 what
you want to do—play piano, dance, paint beautiful pictures—and still get
rich. Instead, you can move up to hope that this is the opening  for a new,
exciting adventu re. You don’t know what the adventure is going to be, and
you don’ t know what kind of a job you’re going to come up with.
I find every job has things that are interesting about it. No matter what
kind of a job you have or where, there are always new people to meet. One
of the exciting things about any new job is meeting all these new people
with whom you’re going to be working and getting acquainted  with them.
There’ s new friendships to be made, new associations to be made, new
people who are interesting or entertaining. Some people you meet are goingto be funny, and some people are going to be awful. You know that, and it’s
just a new adve nture. Life goes from one adventure to anothe r adventure.
It’s always a new adventure, living one day at a time.
THE POWER OF THE MIND IN CRISIS
A woma n received a letter that her son was missing in action and she
went into a depression. She stopped talking, she stopped eating, and she just
rocked back and forth in her rocker. Nothing you did or said could persuade
her. She wouldn ’t eat; she wouldn’t talk. A week later, there was another
letter from the war department that there had been an error. It wasn’ t her
son who had been killed. It was somebody with the same name, with just
one letter off. Her son was Phillip with two L’s, and the other guy was
Philip with one L. Due to a misspelling, she was misinformed. After being
told that her son had not died, she showed no visible reaction at all.
Everybody said to her, “Gran ny, granny, he’s not dead. It was all a
mistake.” And she went on rocking, looking of f into space.
It took therapy to get her out of that state. When the state took over, you
might say it released all the grief of many lifetimes, which hit her all at
once. Once a state comes on strongly, it then has a life of its own. It gains
dominance, and it’s almost like you’re possessed by another spirit. Some
latent spirit in your unconscious takes over and begins to dominate the field.
You see that with people with resentments too. They’re resentful and
angry, and when  you ask them how long ago that was, they tell you, “It was
20 years ago.” Twenty years ago! It’s time to get off it. You’ve been juicing
it for 20 years. What you do is you make the person conscious  of the gain
that they’re getting out of clinging to it, and you get them to move off of it.
But peop le will cling to injustice; they’re great about injustice. They get so
much gain out of being wronged  that the competition is really to see who’ s
the most wronged.
CRISIS PRA YER
“Please be with me and show me how to surrender and handle this
experience.”That’ s a very good prayer. Any prayer in which you are calling forth the
will of God, calling upon God for help, is useful. If you calibrate the energy
of the event before and after you do this prayer, you see that the prayer is
uplifting: it does bring forth a great deal of healing energy, and you’ll come
out of something that you would not have come out of before.
It helps to live in the present. Many people are living in a fearful state of
expectation, and they’re gettin g a payof f from that. Then they find out
where in life they picked up this habit of fearfulness, and see all these
things reflect an unawareness of the presence and the availability of God
and divine help. If you think you’re all alone against the impossibilities of
this world, you tend to be fearfu l. Once you discover that you’r e not alone,
that the presence of God is a source of help, that fearfulness disappears
because you begin depending on God instead of your ego.
What you’re really seeing is that your ego in and of itself is incapable of
handling this whole deal. God is the source of life, and God is the source of
strength, hope, and awareness. You pray to God, you surrender to God, and
you say, “Well, God, I’ve done all I can do about it.” In the meantime, you
keep digging in the garden and settling back, expecting that magically the
radishes are going to suddenly sprout out of the ground. It takes  your effort.
Divine help is available at all times, but you don’t discover it until you
surrender to it. Then you find that the energy of God handles the thing you
prayed about for you. You don’t have to handle it yourself. When you let it
go, you realize it gets handled without your help at all.
God didn’ t really need you at all. You were just a witness to what was
happening. And if karmically, you’re destined to leave the world at this
time, you gracefully leave the world at this time. What’ s the point of crying
about it and struggling and doing an infantile kick with your little tiny toes
up in the air? If it’s your time to leave, leave already. If not now, later. That
does take a rather profound spiritual experience: the experiential awareness
of that which you really are, the Self with a capital S, is beyond life, and
that death has no beginning, has no ending, and is not made of the same
dimension of that which begins and ends. It’s a different dimension, and
knowing that your reality is not the personal self, but some essence within
you that is beyond  the personal self, out of which  the sense of a personal
self arises, but independent of the personal self.
If we put you to sleep with hypnosis or anesthesia or something, would
you cease to exist? No, it’s just your conscious awareness of yourself as aself with a small s. Once you experience the Self with a capital S, the fear
of dying  disappe ars forever. That which you are is not subject to either birth
or death. It alwa ys is, always has been, always will be, and is eternal. And
that which we call divinity is the essence of God within you. The source of
life is the essence of divinity within you.
Imagine if I said, “You’re going to die within five minutes,” and you
said, “Well, what do you know? I thought  today was going to be an
interesting day.” If you completely surrender to it, the fear disappears. Fear
is not a necessit y. Fear is an accoutrement that we add onto it. It’s what the
narcissistic ego adds on. What could be more awful to an egocentric,
narcissistic ego than the thought that it won’ t exist or it isn’ t very important.
LETTING GO OF FEAR
There is a habit of the mind that believes that if it hangs onto the fear, it
will derive something that will aid its survival—and that there’ s some gain
to the emotionality. There is the gain to the emotionality; the best thing to
do is to surrender to the emotion  itself. If you do that, it’ll dissip ate itself. If
you allow fear to just completely overwhelm you, and you surrender to the
fear, within surprisingly short order, the fear disappears and it becomes a
“so what?” It’s an awareness you really only reach through meditation, in a
way. That every emotion, no matter what it is—fear, anger, resentment,
contentment, love, et cetera—arises. Then you become aware of what it is
that it’s arising from, what it is that it’s reflecting. It’s because you’re trying
to go through the self with a small s—the egocentric, narcissistic ego—and
get to the real Self. That’ s a little more sophisticated. Very often it takes
years of meditation to do that.
And then suddenly in one insta nt, that which you consider your reality
functions spont aneously, auton omously without you. That which you
consider the you is not even involved. At that point very often, you leave
the body or you no longer expe rience yourself as the body or in a body or
having a body, and you become  the witness of the body. And then at that
point, not only do you not value your body, it doesn’ t seem interesting. The
first time you leave the body, you’re amazed. There’ s the body lying there.
And you think, Gee, I’d be concerned about that. But you aren’ t. It’s just
the dumb thing lying there. It’s a body, but it’s not my body, it’s not me. It’s
not particularly interesting.• • •
We feel fear as an emotion. Obviously, we are the ones who are creating
it. However, the mind does this out of habit. You’re supposed to be afraid of
this, you’re supposed to be afraid of that. A lot of our fears are really
programmed. Sickness, old age, suffering, death, and poverty are universal


 sense most cherished by lovers, he knew that he could never touch her
again. He nodded curtly, and the wailing in the corridors began.
Grief is to demons what music is to mortals. Unseen and unheard, Mara
walked through the palace. The formality of death is strict. Y ama, the lord
of death, is aware of every last breath, and he gives permission for the jiva,
or individual soul, to pass into the other world. The lords of karma await to
assign the next lifetime, sitting in judgment over the person’ s good and bad
actions. Cosmic justice is meted out by the devas, the celestial beings who
lavish the soul with rewards for good actions, and the asuras,  or demons,
who rain down punishment for wrongdoing. Demons do not have a free
hand, however. The law of karma is precise and exacts only the punishment
that is deserved, not an ounce more.
This made Mara’ s presence unnecessary, since Maya was already in the
care of the three devas who had come to her in her dream and who met her
again as she took her last breath. T o die in one world brings birth in another.
But Maya lingered in her body as long as she could. She willed her last
spark of life ener gy to flow through her hand to Suddhodana as he knelt by
the bed clutching it.
None of this concerned Mara, however. He walked past her bedchamber
and directed his steps farther, to the nursery, which was now empty of
nurses, guards, and priests. The new baby was completely unprotected.Mara crossed to the cradle and peered down at the wide-eyed child. The
young prince lay on his back with his throat bared to the first predator that
walked by.
But even the king of demons cannot cause physical harm directly.
Demons’ work is to amplify the mind’ s suffering. Mara would try to do that
with this child, since no baby is born without the seeds of pain in its mind.
Gazing down at the cradle, Mara let his face slide through a number of
nightmarish masks. You’ll never see your mother again,  Mara thought. She’s
gone away, and they ar e hurting her. Siddhartha kept his gaze fixed, yet
Mara was sure that the baby had heard. In fact, Siddhartha recognized him.
Mara was sure of it.
“Good,” the demon said. “Y ou showed up.”
He leaned closer to whisper in the baby’ s ear. “Tell me what you want.
I’m listening.” This was always the key, to play upon your opponent’ s
desire. “Can you hear me in there?” The baby kicked his feet.
“So many souls need you,” Mara said wistfully, resting his arms on the
cradle. “But here’ s the joke.” He paused to lean in closer. “When you fail,
they’ll wind up with me! I’m letting you in on the secret so you won’ t say I
was unfair. Become a saint. It will only make you a better instrument of
destruction. W on’t that be delicious?” As if in answer to his question, the
wailing over the dead queen grew louder. The baby looked away and fell
quickly asleep.

