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Cultivate Life!

August 19th, 2008

Quotes of the Week

"A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart." --Jonathan Swift

"With the gift of listening comes the gift of healing." --Catherine de Hueck

"Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." --Albert Einstein

The Wheel of Life

The truth that lies within us, independent of external experience, learning and the views of others, is intuitive spiritual knowledge called "gnosis." It comes from the mysterious spiritual Source. Acquiring gnosis has been the goal of seekers since time immemorial. There have been "mystery schools" for this purpose since ancient Egypt and the races of north India, followed by Greek philosophers (led by Pythagoras), Mediterrannean cults and various pagan societies world-wide. They had schools for the initiated to acquire mystical knowledge and at the same time presented symbolic myths for the masses that were less interested in mysteries without a tangible answer and more in a good story. Christianity is an example, which started off as a gnostic school and eventually was taken over by the appealing story being taken literally, and the gnosis was forgotten or repressed.

Gnostic Techniques
The mystery schools practiced techniques of "incubation" - like near death experiences, such that the Ego dissolved, and the seeker realizes that the life he or she had was in a way an illusion, a play: "all the world is but a play and thou the joyful player."

The stillness practiced in incubation was a means for coming as close as possible to the divine world. When we are fed facts and information, it tends not to touch us deeply and does not satisfy us. We try to find other substitutes to fill the void we still feel inside. But when someone became a Pythagorean, it started to become a matter of learning less and less; there were fewer answers and more riddles. Techniques would be provided for entering other states of consciousness; otherwise the emphasis was placed less and less on being given teachers and more on finding the inner resources to discover your own answers inside yourself. The aim was to realize inside yourself what others may simply think or talk about. This had the power to transform people, to lead through a process of death and rebirth to what lies behind the human condition: one's essential spirituality, a transpersonal quality shared with universal consciousness.

The Gnostic teaching - as found all the way back to the most ancient of literature, such as the Indian Vedas - is not a set of rules which we must follow to become 'good.' It is about discovering our own essential nature, which is good already, so that we can live spontaneously. The Gnostics taught that we can liken the truth of our situation to a wheel, with many spokes and an outer rim. Each spoke is an individual. Where we connect to the outer rim is our interface to the physical world, this is our Ego. At the hub of the wheel is Source, a unified quality of creative love. The center symbolizes God the father and the outside symbolizes the Goddess, mother nature.

The Higher Self
The true nature of our consciousness is an expression of unconditional love. When we pass love from our Higher Self, near the center of the wheel, to our outer self in everyday life, we are uniting male and female.

Timothy Freke, who has written so brilliantly on Gnosis in Jesus and the Lost Goddess: The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians, sums it up: "Although we seem to be separate individuals, in reality we are all expressions of one primal imagination. We assume we are many, but in fact we are one. And what we do to each other we do to ourselves."

Enlightenment is to recognize that at the center of the wheel, the separation one experiences at the rim is an illusion, that essentially all is One... the "light that is one though the lamps be many." The "light" is love. Love is caring and connection. Love is what we feel when we realize we are one - two separate players in the game of life but joined together in essence, sharing our space. When we realize that everyone is connected at Source, we may experience love without limits, including those who may appear to be hostile or indifferent by outer appearances.

Timothy Freke says: "Love can be a wonderful feeling, but it also means willingly suffering. The more we love others, the more we suffer with them. Love takes courage. Love can be resolutely tough as well as charmingly sweet. As every parent knows, we can love and still disapprove, challenge and even punish. Indeed we can do all these things because we love."

I feel it is important to recognize the complementary but differing aspects of our being - the spiritual Higher Self and the human being (physical body-mind personality) identified with and intimately involved with the game of life. We may in essence be all One but we are also each and every one of us unique individuals on the earthly plane.

Each of us is a player in the game of life, which we may liken to the rolling wheel... at the wheel's center one is undifferentiated from God; toward the center one is the Higher Self; at the interface between the physical world, the wheel's rim, one is Ego, an individuated self. Taken together, we should embrace both our humanity and oneness in spirit. Though we may be reborn as the Higher Self, it is premature for the death of the Ego.

The Role of Ego
In fact it normally goes beyond that, in that the remorseless turning and grinding of the wheel and one's intimate contact with this dimension, makes one forget one comes from the Source and the physical world that the wheel encounters is considered the cause of all; external influences become habituated thought and one becomes "programmed" - to a significant extent an automaton. An increase of awareness from that trance-like state is in fact to become individuated, to realize one's self and one's role in the game; to become mindful and develop one's Ego beyond reactivity; to become response-able; to chose the games one is involved in - the route the wheel traverses.

A fundamental mistake in much New Age philosophy is to nullify the Ego's role. There is a mangling of the word "Ego" (Freud's word for self) and the behavior of a weak Ego - which is to be "egotistical." To ignore the role of the Ego is to attempt to perceive only the bird's eye view of life, an objective but uninvolved overview, forgetting we have a personal involvement in the game of life, which is essential to our process of learning from experience and to achieving the purpose we are living here for.

Rising further in consciousness, when one has released the fears and attachments of Ego (in other words, developed the Ego to its full potential), one increasingly recognizes the Higher Self, the aspect of oneself that never dies or goes away but is much closer to the center of the wheel, one's liaison with God. The Higher Self is not subject to the limitations of the brain's consciousness and can tap into the knowledge networks of universal consciousness; the Higher Self also knows one's fundamental purposes, who one IS in fullness. The Higher Self is still a Self however; albeit fully aware of and encompassing its dual nature as a reflection of God.

