We concluded that we had to learn to be good.

Unfortunately, ‘being good’ usually meant giving up our own differences or uniqueness. We
learned that we might get the love we wanted if we acted and felt like others wanted us to.
If we seek true joy and connection with life, we now need to remove these artificial masks and
express our deep authentic nature.

Who am I? To answer this, we must first learn to become more aware of ourselves. To be aware,
we must STOP and PAY ATTENTION! We need to STOP and objectively watch ourselves in action.

We live most of our lives by habit. These habits keep us stuck in patterns that limit our experience
of life. Once we detect a pattern we were previously unconscious of, we can choose differently, if
we want. With awareness comes choice and with choice, we gain freedom.

“To be authentic is literally to be your own author …, to discover your own native energies and
desires, and then to find your own way of acting on them.”

“Self-knowledge is the great power by which we comprehend and control our lives.”

When we don’t know who we are -- or if we are afraid to be who we are -- we betray ourselves.
We pretend to be who we think we are. Our self image is made up of our experiences, desires and
other people’s ideas and expectations of us.

Maintaining this false self is a betrayal of ourselves. In all deep spiritual journeys, there is the
experience of betrayal. Betrayal always tells us to adjust our life to be more authentic. What we
identify with is all important.

There are large betrayals (e.g., your partner leaving you) and small betrayals (e.g.,
disappointments). They are all experiences of being wounded for the purpose of breaking down
the defenses of the personality. When we allow the wounding and accept the betrayals as divine
gifts, we greatly benefit.

When we make an effort to set an intention, no matter how trivial it may appear, we are taking
the time to choose what we want for ourselves. And clearly, this is essential for our growth – to
actively, thoughtfully choose what we want for ourselves.

“By becoming a conscious choice-maker, you begin to generate actions that are evolutionary for
you.”

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual
experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.”

-- Denis Waitley

Peace, joy, health and well-being can only be found inside us. They exist within us now, waiting to
be discovered. Yet we tend to look to the outside world to satisfy our needs and longings.

Our outer life reflects back to us the way we think, feel and behave. The outer world is all effects.
Go to the source inside for all of life’s treasures.

How are you searching for peace and contentment outside of yourself?

"The great Western disease is, ‘I'll be happy when… When I get the money. When I get a BMW.
When I get this job.’ Well, the reality is, you never get to when. The only way to find happiness is
to understand that happiness is not out there. It's in here. And happiness is not next week. It's
now."
-- Marshall Goldsmith

"... at any moment in time what we see outside of us reflects our

internal field of consciousness... As such it is a mirror for us.
Looking in this mirror can be painful, but it is not nearly so
painful as pretending that the mirror is not there."

“You have made this world and you can change it. The world, of which you are the only source
and ground, is fully within your power to change. What is created can always be dissolved and re-
created. All will happen as you want it, provided you really want it. You have created the world’s
sorrows out of your own desires and fears, you deal with them. All is due to your having forgotten
your own being. Having given reality to the picture on the screen, you love its people and suffer
for them and seek to save them. It is just not so. You must begin with yourself. There is no other
way.”

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

When someone is angry with you, or simply angry, you might ask yourself if it is because they
want understanding, or want to be supported (empowered) or want to be loved. It will always be
one of these, and often all three. What is your most appropriate response? Usually you will not
love or support without understanding. So attempting to understand, and assisting the angry
person to understand themselves better, is worth your undivided attention.

Conscious Communication:

Conscious communication requires us to be truly present to what is occurring. When we are

unconscious, we both speak to and react to others out of habit. And in the face of what we
perceive as someone’s judgment and criticism, we automatically (and unconsciously) defend,
withdraw or attack.

To communicate consciously requires attention to two areas:

I need to speak from awareness of what I am perceiving, feeling and needing, and

Through watching and listening, I need to be aware of those same needs in others.

“When we focus on clarifying what is being observed, felt, and needed rather than on diagnosing
and judging, we discover the depth of our own compassion.”

10 questions to ask whenever you desire more clarity, more focus, more balance, and more inner
confidence about your path of light.

1. As I consider an issue or situation, am I looking at both the relevant details and the big
picture?

2. What is the key missing piece of information that will allow me to have clarity about an issue or
situation?
3. What is in the way of my seeing what I need to see?

4. How am I sabotaging my own progress?

5. In what ways am I giving away my power?

6. What is the one change I could make in my life to radically shift out of past rigid conditioning
and into a more enlightened state?

