Metaphysical Beliefs

Indian culture explained

admin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:35:46 +0000

Diwali – Nights Of Lights.

First impressions hint at a magical kind of night. It’s a night when flickering flames from countless earthenware oil lamps mingle with the steady glow of electric light bulbs. A night when freshly-whitened houses are awash with this lambent light.

It’s Diwali or Deepawali night in India: the Hindu Festival of Light Tonight is a celebration of the beginning of autumn and, in most regions, of the Indian New Year. It’s a time of food, fireworks and family reunions. Symbolising rejuvenation and renewal, the day-long festivities are also a carnival time for children.

Origins

The name Deepawali comes from the Sanskrit language – ‘deep’ meaning light and ‘avali’ meaning a row, ie, a row of lights. Spiritually, Diwali marks the day of the ultimate victory of good over evil, light over darkness.

Some communities, especially in northern India, look upon it as commemorating the triumphant return of Prince Rama, along with Sita and Lakshman, who, while in exile for 14 years, successfully vanquished the demon-king of Lanka, Ravana. In joyous celebration of the return of their king, the people of Ayodhya, Rama’s capital, illuminated the kingdom with earthen diyas or oil lamps and let off crackers.

Many Hindus believe that in the period of Rama’s rule, darkness was banished from the world. Thus, the illumination of homes with lights and the skies with firecrackers is meant as an expression of reverence and thanks to the heavens for all people’s health, wealth and knowledge. The sound of fire-crackers was, and is, an indication of the people’s happiness at living on Earth, making the gods aware of their plentiful state.

Another given reason appeals more to the rationalists: the fumes produced by the crackers kill the insects, especially mosquitoes, found inplenty during and after the monsoon season.

East and West

In much of the west of India, Diwali is when old commercial accounts are reconciled and new ones opened. This is partly because of New Year observance but also because it is the special day of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and the spiritual embodiment of the entrpreneurial spirit.

For the people of the central state of Maharashtra, however, this is a day when meditations on mortality and the metaphysical are on everyone’s mind. To the Marathis, Diwali is an opportunity to appease and deflect the attentions of King Bali, dread and dour lord of the underworld.

Eastern Indians take a different tack again. For them, Diwali is a far more convivial affair, celebrating the black-faced god, Kali. Here, it is seen as a night to rejoice with this fierce and vibrant spirit of female energy and primal strength in her celebration of life’s cycles of creation and destruction.

The Story of Each Day

The Diwali festival runs for four days. Each day of Diwali has its own tale to tell.

The first day of the festival, called Naraka Chaturdasi, marks the defeat of demon Naraka by Krishna and his wife Satyabhama.The second day, Amavasya, is the day of worship for followers of Lakshmi. Amavasya also tells the story of Vishnu, who in his dwarf incarnation vanquished the tyrant Bali, and banished him to hell.

Bali returns once a year on the third day, Kartika Shudda Padyami, to light millions of lamps, dispelling darkness and ignorance and spreading the radiance of love and wisdom. This could be called

Diwali Day ‘proper’.The fourth day is referred to as Yama Dvitiya or Bhai Dooj; today, sisters will invite their brothers to their homes.

In India, such a busy time of year as Diwali and the day following are, naturally public holidays.

Acupuncture: Ancient Chinese Healing Method For Stress And Disease

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:22:03 +0000

Acupuncture, as an alternative medical practice, is now making headway in the Western world. It is now accepted as a drug-free treatment and method of stress relief. Practiced in China for more than 2,000 years, acupuncture is a therapeutic system that makes use of sterilized needles for the purpose of restoring the bodyâ€™s equilibrium. The needles are inserted on specific vital points that correspond to a specific internal organ. The light insertion of the needle into a vital point is supposed to free the flow of internal energy or â€œchi.â€ According to Chinese medical theory, any blockage in the flow of chi in the bodyâ€™s â€œenergy streamsâ€ or meridians can an imbalance in the body — resulting to an illness. The natural flow of chi ensures a person’s general state of health. The focus of acupuncture is on restoring harmony in the flow of the chi throughout the body and, in the process, balancing the metaphysical concepts of yin and yang.

Acupuncture is used to treat a wide range of ailments such as nausea, sinusitis, migraine headaches, lower back pain, knee pain, and chronic pain. Ancient Chinese texts also claim that the acupuncture can be used to treat minor mental and emotional problem such as anxiety disorder. For this reason, some even compare the Traditional Chinese Medicine method of acupuncture to the Western medical discipline of psychology. Both are seen as similar disciplines or therapy methods that have a positive effect on the mental health of patients.