FUNEREAL SMOKE, oily and thick, twisted through the air and tainted the
sky as Maya’ s body burned atop the huge pile of sandalwood logs that had
been chopped from the forest. The ghatraj,  king of the funeral site, was a
huge, sweaty man. His face reddened as he shouted orders for more wood, a
higher flame, more melted ghee to pour over the body. The ghee had been
churned from the milk of sacred cows. Priests walked slowly around the
pyre chanting while the wailing women tossed thousands of marigolds into
the fire. Behind them hired mourners whipped themselves in their grief and
endlessly circled the body.The spectacle made Suddhodana sick. He had defied the Brahmins by
not taking Maya down to the ghats by the river. On his orders the funeral
pyre had been built in the royal gardens. Maya had remembered playing
there as a child, when noble girls from the region were brought to court on
the chance that any might please young Suddhodana. It was fitting that her
last resting place would be somewhere she loved. Secretly Suddhodana
knew that this was a gesture born of guilt as much as of love. He was the
one who still had a future.
Canki, the highest Brahmin, finished the rites by lifting an ax in the air.
The most sacred moment had arrived, when he would pray for the release of
Maya’ s soul while Suddhodana smashed the remains of her skull to release
the spirit inside. The king approached the pyre, his expression stony. He
glanced down at a necklace in his fist crafted of rubies and gold. He’d given
it to Maya on their wedding night, and now he gently placed it next to the
skull.
When Suddhodana turned away without raising the ax, Canki didn’ t
hesitate to put his hand on the king’ s arm—for the moment, he was ruler
here.
“You must.”
Suddhodana held no deep contempt for the priesthood, and he knew that
he had broken a sacred custom when his role was to uphold it. But at that
moment the priest’ s touch revolted him. He turned his back and walked
steadily toward the palace.
A woman was blocking his path. “Y ou must look on him, Y our Majesty.
Please.”
In the moment it took for him to hear these words, Suddhodana realized
that Kakoli the nurse was blocking his way. She carried Siddhartha in her
arms and hesitantly pushed him forward. T ears glittered in her eyes. “He’ s
precious. He’ s a gift.” Since his wife’ s death, the king had had nothing to do
with his son. He couldn’ t help feeling that if the boy had never been born,
his wife would yet live.“I should look at him? Let him look at this.”
Suddhodana glared at the nurse as he snatched the infant from her. The
baby started to cry as his father lifted him above the heads of the mourners,
giving him a good look at the smoldering corpse.
“Sire!” Kakoli tried to grab the child back, but Suddhodana fended her
off. Everyone turned around to stare. Suddhodana defied them with a look.
“His mother died!” he shouted. “I have nothing left.” He wheeled on
Kakoli. “Is that part of the gift?” The old nurse covered her mouth with one
shaking hand. Her weakness only enraged Suddhodana further. He took a
step toward her and was glad to see her shrink back from his threat. “Stop
sniveling. Let Siddhartha behold what this filthy world is really like.”
He handed the baby back and strode toward the palace. He entered the
great hall, his eyes looking for a new tar get that would promise more fight
than women and priests. Suddhodana needed a battle right now, something
he could throw himself at with abandon.
He stopped short at what he saw. An old charwoman was kneeling on
the floor, scraping ashes out of the fireplace with her gnarled hands. Gray,
unkempt hair hung down in her rheumy eyes. When she looked at him, she
smiled, revealing a toothless maw. Suddhodana trembled. His own personal
demon was here. He stood frozen in place, wondering bleakly what harm
she meant him.
The old crone shook her head as if in sympathy. Slowly she took a
fistful of ash from the cold embers and held it over her head, letting the ash
trickle down into her hair. She was mocking the mourners outside and him
at the same time.
Your poor, beautiful wife. W e have her now. And we love her as much as
you did.
The char rubbed ash in her face, making dark streaks and smudges until
only her wrinkled mouth and piercing eyes were left untouched. She had
him trapped. If he broke down, releasing all his pent-up grief and horror, itwould open a breach that the demons could exploit. Every time he thought
of Maya his mind would be invaded by hideous images. But if he resisted
her, clamping down his grief with steel bands, there would never be a
release, and the demons would hover around him.
The crone knew all this and waited for his reaction. Suddhodana’ s eyes
lost their anxiety and became hard as flint. In his mind’ s eye he conjured up
Maya’ s face, then he took an ax and smashed her memory, once and for all.
The air around him stank of funeral smoke drifting in from the garden. He
had made the warrior ’s choice.

A HUNDRED OIL LAMPS  flickered in the reception hall, each one held high as
courtiers craned for a better look. At first the spectacle had been fairly calm,
but when the animal sacrifices began, the cries of baby goats and the
gleaming of knives changed the atmosphere. Restless now, the courtiers
began to mill around, raising a clamor over the


, and love in your life? For a cheese craving: Where
does it not feel safe to express yourself or be who you are? Where do you
feel the need to insulate yourself to protect your vulnerability? How can
you give yourself (or a younger version of yourself) what you needed?
Weight Issues and Body Image and Stress
As you probably know by now, losing weight isn’t really  about the weight.
As you found out with cravings, it’s not the object that’s the problem. It’s
what’ s under the craving that’s driving the craving—undigested emotional
drivers keeping the weight on. These types of issues are what may be in the
way of accepting yourself with confidence and joy.
What you may not know is that not being able to accept yourself as you
are or how you look, can cause stress. If each time you see your reflection
you feel horrible about yourse lf, if each time you’re at the gym you’re
embarrassed and judgmental and jealous, you are creating a stressful
situation inside. The mind creates a negative cascade, sending an electrical
impulse to every part of your body letting it know you’re stressed out. It
initiates product ion of the hormo ne cortisol, which is known to keep weighton a body and is a culprit in many other diseases, including adult-onset
diabetes. Cortis ol is nicknamed the “weight-gain hormone.” If you are
consistently telling yourself how bad you look, how fat you are, how
hopeless your situation is, that you can’t possibly be happy until you
achieve your target weight, or similar, you’ll be under significant amounts
of stress. Every time you think  about or look at your body, feel hungry,
consider eating,  or compare yourself to someone else’s body, your body
listens—it can’t help it! And it will respond (obey your orders) by releasing
cortisol.
If this is what happens for you, interrupt the downward spiral by tapping
right there on the spot. You can heal! There will be a time in your life when
you accept your body—maybe even love your body (or at least like it a little
bit)—just as it is. (Even though I don’t believe her … it will never happen
for me … I’d sure like to believe it.)
With acceptance, you may still have pain, but your resistance  to realit y is
what causes suffering. And as you unearth the emotional drivers under the
cravings, the entire issue will collapse.
Exercise: Experimenting with Self-T alk
Does this kind of self-talk abou t the future sound familiar? I’ll be happy
when …. I’ll have a good life when …. If I could just lose ____, I’d ….
Ask yourself what you believe to be true about your life because of your
weight. For example, I’ll never have the boyfriend, the wedding, the trip,
the promotion … until I lose ____ pounds.  This fantasy ideal may be the
thing in your way! Ask yourself, What if I didn’ t need to weigh
150/99/250/130/180/ pounds to be happy, have peace, enjoy life, have more
fun, dress well, and feel lighter? Focus on the feeling that question gives
you. Find the feeling and tap on it until the weight no longer matters. It’s
metaphorical weight. You will have found the real feelings, memories,
drivers, and roots beneath the weight—and that’s something you can tap on.
As always, things change when you tap. When the weight no longermatters, who knows what wonders your feelings of self-acceptance will do
for your life and body.
Case Study: Rooting Out Memories,
Weight and Body Themes, Clearing Guilt
In this story, the experiences of a client named Shelley illustrate the
importance of rooting out the early memories around weight, food, and
body image and how becoming aware of yours can reduce the stress and
anxiety that lead to overeating. When you clear the guilt, shame, blame, and
other hurtful feelings, you unlock the reasons you hold on to the weight.
Shelley experien ced stress dozens, maybe hundreds of times a day with
all of her negati ve thoughts, beliefs, talk, and feelings about her weight and
body. On the outside, it looked like she had everything. She was an
intelligent, caring woman in her mid-thirties, a master therapist with a
successful career. But she was locked in a world where she bombarded
herself with insecurities about her weight and her body. She noted using
eating to assuage her feelings of insecurity in relation  to just about everyone
else in the world. She didn’ t feel comfortable in her own skin and even
stressed out about whether what she was wearing was going to meet the
approval of her colleagues. Her fears made no logical sense, but they made
emotional sense  given her background. An oldest child, while growing up
she was the one who always had to “look perfect” and “be the best,” and
“take care of everyone else” to get approval.
Shelley’ s goal was to end the horrible haunting she experienc ed every
day, find peace in who she was, feel comfortable in her own body, and lose
weight. But before she could do any of that, she needed to lose some of the
emotional  weight and upset that was actually weighing her down in many
different areas of her life.
As is common with many individuals dealing with painful weight and
body-acceptance challenges, Shelley regularly thought about negative
images throughout the day. Whenever she felt stress, anxiety, or upset, shethought about food and eating;  whenever she looked in a mirror or store
window, she remembered her latest overeating, her lack of control around
food cravings, and the number of failed diets she’d had. From there it was
easy to unfavora bly compare herself to any woman around her age at the
gym, a restaurant, or an event. She even began worrying that the waitress
would think she was eating too much if she ordered a substantia l meal. And
because she was also in the National Guard, she would be regularly
weighed, so she was on her guard with anything weight-related.
Can you see the many specific events or issues under her feelings about
her weight? Did you notice how her constant negative self-talk and self-
image af fected her weight and her confidence?
Many things triggered her, but I asked her questions to discover what
feelings were underneath the situations that eating helped her assuage. “The
feeling that I’m a fake and a fraud,” she said. What if people found out? Her
answer: “Then they will see me and I’ll be left all alone.”  And then? “And
then I’ll die alone.”
This way of thinking is quite common. If you ask yourself what will
happen when the “bad” thing happens, you will likely go down the rabbit
hole of being left to die all alone, a horrible death. Regularly start asking
yourself about the worst-case scenario if the “bad” thing happ ens … and
then what  … and what then …? You’ll inevitably find out that saying no to
your pushy sister is somehow equated in your emotional being with being
cast out of the tribe and dying in isolation. Again, it’s just another way to
begin to tap around the edges of old, big hurts and begin clearing them.
We’ll continue with Shelley’ s story after this exercise. Please customize
as you see fit.
Exercise: T o Take the Edge Of f, Start Slow
Let’s start with something global: “I don’ t like the way I look.”
Step 1. Pick something specific about the way you look that you don’t
like: poochy stomach, gray hair, wrinkles, bad teeth, big feet, varicoseveins, too short or tall, too fat or skinny, big thighs, a limp, a birthmark, etc.
Step 2.  Rate your tapping tar get’s intensity on the 0 to 10 scale.
Step 3. Tap continuous ly on the Karate  Chop point while repeating three
times your phrase that captures the tapping target intensity for you, such as:
“Even though I don’t like the way I look, don’t like my poochy stomach, I
deeply and completely accept myself.”
Step 4.  Tap down the points using a reminder phrase that reminds you of
the problem, such as: “ poochy stomach.”
Step 5.  After tapping, rate your intensit y again. If it’s higher than a 2, get
even more speci fic about this one aspect you don’t like. Repeat if necessary
(meaning your intensity is a 2 or more) before going to the next aspect on
your personal list.
Step 6.  Tap as already described above with the new aspects one at a time
until the intensity subsides on each one. Think of ocean waves that break on
the beach and recede.
Step 7.  You can go deeper into this exercise by using a mirror and tapping
on the intensity  that arises when you look at your body. I went from
disliking my gray hair to ownin g my worth as a woman of wisdom. I’m a
woman who has lived a full and wonderful life, and I grew my hair out. It’s
now shoulder length and I love it.
Going Deeper into W eighty Issues
Remember the metaphor idea? Just the word “weight” can be