7. As I consider the current outer world news and prophecies about 2012, which things are really
true, which are assumption, which make me the most fearful, and which cause me to feel the
most hope?

8. How comfortable do I feel becoming more transparent with myself, my loved ones, and my
outer world?

9. What am I afraid to know about myself?

10. Have I remembered today that I am a Co-Creator, contemplating what that means in action?

Your One Choice

You really have one choice to make when it comes to change. Are you embracing your role as Co-
Creator or are you allowing yourself to be a victim of change?

What’s needed for a new relationship with time and life?

Intention -- Get really clear about what you want.

Desire -- How much do you want something new for yourself? Know your motivation. Desire
brings the energy for change.

Belief and/or willingness to trust you can have what you want. If belief is lacking, can you believe
in the possibility that you can find a new way of living?

Perseverance, discipline -- It takes time and effort to change attitudes and habits. We can’t expect
a new life overnight.
Acceptance, both of what’s happening now and of who we are. Until we honestly and openly
accept our present situation, we cannot change it.

A willingness to try something new.

Laughter

Many of us take life so seriously yet fun and laughter bring so many gifts. Laughter releases
endorphins and energizes us. It shifts our perspectives, lightens our load and lifts our spirits.
Laughter is contagious and stimulates even more humor. Beware, though: it may bring on
humorrhoids or truth decay!

Let's have more fun right now with two simple jokes:

Did you hear about the baker who went bankrupt?

He ran out of dough!

Did you hear about the butcher who got behind in his business?
He backed into the meat grinder!

What happens when we hear jokes like this? The questions prompt our minds to open and search
for answers. Then when we hear the answer and reflect on it, we grasp the double meaning. The
'ah-ha' turns into a 'ha-ha.'

Humor always offers some kind of 'out of the box' ideas that break us out of our linear thinking.
The new twist presented creates a new connection in our brains. This expands our perception.

By the same token, playfulness sets us up to expand consciousness. When we are playful, we are
open, spontaneous and welcoming new possibilities. Because we are enjoying ourselves, fear is
minimized. Life is full of potential and possibilities and the attitude of play helps us access these
potentialities and new experiences of consciousness.

So give humor and playfulness a higher priority in your life. Allow your mind to open to the bigger
picture and play with a new level of freedom. Build up more interconnections in your mind and life
will reflect new dimensions back to you.

Male / Female Integration:

I AM (Female ) that I AM (Male)

This is the Truth About the Self:

0. All the power that ever was and will be is here now.
1. I am a center of expression for the Primal Will-to-Good which eternally creates and sustains
the Universe.
2. Through me its unfailing Wisdom takes form in thought and word.
3. Filled with Understanding of its perfect law, I am guided, moment by moment, along the path
of liberation.
4. From the exhaustless riches of it Limitless Substance, I draw all things needful, both spiritual
and material.
5. I recognize the manifestation of the undeviating Justice in all the circumstances of my life.
6. In all things, great and small, I see the Beauty of the divine expression.
7. Living from that Will, supported by its unfailing Wisdom and Understanding, mine is the
Victorious Life.
8. I look forward with confidence to the perfect realization of the Eternal Splendor of the Limitless
Light.
9. In thought and word and deed, I rest my life, from day to day, upon the Foundation of Eternal
Being.
10. The Kingdom of Spirit is embodied in my flesh.

Divine Order is Divine Mind / Intelligence in operation. Divine Intelligence are the Universal
Principles in Operation. They are always in operation, and always perfect.
Universal Principles validate themselves with each other and are always in operation in nature.
They apply to humans as much as they apply to nature.

Pure in Mind / thought (M). Pure in Heart (F).

You cannot get the guidance unless you have cleared the false belief systems and replaced them
with truth. One cannot be open to receiving unless they know who they are in their True Self.
Knowingness of who we are opens the door to be led and guided in synchronicity with Universal
Energy flow. That requires that one have cleared their emotional charges and integrated truth.

From the story of Adam and Eve and the Tree of Knowledge of 'Good' and 'Evil', the snake
represents the kundalini energy which is the integration of male and female.

Masters teach that we can experience two completely different states of reality at the same time
-- from the personality and from the soul.

Author Pema Chödron talks about being hungry, cold and tired but at that same time deeply
content. Ram Dass speaks of how the emotional heart can be breaking while we recognize that all
is unfolding perfectly.

Allowing our soul to be present with the discomforts of the personality shifts our experience of the
discomforts.

