RECONCILING THE MATERIAL & THE SPIRITUAL #5
The Power of the Subconscious 
& of Imagination to Reprogram it

"Tis nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so." Shakespeare

Both Gandhi and the Buddha taught that our thoughts become our words, our words become our intentions, our intentions become our actions, our actions become our habits and these become who we are. We, our parents, friends, our schooling and others are continually priming our subconscious with thoughts. We have the choice to make these Spacious Mind thoughts or Narrow Mind thoughts and choose the right associations for the most positive within us.
The subconscious is always internally playing our thoughts back to us like a recording device and no matter what we think we think in our conscious minds, it is the subconscious that plays out our fate or destiny depending on whether its Big Mind or Monkey Mind thoughts. 
The subconscious is particularly vulnerable to emotion and the Autonomic Nervous System (A.N.S.) whether its the Sympathetic N.S. (flight or fight or Monkey Mind) or Parasympathetic N.S. (Spacious Mind) found in the relaxation response of meditation. These thoughts are recorded impartially, whether true or false - the subconscious has no sense of humor - it cannot take a joke. Hence what we say in jest also counts even if we think its light and humorous.

The subconscious is most active around around sleep when the conscious mind is on hold.

Coue' who was one of the first to bring the subtle power of the subconscious into our consciousness went so far as to say that the subconscious can cause and cure disease.

In his famous Plank Theory he stated that

In other words imagine oneself walking across a plank several feet above the ground in your living room. The act of imagining and doing this holds no terror. The worst that could happen is that one stumbles and lands on the floor. But imagine the plank - no matter how secure - suspended across a crevasse with a thousand foot drop on either side. One's imagination of what could happen will overcome our desire to walk the plank and because of this if we attempted it, more than likely many would fall to their death. That's the reason we are told not to look down - doing so would amplify the power of our imagination. 

Its all about imagination and we must turn back to imagination to change our subconscious. 

Some folks, often superb athletes, have been conditioned differently and especially subconsciously too since birth and will walk across with relative impunity. Most of us not so much. Hence...

His Law of Reversed Effort also states that we get the opposite of what we pray for if our subconscious and conscious are in conflict.

If we have been programmed with the idea that money is the root of all evil, even though we well know that money can be the root of some evil (but also a lot of good,) no matter what we think we think or want to think, no matter how many books we read or workshops we attend until we change our subconscious, money will elude us. The "marriage" between our conscious and subconscious must be in harmony.

So how do we reverse this challenge. The Ancestors teach...

They also add that;

"As you think it so it can be, as you 

imagine and believe 

it so it will be."

 The best time to do this is around sleep or when we are in a meditative state. Essentially put our imaginative intention not only to our subconscious but also into the "Field," and release entirely from any attachment to outcome - attachment or exerting more power has a "stickiness" to it and does not work for the subconscious or in the Spirit World - faith and belief does!

The Ancestors

Einstein said that his power to fantasize and imagine was much more powerful to him than his cognitive abilities which were profound. He added that;

"Logic will take you from A to B but imagination will take you anywhere."

 Another way to look at the dynamic is the way the subconscious, the Field, the Ancestors or our Guides and the Great Spirit respond to requests.

It works best with these steps: 

1st INTENTION

The thought, the word

2nd ATTENTION

to detail as engendered by our imagination. Free will is the cosmic law so that the Spirit World must be given permission to act with our attention to detail. They and the subconscious want to know exactly what we want at least in context if not in exact content. This can change with time as will our imagination to suit it.

3rd ACTION

We must do it !

Finally AFFIRMATION

Our guides are living in a non space time reality. Free will is in the present moment and they live in the moment because there is no time across the veil between worlds.

Hence we must affirm, maintain, sustain. They may know we want this today but do we still want it a month from now?

They add that we must be very clear since...

Hence a harmonious relationship must exist between the two.

The big challenge is that we must believe and have faith. Hope and trust go along with these. 
Moreover, it will be more powerful if the request elicits a sensory feeling in our physical body. 
Anything that can enhance the imagination in this way will be more effective e.g. music or incense or meditating on the beach to the sound of the waves and the smell of the ocean... 
Finally
Decree is a request given with absolute faith! 
This, like faith, is daunting for most of us but incredibly effective. It comes from within and cannot be fabricated. It is easier to believe and have hope which are both more evidence based, than to have blind faith and actually decree what we may not feel authentically inside of us. 