Even after death, therefore, one remains an individual lamp of consciousness, even though one is an essential aspect of the light of universal consciousness. Without the lamps the light would not shine. So one's existence is a two-sided coin - one is a unique individual and at the same time one is All That Is. The coin is spinning. Separation is an illusion but dreams are illusions too, and life is such an illusion, but nonetheless real for that: we need that separation for the identities of the be-do-have games of life. But separation is not the essential truth - the dreamer, when awakened, turns out to be the viewpoint of God.

The Inner Path
The vast majority of people approach their life, naturally enough, with the human viewpoint that all their genetic and cultural background brings to them. To make things happen in their life, they use their range of emotions to motivate them and their mental powers to solve problems. This is very different from the bird's-eye, spiritual view of life, that perceives the oneness and abundance in all. The enlightened master may be able to manifest physical objects - though normally won't as it would tend to be confusing and overwhelming to human observers - but most people who try to apply spiritual manifestation of this elevated kind will attempt to do so from within their very human belief system and level of consciousness, and therefore fail.

In fact any pure intent manifests, but normally intent is not pure, it is mixed with conflicting intentions, subconscious fears and blocking beliefs. It's all "working" but not to the desired effect. There are whole structures of these things, for the most part outside our waking consciousness, and it is these structures that subjective work on The Insight Project - Trans4mind's advanced spiritual development course - is intended to expose and dissolve. This is a valid and powerful Inner Path and complements well the equally important, more objective and outward facing, Path of Love.

The Path of Love
Now I'm no spiritual avatar as such - the beings who come to Earth from a much higher plane than ordinary mortals, who know themselves completely and do not have this subconscious Shadow side - but I have had success in raising my head out of the sea of conformity, and sometimes I've even broken free enough to stretch my wings and fly a little. So I've had enough experience of spiritual awareness to know well its benefits. The "secret" in my opinion is to adopt a middle way - to act towards one's goals by the conventional "goal setting and getting," but also to consciously move one's viewpoint as far as possible in the spiritual direction, to raise one's awareness more toward the center of the wheel of life.

This is the Path of Love. In practice, it means to feel compassionate love in your heart, without conditions and judgment, and one naturally therefore is motivated to be of service... Fear is egotistical and separating; love is integral and communicative. Being at one with the world in this way, one already feels grateful and abundant; the subconscious shadow of egotistical fears cannot exist in this illumination of Love. One is not attached to an outcome but one expects it to occur. And then the "magic" of spirituality will start to apply... synchronicities will occur, the right things happen at the right time, there are telepathic connections with others who act for you, the oneness of Spirit - which is creative Love - becomes evident and that you are part of its flow. One's intent manifests because it is pure.

Accepting Responsibility
Realize that one's own actions are a channel for Spirit because one is not separated - indeed, not to take part in manifestation would be to separate oneself and withdraw from its creation. Armchair manifestation on the human plane is misguided, I feel. We're here to do and to learn, to take part and connect with others, to express ourselves, to create with joyful enthusiasm. Although we expect our manifestation to occur, naturally we do our part.

Accept responsibility for being the agent, the one who will put into action and reality, all the actions and knowledge and wisdom and whatever else is required to manifest the state that is envisioned. One has to accept responsibility for being the agent, for that to happen. Not some other person delivering it to you on a plate. YOU are the channel for the manifestation of what you want to manifest. In spiritual terms, it's because you and others are One anyway. If you and all are One and all that is One is God, and God is manifesting, then that means you! You're not out of the equation. You can't expect other people to manifest something for you if you're not doing it yourself. That's virtually like saying I don't want it. You have to be responsible for making it happen.

And then, the magic happens. If you take responsibility for doing whatever is necessary to make this goal come true, using the old-fashioned goal setting and getting that we've been talking about earlier, then the magic happens - you find that synchronicities occur, that people arrive at the right time to help you in the way that you need just at that moment. So you accept responsibility for being a part of making happen what's going to happen. And then it will communicate to others and they will support you to do - by the magic of the universal mind - what is necessary to make it happen.

Meditation
I would point out that meditation is not about "clearing out the mind" and building a brick wall around it - that cuts out feelings and intuition too. It's about accepting what is there in your inner space - you, thoughts, feelings, wandering images and words, inner fears and loves, etc, etc - and loving that. Learn to accept and love yourself as you are; then tranquility comes. Be mindful but in an inclusive way - conscious of self but not in a detached manner, since the self is multi-faceted and includes body, feelings, mind and spirit. Then the voice can come through - your voice, the part of you that knows. Not mental self-talk; this is spiritual, your Higher Self. Not talking in words but simply knowing. The difference is that the Higher Self which offers inner guidance, and wisdom is always loving - unconditionally so.

The more you love yourself, the more you will love others, and they will automatically respond alike.

The best method for deep meditation is using the Holosync audio background on headphones. This gets you in a deeply relaxed state, where defenses come down and you can visualize, as in a dream. You don't think or do anything in particular - just practice being with and accepting whatever comes up. Emotional blocks will just naturally dissolve and an inner emotional stability and sense of self emerges over time. You will know that part of you that provides inner guidance as a friend, rather than some external thing, and you will know it is always with you, connected to and channeling Source and therefore unlimited knowing and love.