The true benefits of acupuncture are found in its efficacy as a non-invasive, drug-free means of alleviating a number of physical ailments. It is also used in conjunction with traditional Chinese herbal cures that are perceived to be as effective as modern pills and medication. Acupuncture is concerned not only with providing cure to specific ailments. It is also used to determine the causes of physical discomforts and illnesses. Acupuncture practitioners make use of body charts that show the meridians or channels where internal energy flows to different parts of the body. These meridians correspond to the Western medicine layout of the central nervous system and circulatory system.

Studies are still being made by Western doctors and other scientists to determine the efficacy of this Eastern alternative form of healing. Even if acupuncture already accepted in different parts of the world as an alternative healing method, some quarters are still skeptical about its long-term effects.

While there are still no research findings that make the curative claims about acupuncture absolutely undisputable, it is interesting to note the depth of understanding that the Chinese had about the inner workings of the human body thousands of years before the formal organization and practice of Western medicine. Perhaps, one day, scientists will finally prove that the differences between Eastern and Western medicine is found mostly in culture and terminology; and that both systems are actually alike in terms of philosophy and theory in the use of the needle as a tool for healing.

Player Profile: Phil Laak

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:26:09 +0000

Phil Laak was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1972, raised in Wellesley, Massachusetts and now lives in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He has a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and has worked in several fields before becoming a skilled poker player. Laak is a former engineer, sports bet broker, market speculator, repo man and real estate investor. He was successful in the field of engineering but did not derive enough satisfaction to do the work on a daily basis. Laak briefly considered becoming a blackjack dealer but did not want to spend the time necessary to learn the game.

Like Gus Hansen, Laak was also a skilled backgammon player where he learned his aggressive style. From backgammon games in New York, he switched to poker and then moved to California where he began playing regularly. As of this writing, he is dating actress Jennifer Tilly who is also a poker player. She won a WSOP bracelet in 2005 in the $1,000 buy-in Ladies No-Limit Holdâ€™em Championship.

Laak is a colorful and controversial figure in the game because of his aggressive style of play, his appearance and his antics at the table. His nickname is the â€œUnabomberâ€ because he wears a hooded sweatshirt which was given to him by Gus Hansen and sunglasses while playing. He hides his face from other players by closing the drawstring on the hood of the sweatshirt during large hands.

He also states he is metaphysically inclined and does mental exercises at the table which â€œallows him to connect with the other playersâ€, stating that this gives him a major advantage during the games.

Based on his antics, some poker fans had this to say about him:

â€œPersonally, I find the name â€œUnabomberâ€ quite offensive. The name came from a deranged killer sending mail bombs to universities. Considering Ted Kisinski (the real Unabomber) actually killed people by his actions it would be like someone taking on the moniker of The Osama Bin Laden of Poker.â€

â€œI personally think he wasnâ€™t amusing at all. Maybe laughing at him but certainly not with him. He was acting like a 12 year old and playing like one tooâ€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦â€¦when he starts doing sit-ups and dancing like a dinosaur then it is just tooo much.â€

â€œNever laughed once. Thought it was shameful and totally disgusting.â€

Of the comments written by fans on this poker message board, most were against his behavior.

Some of the highlights of Laakâ€™s career thus far:

â€¢ Making the final table of the 2003 Legends of Poker $5,000 Main Event

â€¢ 12th place in the Bellagio Five-Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas

â€¢ First place in the WPT Invitational in Los Angeles .

â€¢ Second place in the 2005 WSOP $2,500 Pot Limit Holdâ€™em Event.

E! Entertainment hired Laak to host the Hollywood Holdâ€™em Television Series and he has also been featured in one of GSNâ€™s Poker Royale Series installments called â€œThe James Woods Gang vs. The Unabombersâ€. Laak tours the US and Europe playing in big-money tournaments and continues his involvement in the real estate and stock market.

Human logic in relation to God – Part 1

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 09:28:43 +0000

To understand the process by which human logic attempts to ascend to God, it will be most beneficial to start with a classical argument for God’s existence, which has been presented by many thinkers over time, known as the ontological argument. This argument is found in various forms, some of which are stronger and weaker than others, but for our purposes let us consider the argument more or less as it is framed by Anselm in the Proslogion:

(1): That-than-which-none-greater-c an-be-conceived (Hereafter TTWNGCBC) is a being which cannot be thought to lack any conceivable perfection.