d o i n g  i n  t h e  w o r l d.  A t  l a s t  I ’ m  c o n v i n c e d  I  h a v e  a  r i g h t  t o
b e  h e r e.  I ’ m  n o t  a s  f r a n t i c  a s  I  u s e d  t o  b e,  t h o u g h  I  c a n ’ t  t e l l
y e t  w h e t h e r  t h a t ’ s  b e c a u s e  I ’ v e  e v o l v e d  o r  j u s t  a g e d.  O n  t h e
o t h e r  h a n d,  I  g e t  t i r e d  m o r e  e a s i l y,  I  o f t e n  c a n ’ t  r e m e m b e r
t h i n g s,  a n d  I ’ m  e x h a u s t e d  f r o m  j u s t  l o o k i n g  f o r  m y  g l a s s e s
a l l  t h e  t i m e!  M o s t  d i s c o n c e r t i n g  o f  a l l,  w h e n  I ’ m  i n  a
s e r i o u s  m o o d  a n d  I  d o  t h e  m a t h,  I  c a n ’ t  g a r n e r  m u c h  h o p e
o f  c h a n g i n g  t h i n g s  o n  t h i s  p l a n e t  d u r i n g  t h e  t i m e  I  h a v e  l e f t.
O u r  g e n e r a t i o n ’ s  s h a r e d  d e l u s i o n  t h a t  w e  w o u l d  u s h e r  i n
p a r a d i s e  h a s  b e e n  c o m p l e t e l y  s h a t t e r e d.  T h e  o l d e r  y o u  g e t,
t h e  m o r e  y o u  s e e  h o w  e n t r e n c h e d  c e r t a i n  n e g a t i v e s  a r e.
T h e r e  i s  s o  m u c h  c r u e l t y  i n  t h e  w o r l d  t h a t  y o u  t h o u g h t  f o r
y e a r s  w o u l d  g o  a w a y ;  a s  y o u  a g e,  i t  d a w n s  o n  y o u  t h a t  i t
n e v e r  r e a l l y  d o e s.
A s  d i s i l l u s i o n i n g  a s  i t  i s  t o  r e a l i z e  t h e s e  t h i n g s — a n d
d i s i l l u s i o n m e n t  i s  a c t u a l l y  a  g o o d  t h i n g  b e c a u s e  i t  m e a n s
y o u  w e r e  l a b o r i n g  u n d e r  i l l u s i o n s  b e f o r e * — i t ’ s  a l s o  t h e
b e g i n n i n g  o f  s p i r i t u a l  i n s i g h t.  O n c e  y o u ’ r e  d e e p l y
c o n v i n c e d  t h e r e  a r e  n o  u l t i m a t e  a n s w e r s  o u t s i d e  y o u r s e l f,
y o u  s t a r t  l o o k i n g  f o r  t h e m  w h e r e  t h e y  t r u l y  a r e :  i n s i d e.  A n d
y o u  r e a l i z e  t h a t  i n  y o u r  s l o w i n g  d o w n,  y o u ’ r e  m o r e
p r e p a r e d  t o  l i s t e n  t o  t h i n g s  y o u  w e r e  m o v i n g  t o o  f a s t  b e f o r e
t o  h e a r.
S o  m u c h  w a s t e d  t i m e,  s o  m a n y  s t u p i d  m i s t a k e s.  Y o u  f e e l
y o u  h a v e  t h e  k n o w l e d g e  n o w,  b u t  y o u ’ r e  n o t  s u r e  y o u  h a v e
t h e  e n e r g y  l e f t :  i f  o n l y  y o u  h a d  k n o w n  t h e n  w h a t  y o u  k n o wn o w.  Y o u  c o m e  t o  u n d e r s t a n d  G e o r g e  B e r n a r d  S h a w ’ s
c o m m e n t,  “ Y o u t h  i s  w a s t e d  o n  t h e  y o u n g. ”
O u r  a d r e n a l  g l a n d s  d e c i m a t e d,  o u r  c e l l s  l i k e  f a s t  c a r s
b e g i n n i n g  t o  s h o w  w e a r,  t h e  f a s t e s t  g e n e r a t i o n  h a s  b e g u n  t o
s l o w  d o w n.  J a c k  N i c h o l s o n  s a i d  i n  a  r e c e n t  i n t e r v i e w,  “ M y
g e n e r a t i o n  i s  t h e  n e w  o l d. ”  O u r  d e e p e s t  b u r d e n  i s  t h e
a c c u m u l a t e d  s o r r o w,  t h e  h e a r t b r e a k  o f  o n e  d e c a d e
i m p i n g i n g  u p o n  t h e  n e x t  u n t i l  t h e  h e a r t  c a n  a b s o r b  n o  m o r e.
Y o u r  m i n d  h a s  f i g u r e d  s o  m u c h  o u t,  b u t  y o u r  b o d y  i s n ’ t
s u r e  t h a t  i t  c a r e s  a n y m o r e.  W h e n  i t ’ s  m o r e  d e p r e s s i n g  t h a n
j o y f u l  t o  w a k e  u p  i n  t h e  m o r n i n g,  t h e n  y o u  k n o w  y o u  h a v e
a  p r o b l e m.
A n d  m a n y  d o.
M o s t  p e o p l e,  o n c e  t h e y