We see this in patients who have had spontaneous remissions of deadly diseases that have defied the best that medicine has to offer. When one studies these folks the one overriding factor was an absolute faith and even a decree that all would be well which they would submit to their loved ones, if not their physician.

So
Intend, imagine believe, achieve.
These are the principles - more easily said than done.
Practice is the solution. Also if possible feel and ...

Click to highlight the two links and then play and Imagine! 

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 07_Imaging.mp3

RECONCILING THE MATERIAL & THE SPIRITUAL WORLDS #4

Positive Psychology & how it enhances 
the other aspects of these recent blogs

Seligman and Ryff are two huge figures in the field of Positive Psychology - Seligman the more well known. He is convinced that the Self Esteem movement, started in California, led to many more dysfunctions - such as depression, decreased performance, narcissism and even suicide - rather than benefits.

Positive Psychology is about self worth and not self esteem which implies a certain arrogance and egocentricity and according to  ancient wisdom, is a recipe for suffering. Rather than self esteem we should have 
 Universal Self Acceptance (USA) 
or an unconditional positive regard for our own self worth. 

Seligman came up with a catchy acronym to help us with well being and happiness.

PLEASURE

Was about maximizing positive emotions and minimizing the negative, now seemingly so overwhelming in our lives. The Ancestors also say we should seek joy and gratitude in hidden recesses and wherever we can find them.

ENGAGEMENT

A mission that induces positive flow is about using our signature strengths. These manifest when we find our own basic archetype; healer, teacher, warrior or visionary. Each one of these has many possible variations today. He stresses that we should use these in service to others.
(It is possible that at times this can even facilitate getting deeper, and into the "Zone" - also called Superfluidity.) 

RELATIONSHIPS

Positive relationships are especially powerful and support the other aspects of PERMA.

MEANING

Serving something bigger than ourselves.
Albert Schweitzer said; "I don't know what your destiny will be but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy will be those who have sought and found how to serve."

ACCOMPLISHMENT

Seligman emphasizes that accomplishment alone is fine for our self worth but that it should also be meaningful.

Carol Ryff's principles are similar. The two together make Positive Psychology broader in terms of our own uniqueness. We should adapt them to our own destiny archetype which can often be revealed to us in the Hero/ine's journey. Hence PERMA and this journey are synergistic.

Here is a summary of Ryff's principles.

Positive Psychology is about well being, happiness, joy, equanimity
and especially

GRATITUDE 

Robert Evans did research on gratitude and made some profound observations.

Gratitude increases dopamine and serotonin  (equivalent to an antidepressant.)  It also increases neuronal density in the prefrontal cortex much like F.M.R.I. studies have shown happens in advanced meditators - they have more neuronal "muscle." It also engages the Parasympathetic nervous system or a Relaxation Response, an alfa rhythm in the brain, as does meditation.
Gratitude is a profound form of spiritual practice and prayer. True prayer is about being grateful. Asking for "something" in prayer is really supplication or petition. If this is done its best to get ourselves out of the way and making the gifts requested being for the greater good of others or the planet. In other words put our ego or acquisitiveness or what the Buddhists call Desirous Attachment aside. Evans got the participants of the study to do the following exercises.

These were the benefits he measured 

So it seems that not only does Positive Psychology go hand in hand with Gratitude but the latter is also powerful spiritual practice.  PERMA with the addition of the hero's journey and other spiritual practices can be hugely transformative. Seligman being a scientist omits spiritual practice but Evans confirms that gratitude it is just that.

The Ancestors

Click to highlight and the play to hear what the Ancestors also say in this song 

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RECONCILING THE

MATERIAL & THE SPIRITUAL # 3

Ancient wisdom is coming into alignment with neuroscience and quantum physics in many ways.

Patanjali described his 5 sheaths (or bodies) of consciousness millennia ago and now F.M.R.I. (Functional MRI) studies are showing these truths to be real.

In the center is the Atman or Higher Self or Soul

The Ancestors

The Body Sheath simply stands for itself. 