"True self simply refers to the aspect of our being that is completely aware of its expanded nature
no matter what we may be experiencing in our lives."

Making Choices

"You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear
doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind."

My anxiety level spiked the other day as I wrestled with whether to choose option A or option B. I
was so afraid of making the wrong choice!

And then I remembered, with deep gratitude, Susan Jeffers’ sage advice: There are no wrong
decisions! Whatever we might choose in life will bring valuable experiences if we are open to
receive them.

“Lighten up! Whatever happens as a result of your decision, you’ll handle it!”
"This business of hozho. The way I understand it ... I’ll use an example. Terrible drought, crops
dead, sheep dying. Spring dried out. No water. The Hopi, or the Christian, maybe the Moslem,
they pray for rain. The Navajo has the proper ceremony done to restore himself to harmony with
the drought. You see what I mean. The system is designed to recognize what’s beyond human
power to change, and then to change the human’s attitude to be content with the inevitable."

Relating:

1. Show up, being present with all four mental, emotional, physical and spiritual intelligences.

2. Pay attention to what has heart and meaning.

3. Tell the truth without blame or judgment.

4. Be open to outcome, not attached to outcome.

Be Still and Know that I Am God:

Waves in the water... When the water is calm and peaceful it is like glass. The reflection is clear.
When a Divine message enters it is easily heard and understood. Much like a small drop in a pond
of still water can be seen in great clarity and distinguished as it is the only message there.
However, when the water is choppy and scattered with many messages coming from various
sources and clashing and creating greater unrest and anxiety in the person, then the small drop
gets lost in the noise bombarding the person. That noise can be emotions, environmental stimuli,
etc. The way to really hear God's message is to be still in your mind and heart like the pond and
be open to receiving. Then just listen. It is always there.

Truth and Illusion (from Soul Journey archives)

Truths and Illusions

Truths and illusions govern our life, but are largely unconscious. When they are unconscious we
usually live more the illusions. By becoming aware of them, we would activate the huge truth
potentials that are within us. Illusions are associated with the literal. An illusion is typically a
literal or limited fact, perception or reality without reference to the larger reality it is part of. It is
therefore a limitation of perception. Illusions are often perpetuated by belief systems and by what
or whom people accept as authorities that claim to know the truth.

As we become more psychological we develop the capacity to know and face ourselves as
personalities. When we do the individual psychological work we become more aware of ourselves
and our perceptions. We develop the inner authority that we rely on. We are more capable then of
becoming more universal in our approach to life, grasping and fulfilling our purpose as a
contribution to humanity and the planet. The result is increased personality-soul integration.

Almost all human beings, including those on the spiritual path, live the illusion that they are their
personalities. Even when we begin to give mental assent to this as an illusion we do not change
how we feel about ourselves because we still identify with our form life. As a result we try to live a
meaningful life within a context that makes meaning of superficial things that do not touch the
heart. We cannot live a truly meaningful life if we believe in real separation or disconnection.
We need to wake up to our essence, which is called soul, and recognize that we are our essence
and need to identify with it. When this is done meaning can finally be given to everything that
happens and purpose is revealed. This transition from personality to soul identification is a long
and arduous journey with many illusionary traps along the way. When we begin to identify with
soul there are no immediate dramatic changes, but gradually we add real quality to our lives.

Our human-divine constitution is our path of development and source of creative expression.
Without this knowledge, people who want to live a more meaningful life try harder to be good, try
to develop more willpower to be able to control more and work at setting and achieving goals;
they might also develop an allegiance toward some external authority or devotion toward
someone or something outside themselves. These are all prerequisites to the soul journey and
take place within personality life. However, at some point we need to go beyond all of these
‘improvement’ strategies if we want to experience and express soul. But we won’t do that without
a direct knowledge and experience of ourselves as more than personalities.

All true growth must involve soul and follow universal laws. If it does not, it is a temporary
illusion. Without knowledge of soul and universal laws that govern every single aspect of our lives
it is not possible to change anything or step out of an illusion – and certainly not the illusion of
being our personalities.

Personality growth is often motivated by the idea that we can change our personalities. We
cannot, and therefore our efforts are often geared toward creating illusions, without realizing that
this is what we are doing. All we can really do is make choices that enable our personality to be
more open to, and expressive of, our essence, our soul. Knowing the universal laws and truths of
life can help us make wise choices, less self- centred choices that would foster illusions.