(2): Being is a conceivable perfection

(3): If we imagine TTWNGCBC as non-existent, then we are imagining that TTWNGCBC is lacking a conceivable perfection.

(4): But this is absurd by (1) and (2), therefore if we think of TTWNGCBC, we must think that it is an existing being.

Notice that Anselm uses a “reductio ad absurdum” argument in his formulation. The argument might be more simply (though less precisely) stated as: God has every perfection; existence is a perfection; therefore God exists. It’s worth noting that Anselm figures proving the existence of TTWNGCBC is sufficient to prove the Christian God, although TTWNGCBC is a rather weak being compared to later philosophical formulations of God by Christians (especially Thomas Aquinas’ “ipsum esse subsitens”).

Of course, the fundamental assumption which is made by Anselm’s argument is that TTWNGCBC can be thought of. To address the implications of this argument, it must be asked: Can the human mind conceive TTWNGCBC? This is an epistemological question with, as we can see, important metaphysical implications.

With regard to epistemology, reason is a discursive process by which the human subject comes to know himself and the world around him. More precisely, it is a process by which man relates himself to the world around him, abstracting from his sense data to know the intelligible part of being (called “form” in an Aristotelean/Thomist metaphysics). Yet the world in which man finds himself is full of imperfection, finitude, mutability, and temporality. If man’s reason abstracts from his senses of this imperfect world, then how could he know God, whom he has called perfect, infinite, immutable, eternal (atemporal), etc.? If he can know God’s infinitude, perfection, etc., it is only by exception or negation in relation to those things in the world.

At this point it will be beneficial to consider the difference between

Are angels real or imaginary? – Part 1

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:06:50 +0000

There are two ways of answering the question “Are angels real or imaginary?” One is by way of rational inquiry based on the principles of divine revelation; the other, by way of rational inquiry based on “the metaphysical principles of the real.” The conclusion is the same, “angels are real.” I shall explain these two ways of knowing angels below.

There is a third way of knowing angels, and this is by experiencing their presence in person. Personal testimony, however, is subjective and, most of the time, such experience involves only one person.

These experiences with angels are important since they form personal belief, but it is difficult to determine whether or not a subjective experience indeed conforms to an objective fact.

For this reason, I shall not treat this way of knowing angels in the present paper. The interested reader could find an abundance of this kind of testimony in other articles reported under this title.

My answer will rely rather on the “facts of revelation” and on an objective rational explanation of why we believe angels are real.

THE LIGHT OF REVELATION AND THE EXISTENCE OF ANGELS

Concerning the question of whether angels are real or imaginary, the “fonts of revelation” and the “supernatural appreciation of faith of the people of God” leave no room for doubt. The existence of angels is a revealed truth. Angels are referred to as real existing beings.

Here is how Benedict XVI summarizes the facts.

“The word ‘angel’ means ‘messenger’ and throughout the Old Testament we find these figures who help and guide human beings on God’s behalf.

“It suffices to remember the Book of Tobit, in which the figure of the Archangel Raphael appears and assists the protagonist Tobias in every vicissitude.

“On the threshold of the New Testament, the Archangel Gabriel is dispatched to announce to Zechariah and to Mary the joyful events at the beginning of our salvation.

“A choir of angels brings the shepherds the good news of the Savior’s birth.

“And it was also to be angels who announced the joyful news of Jesus’ Resurrection to the women.

“We would be removing an important part of the Gospel were we to leave out these beings sent by God.”

From another angle there is also what is called the ’sensus fidei’. Through this “supernatural sense of faith,” believers know that God, in His ordinary providence, bestows a Guardian Angel to each human being who comes into the world.

“An Angel of the Lord will go before you,”

Spirituality Information: Triads And Dualities

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:15:10 +0000

When seeking spiritual growth you encounter triad relationships throughout your spiritual journey. Most of the spirituality information you encounter will talk about the three part relationships of self and source while also discussing the dual nature of the universe.

When you are a balanced three-part being of body, mind and spirit you live within a harmonious structure that keeps circling around itself in a never-ending give and take of the core of your being, which is love. You are the ultimate love triangle.

Each part of the triangle influences and is being influenced by the other parts of the triangle. When we are in perfect balance in our mind, body, spirit beingness, we are able to live and create at a highly effective level. We are in alignment with our true nature. We are in alignment with who we really are, a spirit child of God, Life and Love.