clockworks we will notice that some
By simply recording observations, we
giant locomotive if you know exactly
by dif ferent names, for instance, strange
gears move slowly and ponderously,
can see a grand picture emer ge, one that
where to put your finger.)
attractors. But most important to our
while others move very rapidly, with tiny
predicates no limitations to the extent of
Nonlinear dynamics enables these
research is the discovery that some balances twirling about as escape
further investigation.
significant patterns to be identified in
patterns are very powerful and others are
mechanisms seesaw back and forth. T o
All of us have available to us at all times
complex presentations, even when theymuch weaker. There is a critical point
place pressure on one of the lar ge moving
a computer far more advanced than the
are obscured by incoherence or sheer
which dif ferentiates the two distinct gears would have no ef fect on the
most elaborate artificial intelligence mass of indecipherable data. It
discovers classes. This phenomenon is parallel and
mechanism; however, somewhere there is
machine-the human mind itself. The the relevance in what the world
discards corollary to the high and low ener gy
a delicate balance mechanism at which
basic function of any measuring device is
as irrelevant, using an entirely dif ferent
bonds in the mathematics of the chemical
the slightest touch stops the entire device.
simply to give a signal indicating the
approach and totally dif ferent methods of
bond.
This is identified as the "critical point"
detection by the instrument of slight
problem resolution from the ones the
where the least force exerts the greatest
change. In the experiments to be world is used to. 12Fields of Dominance
ef fect.
described, the reactions of the human
The world conventionally assumes that
A field of dominance is exhibited by high
Causality
body itself prow isle such a signal of
the processing of problems requires
ener gy patterns in their influence over
change in conditions. As will be seen, the
starting from the known (the question or
weaker ones. This may be likened to (33)
W ithin the observable world causality
body can discern to the finest degree the
conditions) and moving on to the
the coexistence of a small magnetic field
has conventionally been presumed to
dif ference between that which is unknown (the answer) in a time
sequence within the much lar ger field of a giant
work in the following manner:
supportive of life and that which is not.
following definite steps and logicalelectromagnet. The phenomenological
A Æ B Æ C
W e should not be surprised at this.
progression. Nonlinear dynamics moves
universe is the expression of the (34) This is called a deterministic linear
Living things all react to what is life-in the opposite direction: from the
interaction of endless attractor patterns of
sequence-like billiard balls sequentially
supportive and what is not; this is the
unknown (the non-deterministic data of
varying strengths. The unending striking each other. The implicit
fundamental mechanism of survival. the question) to the known (the
answer)!
complexities of life are the reflections of
presumption is that A causes B causes C.
Inherent in all life forms is the capacity
It operates within a dif ferent paradigm of
the endless reverberations of the But our own research indicates that
to detect change and react correctively,
causality. The problem is seen as one of
augmentations and diminutions of these
causality operates in a completely
Thus, trees become smaller at higherdefinition and access rather than of
fields, compounded by their harmonics
dif ferent manner:
elevations as the oxygen in the logical sequence (as in solving a problem
and other interactions.
A
B
C
atmosphere becomes scarcer. Human by dif ferential equations).13
Critical Point Analysis
protoplasm is far more (31) sensitive than
But before we attempt defining the
↓
↓
↓
that of a tree.
questions of this study further, let us
The traditional Newtonian concept of
A Æ B Æ C
causality (see below) had excluded all
The methodology, proceeding from the
examine some of the material we haveFrom this diagram we see that cause
such "non-deterministic" data because it
study of nonlinear dynamics, which we
introduced in greater detail.
(ABC), which is unobservable, results in
did not fit into its paradigm. W ith the
employed in this work of developing a
(32)
the sequence AÆBÆC, which is an
15
16
observable phenomenon within the among which attractor networks have
phase space of consciousness itself is
and rational. But the process, and
measurable three-dimensional world. The
been identified. Conclusions of current
unlimited, going on to infinity. The range
therefore the experience, of life itself is
typical problems the world attempts to
research are that the brain's neural
of one to 600, representing the domain of
or ganic-that is to say, nonlinear bydeal with exist on the observable level of
networks act as a system of attractor
the vast majority of human experience, is
definition. This is the source of man's
AÆBÆC. But our work is to find the
patterns, and that stored memories act as
the primary scope of this study; the levels
inescapable intellectual frustration.
inherent attractor pattern, the ABC out of
attractors, so that the system does not
from 600 to 1,000, the realm of non-
In this study, however, test responses
which the AÆBÆC arises.
behave in a random fashion overall,
ordinary evolution--of enlightenment, were independent of our subjects'
belief ABC
- Attractor Pattern
although each individual neuron may
sages, and the highest spiritual states-will
systems or intellectual content What
↓ ↓ ↓ - Operants
behave in random fashion.19also be described.
emer ged were patterns of ener gy Fields
A Æ B Æ C - Observable Event
Neuron models of consciousness disclose
W ithin the total field studied, sequential
which were aspects of consciousness
a class of neural networks called
patterns emer ged identifying the itself, irrespective of individual
identities.
In this simple diagram the operants
"constraint satisfaction systems."20 In
progressive powers of attractor fields in
In common left-brain/right-brain parlance
transcend both the observable and the
these systems a network of
which there were local variations, but
we could say that the test subjects reacted
non-observable; we might picture them
interconnected neuron units operates
global consistency. Strange attractors can
globally to an attractor Field irrespective
as a rainbow bridging the deterministicwithin a series of limits and thus sets up
be of either high or low ener gy, and the
of the individual variation of their left-
and the non-deterministic realms. (The
attractor patterns, some of which are now
critical point in our data appeared to be
brain logic, reason or sequential thought
existence of operants can be inferred by
being identified with psychopathology.21
the calibration range of 200, below which
systems. The results of the study indicate
asking the question, "What encompasses
This kind of modeling correlates
the power of attractors could be that profoundly powerful patterns
both the possible and the impossible, the
behavior with physiology and parallels
described as weak, or negative, above
or ganize human behavior.
known and the unknown?"-i.e., what is
the results of our kinesiologic muscle
which as strong, or positive. By the time
W e can intuit, then, an infinite domain ofthe matrix of all possibility?)
testing, demonstrating the connection
we reached the calibration of 600 they
infinite potential, consciousness itself,
This description of how the universe
between mind and body.
were enormously powerful.
within which there is an enormously
works is in accord with the theories of
In terms derived from chaos theory, the
An important element of chaos theory
powerful attractor Field or ganizing all of
physicist David Bohm, who has clinical study described in the following
helpful in understanding this evolution of
human behavior into what is innate to
described a holographic universe with an
pages has identified a phase space,
consciousness is the law of sensitive
"humanness." W ithin the giant attractor
invisible implicate ("enfolded") and a
encompassing the full range of the
dependence on initial conditions." ThisField are lesser Fields of progressively
manifest explicate ("unfolded") order."
evolution of human consciousness.
refers to the fact that a slight variation
less ener gy and power. These Fields, in
But it is most important to note that this
W ithin this range numerous attractor
over a course of time can have the ef fect
turn, dominate behavior, so that definable
scientific insight corresponds with (35) the
patterns of increasing power have been
of producing a profound change,' much
patterns are consistent across cultures and
view of reality experienced through denoted. These patterns represent
ener gy as a ship whose bearing is one degree of f
time throughout human history. The
history by enlightened sages who have
fields which are qualities of
compass


 of these sodas will  automatically reduce the free urge to drink water
when sodas are not available.
Currently, practitioners of medicine are unawar e of the many chemical roles of water in the body. Beca use
dehydration eventually causes loss of some functions, the various sophisticated signals given by operators of the
body's water rationing program during severe and lasting dehydration have been translated as indicators of
unknown disease conditions of the body. This is the most basic mistake that has deviated clinical medicine. It has
prevented medical practitioners from being able to advise preventive measures or offer simple physiologic cures for
some major diseases in humans.
With the appearance of these signals, the body should be provided with water for these rationing systems to
distribute. However, medical practitioners have been taught to silence these signals with chemical products. Of
course they have zero understanding of the significance of this most gross error. The various signals produced by
these water distributors are indicators of regional thirst and drought of the body. At the onset, they can be relieved
by an increased intake of water itself, yet they are improperly dealt with by the use of commercial chemical products
until pathology is established and diseases a re born. It is unfortunate that this mistake is continued until the use of
more and more chemicals to treat the other developing symptoms and complications of dehydration becomes
unavoidable, and then the patient dies. The irony? They say th e patient died of a disease. What a clearance for their
conscience!
The error in silencing the different signals of water shortages of the body with chemical products is immediatelydetrimental to the cells of the body of the person being treated. The established signal-producing chronic
dehydration also has a permanently damaging impact on subsequent descendants of the person.
I take pleasure in bringing to your attention a breakthrough knowledge in medicine that can benefit every person
who may fall ill, and especially the elderly. In short, my paradigm change in basic human applied science will
establish a physiology-based approach to future human research and simplify the practice of medicine all over the
world. The immediate outcome of this paradigm shift will be to the health advantage of the public. It will expose the
newly understood signs of dehydration in the human body. It will also decrease the costs of falling ill.
THE PARADIGM  THA T NEEDS TO BE CHANGED
What is a paradigm and how does it change? A paradigm (para-di me) is the most basic unde rstanding on which
new knowledge is generated. As a n example, the earlier understanding was t hat the Earth is flat. The new
understanding is that the Earth is round. The roundness of the Earth is the basic p aradigm to the design of all maps,
globes, recognition of stars in the sky, a nd calculations for space travel. Thus, the earlier paradigm for holding the
Earth to be flat was inaccurate. It is the correct understanding of the Earth as a sphere that has made advancement
in many fields of sc ience possible. This change in paradigm is basic t o our progress in  many fields of science. The
shift in that paradigm and the transformation it brought about did not occur easily. Ad option of a fundamentally
significan t new paradigm in the science of medicine is more difficult even if the outcome is highly desirable and
desperately needed by the society.
THE SOURCE OF ERROR I N MEDICI NE
The human body is composed of 25 percent solid matter (the solute) and 75 percent water (the solvent). Brain
tissue is said to consist of 85 percent wat er. When the phase of inquiry into the workings of the body began,
because the scientific p arameters and a very broad knowledge of chemistry had already become well-established, it
automatically became the assumption that the same understandings that wer e developed within the discipline of
chemistry applied to the body's so lute composition.
It was therefore assumed that the solute composition is the reactive regulator of all functions of the body. At the very
onset of research into the human body, the water content of the body was a ssumed to act only as a solvent, a space
filler, and a means of transport—the same views that were generated from the test-tube experiments in chemistry.
No other functional properties were attributed to the solvent material. The basic understanding in today's "scientific"
medicine—which has been inherited from an educational programs established at the dawn of systematic learning
—also regards solutes as regulators and water as only a solvent and a means of material transport in the body. Th e
human body is even now re garded as a large "test tube" full of solids of different nature and the water in the body as
a chemically insignificant "packing material."
In science, it has been assumed that it is the solutes (su bstances that are dissolved or carried in the blood and
serum in the body) that regulate all the activities of the body. This includes the regulation of its wat er (the solvent)
intake, which is assumed to be well-regulated. It is presumed, because water is freely available and one does not
have to pay for it, that the body has no business in falling short of something that is available!
Under this erroneous assumption, all the human applied research has been directed toward identification of one
"particular" sub -Stance that can be held responsible for causing a disease. Therefore, all the suspected possib le
fluctuations and variation of elemental changes have been tested without a clear-cut solution to a single disease
problem. Accordingly, all treatments are palliative and none seems to be curative (except for bacterial infections and
the use of antibiotics). Hype rtension is not generally cured; it is treated during the lifetime of a person. Asthma is not
cured; inhalers are the constant companion of the afflicted. Peptic ulcer is not cured; antacids have to be nearby all
the time. Allergy is not cured; the victim is always dependent on medication. Arthritis is not cured, it eventually
cripples, and so on.
Based on this preliminary assumption of the role of water, it has become a practice to regard the "dry mouth" as a
sign and sensation of body water needs, which is further assumed to be well-regulated if the sensation of "dry
mouth" is not present, possib ly because the substance water is abundant and free. This is an absur dly erroneo us
and confusion-generating view in medicine and entirely responsible for the lack of success in  finding perman ent
preventive solutions to disease emergence in the body, despite so much costly research.
I have already published an account of my clin ical observations when I treated more than 3000 peptic ulcer
sufferers with water alone. I discovered for the first time in medicine that this "classical  disease" of the body
responds to water by itself. Clinically, it became obvious that this condition resembled a thirst "disease." Under the
same environmental and clinical settings, other "disease" conditions seemed to respond to water by itself. Extensive
research has proven my clinical observations that the body has a variety of most sophistica ted thirst signals—
integrated signal systems during regulation of the available water at times of dehydration.
The com bination of my clinical and literature research has sh own that the paradigm that has until now g overned all
human applied research must be changed if we wish to conquer "disease." It has become clear that the practice of
clinical medicine is based on a false assumpti on and an inaccurate premise. Otherwise, how could a signal system
for water metabolism disturbance be missed or so blatantly ignored for such  a long time? At the moment, the "dry
mouth" is the only accepted sign of dehydration of the body. As I  have explained, this sig nal is the last outward sign
of extreme dehydratio n. The damage occurs at a level of persistent dehydration that does not necessarilydemonstrate a "dry mouth" signal. Earlier researchers sh ould have realized that, to facilitate the act of chewing and
swallowing food, saliva is produced even if the rest of the body is comparatively dehydrated.
Naturally, ch ronic dehydration of the body means persistent water shortage that has become established for some
time. Like any other deficiency disorder such as vitamin C deficie ncy in scur vy, vitamin B deficie ncy in beri-beri, iron
deficiency in anemia, vitamin D deficiency in rickets, or you name it, the most efficient method of treatment of the
associated disorders is by supplementation of the missing ingredient. Accordingly, if we begin to recognize the
health complications of chronic dehydration, their prevention, and even early cure, becomes simple.
Although my sc ientific views in medicine were peer reviewed, before I presented my paradigm change information
as a guest lecturer at an international cancer conference in 1987, Dr. Barry Kendler's letter on page 12 (printed by
his kind permission) further confirms the validity of my scientific views on chronic dehydration as a disease
producer. As you will see, he has even studied some of the important references that I have referred to to explain
that chronic dehydration is the root cause of most major degenerative diseases o f the human body; the diseases
whose cause was not clear until now. Refer ring to any medical text-book, you will see over a thousand pages of
verbiage, but when it comes to giving the reasons for the major diseases o f the human body, the statement in all
cases is uniform and very brief: "Etiology unknown!"THE NEW PARA DIGM
"A new scientific truth is not usually presented in a way to convince its opponents. Ra ther, they die off, and a rising