The Insight Project
The best method I have found for distinguishing between emotional reactions, mental rationalizations and inner knowing is The Insight Project, which uses biofeedback to show suppressed emotional content of thoughts and feelings, particularly fears and resistance. When thoughts are emotionally clear, and when they do not contain repressed conflicting intentions, they do not have this reactive undercurrent and can be trusted as one's intuitive knowing, one's gnosis. Using the unique Insight techniques, your inner truth is uncovered, deeper and deeper as you peel off the layers...

This is the most advanced approach to personal spiritual discovery and the enhancement of consciousness, and will help you to transcend the programming and conditioning of your upbringing and culture, leading to rediscovery and integration of the Higher Self.

See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
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Heart to Heart Coaching

Do you ever wish you could have access to your own private coach free of charge, to get help with the challenging situations you face ... whenever you need inspiration, insight or advice? The Heart to Heart Coaching service empowers YOU to coach yourself on the issues that matter most. Each week a new life challenge...

I'm a famous celebrity but my abject loneliness is oppressive - what can I do?

The questioner's philosophy: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

The questioner's hopes and aspirations: Alleviate emotional-psychological stress, anxiety and pain for people via education and knowledge.

Question: Without "beating around the bush," I am a celebrity. As such, I have no friends, only admirers, fans, and so on. I no longer reside in the country of my birth, much less the area where I grew up and therefore have no contact with even my childhood friends who knew me before I became famous. The abject loneliness is oppressive.

I am late middle age and even though I have a wonderful "friendship" relation with my wife, we are both so busy in our distinct professions, that we are unable to spend a lot of time with one another.

I do actually have a few good friends, however we live so far away from one another that phone calls are all we can manage. I'd love to have a "friend" to play tennis with, go fishing, play golf with, or even go for a walk with! All this has been impossible for the past 18yrs - and there are no prospects for any improvements on the horizon.

I'm at the top of my profession ...but it's awfully lonely at the top (and no, I wasn't mean, nor did I "step on people," as I went up the proverbial "ladder-of-success"). I can't simply "run away from home," I have too many responsibilities, my children, my wife all trust and depend on me (and get this, I don't actually hate my work). What to do?

Our life does not develop by accident - we create it through the values we hold most dear. It is those values which reach out into our future and draw to us the things that make up our present.

Career success is the one aspect of your life which you have valued highly - above all other aspects, which have remained of a lesser value and become dormant or underdeveloped as a consequence. I suspect you may have been taken in by the modern tendency to focus single mindedly on climbing the career ladder and your life balance, and the roundedness that is so necessary for happiness, has suffered as a result. This has led you to feel lonely, accompanied by a degree of unhappiness.

I ask you now to become aware of the values you hold and how they are shaping your life. Be conscious of how you are creating your destiny. If the life you have designed, which has resulted from the values you hold, does not sit right with you, then you need to ask yourself - "which are the values that are important to me?" and bring them into awareness. I suggest you find a quiet place where you can relax and, when you are ready, write down a list of all that you value in your life. Then order the list 1,2,3,4, etc. to reflect the importance of each value and where it is positioned in your life. This exercise will help you bring these values into consciousness.

Then having brought these new values into your awareness you need to redesign your life by taking these values (like a good and healthy marriage, time spent with your children, quality time with friends, etc.) to heart. By opening up your heart to these values and holding them there, these values will, by themselves, reach out and draw to you a different kind of life, one with more balance, where your own needs will be met more completely. The result, as you let these values reconstruct your life, will be a marked increase in personal happiness and fulfillment.

It may be that you will need to restructure your travel and work schedule so that you can give these other values more time and a higher priority and you may feel your career will suffer - to that I would simply say that there is no greater gift a person can bring to their work than a high degree of personal happiness. A balanced life, filled with many interests and values, is the key to such fulfillment. This new found happiness will penetrate all you do and everyone you touch, with undreamt of positive results.

Recommended Course: Life On Purpose - a proven, systematic, spiritually based and practical process that helps you clarify and fulfill your life purpose. This home study course is particularly good for aligning your purpose with your values, to help define your identity, from which purpose and goals naturally evolve. It's our top recommendation for helping to both find and fulfill your life purpose.

You may also have confused your role as an expert in your chosen career with who you are as a human being. By seeing yourself as an expert you are unconsciously placing yourself on a platform "so to speak" and this elevated aura you project is keeping other people at a distance and making them reluctant to have relationships with you at the purely human or friendship level. Your expert and celebrity status is a role, that's all. When you step down off the platform at the end of the "performance" you can choose to be a non expert again and relate to people as a friend who is willing to show his vulnerable side (your doubts, concerns, not knowing, anxieties, etc).

By becoming aware of what you hold dear and designing your life to reflect these values and by learning to switch on and off the "expert persona" so that you can return to being ordinary, you will begin to live a life that is a true reflection of who you are.

You have found fame and celebrity - you now need to find yourself!

To the reader:
This gentleman is feeling lonely and unconnected to people at the human level. Do you have any advice you can offer or similar experiences you can share? Email us your personal experiences, views and advice - your comments will then be added below this Question and Answer at Trans4mind.

Send Your Own Question
Up to your eyes in one of life's challenges? If you can't find the help you need in the existing Heart to Heart Coaching, there are two methods of one-to-one coaching available from Wallace Huey, the Heart to Heart Coach:

Public Coaching: Submit your Question to be answered here in the Cultivate Life! ezine.