The Energy Sheath or our Etheric body is familiar to most of us as the Chakras and their 72000 connecting energy channels called Nadis. Mind Sheath is our Monkey Mind, our primitive survival mind that the Ancestors call Narrow Mind. Nothing creative happens here and for many of us it is a source of suffering because it is continually chattering messages of delusion on our shoulders. Its use is to get us out of survival situations. The lion circling the primal cave has now been replaced by a chronic flight or flight response imposed by stressful life styles. For many of us Monkey Mind is the default and can be seen on F.M.R.I in the more primitive areas of the brain. The only way to prevent it from becoming the default is to invoke spiritual practice. Monkey Mind, Ego and the Intellectual Sheath form a triad which is always in flux with Ego and the Mind Sheath predominating and the Intellectual Sheath,  (Big Mind or Buddha Mind or Christ consciousness) or Spacious Mind being put on hold. Monkey or Narrow Mind responds to emotions and the Sympathetic Autonomic Nervous System and can only be placated by the relaxation response (any form of meaningful meditation or of going inwards) a property of the Parasympathetic N.S. The latter also results in an Alfa brain wave pattern on E.E.G. in the brain and a feeling of equanimity and harmony.

The Mind Sheath is supported by the Buddhist concept of 

Store Consciousness. These are the cellular and "soulular" memories or the skeletons in our karmic closet which sometimes come out of the closet to sit with us in the living room of our lives. These too can only be controlled by spiritual practice.

Monkey Mind is responsible for our negative habits or negative Procedural Memories. Procedural memory can be energy efficient and allows us to automatically drive our car home without even thinking. It is operative even as cellular memory, for instance in gymnasts, musicians and surgeons. However, it can be counter effective especially in stressful situation e.g. if we are on a diet,   find ourselves in front of the doughnut store and go in for comfort food. Spiritual practice is essential to keep us on track with a growth-full life.

The Intellectual Sheath or Spacious mind contains our higher thoughts, ideas, notions, concepts, ideals, discernments and discriminations. Monkey Mind focuses on our desires, lusts, habits, addictions, compulsions and negative emotions like anger, hatred, jealousy and the desire for vengeance. Spacious Mind is focused in the prefrontal lobe of the brain. Buddhists and other experienced meditators can be seen to have more neuronal density in this area which lights up on F.M.R.I. For them the Intellectual Sheath is the default excepts in highly stressful situations. We should allow our procedural memory to be primed by Spacious Mind rather than Monkey Mind. Similarly we should enable our subconscious to be primed by the same remembering that the 

Subconscious is recording events 

ALL THE TIME - TRUE OR FALSE 

and that ultimately it is the subconscious which controls our conscious minds and our behavior. In a sense the subconscious can be seen to be sitting with us on the couch of the living room with Store Consciousness telling us what to do continuously even if store consciousness is tucked away temporarily behind the closet door.

Spiritual practice is the glue that holds all these seminal and evidential concepts talked about in this new series of blogs viz. the Hero/ine's Journey, Positive psychology, Gratitude and reprogramming Monkey Mind which may be dominating our subconscious. Guided imagery and imagination are key to filling our subconscious with a positive outlook. No matter what we think we think in terms of our conscious mind controlling our destiny it is the subconscious that determines what we become.

Here are some contrasts between the two "Minds." Meditate on these and others important to you.

The Ancestors also bring Heart into the equation of Narrow/Monkey Mind, Ego, Spacious Mind, Store Consciousness and the subconscious. We must not forget the heart and be sure it is also primed by Spacious Mind. 

Click to highlight, play and meditate 

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MATERIAL VS. SPIRITUAL #2
 The Hero/ine's journey

In future blogs we will also talk about:

Positive Psychology 

 Research on Gratitude

How our Subconscious sabotages our progress and how to counter it with Imagination 

As well as how they also all interconnect and support one another.

The Hero/ine's (which we have discussed before in the light of the wilderness experience) has many shades and can be done at all levels of self-actualization as well as deeper levels of Self-realization. It can occur because of deep yearning or inner calling that propels us out of who now are to who we might become. However, it can also be a kick in the butt that propels us in the right direction and out of our complacency.

Outward Bound organization takes folks of all ages and skills into nature and gives them increasingly difficult skills to perform assuring their success leading to self-mastery, concept, worth, esteem and even self actualization. Maslow "Survival" Needs embrace these principles. These also take place in our lower three survival chakras especially the third which is ego and our power base. We have to somewhat master these chakras before we graduate to the higher "Growth" Needs above the diaphragm. Its best not to skip chakras. Outward Bound has taken many students on a hero's journey to master these energy centers.