ly and I decided to go on
a ca mping trip. We were joined by four friends, and
together we drove our vans into Ocala National Forest
for the weekend. I had a VW  camper, so weekend trips
were an easy affair. But this trip wouldn’t turn out to be
just another camping trip—this trip was destined to have
a profound impact on the rest of my life.
We found a sec luded spot in the woods that opened up
to a pristine wetland area. Once we situated our vans, we
were overcome by the quiet and beauty of the place. It
dawned on me that this wo uld be a good place to do
some m editation. I was just a novice, but I was very
serious about doing the practices and finding out what it
would be like i f the voice actually stopped. I asked Shelly
and our friends if I could spend some time by myself. No
one objected, so I meandered down by the grassy lake
and found a nice spot to sit. The whole notion of
meditating was  so meaningful to me that from the start it
was like a sacred experience. I picked a tree to sit under,
just like the Buddha. Then, very dramatically, I told
myself, I’m not getting up unt il I’ve reached
enlightenment.
What happened under that tree that day was so
powerful that even now my body shivers and my eyes
begin to tear just to think about it.4.
A b s o l u t e  S i l e n c e
I  crossed my legs in a full-lotus position. I knew I wasn’t
proficient enou gh to hold that posture for long, but I
thought I might as well start with the official meditation
position. I straightened my back and neck, and I began to
concentrate on  my breath expanding and contracting in
my abd omen. The Zen book instructed me to make the
Mu  sou nd way do wn in my belly, below the belly button.
I watched my breath go in and out from way down there.
I wa s intending to sit for muc h longer than I had done
previously, so I used my will to concentrate with extra
intensity and sincerity. It must have made a difference
because I went deeper insi de than I had ever gone
before. It seemed that concentrating on the movement of
the breath in my belly created a force that linked the
outflow of breath from my nostrils with the inner
movement of my abdomen. Every time I breathed slowly
out my nose, I felt a warm, inviting sensation throughout
the area below my belly. The sensation was so nice that
my attention naturally centered there. For a period of
time, I simply lost myself in the beauty of the experience.
Some ti me later, the length o f which I had no way of
telling, the mental voice began talking about how
beautiful the experience was  and how this must be real
meditation. Since my awar eness was drawn to that
mental voice, it was drawn away from concentrating on
the breath. The meditation experience seemed to have
run its natural  course, and I began to come down to my
normal mental state.But this meditation session was supposed to be
different. I had told myself I w asn’t getting up until I had
broken through. So I willfully began concentrating anew
on the movem ent of the breath in my belly and on the
sound of Mu.  I lost myself once again in the warm
flowing force that tied my ex halations to the warmth in
my abdomen. The force became much stronger as I
concentrated more deeply. E ventually, all consciousness
of my body an d my surroundings was gone. I was only
aware of the effortless flow  of warm energy that was
building and expanding at the core of my belly. I was not
there; only the flow was there.
From time to time, for brie f moments, my sense of
self-awareness would drift b ack into focus. The instant
that sta rted to happen, I would willfully focus on the
feeling of the exhaled breath  and the movement of my
belly—and, in stantly, I was no longer there. This
experience of drifting in and  out of the deep state went
on for a prolonged period of time, perhaps hours.
At s ome point, I must have  lost the will to refocus
during one of those mom ents when self-awareness
returned. I had been far gone in a very deep and peaceful
place, but I started to come back. I don’t know how long I
had actually been sitting, but the first thing I became
aware o f was the pain in my legs. They hurt a great deal
from sitting in a full-lotus po sition for so long. The voice
of th e m ind ha d not started b ack up yet. I was just there,
kind of dazed, but very peaceful and deeply mesmerized
by the experie nce. I suppose I would have continued to
come down, but an amazing thing happened. From back
behind where my sense of awareness had been centering
came a booming voice. It said  very sternly: “DO YOU OR
DO YOU NOT WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS BEYOND
YOU?”
This wa s not the voice of th e mind I was so used to
struggling with. Ever since I first noticed that chattering
voice, it was t alking in front of and below where I satinside. This new invocation came from behind and above
where m y sens e of awareness was now situated. In any
event, i ts stern challenge shook me to the depths of my
being. I didn’t feel the need to answer the question,
because every drop of me yearned to go deeper. So I took
a br eath in, then deeply pu shed myself into the out-
breath, and I was gone.
When my sense of self-awareness began to coagulate
again, my experience of being was very different from
anything I had ever experien ced before. I felt pain in my
legs, bu t they were very far  away and the pain had a
warmth and beauty to it. As I regained some awareness
of my body, I tried to lean my head a tiny bit forward.
Nothing moved. It was as though my forehead was
pressed again st a wall. Something very solid was
resisting even the slightest movement of my head
forward. I immediately realized that the sheer intensity
of my concentration had created a well-defined force that
flowed outward from my forehead and curved back to the
point in my lower abdomen where I had been
concentrating. I know this must sound strange, but it felt
like a magneti c field that wa s so strong I simply could
not move against it.
This was not the only powerful energy I was
experiencing. I had been sitting in a full-lotus posture
with my hands resting on my crossed feet. In that
position the whole of my hands, arms, and shoulders
formed a closed circle. Now that complete circle had
become another one of these force fields. I could neither
move forward nor sideways—I was locked in what I can
only describe as perpendicular energy flows. Whenever I
breathed out, the flows be came more tangible and
intense. The entire exper ience was so completely
enthralling that I did not actually regain awareness of my
surroundings. I only came down far enough to see that
my body was overcome by these energy flows. Then, onceagain, I heard: “DO YOU OR  DO YOU NOT WANT TO
KNOW WHAT IS BEYOND YOU?”
I im mediately took a deep breath in and with great
intention slowly exhaled through my nostrils. It was as
though the outgoing breath pushing against the magnetic
force fields created upward lift. That upward and inward
propulsion beg an to drive m e to an even deeper place,
beyond any sense of self-awareness. One more breath in
and out, and I was completely gone.
Perhaps you would like to ask where I went. That’s
reasonable, but I’m unable to answer that question. I
only kn ow tha t each time I came back, I was in a more
elevated state than when I left. When I came back from
nowhere the next time, everything was very different.
There was no subtle resistance to having returned. There
was no sense o f urgency to hold on to the elevated state.
There was only peace—deep, deep peace. And there was
absolute silence, a silence that nothing could possibly
disturb. It was so still that pe rhaps there had never ever
been any sound here for all eternity. It was like outer
space where there is no atmosphere, so there can be no
sound. Sound requires a me dium in which to travel. In
the place I returned to, there was no such medium. I was
truly experiencing the sound of silence.
Most important, there was no voice. There was not
even the memory of what it would be like to have chatter
in th at sacred place. It was gone. All gone. All that was
left was awareness of being. I simply existed, nothing
more. This time no stern bec koning entreated me to go
beyond. It was time to come back.
The first thing I noticed as I became aware of my
surroundings was that the external energy flows I