Private Coaching at the coach's own website: a confidential service for purchasers of Wallace's book, Unfold Your Wings and Watch Life Take Off.

Secrets of the Zen Circle

I would like to talk about the Zen circle and give my own interpretation as to what meaning the symbol is trying to convey. The Zen circle is a simple, stark black circle usually painted on white paper in ink. Typically the circle is said to represent the material world that continues endlessly without cessation. There is a beginning to life (where the brush first touches the paper) and an end (where the brush leaves the paper), but this beginning and end continue one after the other, thereby signifying the wheel of birth, death and rebirth. The space within that circle is the emptiness, or the void, the understanding of which lies at the heart of Zen and the experience of which is the goal of meditation.

All well and good, but I would like to suggest a very different lesson that can be learned. If you want to actively participate then grab a pencil, an eraser and a clean sheet of paper.

First simply draw a circle on the paper. It doesn't have to be very 'good' from an artistic point of view and an approximation is adequate.

Now step back and take a look at the paper in its entirety. What do you see? What you will inevitably notice is the circle. After all, it is the only thing to actually see.

Now shift your focus to what is inside the circle.

And now take a look at what is outside the circle.

Inside the circle and outside the circle.

What is inside and what is outside is the same. The circle - the idea of separation - is an illusion. The circle, which creates the duality of 'inside' and 'outside' or 'here' and 'there' is a false representation. The cycle of 'life' and 'death' that the circle shows is itself nothing more than a trick of the conscious mind that habitually creates opposites where none in fact exist.

So take your eraser and wipe away the pencil mark on your paper.

This is the enlightened mind. The mind that is beyond duality. Limitless and formless. Infinite. The circle, to me, has been particularly selected to indicate that it is an eternal truth that all things are inherently connected. It was true then, it is true now and it will be true in the future.

There are innumerable instances of how this understanding can be applied to personal development. One of the most important is to begin viewing your life in its totality. Accept that your physical well-being is directly connected to your emotional state which in turn is influenced by your spiritual insight into the deeper questions of life. Recognize that a change to one aspect of your life will inevitably lead to other changes. Whether those changes are good or bad is dependent on you and the choices you make...so commit to a life of growth and development.

Once the choice has been made internally and you begin to change your life prepare yourself to be amazed at the reaction you get from those around you. What is inside is outside; what is outside is inside. As within, so without. This ancient wisdom is as applicable today as it was centuries ago. Make a positive change within yourself and see that positivity reflected back at you by the people around you and the circumstances you find yourself in.

Finally, take the time to meditate on the meaning of the Zen circle in a fuller sense and how its secret applies to your life. I have only scratched the surface here; there is so much more to discover and share.

Vincent Cooper is the owner and webmaster of Personal Development Forum, a site dedicated to personal development and growth. In addition he works as a coach, drawing on his vast experience and understanding of Asian culture to create a unique approach to self-growth and spiritual insight. To find out more about his innovative philosophy of development click here.

See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
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The Origins of Voice Dialogue

"Harry consists of a hundred or a thousand selves, not of two. His life oscillates, as everyone's does, not merely between two poles, such as the body and the spirit, the saint and the sinner, but between thousands and thousands. Every ego, so far from being a unity is in the highest degree a manifold world, a constellated heaven, a chaos of forms, of states and stages, of inheritances and potentialities. As a body everyone is single, as a soul, never." --From Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse

Hal and I have lived long and creative lives. We have been impacted, directly and indirectly, by a number of teachers. Both our professional and personal journeys have been rich and complex. Certainly the single most important contributor to our work has been our own relationship. The relationships with our families (parents, siblings, children and grandchildren) and our relationships with students and clients have also impacted our lives and our work. Dreams, transpersonal experiences, moments of sudden clarity or inspiration that seem to be gifts from sources outside of ourselves have also contributed their share to our work.

These outer influences blend together and merge within each of us. Therefore, the origin of any specific concept, is often indistinct. When either Hal or I sit down with a client, when we exchange ideas with one another, or when we begin to write, we do not think about where our thoughts come from. They just flow.

There are, however, a number of rich and varied strains that we recognize as having contributed directly to our lives and our work. These various sources come together and blend like the fragrances in a perfume. This is an ever-changing process, with some scents dominant at one time and others dominant later. There is a first impact or impression and then the lingering scent. There are primary notes and undertones. Some scents remain the same. Some emerge only after the perfume has been on the skin for a while. Some disappear as time passes. So it is with our work. Sometimes one source, or scent, seems more important and sometimes another. Sometimes the combination produces one impression, and later, it produces another.

People's first reactions to Voice Dialogue are usually: "That's a Gestalt technique" or "It's psycho-synthesis." Interestingly enough, Hal's actual work in Gestalt started only after Voice Dialogue was definitively established and although I had some contact with very early Gestalt work, my experience of it was extremely limited. As for psycho-synthesis, we were both fascinated with its use of imagery, but neither of us had delved deeply enough into it to know about its concepts of the different selves. Nor were we particularly influenced by psycho-drama or TA, having only a passing acquaintance with both of these through the popular press.

We have always honored these various approaches as having some relationship to Voice Dialogue since they were clearly a part of the general psychological culture in the early 70's. At the same time, we recognized that our own creative process was based upon a very different, and unique, set of experiences. The roots of our work go far deeper than our exposure to these newer schools of thought. We came from two contrasting, one might even say conflicting, backgrounds. However, there are some crossovers that aren't apparent at first glance.