Truth

In today’s stressful world people often want safety and security rather than something as noble as
truth. They don’t believe that the truth will set them free. When the primitive brain is activated
through the stresses and challenges of life, we revert to its primary objective: assure personal
security above all else. Often we feel more secure if we simply align ourselves with the collective
thinking, and adopt what society or others believe and hold to be true. There is a price to pay for
this way of gaining security, albeit a false security. That price is loss of soul. Soul demands
personal sensitivity to what is real and responsibility for expressing that truth.

The pursuit of truth often puts one at odds with this social security. When we pursue truth we do
so using the prefrontal cortex of the brain and the intelligence of the heart. When these two most
developed physical organs are active, our truth detector, the soul, can function through us. For
this to happen, we must go beyond concerns of safety and security and be willing to take the
responsibility of sharing and loving as a response to the awareness of truth we will discover.

"I am the way, the truth and the life." These words are attributed to the incarnation of Divinity,
thus to the soul. Soul is the way or the path upon which the individual meets one’s universality.
This is where Human and God become one. This oneness is the truth of who we all are in our
essence.

Truth is reality - what is. Truth is universal, but our experience of it is invariably relative.
Universal truth means that it is present everywhere and always. There is truth on form levels as
well, but here truth is relative - i.e., relative to the level or dimension in which it exists. Gravity is
a truth on the physical level, which means that we live in a world where gravity affects us as a
fact of life. Anger is a truth on the emotional level; it exists in our earthly reality. A thought is a
truth on the mental level; we have minds, and we have the ability to reason and think. And since
these form levels are experienced by individuals with these bodies, the experience of truth on
these levels is not only relative, but also subjective. We do have what are called ‘objective’ truths,
but these are probably more accurately described as ‘consensual’ truths - things that we
collectively, or in large numbers, agree upon.

Truths are formulations of universal realities. All relative truths are expressions of universal truth,
as they are particulars of the universal.

Most of us have been conditioned to rely on external authorities to tell us what is true and what is
not true. These authorities were originally parents, then society and culture, and perhaps also
religion. We tend to believe as true whatever is reported by the media because the media says it
is true. Most people have not developed trust within themselves to detect truth, and so they call
truth whatever they want to believe. Thus truth becomes relative to one’s beliefs, having
abandoned the quest for universal Truth.

The word for truth used in the phrase, "I am the way, the truth and the life," is alethe in Greek. It
means ‘not to forget.’ It suggests that if we are to remember who we are, our universality, we
must identify with soul which is imbued with Spirit, our ultimate Truth. We must go within to find
the way, and allow our heart to guide us on our way, for it is capable of knowing Truth, of
knowing what is real. To remember means to put ourselves back together again with who we
really are, connecting our individuality with our universality, our relative truth with our ultimate
truth.

What makes anything true is the degree to which it contains universal reality, the degree of its
beauty, its goodness, its love, its intelligence, its response to fulfilling needs, its contribution to
the whole. We have a Truth Detector within us. When we don’t trust it we live in illusion about
ourselves and others, thereby hurting ourselves and others.

No one person’s truth is greater than another’s, and no one person can grasp the whole. It is
together, collectively, in the grasping of the various truths of life, derived from our experiences,
that truth itself, can be approached.

To be able to know what is true and what is not we must develop two mental senses: discernment
and discrimination. We must first of all develop discrimination - the mental ability to make a
distinction between things and know the definitions of things. Then we must develop
discernment to be able to relate to the inherent quality of things. (This requires soul influence on
the mind.) The quality of things are revealed by their relationships. When something is in relation
to something else it is the quality of the being or thing that makes the actual connection, not
something external. The level of relationship discovered depends upon the observer’s ability to
sense or be conscious. We discover the ultimate quality of anything when we can see its ultimate
relationship to the Spirit cause of its existence, when we know the universal reality or law that
maintains it in existence. This awareness is soul consciousness. The most universal quality of
anything that we can detect is its recognition and support of the value of everyone and everything
in the whole of life. It is completely selfless.

Our 21st century calling is to be a revealer of truth. That sounds rather pompous and
presumptuous. And it is - for the personality. But it is not for the soul conscious one who is willing
to serve. Fears and rationalizations of many kinds will surface in the face of this invitation. But
understand it correctly and we see that there is nothing to fear. Mistakes will be made, of course.
But we learn from mistakes.