Once we graduate to the higher chakras the journey changes in intent and we become "Inward Bound. Now we are more aware of the need for going transpersonal and transcending up the chakra hierarchy to a greater Self-awareness and Self-Realization. The Ancestors prefer the word "Becoming" since we are never really Self-Realized - there is no end point - there is always room for more spiritual perfection and enlightenment.

"Stuff" and attachment to things and fame or our persona and ego will get in the way of the Hero's journey.

Rumi said; 

Give up owning things and being somebody. Quit existing."

and Lao Tzu;
Care about people’s approval & you will be their prisoner.

There are three phases to the Hero's journey (Van Gennep.) Van Gennep studied rites of passage and initiations in indigenous societies and defined these stages which are similar to Joseph Campbell's description of the archetype.

Separation
Threshold
Incorporation

In Separation the calling leads the hero to leave friends and family behind to embark on the journey. Here fear will always come up and resistance also because friends and loved ones are inducing you not to go. This may be because they are protective or they themselves have similar yearnings but lack the courage to proceed. In the typical archetypal journey the hero is give an object of power  (classically a sword or some such.) In our modern world it might be being inspired by a book, a workshop, a friend or anything else.
The "involuntary" journey is often propelled by loss of a job, a loved one or loss of health. One has a choice as to what to do in this instance - turn the shit into manure - or as the Buddhists say "take your suffering and make something useful out of it" or resign to a victims fate - understandable but not useful. In every catastrophe there is opportunity for growth and transformation rather than resignation and desperation. Fear is always part of the Separation as it is with all phases of the journey.



 Threshold is often the dark night of the soul where instead of facing the archetypal physical fear of being mauled by the wolf threatening the village one faces the inner demons arising out of inner fears. The latter is usually part of the "involuntary" journey which is forced upon one. A victory is won against all odds over the inner and outer threats and the heroine returns with the grail - for instance recovering from an ordeal with breast cancer and now a commitment to help other women in similar circumstances.
The difference between the Hero and the Warrior archetype is that the hero come back to give away the grail. The Warrior also goes through separation and threshold (e.g. the olympic gold medalist) but usually keeps the grail for himself - the family or the corporation... The hero gives it away to serve.
The key factors for the journey is a receptivity to the power of the archetype that gives the intention to transform no matter the challenge. Passion and will are huge here. The process usually involves a humbling or subordination of the ego to the Higher Self. Those who have the furthest to go gain the most but this takes time to process. When emerging from Threshold especially when its not voluntary and just happens, there can be initial resistance because the prospect of change is so daunting. Hence there is often a need to peel the outer layers usually of material stuff and other attachments out of the way of the goal. Its been said that;
"Its not what happens to you but what you do with it that counts."

The Incorporation is often the most difficult i.e. holding the vision or following one's myth or bliss. As we will see this is about finding one's true archetype and destiny or as Seligman says being in the flow of one's signature strengths. Being the father of positive Psychology and therefore a scientist he does not speak of Hero's journeys or spiritual practice. The combination of positive psychology, the hero's journey and spiritual practice enhances the power of his principles enormously. 

A regular spiritual practice to keep one on the path and aligned with the intuitions and dreams for your vision is key.

The Ancestors

There are some tips about Incorporation besides the spiritual practice that holds it together. These also support Seligman's teachings that will be in another blog.

A community or Buddhist like sanga of like minded seekers is hugely supportive. Walk the talk (or the aha from the journey,) do not talk the walk. Do not cheapen your vision and put it on the mantel piece for anyone to see and to maybe invalidate or criticize. Let others notice changes in your behavior rather than your speech. Keep your day job - there is no value in going into survival mode. You may need to live out the vision in your spare time. Do not necessarily expect to get paid - volunteer. The journey is a long one and takes time. Be patient. It is ever evolving and changing and may be very different to what you first thought it would be. Beware the "fall" - be careful of losing the mission or the way. Attend to needs rather than wants - simplify - clear the decks! If you cannot change what you do change the way in which you do it. The decision then may be to advance one's spiritual understandings so that one sees things in a new way. Maybe find a Buddhist teacher and a sanga.

This description  of Singing Stone is one of a Native American Vision quest of a spiritual warrior eventually meeting his Ancestors in the place he is meant to be.

As Dogen said;

"When you find your place where you are practice (the work) begins."

 Zen saying s;

Before enlightenment chop wood carry water,

after enlightenment, chop wood carry water (but in a new way of service to others and not oneself.)

Click to highlight the play

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