 not a path of renunciation. It is a path of understanding and en -
joyment. Nor do I mean to imply that it may not sometimes be legitimate
to address unloving or unjust behaviour in a partner, as well as in ourself, if
a relationship is to evolve in line with love and understanding.
     Those who are already in a long-term relationship would do their rela -
tionship a great service by understanding that their companion can never
fulfil their demand that they produce happiness or love for them and, as a
result, withdrawing that expectation.
     One of the kindest things we can say to our partner is, ‘I love you, but
my happiness is not dependent upon you’. It will relieve our friend of the
impossible burden of producing love and happiness for us and will give the
relationship the best possible chance of being truly loving and intimate.

freedom from the search

The understanding that peace and happiness cannot be given or taken away
by external circumstances is one of the greatest discoveries a person can
make, and it is often accompanied by a feeling of liberation and profound
relaxation. We no longer need to constantly negotiate experience, resisting
what is present and seeking what is not present, for the purpose of finding
happiness.
     This does not imply that we withdraw from life in any way. On the
contrary, we simply cease expecting events and people to make us happy.
We withdraw the impossible demand on our friends that they be a source
of love, and from circumstances that they be a source of happiness. When
we are able to experience people and circumstances as they are, without
the layer of expectation and need through which our previous interactions
with them were filtered, the universe will respond in a way that confirms
its approval.
     Nor does this understanding imply that we lead a life of passive resigna -
tion or cease responding to situations and taking appropriate action when
necessary. We do not allow ourself, or those in our care, to be abused, nor
are we silent in the face of injustice. One who is established in their true na -
ture and living in harmony with the unfolding of the universe does not
155you are the happiness you seek
refrain from action, but their actions are not initiated by the anxieties, fears
and desires that characterise the separate self or ego.
     Rather, their actions are informed by qualities that emanate directly from
the deepest part of our being, qualities that are shared by all people but in
so many cases are temporarily obscured by layers of conditioning. When lib -
erated from the demands of the person, our innate enthusiasm, kindness,
clarity, compassion and sense of justice become the means by which eternal
truths are expressed in response to temporary circumstances.
     One in whom this understanding is alive may or may not make a con -
scious attempt to intervene in any particular situation. However, their pres -
ence and their response will, to a greater or lesser extent, restore balance and
harmony, even if the effect of their intervention is not immediately apparent
due to other elements in the situation beyond their control.
     If our response comes from harmony with a situation rather than op -
position to it, we align ourself with the totality and our action cannot help
but be beneficial. Such action will always contribute to the unfolding of love
and understanding in humanity. It is for this reason that Ramana Maharshi
said, ‘Realisation of the Self is the greatest help that can be rendered to
humanity’. *

156* T alks with Ramana Maharshi: On Realizing Abiding Peace and Happiness, 2nd ed. (Inner Directions
Foundation, 2010 ).chapter nineteen
The All-Pervasive Spirit
I have created perception in you only
in order to be the object of My perception.
ibn ‘arabi

our shared being

As we explore the nature of our being, it begins to lose the limited qualities
that it derives from experience. It relinquishes the turbulence of thoughts,
the afflictive quality of emotions and the solidity of sensations, and is revealed
as peace and happiness.
     As it loses its constraints, it becomes ‘wider’, more open, less bounded.
We begin to feel that we share our being with all other people and animals.
There is an increase in sensitivity, empathy and compassion. Its nature of
love reveals itself.
     But why should we stop there? Why draw a boundary around all sentient
beings? After all, everything that is exists. As such, existence is the common
factor in everything, be that thing a person, a planet, a mountain, a body,
a thought, an atom, and so on.
     The word ‘existence’ comes from two Latin words, ex, meaning ‘out of’
or ‘from’, and sistere, meaning ‘to stand’, implying that something that exists
stands out. Stands out from what? From being.
     Being is the shared background out of which everything emerges, in which it
exists and into which it vanishes. Being is, as such, that from which everyone and
everything borrows its apparently independent existence, just as all the characters
and objects in a movie borrow its reality, relatively speaking, from the screen.
     However, just as no character or object on the screen actually stands out
from the screen with its own independent existence, but only seems to, like -
wise no person or thing actually stands out from the background of infinite
being with a status of its own.  you are the happiness you seek
     We are not  parts  of infinite being, nor do we emerge  from it as separate
and independently existing entities. When we see a crowd of ten thousand
people in a movie, the people do not divide the screen into separate parts,
nor do they emerge out of the screen. The screen remains a single, homo -
geneous, undivided whole. The indivisible unity of the screen appears  as
a multiplicity and diversity of people.
     Likewise, in reality, no person or thing emerges out of infinite being with
its own discrete and independent existence, nor does the appearance of any
person or thing divide infinite being into separate, individual parts. There
are no separate parts.
     Ultimately, there are no independently existing individual people or
objects. There is no room for the finite in the infinite. The unity of being
assumes the form of multiplicity and diversity without ever becoming any -
thing other than itself.
     For one who understands this, the world is evidence of the infinite nature
of reality. It shines with its own reality. For one who does not understand this,
the same world seems to be evidence of the discrete and independent experience
of people and things. It is an apparent confirmation of a paradigm of separation.
The world appears in accordance with the point of view we bring to it.

the revelation of beauty

Our shared reality is not confined to people and animals. When we stand in
awe in front of nature, become absorbed in a piece of music, are moved by
the sight of an object or enjoy a delicious meal, the distinction between our
self and the object dissolves. We experience the reality we share with that
object. That is the experience of beauty!
     The experience of beauty is an intervention of reality into our normal
mode of perception, namely, the subject–object relationship. It is the cleans -
ing of Blake’s ‘doors of perception’. * It is the apprehension of the poet Samuel
Coleridge’s ‘One Life within us and abroad’. † The essential nature of our self
and the reality of the object lose the dividing line that seems to define each
158* ‘If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, Infinite’, William
Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell  (c. 1790 ).
†  Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Eolian Harp  (1828). the all-pervasive spirit
as a separate and discrete entity in its own right. And what was that dividing
line made of? Thought!
     In the experience of beauty, the name and form of the object cease to
conceal our shared being and instead become transparent to it. They shine
with it. When we experience beauty we are ‘tasting’ the reality that we share
with the object. Or rather, infinite being, divested of its limitations, is tasting
itself. It is aware of itself. That experience is timeless – it takes place in eternity
– for in the absence of thought there is no sense of time.
     The experience of beauty is in relation to objects and nature as the experi -
ence of love is to people and animals. It is the dissolution of the subject –object
relationship through which our experience of reality is normally mediated,
and the simultaneous revelation of our shared being. It is never the object
itself that is beautiful. The so-called beautiful object possesses a particular
quality that effects the collapse of the subject –object  relationship, revealing
its prior unity with the perceiver. In the experience of beauty, our shared being
filters through the objectness of the apparent object, just as in the experience
of love, our shared being shines through the otherness of the apparent other.
     The word ‘revelation’ comes from the Latin revelare, meaning ‘to lay bare’.
As such, the experience of love or beauty is not a new or extraordinary experience
that happens from time to time; it is the revealing  or the laying bare of the nature
of reality. It is the recognition that there is a single, infinite and indivisible whole
or reality whose