Hal was Jungian trained and the psychology of the Aware Ego and the Selves is, at base, truly Jungian. If you look closely at our work, you will see that our "family tree" is analytic. The selves are an outgrowth of the Jungian complexes. They are not exactly complexes, but they reflect these as truly as a grandchild reflects her grandparents. If one moves deeply enough into any particular self, one can discover that it is the archetypes that provide the core of the selves.

My own thinking was most strongly influenced by Hermann Hesse and Nikos Kazantzakis. These were men whose lives were deeply committed to the evolution of consciousness. All of their books explored the opposing forces within men's selves, what we would call "the tension of opposites". Both men were influenced by Henri Bergson and based their world views on the existence of an "élan vital", a creative or evolutionary impulse within each of us, a powerful force that moves us towards continual evolution and greater consciousness.

In the mid-fifties a friend gave me the book Steppenwolf, which is quoted at the beginning of this article. It was the most impactful book I had ever read. It was my introduction to the many selves and to the "Magic Theater" in which I could begin to view my own tumultuous inner cast of characters. Once I peeked into my own Magic Theater through the doors opened by this book, my view of life and of people was unalterably changed. I could no longer look at any of us as single entities. From that moment on, I was fascinated by the many selves that I could see in myself and those around me.

Interestingly, Hesse was deeply influenced by Jung and this, I feel, provided much of the crossover between Hal's Jungian background and my own thinking. Kazantzakis, on the other hand, was a Cretan by birth and Greek to the core. His thoughts, much like those of the Jungians, were never far from the ancient gods and goddesses on one side, and Christianity on the other. His greatest book, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel, was like a Bible to me in my own intellectual and spiritual wanderings.

The other major influence on my thinking was the early operant conditioning work of Skinner. When I first studied psychology as an undergraduate student, my department was behaviorist and experimental in orientation. We were all devout Skinnerians. Simply stated, our belief system at that time sounded like this: behavior, any behavior, that is followed by reward (or positive reinforcement) is repeated and becomes a part of the personality.

This Skinnerian outlook still affects the way in which I look at behavior. I look to see how each bit of behavior is, or was, in some way adaptive. Thus, when I talk to a primary self, I expect that if I am persistent, I will eventually find how it helped to protect the vulnerable child. It was my Skinnerian background that suggested to me that each of our primary selves developed to either bring us rewards, or to help us avoid pain. Thus, each of our primary selves was truly helpful at one time and should be honored as such, even if it is no longer particularly useful.

These, then, are the deepest roots of our combined belief systems. As for the concept of the Aware Ego and the theory of bonding patterns, these ideas seem to have been gifted to us from other realms. As with many new concepts, both historical and current, these ideas appear to come from another dimension. We feel honored to be the recipients of these new ways of looking at the psyche.

The technique of talking to a specific voice has a totally different history. Hal heard about something like this from Dr. Hedda Bolgar who was at that time the director of Clinical Psychology at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. This was in the late 60s and Hal was a consultant to the Department of Psychology and Psychiatry. Hedda told about a meeting at which a therapist had talked to a whole series of voices in a client. She was very impressed by this work.

Hedda's description of this caught Hal's imagination and he called this man, at that time a professor of psychology in Santa Barbara. This professor had no particular interest in this work or in exploring it further. Hal does not even remember his name. However, Hal then began to experiment with this way of working by practicing with Judith and Joshua Stone, his children and with Thea Saroyan, his wife. He knew that this talking with the selves was significant, but he did not think of its implications and it did not seem to belong to his professional life.

Hal brought this idea to our relationship. After his first experiment with my "Vulnerable Child," we realized that we had come across a great tool and we began to use it as the core method of our mutual exploration of consciousness. For me, this was the way to enter and fully explore my own Magic Theater, something that I had yearned for intermittently over the previous 15 years.

Hal and I feel that this original development in relationship, rather than in the scientists' laboratory or the clinician's office, is responsible for the basic feeling tone of the Voice Dialogue process. It is accepting, honoring, respectful and non-judgmental.

• It is never pathology oriented.
• It explores with interest, even fascination, open to all possibilities.
• Each person's selves are treated as unique.
• There is no emphasis upon uniformity; and there is no attempt to fit the selves into preconceived categories.

The remainder is written elsewhere. The Voice Dialogue process and the psychology of the Aware Ego and the Selves gradually developed first out of our own relationship and then from the direct experience of working with thousands of individuals over a period of 25 years.

These, then, were the beginnings. Our work continues to grow, enriched by everyone who works with us and we look forward with excitement and anticipation to the next steps in our own journey.

Drs. Hal and Sidra Stone have spent over 70 years in total researching how relationships and human transformation works. Perhaps you have heard about them in the past, but have not as yet had the opportunity to examine their work. Their system is a revelation even to those people who have done lots of personal growth, psychology and consciousness work. You learn so much about yourself and others, including how to:

• Grow closer in your personal relationships and marriage
• Attract the right person to have a relationship with
• Increase intimacy, experience real love and increase the heart connection with your partner
• Uncover the real reasons why so many relationships face difficulties and what you can do about this
• Understand why you may attract the same types of people again and again into your life, and how you can change this pattern
• Become truly attractive, and grow into a more whole and balanced person
• Discover how your happiness, energy levels, self-confidence, career, finances and creativity are created by your personality structure
• Learn about how the state of your mind affects your health
• Crack the code of your own dreams, and see how they are your inner teacher
• Learn a powerful and unique self development technique that can deepen your relationships, communication abilities, and every aspect of your life
• Perceive where other people are coming from and recognise their true intentions

Visit the Voice Dialogue website. You are invited to receive a free 80 minute DVD filled with amazing new and unique information about relationships. Click on the "Free Introductory DVD" link on the website. In the DVD, they will deal with:

• Why marriages may break down with the arrival of the first child
• Your personality and subpersonalities
• The effects of subpersonalities on health, including their contribution to breast cancer and other diseases
• Dreams and the messages of your subconscious
• How to find the right partner

See the following related pages at Trans4mind:
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Are You the Buddha?