We can reveal truth by teaching, creating or demonstrating beauty. People are more open to
beauty than they are to truth because beauty touches one in the heart. People do not yet know
very well how to perceive truth with the heart, and therefore usually reduce it to mental
perception where truth becomes personalized as ‘my truth,’ thereby creating illusion.

Soul expression is creative. That is the only life there is for soul consciousness. It involves the
manifestation of truth in beautiful forms and in all expressions of mind, heart and action. This is
the new consciousness now seeking to manifest in the world.

Truth and Illusion

Over the years I have been disillusioned by public figures and spokespeople for institutions ‘telling
lies’ to the public, or twisting the truth, in order to manipulate people’s thinking. I have thought a
lot about truth and lies in order to gain some peace with this common reality, and wish to share
some of these reflections with you.

I have learned a few things, such as the fact that everyone has some kind of agenda which is
frequently self-serving, and they will do whatever they can to fulfill that agenda. I have also
learned that the words ‘truth’ and ‘lie’ don’t usually apply in the way we normally use those
words. If we think about it, we could always find other ways of more accurately describing what
we would label with these words. Most often we use them as value judgements, implying that we
agree (truth) or do not agree (lie). What we think we are doing when using these words is making
a factual statement, but that is seldom the case.

In spiritual philosophy we separate reality into truth and illusion, equating these terms with the
real and the unreal. While these are valid distinctions in themselves, they cannot be applied to
describe the manifest world. They are only valid as descriptions of our perceptions. Perceptions,
however, can be either superficial or deeply insightful.

Truth is a perception of depth in which we perceive more of what is there, while illusion is a
superficial perception of reality.

From this description it is quite obvious that a lot of what passes as truth in the public arena –
clearly evident in political statements – and between people, is illusion.

At the superficial level of reality we experience separateness and disconnection. At deeper levels
we experience unity. It is through deepening our perceptions that we begin to experience the
deeper levels of who we are and of what things are, and there we find connections. This is why
people make meaningful connections with one another when they reveal their depths to each
other.

Truth is what is real at a deeper level than the form or appearance level of anything. This is why
in Eastern philosophies the form world is called the world of illusion. The form is but the outer
expression of truth. To put it philosophically, truth is therefore the essence of something or the
existence of something, rather than the appearance of something. The essence and existence of
anything or anyone are unique in the sense that they each contain both the universal dimension
and the individual dimension. It is the universal dimension that links all life and all beings
together. Truth is therefore always unifying in its effects. And when we speak the truth we are
integrating our inner (soul) and outer (personality) selves.

When we perceive or experience either the essence or the existence of something, we do so with
both personality awareness and soul consciousness. The personality awareness enables us to see
the individual nature, and the soul consciousness enables us to perceive and experience the
universal nature.
Truth is not the same as facts. So in our pursuit of truth, we are not talking about ‘telling the
truth’ as opposed to ‘telling a lie.’ We are talking about living truth versus living illusion. What we
call ‘telling the truth’ and ‘telling a lie’ are both often different versions of illusion and ways of
remaining in control of a situation. We adjust to the version that enables us to be in control, have
the upper hand, get what we want, or be ‘right’.

As we develop soul consciousness we increasingly respond automatically to that which is true,

good and beautiful because we increasing experience the essence of things, including our own
essence. Then whenever we deny the true, good or beautiful, or attempt to act contrary to them,
the brain immediately detects an error. The brain is an instrument of the soul and knows
instinctively when we are functioning inconsistently without our true inner nature. It says, ‘There
is something wrong that needs to be rectified.’ This creates physical, emotional and mental
conflict and anxiety, relative to the degree of soul consciousness a person has. Responding to this
inner need for rectification, we are urged to expand our consciousness by going deeper and
embracing more fully what is real.

Illusion is an incomplete perception of truth. When we do not perceive with soul consciousness we
do not know the universal dimensions of what we are seeing or experiencing. We are then able to
perceive or experience only the form or appearance of something. This partial perception, which is
personality perception only, is described as illusion. It is seeing the part, the particular, the
individual or the appearance, and relating to it as if it had no other dimensions to its existence.

Illusion is rigid, fixed and somewhat static. It is limited and held in place by its form. Truth on the
other hand is very flexible as it can express itself in endless ways and still be itself. One truth of
who we are is our human nature. All human beings share the same nature but every human being
is a unique expression of that nature. So human nature expresses itself in billions of different
ways. When we are creative we express this uniqueness, which is not an expression of what is
different, but what is real about who we are. This is truth.