	times	more
vitamin	C	than	one	orange.
34
Beyond	the	fact	that	many	other	foods	are	better	sources	of	vitamin	C,
what	can	we	say	about	the	vitamin	C	that	is	in	oranges?	This	concerns	the
ability	of	the	vitamin	to	act	as	an	antioxidant.	How	much	of	the	total
antioxidant	activity	in	an	orange	is	actually	contributed	by	its	vitamin	C?
Probably	not	more	than	1–2%.
35
	Furthermore,	measuring	antioxidant	activity
by	using	“test	tube”	studies	does	not	represent	the	same	vitamin	C	activity
that	takes	place	in	our	bodies.
Most	of	our	impressions	about	vitamin	C	and	oranges	are	a	mixture	of
conjectures	and	assumptions	about	out-of-context	evidence.	Who	first
established	these	assumptions?	Orange	merchants.	Did	they	justify	their
assumptions	on	the	basis	of	careful	research?	Of	course	not.	Did	these
assumptions	(presented	as	fact)	sound	good	to	the	marketing	people?	Of
course	they	did.	Would	I	eat	an	orange	to	get	my	vitamin
C?	No.	Would	I	eat
an	orange	because	it	is	a	healthy	plant	food	with	a	complex	network	of
chemicals	that	almost	certainly	offer	health	benefits?	Absolutely.
I	played	a	small	role	in	this	story	a	couple	of	decades	ago.	In	the	1970s
and	1980s,	I	appeared	in	a	television	ad	for	citrus	fruits.	A	New	York	public
relations	firm	for	the	Florida	Citrus	Commission	had	earlier	interviewed	me
about	fruit,	nutrition	and	health.	This	interview,	unknown	to	me	at	the	time,
was	the	source	of	my	presence	on	the	ad.	I	had	not	seen	the	ad	and	I	did	not
get	paid	for	it,	but,	nonetheless,	I	was	one	of	the	talking	heads	that	helped	the
Florida	Citrus	Commission	build	its	case	for	the	vitamin	C	content	of	oranges.
Why	did	I	do	the	interview?	At	that	point	in	my	career,	I	probably	thought
that	the	vitamin	C	in	oranges	was	important,	and,	regardless	of	vitamin	C,
oranges	were	very	healthy	foods	to	eat.
It	is	very	easy	for	scientists	to	get	caught	in	the	reductionism	web	of
thinking,	even	if	they	have	other	intentions.	It	has	not	been	until	recently,after	a	lifetime	of	research,	that	I	have	come	to	realize	how	damaging	it	is	to
take	details	out	of	context	and	to	make	subsequent	claims	about	diet	and
health.	Industry	uses	these	details	extremely	well,	and	the	result	is	public
confusion.	Every	year,	it	seems,	some	new	product	is	being	touted	as	the	key
to	good	health.	The	situation	is	so	bad	that	“health”	sections	of	grocery	stores
are	often	stocked	more	with	supplements	and	special	preparations	of
seemingly	magic	ingredients	than	they	are	with	real	food.	Don’t	be	tricked:
the	healthiest	section	of	any	store	is	the	place	where	they	sell	whole	fruits	and
vegetables—the	produce	section.
Perhaps	worst	of	all,	industry	corrupts	scientific	evidence	even	when	its
product	has	been	linked	to	serious	health	problems.	Our	kids	are	often	the
most	coveted	targets	of	their	marketing.	The	American	government	has
passed	legislation	preventing	cigarette	and	alcohol	companies	from	marketing
their	products	to	children.	Why	have	we	ignored	food?	Even	though	it	is
accepted	that	food	plays	a	major	role	in	many	chronic	diseases,	we	allow	food
industries	not	only	to	market	directly	to	children,	but	also	to	use	our	publicly-
funded	school	systems	to	do	it.	The	long-term	burden	of	our	short-sighted
indiscretion	is	incalculable.16
Government:	Is	It	for	the	People?
D
URING	THE	PAST	TWO	TO	THREE	DECADES
,	we	have	acquired	substantial
evidence	that	most	chronic	diseases	in	America	can	be	partially	attributed	to
bad	nutrition.	Expert	government	panels	have	said	it,	the	surgeon	general	has
said	it	and	academic	scientists	have	said	it.	More	people	die	because	of	the
way	they	eat	than	by	tobacco	use,	accidents	or	any	other	lifestyle	or
environmental	factor.	We	know	that	the	incidence	of	obesity	and	diabetes	is
skyrocketing	and	that	Americans’	health	is	slipping	away,	and	we	know	what
to	blame:	diet.	So	shouldn’t	the	government	be	leading	us	to	better	nutrition?
There	is	nothing	better	the	government	could	do	that	would	prevent	more	pain
and	suffering	in	this	country	than	telling	Americans	unequivocally	to	eat	less
animal	products,	less	highly-refined	plant	products	and	more	whole,	plant-
based	foods.	It	is	a	message	soundly	based	on	the	breadth	and	depth	of
scientific	evidence,	and	the	government	could	make	this	clear,	as	it	did	with
cigarettes.	Cigarettes	kill,	and	so	do	these	bad	foods.
But	instead	of	doing	this,
the	government	is	saying	that	animal	products,	dairy	and	meat,	refined	sugar
and	fat	in	your	diet	are	good	for	you!
	The	government	is	turning	a	blind	eye
to	the	evidence	as	well	as	to	the	millions	of	Americans	who	suffer	from
nutrition-related	illnesses.	The	covenant	of	trust	between	the	U.S.	government
and	the	American	citizen	has	been	broken.	The	United
States	government	is
not	only	failing	to	put	out	our	fires,	it	is	actively	fanning	the	flames.DIETARY	RANGES:	THE	LATEST	ASSAULT
The	Food	and	Nutrition	Board	(FNB),	as	part	of	the	Institute	of	Medicine
(IOM)	of	the	National	Academy	of	Sciences,	has	the	responsibility	every	five
years	or	so	to	review	and	update	the	recommended	consumption	of	individual
nutrients.	The	FNB	has	been	making	nutrient	recommendations	since	1943
when	it	established	a	plan	for	the	U.S.	Armed	Forces	wherein	it
recommended	daily	allowances	(RDAs)	for	each	individual	nutrient.
In	the	most	recent	FNB	report,
1
	published	in	2002,	nutrient
recommendations	are	presented	as	ranges	instead	of	single	numbers,	as	was
the	practice	until	2002.	For	good	health,	we	are	now	advised	to	consume	from
45%	to	65%	of	our	calories	as	carbohydrates.	There	are	ranges	for	fat	and
protein	as	well.
A	few	quotes	from	the	news	release	announcing	this	massive	900+	page
report	say	it	all.	Here	is	the	first	sentence	in	the	news	release
2
:
To	meet	the	body’s	daily	energy	and	nutritional	needs	while
minimizing	risk	for	chronic	disease,	adults	should	get	45%	to	65%	of
their	calories	from	carbohydrates,	20%	to	35%	from	fat	and	10%	to
35%	from	protein….
Further,	we	find:
…	added	sugars	should	comprise	no	more	than	25%	of	total	calories
consumed.…	added	sugars	are	those	incorporated	into	foods	and
beverages	during	production	[and]	major	sources	include	candy,	soft
drinks,	fruit	drinks,	pastries	and	other	sweets.
2
Let’s	take	a	closer	look.	What	are	these	recommendations	really	saying?
Remember,	the	news	release	starts	off	by	stating	the	report


 oidness is the ultimate, all-inclusive
nonlinear reality  of Allness. The subjective experience of the V oid,
although very impressive, is considerably dif ferent from the Reality of
the state of the Presence of God as Allness, including the very major
quality of Infinite Love itself (see Chapter 18).

Resolution.
The pain of processing out personal loss is lessened by an
emotional/philosophical accepta nce and realization of the overa ll reality
of the human condition itself, which is shared by everyone:
 1. Everything in the human domain is temporary, transitional, and
evolutionary.
2. Nothing can really be ‘owned ’ or ‘mine’. All relationships are
temporary and arbitrary. Legality af fords only rights of control.
3. Everything belo ngs to God; con sequently, all that is considered to
be ‘mine ’ and ‘belonging to’ me  is a temporary condition, including
the human body itself. Domina tion is only control; it is dominion
that reigns.
4. See all ownerships and relationships as stewardships only. The
obligation is to responsibility of alignment rather than attachment or
involvement.
5. Cling to principles rather than people, objects, conditions, and
transitory situations. The calibrated levels of consciousness are
indicative of the principles tha t correlate with and determine that
level an d its overall attractor field of consciousness by which all is
aligned and influenced.
6. Resolve to live with courage and dignity. This stance summ ons
forth th e unseen Power by wh ich all life survives. Accept that
mourning is a normal process rather than resisting it.
7. Accept that all sentient beings  live by faith. Despite naive and
pretentious claims to the contrary, all people live solely by the
principle of faith—it is only a q uestion of faith in ‘what’. Faith  can
be p laced in th e illusory, the intellect, reason, science, progr ess,
political and worldly power, ego satisfactions, pleasure, wealth, or
hope (e.g., ‘tomorrow’).

These fa iths are  all based on presumptions that can be eclipse d at any
moment because they are fragile beliefs. Even the hypothetical
‘nonbeliever ’ or  skeptic lives by faith in their own intellect, which, to
that person, represents ‘reality’. In the actual Presence of the Infinite
Reality, all such pretensions eva porate, as do all positionalities of a ‘this’
(self) believing in a ‘that’ (pr oposition). Reality is self-af firming by
virtue o f being Identity, within which the dualistic nature of all beliefs
falls away.