He traveled far to a sage and recounted his tale of woe, of how much he desired to transform his monastery to the flourishing haven it had been in days of yore. The sage looked him in the eye and said, "The reason your monastery has languished is that the Buddha is living among you in disguise, and you have not honored Him."

The abbot hurried back, his mind in turmoil. The Selfless One was at his monastery! Who could He be? Brother Hua?...No, he was full of sloth. Brother Po?...No, he was too dull. But then the Tathagata was in disguise. What better disguise than sloth or dull-wittedness?

He called his monks to him and revealed the sage's words. They, too, were taken aback and looked at each other with suspicion and awe. Which one of them was the Chosen One?

The disguise was perfect. Not knowing who He was they took to treating everyone with the respect due to a Buddha. Their faces started shining with an inner radiance that attracted novices and then lay supporters. In no time at all the monastery far surpassed its previous glory.

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Cultivating a Sense of Spirituality

"Let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves." ~Thoreau, Walden

Have you ever thought: "Wouldn't it be great to live 'well'?" Yet, through our often rushed and fully-packed schedules it's easy to wonder what living well actually means. Is it about living "healthy"? Eating right to support your body? Is it about exercise? Managing stress?

The answer, indeed, is "yes" to all of these. However, before exploring what you can "do" to live well, let's first take a look at who you are "being." After all, it's at the bottom of your being which creates the foundation for a healthy, fulfilling life.

How to decide who you are being? Well, most people already believe in a higher source, a higher power. But for our purposes, we'll take it one step further. We'll call this sense of "being" your own personal Nature. And, what's important for a life of living well, is the connection you make to this Inner Nature. The easiest way to do this... Develop your own personal belief system.

Why develop your own belief system? If living well involves first establishing a relationship with your Inner Nature, let's also look at a few reasons why you should cultivate this relationship:

• Explains the Unexplainable
  Certain "chance" happenings and connections to other people cannot always be explained by empirical science. How do some people experience "spontaneous healing"? Or, on a smaller scale, why does just the right person "show up" when you need them? Why do the right circumstances come into your life at the precise moment?

  For example: just yesterday, I was thinking about a friend of mine from college I hadn't spoken to in a while - an hour later, she called.

  Your Inner Nature can give you clues to why all of this is true. Try taking inventory of yourself. Have you ever had a "hunch" or a "feeling" about something and it turned out to be true? I think we all have.

  Challenge yourself by recalling all the incidents you can, then jot them down. Be aware of these connections in the future and make note of them.

• Helps You Find Joy in the Present Moment
  Did you know that Now is the only moment you have? Realizing the past is behind you and the future is a function of your choices can be empowering; looking at the present moment allows you to take inventory of where you are right now (and who you'd like to be in the future). What, in you life, are you happy with? Dissatisfied with? What in your life, if you could, would you change?

  Again, take a quick personal inventory by jotting these things down, then giving thought to each. Becoming aware of where you are right now, will help you set your sights for guided personal development.

• Gives You a Sense of the Larger Picture
  How liberating it would be to take charge of your life! Yet, most do not realize, this power is available to all of us. If you begin where you are, you can make small, daily steps toward "being" the person you'd like to be. Why not try right now? Why not just "be" the person you'd like to? Be kind. Be healthy. Be energetic. Be successful.

Take Home Message: Learn to Live in the Flow of Nature
Perhaps there is something you're "resisting" that is keeping you unwell or unhappy: are you in a job that is not satisfying? Grappling with an old illness or injury that is holding you back? Be aware of these things as they come to you. Then, take small steps toward change.

Make your aim to move through your pains and fears and be aware of the ways your inner nature provides cues for you. Just like the "accidental" phone call, the new job that may better serve you could also be available. Allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. Practice letting life show you how to live in it's harmony. Most of all; enjoy the adventure! You are certain to find yourself living a healthier, more rewarding life.

About the author: Laura M. Turner, M.S., CHHP is a natural health practitioner and author. She hosts Beauty and Body Online and publishes the New Body News and Wellness Letter. Subscribe freely and receive her Special Report: "Take Charge of Your Health!" and check out her latest book: Spiritual Fitness!

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Attract Love by Allowing Yourself to Receive It

Everyone desires to experience love with others. It is the greatest joy to feel love. We all know how to give love, but the problem is when we don't know how to receive it. Not being able to receive love is a major cause for many of the frustrations we face in relating with others. It is the same thing for anything that we give but seem to have problems receiving it in return. If we are able to receive love as much as we are able to give it, we will complete the cycle of experiencing love with others for full happiness.

We have been conditioned with the wrong beliefs that prevents us from receiving love. We think that it is pride to think highly of ourselves and expect others to think highly of us. That is why we do not openly receive compliments, adoration and all the gestures and expressions of love by others towards us. We turn away, try to hide from it and respond in all kinds of ways just not to appear as being proud, not knowing that we are actually rejecting the very love that is being given to us, than accepting it fully.