This mind, body, spirit triad being that we are is directly related to the triad imagery that we assign to God. When we say that we were created in the image and likeness of God that does not mean that we all physically look like God, although technically that is true because God is all things. What we are saying is that we all have the same powers and abilities as God. We have the essence of God.

The essence of God is defined in triads. When we think of God we use terms like Father, Son and Holy Ghost or superconscious, conscious and subconscious or the physical, the nonphysical and the metaphysical, or the mind, body and spirit.

These triune realities is the true nature of God and is the divine pattern that always evolves when we look at and analyze the subtle and sublime aspects of Life, Love and God.

When we look at and analyze the gross aspects of life we describe them in terms of dualities. That is the nature of our relationship world where everything is relative.

In our gross relationships, our typical day-to-day life relationships, we look at life from a perspective of something being either this or that. We don’t see the â€œin-betweenâ€ that exists in subtle three-in-one triad relationships used to describe the more esoteric aspects of life.

Our gross relationships are defined as either/or. Either right or left. Either tall or short. Either hot or cold. Either fast or slow, and of course, the granddaddy of them all, either male or female. All of the concepts that we think of in the physical universe that are used to describe our environment and us are either one thing or another or some varying degree of that thing in relationship to one of its polarities.

This is the nature of the physical universe on a gross level. Everything is relative. That is how we define ourselves. In order to be something, you have to not be something else. That is the purpose of the theory of relativity and all physical life. It is by â€œthat which you are notâ€ that you, yourself, are defined.

If you are a CEO of a major corporation, then you are not a ditch-digger or a railroad engineer or a real-estate sales person. That is not to say that you cannot be any of these other things, or that you may have been one of these other things in the past. It just means that when you are defining yourself as a CEO, you are doing so by also describing yourself as who you are not.

In actuality, and to put this in more accurate terms, who you really are and who you always will be is a spirit child of God. As such you might describe yourself more accurately by saying that who I am is a spirit child of God who is having the experience of being the CEO of a major corporation.

Because here’s the deal: You are always going to be a spirit child of God, but you are not always going to be a CEO. That is just an experience that you chose for yourself. You were having another experience before you became a CEO and you will have another experience after you are no longer a CEO.

All things in the physical universe are temporal and temporary. We are merely moving from one experience to another experience while participating in a myriad of related experiences in between.

Enlightenment explained

admin — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 05:59:01 +0000

Enlightenment is when God reveals truth to the mind. The best analogy would be as light hits a mirror and reflects back. It is really more like the refraction of light that is given off by a prism or cut crystal gem, because the truth spreads out in many directions and encompasses many things and many people often hitting upon unexpected places with varied effects.

Enlightenment by God is a form of spirituality. It should in no way be confused with “spiritualism” which is 1) non-physical and 2) occult or founded on nothing more than metaphysical circumstances which may have bad results. God’s insight is always true and a sure thing driven by love. However, both kinds come with knowledge that is without inference to objective reality and both are arrived at without reasoning or preparedness. This means that enlightenment or “true wisdom” requires no formal education, critical thinking skills, nor genetic or mental agility. It does not require a team of experts, no matter how enormously paid, since it cannot be bought or sold. Truth is usually simple, straight-forward, noncontradictory and absolute.

Intuition is one form of Godly wisdom. We have all heard of a mother’s or father’s intuition which comes from the gut and heart rather than logic. It is the power of knowing intuitively and apprehending immediately. Christians call this “discernment of the spirits.” We see innate and instinctive behavior in animal species all the time. Fight or flight, mating, and parenting would be examples of instinctive behavior. Something is apparently hard-wired into everything and everyone’s brain that allows them to reproduce. Things get a little stickier when we think about conscience, ethics and fair-play. King Solomon is the best example of this kind of Godly common sense. He forced two mothers to make a difficult choice, thereby squeezing out the truth about who the real mother of a baby could be. When given the order to cut the child in two, the real mother offered to give the child away rather than see the child come to any harm. Only the real and loving mother would be so unselfish and compassionate.

Prophetic ability is a gift of God and although it is available to everyone as need dictates for God’s sake, not everyone is called to act as God’s servant or messenger. Prophecy is divine inspiration by God to predict the future or give instructions in religious matters. The words should always make reference to who is in charge – God – and contain grace and salvation

Manifesting Your Wants And Desires

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:44:13 +0000

What is manifesting? Most people probably havenâ€™t heard the term and so they donâ€™t have a clue as to what manifesting is or what itâ€™s all about. Hopefully this article can clear up a little of the confusion.

Manifesting is a term that refers to a collection of ideas and techniques that, when used together can help you achieve your dreams and life-goals in a much faster and more satisfying way than is usually possible through â€œnormalâ€ methods. Normal methods, such as planning, strategizing, scheming, plotting, analyzing, goal-setting, etc. would be how most people would go about achieving something in their life. Most people have had some degree of success with such methods, so they assume that such methods are the best way to go about something, and they never try, or even consider, another way. Manifesting IS that other way.

Manifestation is the practice of thinking of what it is you want and then visualizing yourself achieving it, and then letting the result just come to you. Whether itâ€™s a new job, or a new car, maybe a new house, or a new relationship, you can visualize all these things and then, through manifestation, can have them come to you. Itâ€™s like you become a magnet for all the good things in your life that you wanted to achieve, but were so frustrated and limited in your â€œnormalâ€ attempts to achieve them.

Manifestation connects you with the unseen metaphysical forces in the universe that regulate the stream of supply and demand of these things in your life, and allows you to â€œturn on the tapâ€ to allow these things to flow into your life. Your stress level goes way down as you realize that you no longer have to worry, plan, and scheme to achieve the things you want.

With manifestation, you can literally create your own reality and then by visualizing and then manifesting it, you can make it your reality. The process starts when you visualize whatever it is that youâ€™re wanting, and then assume that it WILL happen. Close your eyes and picture in your mind that your desire has already been granted, and that it is inevitable that you will receive it. Look into your mind and â€œseeingâ€ yourself getting it and you can count on it just being a matter of time until that desire is Manifested in your life.

This is just a very brief introduction to the power of Manifesting your dreams into reality. Visit our website for more info and a FREE ebook that introduces you to the techniques of manifesting.

Til next time…Success to you!

-Ted

Use Self-hypnosis To Have An Out Of Body Experience

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 05:10:27 +0000

There are times when our experience of life can seem unreal or surreal. I went through a traumatic experience when I was younger. During that experience, I found myself at times feeling removed from reality also. Sometimes, when we are surrounded by lots of new stimulus and when we have a great deal of unusual, new and different things occurring within us, our perception of how and who we are can be removed.

Out-of-body experiences are commonplace among trauma victims – it is thought of by many as a form of protection from the pain of the trauma, or in relation to shock.

The point I want to illustrate here is that these out-of-body experiences and altered perceptions of our own reality are naturally occurring. Much research has been done on these experiences and we are all aware of the often told experience of people on operating theatre tables seeing themselves and similar types of experiences. Now, some people believe that it is simply our perception that is being altered and I do not want to get bogged down with what is scientifically actually occurring with these experiences.

I decided to investigate this. I believe that over the years, I have stretched the boundaries with what can be done with self-hypnosis and with the use of our minds and our altered perceptions. Out-of-body experiences (OBE’s) are one of the more fascinating and so I thought I would share with you a real easy and simple technique for using self-hypnosis to have an OBE. Exciting stuff, eh?

So here are some simple steps to begin to get you more aware of yourself and begin to develop a basic skill: the ability to imagine your mind and body existing in two separate places. This exercise can psychologically prepare you for an OBE; ultimately it can also help you induce the experience at will.

Step One: Begin by being in a comfortable, quiet place where you are not going to be disturbed. Ideally, take yourself into self-hypnosis (go read my self-hypnosis book and learn how to use this life-changing skill).

Alternatively, tune into your breathing and your body’s rhythm, engage in the moment and notice all you can with each sense about what creates reality for you in that moment. Relax your body, soften your muscles and be deeply still, yet keeping your mind totally alert. Maybe imagine a relaxing colour or warming currents moving through your body relaxing each individual muscle. Take the necessary period of time to do this – to get fully relaxed yet staying very alert.

Many people refer to this kind of trance state as focused relaxation. Many forms of mindful meditation get you in the same state – use whatever technique you find best to achieve a nice receptive state in your mind with your body nice and relaxed and still. As I have said in many previous editions of Adam Up, best not to do this lying on your bed because your unconscious mind associates lying on your bed with sleeping and you may subsequently keep drifting off to sleep every time you attempt this. You want to be acutely alert throughout this entire technique.