Be aware of how you respond to others when they are showing love to you. Do you get uncomfortable when others are looking at you and sending thoughts to make them stop looking at you? When someone tries to be extra nice to you, are you unable to accept it because it feels weird? When someone shows you adoration and praise, do you shy away and in any way try to diminish their expression? How you respond is exactly how you treat the love that people are giving to you whether you know it or not.

All the negative response that we make is the reason why we experience less and less expression of love from others. Each time they express love, we respond in a manner that says "please don't show me love, I'm unable to receive it" and we wonder why other people get to receive all the love in the world but we don't. We are the very ones creating all that we experience from other people. We program the way people treat us or don't treat us. We reinforce other people's behaviors negatively or positively.

Instead of rejecting love from others unknowingly when they show it, receive it. Do not just accept it but embrace it. When they behave extra nice to you, warmly receive them and show with the look in your eyes that you embrace their expression totally with appreciation. When others compliment you, allow them to do so freely and thank them for it. Show that you see yourself as a person worthy of all the love that others can give to you, and that others are free and welcomed to give it to you when they do.

There are those are so good at receiving love. They are able to attract all the love from others wherever they go. They act as if they are the star and everybody likes them. They are always expecting love and adoration from everyone and are showing it in the way they behave to you. They talk to you as if you admire them, like them, adore them, love them and want them. You can almost feel that they're tugging on your heart strings and drawing love from you to them. They appear and behave as so loveable.

Your relationship with love is mirrored in the external world in the way people respond to your love. Now you know why the ones whom you love and desire to express love to, can't seem to receive your love. It is because you can't receive love yourself. When others try to give you love, you unknowingly reject it. When you give love to the ones you love, you unknowingly reject them when they try to love you in return. When you can receive love from others, those you show love to can receive love from you.

Open yourself to love by allowing others the joy of loving you. Give them the gift of loving you by being loveable and attracting love from them. This is the magic key to making others love you and be able to show it to you. Allow them to express love to you in their action, words and expression, and having it well received. Our world will be so much more beautiful when others are able to express love to us and have us receive it fully, and we are also able to express love to others and have them receive it fully.

Some of us respond to love by an immediate counter expression of love. We are not really receiving the love when we give it back immediately. When someone says "I love you" to you, do not immediately respond with an "I love you" back at them. Take a moment to feel that love, receive it and let it sink in. Show that in your smile and the light in you eyes that you receive and appreciate it. Then out of the love that you feel, tell them that you love them. Do the same thing when responding to compliments.

In order to receive love from others, you must first be able to receive love from yourself. Declare mentally "I love myself" and then let the feeling of love generate from your heart area and expand to fill your entire being. Imagine a white light of love energy wrapped all over you on the inside and outside. Feel the love for yourself as you give it unconditionally and wholeheartedly. When you step into any place with the feeling of complete self love, you'll have an unassailable form that cannot be shaken by anyone.

From the place of self love are you able to truly love others. Allow yourself to be so full of that love for yourself and being that love, that it just spills over onto those around you. Then you can start projecting that love onto others. Let the love expand and fill the entire space that you are in so that everything around you is filled with the love that you are. When you love others from a place of self love, they are able to love you back freely because you do not need them to love you back since you have love yourself.

Enoch Tan aims to help people achieve greater awareness in living and experiencing life. To evolve human consciousness to higher levels. To change lives and transform the universe. To revolutionize the way we understand the mind and reality. Because that is what governs every area of life and destiny. Get free ebooks of the most powerful knowledge and learn secrets of mind and reality that will fully benefit you now at: Secrets of Mind and Reality. This is the most life changing information because it is about understanding and changing reality from the highest place of all!

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."--Carl Jung

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A Burning Desire

A Burning Desire is the best way to achieve our objectives and convert our dreams into reality.

Why do we get up every day? What is it that makes us do what we do? If the answer to these questions is clear and concise, more than likely we have a well-defined Burning Desire which will serve as a compass to achieve our objectives. On the contrary, if the answer is hesitant and lacks a strong "why," we can begin to define our Burning Desire.

I first came across the idea of a Burning Desire about 20 years ago when I read Napoleon Hill's classic book Think and Grow Rich (free download here). As is the case with so many things, the idea started first as a seed which sparked my interest. As I read the book again some years later, the idea began to take form as a sprout which poked its head through the ground. 

More recently, the idea expanded further and the roots which would give stability and form to my Burning Desire began to take hold in the soil which through my life experience was at last fertile enough to foster the growth of the seed which was planted many years before.

Napoleon Hill's work is the culmination of years of interviews with the most successful people of his time. In a nutshell, he suggests we first determine exactly what it is we desire and then decide what we are willing to give in return, since there is no such thing as "something" for "nothing." An exact date and definite plan to achieve our desire should be followed by immediate action to put the "pedal to the metal," so to speak. Finally, he suggests writing out a clear, concise statement of our Burning Desire accompanied with reading the statement aloud twice a day to integrate the idea into our being.

When we define our Burning Desire, we create the best road to achieve all we want in life. While our goals and objectives are often "things," a Burning Desire is usually "something" which relates to being useful to others. 

It is important to take time to reflect upon and define our Burning Desire. When we lack a clearly defined objective, any road will take us to our destiny. Too frequently we arrive at unwanted places and spaces because we have not invested the time to define our direction. Creating and believing in our Burning Desire is the most important step to assure a life full of intention and intensity.