Once you have achieved a deeply relaxed yet alert physical and mental state, notice how it feels to be “inside” your body. Remember the last time that you looked into the mirror, recall exactly what you looked like from the outside and notice that your entire awareness is now inside that image. Notice the differences between being inside yourself and noticing yourself from the outside.

Step Two: In this nice receptive state, allow yourself to discover how it feels to “look” through your closed eyelids and how you can focus your attention on the world around you from “inside” your physical form.

Let me explain that a bit more – with your eyes closed, imagine the environment that you are in and imagine looking around it and exploring it from inside your mind. This is like oiling your mind, stretching it and beginning to get your perception to differentiate even further from being inside yourself and relating to what you have previously perceived outside of yourself.

Step Three: Really bring your awareness back inside yourself now, tune into your body and just imagine yourself gradually becoming smaller within your body.

Imagine that your body stays right in that beautifully comfortable position and you are getting smaller inside of it. With each of these steps, take the adequate and necessary amount of time to do this and really notice the differences in your perception and in your sensations. Be acutely aware at all time of what your experience truly is in each moment.

Step Four: Then, once again imagine your consciousness expanding out to fill the entire room.

Connect with the room or place around you, explore it and imagine pushing your awareness right out to fill every nook and cranny of the place. Become aware of the full expanse of the place you are in with your eyes remaining closed.

Step Five: When you have spent enough time doing that and really exploring pushing your consciousness out into the room, imagine yourself returning to your usual size, safely inside your body and take a deep breath. Quietly pay attention to the sounds and sensations that you associate with breathing. Connect with how you are.

Step Six: Now stay perfectly still and, as you exhale, imagine how it would feel to be a few centimetres above your physical form: imagine how it feels to be a tiny distance above your body. Imagine that you are simultaneously floating above your body and also looking up at your floating image from within your body. Allow yourself time to fully create these images in your mind. Then gradually begin moving your attention back and forth between the inside of your body and the point you envision a few centimetres above you.

Continue practicing until you’re able to imagine floating above yourself for several minutes without straining. As with any physical and mental exercise, this takes patience, practice and time to get good at. Be persistent and stretch your brain and your imagination until you can do this for lengthier periods of time without having to strain too much.

Step Seven: Once you’ve accomplished this, then imagine your disembodied face looking back at your physical face, below. Practice focusing as little attention as possible on your body and as much as possible on the image of yourself floating above. Create as complete an image as possible until.-perhaps for only a moment at a time-detailed visual, sensory, and auditory impressions from this slightly altered perspective, so that the more you do it, the more it becomes vivid enough to seem real.

The sensation of looking back at your physical body from an independent location directly above it is one of the most basic and commonly reported forms of the out-of-body experience. Once you have achieved this perception, I recommend that you gradually shift your awareness back to the familiar sensations that you associate with your body. Tune in to your body in the position where it is. Wiggle your fingers and toes, go do something active and rigorous, have a snack and really get yourself grounded in reality – even consider going and doing something really mundane to tune into how it feels to be seated in reality!

Step Eight: After practicing this exercise, take a break for at least an hour. Then repeat the entire session from the beginning. But this time, maintain the image of floating for ten or fifteen minutes. Later, as you’re lying in bed at the end of your day, imagine floating above your body as you fall asleep.

I also want to give you some additional steps when you are feeling advanced, only follow these steps when you have really become good, fluent and practiced with the previous steps for a few days and practiced a few evenings prior to sleeping:

Step Nine: For this exercise, use the same comfortable location you used for the first 7 steps and make sure you are going to be undisturbed. Lie down and induce a state of self-hypnosis, trance, meditative relaxation or whatever works best for you. As soon as you feel deeply relaxed, concentrate on the sounds and internal sensations that you associate with breathing, and once more tune in to the external world from “within” your body.

Step Ten: This time, instead of imagining that you’re floating directly above your body, focus your attention on a specific location across the room. Imagine your awareness moving away from your body toward that slightly distant part of your environment.

Now imagine that you’re a point of consciousness floating on the other side of the room, and that you’re looking back at your body from this new and more remote perspective. Take time to allow this perception to form in your imagination, create and construct it patiently. Your mind may not be used to this kind of thing, so some of the mental cogs may be a bit rusty with this kind of exercise. Focus on this imagined experience in your mind’s eye, do your best to capture the details with input from all five of your senses – notice the images, sounds, feelings, tastes and smells.