Copyright © 2008 Rob McBride. All Rights Reserved
Rob McBride is an author and speaker who motivates, inspires and trains people. His keynotes, seminars and workshops enhance effectiveness and increase corporate productivity with concrete, dynamic tools which enable people to take control of their professional direction and destiny. He writes the Lunar Letter monthly with each full moon. His books include: A Special Gift and Little by Little We Go Far.

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The Power of Perseverance

Perseverance has no peers, it's more important than talent, more powerful than intelligence, and more resilient than the best strategy. While we cannot all claim genius, beauty, nor the best schooling but perseverance all can have. There is great virtue and glory in never giving up.

Nothing concentrates the mind or tests your character like a demanding goal - the desire to be something better than you are, to be the complete person that you are meant to be. But before a goal, any goal is achieved you will experience and envision both triumph and tragedy.

No great achievement in your life will ever come without obstacles: physical limitations, the unpredictability of nature, Murphy's Law, or resistance from the outside world. Be thankful for all obstacles, for they are your practice ground, as each new victory prepares you for a greater future victory. In the end, you express your greatness not by the acts you perform as a mother, parent, or leader, but by the endurance and fortitude that made those acts possible.

Growth of any type requires personal struggle; perseverance keeps hope alive. Amid challenges and uncertainties, and in the face of stern obstacles and setbacks you need to keep moving forward, however tempting it might be to give up and let go of your dreams.

We live in an age of immediate gratification. What we want - we want now. And just the way we ordered it. No delays. No substitutions. No excuses. Sadly, many view new tasks and the accomplishment of most goals that way. We want overnight growth, instant mastery, and flawless performance on the first try. But that's not the way success works. Patience and perseverance are at the core of what it means to be truly successful.

Pace is irrelevant to perseverance. It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. Steady perseverance, patient endurance, the achievement of a little every day, is of more value than the overly aggressive rushing forward and the enthusiastic endeavor of the emotional and temperamental person.

Patience and perseverance are two of the most difficult things to embrace for one whose commitment is being tested and tried through the fire. If you patiently persist in doing the right things, you will ultimately get the right results. Yet, in order to receive a victorious outcome, perseverance is the ONLY option. If you lose patience and perseverance you will by default forfeit victory. As long as you are willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes, no one will be able to prevent you from reaching your goal.

In closing, always remember that in your efforts to achieve your goals, you will be buffeted and pummeled. You will be criticized and opposed. You will be attacked and assaulted. You will struggle and fall. But you must fight one more round. You must rise each time you fall. You must embrace the power of perseverance.

Gary Ryan Blair is President of The GoalsGuy. If your company or association would benefit from a content-packed, entertaining, interactive, how-to customized workshop on any part of my performance improvement or sales process, let's talk. I specialize in developing and delivering programs that help people and organizations, better manage their time, set their priorities, and stay focused so they can achieve their goals, grow their business, and be more successful. Contact me for speaking, coaching, and training requests at 877-462-5748 or by sending an email to Gary Ryan Blair.

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Get Lucky

Do you know someone who's always lucky - a friend or colleague for whom things just work out - as if by magic? The concept of luck brings up an age-old question: Are some people born lucky and others not? The answer to both questions is "no." You - right now - have the ability to create your own luck. So-called luck is simply the ability to attract your desires into your life.

In fact, researcher Dr. Richard Wiseman conducted a ten-year scientific study on "the luck factor" and discovered that lucky people "generate their own good fortune via four basic principles. They are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self-fulfilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good."

Philosopher William James referred to attitude as the "mother of luck." If a positive attitude is the mother of luck, then attraction and abundance round out the family. If you expect a positive outcome, you generally get one. If you pour energy into worrying about a bad outcome, you may create a self-fulfilling prophesy. The law of attraction influences luck as well. Like attracts like; what you put out, you get back. What you focus on influences your results. And a positive attitude plus positive attraction equals abundance in all areas of life - including luck.

Follow this acronym to create your own lucky breaks:

L - Listen and let go. Listen to your intuition and detach from the outcome. Stay focused on your intuitive desires rather than on attempting to control the outcome.

U- Understand and notice. Observe your environment. Be mindful of opportunities. Take your blinders off and see what you've missed.

C - Claim what you want. You've got to know what you want. Observe what you deny yourself. It's impossible to create abundance from scarcity - as lucky people know.

K - Keep at it. Listen to your intuition, observe your environment and claim what you want; then take inspired action.

Once your "luck" begins to change and the good times roll in, be mindful. It's common to experience an identity shift as you attract more desires into your life. This may unconsciously - or consciously - activate your fear. You may feel like you're in unfamiliar territory and not entirely sure of the ground rules. Persevere. Stay the course. Continue to follow the tenets of the LUCK acronym to help you through this growth spurt.

The next time you catch yourself waiting for a lucky break, take luck into your own hands. Survey your beliefs and thoughts; be aware of what you attract and watch your deepest desires flow more smoothly into your life. Empower yourself and watch the good fortunes of lady luck come your way.

Copyright © 2008 Claudette Rowley
Claudette Rowley, coach and author, helps professionals identify and pursue their true purpose and calling in life. Contact her today for a complimentary consultation at 781-316-1923 or by email. Sign up for her free newsletter "Insights for the Savvy" at www.metavoice.org.

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