Step Eleven: After a few minutes of doing this, shift your focus to a completely different part of your immediate environment. Allow the details of this new location to fully form in your imagination as the impressions associated with the earlier location slowly dissolve. Maintain this new focus for several minutes before gradually shifting your attention back to your body.

So basically, you are now pin pointing locations in your immediate environment with your eyes closed, using your imagination and creating images of yourself being there. Then you are moving between the two positions and altering the perception and stretching your awareness and perception. The more you do it, the more you tune in to the sensations of what it is like to really be in that place and the more likely it is to be an out-of-body experience.

As you perform this exercise, take the time to create images that are as vivid as possible. The more detailed your images, the more likely you will be to have an OBE.

After practicing this exercise, break for thirty minutes or more. Then, if you feel like it, repeat this exercise and continue to focus your perceptions at increasingly greater distances from your body. You may repeat this procedure up to three successive times. Remember, no matter how many times you repeat this exercise, patiently take all the necessary time, the results are diminished when you rush. Have some fun, practice this real beginners technique to having out-of-body experiences.

Have a go at really getting metaphysical and see how your perception of the world and of yourself can really be altered when you separate your mind and body in this way.

Focus On Peace

admin — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:37:31 +0000

There has been a lot of attention recently about the phenomenal movie, â€œThe Secretâ€ and the recently released book of the same name. The main theme is the metaphysical law called â€œThe Law of Attractionâ€.

The law states that â€œlike attracts like.â€ We are magnetic and we attract to us those people, events and experiences that are in alignment with the preponderance of our thoughts. What you put your attention on and think about is what shows up in your life experience.

I personally believe in this law because I have documented it so irrefutably in my own life just through the mere observation of what I consciously think about and then noting what shows up in my experience. Anybody can do this but it takes a commitment to the process and a true desire to understand this law with a level of clarity that goes beyond normal everyday living.

Once you become aware of the power of this law you cannot help but strive to use it to your benefit as much as possible because you begin to understand how important it is to continually think about those things you want in your life and to stop thinking about those things you don’t want in your life.

That sounds pretty simple on the face of it. Continually think about the things you do want in your life and stop thinking about the things you don’t want in your life. Well, duh?! But the implementation of this simple procedure becomes more daunting when you realize the subtleties involved in this process. There is more to this equation than meets the eye. Let’s take a look at one aspect of how this works to get a clearer perspective of the overall application of this law and how you can use it to benefit your life experience.

One of the concepts that most people on this planet want to experience is peace. Whether you are a pacifist and are against the war or you are a hawk and are for the war what both of these perspectives are looking for in the final analysis is this thing called â€œPeaceâ€.

The hawk believes you can achieve peace by influencing others through the persuasion of military might in order to change behavior and the pacifist does not believe in the idea of war to achieve peace. So the hawk is pro-war and the pacifist is anti-war. What is the common theme that both groups are putting their attention on? WAR!

The Law of Attraction says that â€œlike attracts likeâ€. It doesn’t matter what side of the coin you are on, if you are putting your attention on ‘war’ to achieve ‘peace’, you are going to continue to experience â€œwarâ€. You bring into your life that which you put your attention on. Whether you are pro-war or anti-war you are creating more ‘war’.

The only way you can use â€œThe Law of Attractionâ€ to stop war and experience peace is by not putting any attention on war and only putting your attention on peace. You see, the more you put your attention on war, even if the attention you are putting there is to ’stop war’ you are still attracting the very thing you say you don’t want. How is that? Because you are putting your attention on it. You are not putting your attention on ‘peace’. You are putting your attention on ’stopping the war’. Big difference. You are continuing to perpetuate war under the belief that you are ‘against the war’.

The only way to create peace in your life is to â€œBe Peacefulâ€, and never give a moment’s attention to war. If you are ‘being peaceful’ and never entertaining thoughts of war then you will ‘be peaceful’ even when all around you may be at war.

Obviously this will be impossible to do if you continue to watch the nightly news on TV, listen to the news on the radio or read your daily newspaper.

It all comes down to whether or not you want to make an experiment out of your life and see if this is true for you. Is it worth a year of your life to give up TV, news- talk radio and reading the newspaper for a year to see if this is true? Wouldn’t that be a fun experiment with your life? Think thoughts of peace, speak only words of peace and do only peaceful things for one year. Do you think your life would be more peaceful?

Give it a try and report back to me in one year.

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