Disassembly of Grief (and also of Desir e).The value or wo rth of desires reflects what they represent sym bolically
or as a class. T o see through the particulars to their perceived essence
facilitates withdrawal of attachment and therefore dif fuses both intensity
of w antingness and importance of loss. Each ‘thing’, person, or item that
is considered to be important is only valued by virtu e of its
representation of a more abstract quality. The grief at loss is thu s not due
to th e pa rticular but to an attractor field of consciousness of which it is a
symbolic representation. Each ‘thing’ reflects abstract qualities that can
be classified at progressive levels of abstractionSurrender of attachment is facilitated by appreciating that ‘value’ is a
superimposition that depends on abstract significance and what a thing or
attribute symbolizes. Thus, it will be found that a specific loss or gain
can be compens ated for by sub stituting an equivalent in the s ame or a
higher class.
Some fo rms of grief have to do  with real or imaginary loss of personal
attributes, such as youth, physical strength, health, or even lost
opportunities and regrets over unfruitful pursuits, past failures, or
unfortunate choices. Grief over past errors or misjudgments resolve via
recontextualization as part of the learning process called ‘being human’.
Regret i s also a consequence of giving reality to the hypothetical, e.g., “I
should have,”“I could have,” or  “If only I had chosen dif ferently,” etc.
These a lso inclu de the illusion that the hypothetically ‘better ’ decision
would h ave brought benefit or greater happiness. These suppositions also
ignore that evolution is on a lear ning curve and that there are negative as
well as positive  unknown karmic influences on choices. There is an
inherent fallacy in the propositi on that “I could have” or “should have”
because, in reality, if one really “could have,” they obviously “would
have” if all conditions were favorable to a better choice.
Compassion for  self as well as the nature of human life is conducive to
the h ealing process. Grief is con sequent to clinging to prior per ceptions.
There is major b enefit from making the decision to rededicate o neself to
the pres ent and focus on it without making value judgment s or dire
presumptions about the future. If unimpeded, the human psyche is
creative and inventive. Each level of consciousness has its own innate
problems but also its concordant solutions. The desire to undo the past is
understandable but futile and blinds one to the opportunities of the
present. A limitation in one area of life is simultaneously the op ening of
opportunities and options in other areas. Loss often turns a person from
looking without for happiness to turning within for reevaluation of assets
and prev iously b ypassed choice s. Thus, loss can be turned to p rofit as a
spur to spiritual  growth and evolution. That a loss can be a ‘blessing in
disguise’ takes time to ripen into a discovery. The refusa l of the
opportunity leads to bitterness and a devolution of the intrinsic  value of
life. Ac ceptance of the vicissitudes of human life leads to greater
understanding and compassion. Love is the opportunity to surrender the personal will to God and to
reassess what is the overall purpose of the gift of human life.

The Dualities of Grief.
While so me deg rees of grief are  inevitable in the course of life, chronic
Grief req uires re linquishment of  dualistic positionalities upon which it is
based as a long-term attitude or prevailing state of consciousness.CHAPTER 5.

Fear.
(Calibration Level 100).

Intr oduction.
At t he l evel of 100, more life ener gy is available. Fear of danger runs
much of  the world, spurring on endless activity. Fear of enemies, old age
or death, and rejection, along w ith a multitude of social fears, is a basic
motivator in the lives of most people.
From the viewpoint of this level, the world appears hazardous, filled
with tra ps and threats. Fear is the favored of ficial tool for co ntrol by
oppressive totali tarian agencies.  The proliferation of fears is as limitless
as th e human im agination. Once one focuses on fear, the endles s fearful
events of the world feed it. Fear becomes obsessive and may take any
form, e.g., fear of the loss of a relationship leads to jealou sy and a
chronically high  stress level. Fearful thinking can balloon into paranoia
or g enerate neurotic defensive s tructures, and because it is cont agious, it
can become a dominant social trend.
Fear lim its grow th of the person ality and leads to inhibition. Because it
takes ener gy to rise above Fear, the oppressed are unable to reach a
higher le vel without assistance. Thus, the fearful seek strong leaders who
appear to have conquered their fear to lead them out of its slavery.
Fear is an emotion, but as a pervasive lifestyle, it is limiting. Realistic
fear (i.e., caution) subserves survival in contrast to irrational fears, which
indicate psychol ogical intrapsychic problems. Socially serviceab le fear is
an a ccepted and normal concom itant to all human life. Its pervasiveness
is expre ssed in almost every area of life, from locked doors and fire
alarms to health and eating habits and the whole financial structure of
society. In addition, it is a recurrent focus of the media where it plays a
major role in human af fairs, especially survival. From an evolutionary viewpoint, fear arose as a requisite of animal
survival, which, in the human, p rogressed through capacity for cognition
into expressions that have meaning, including expression as
abstractions.
The capacity to analyze and abstract the perception of time and its
concept of the f uture provides an endless variety of real or i maginary
conditions along  which fear can be projected. Thus, the multi plicity of
fears promulgates endlessly via the mechanism of imagination and
fantasy. Whereas guilt, shame, and regret represent the past, fear is an
anticipation that is focused on the future.
Because the basic mechanism of fear is of animal origin and a
prerequisite to survival, it is bui lt into the very structure and physiology
of th e human brain (see Brain


 see how problematic the duck's life would become if it
had a human mind. But this is how most humans live all the time.
No situation or event is ever really finished. The mind and the mind?
made me and my story keep it going.
W e are a species that ahas lost its way. everything natural, every flower
or tree, and every animal have important lessons to teach us if we would
only stop, look and listen. Our duck's lesson is this: Flap your wings
which translates as let go of the story? and return to the only place of
power: the present moment.A New Earth
C A R R Y I N G  T H E  P A S T
The inability or rather unwillingness of the human mind to let go of the
past is beautifully illustrated in the story of two Zen monks, T anzan and
Ekido, who were walking along a country road that had become
extremely muddy after heavy rains. Near a village, they came upon a
young woman who was trying to cross the road, but the mud was so deep
it would have ruined the silk kimono she was wearing. T anzan at once
picked her up and carried her to the other side.
The monks walked on in silence. Five hours later, as they were
approaching the lodging temple, Ekido couldn't restrain himself any
longer. Why did you carry that girl across the road? he asked. W e monks
are not supposed to do things like that.
I put the girl down hours ago, said T anzan. Are you still carrying
her?
Now imagine what life would be like for someone who lived like Ekido
all the time, unable or unwilling to let go internally of situations,
accumulating more and more stuf f' inside, and you get a sense of what
life is like for the majority of people on our planet. What a heavy burden
of past they carry around with them in their minds.
The past lives in you as memories, but memories in themselves are not a
problem. in fact, it is through memory that we learn from the past and
from past mistakes. It is only when memories, that is to say, thoughts
about the past, take you over completely that they turn into a burden,
turn problematic, and become part of your sense of self. Y our
personality, which is conditioned by the past, then becomes your prison.
Y our memories are invested with a sense of self, and your story becomes
who you perceive yourself to be. This little me is an illusion that
obscures your true identity as timeless and formless Presence.Y our story, however, consists not only of mental but also of emotional
memory old emotion that is being revived continuously. As in the case of
the monk who carried the burden of his resentment for five hours by
feeding it with his thoughts, most people carry a lar ge amount of
unnecessary baggage, both mental and emotional, throughout their lives.
They limit themselves through grievances, regret, hostility, guilt. Their
emotional thinking has become their self, and so they hang on to the old
emotion because it strengthens their identity.
Because of the human tendency to perpetuate old emotion, almost
everyone carries in his or her ener gy filed an accumulation of old
emotional pain, which I call the pain?body.
W e can, however, stop adding to the pin?body that we already have. W e
can learn to break the habit of accumulating and perpetuating old
emotion by flapping our wings, metaphorically speaking, and refrain
from mentally dwelling on the past, regardless of whether something
happened yesterday or thirty years ago. W e can learn not to keep
situations or events alive in our minds, but to return our attention
continuously to the pristine, timeless present moment rather than be
caught up in mental movie?making. Our very Presence then becomes our
identity, rather than our thoughts and emotions.
Nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being
present now; and if the past cannot prevent you from being present now,
what power does it have?A New Earth
I N D I V I D U A L  A N D  C O L L E C T I V E
Any negative emotion that is not fully faced and seen for what it is in the
moment it arises does not completely dissolve. It leaves behind a
remnant of pain.
Children in particular find strong negative emotions too overwhelming to
cope with and tend to try not to feel them. In the absence of a fully
conscious adult who guides them with love and compassionate
understanding into facing the emotion directly, choosing not to feel it is
indeed the only option for the child at that time. Unfortunately, that early
defense mechanism usually remains in place when the child becomes an
adult. The emotion still lives in him or her unrecognized and manifests
indirectly, for example, as anxiety, anger, outbursts of violence, a mood,
or even as a physical illness. In some cases, it interferes with or
sabotages every intimate relationship. Most psychotherapists have met
patients who claimed initially to have had a totally happy childhood, and
later the opposite turned out to be the case. Those may be the more
extreme cases, but nobody can go through childhood without suf fering
emotional pain. Even if both of your parents were enlightened, you
would still find yourself growing up in a lar gely unconscious world.
The remnants of pain left behind by every strong negative emotion that is
not fully faced, accepted, and then let go of join together to form an
ener gy filed that lives in the very cells of your body. It consists not just
of childhood pain, but also painful emotions that were added to it later in
adolescence and during your adult life, much of it created by the voice of
the ego. It is the emotional pain that is your unavoidable companion
when a false sense of self is the basis of your life.
This ener gy field of old but still very?much?alive emotion that lives in
almost every human being is the pain?body.
The pain?body, however, is not just individual in nature. It also partakes
of the pain suf fered by countless humans throughout the history of
humanity, which is a history of continuous tribal warfare, ofenslavement, pillage, rape, torture, and other forms of violence. This
pain still lives in the collective psyche of humanity and is being added to
on a daily basis, as you can verify when you watch the news tonight or
look at the drama in people's relationships. The collective pain?body is
probably encoded within every human's DNA, although we haven't
discovered it there yet.
Every newborn who comes into this world already carries an emotional
pain?body. In some it is heavier, more dense than in others. Some babies
are quite happy most of the time. Others seem to carry an enormous
amount of unhappiness within them. It is true that some babies cry a
great deal because they are not given enough love and attention, but
others cry for no apparent reason, almost as if they were trying to make
everyone around them as unhappy as they are and often they succeed.
They have come into this world with a heavy share of human pain. Other
babies may cry frequently because they can sense the emanation of their
mother's and father's negative emotion, and it causes them pain and also
causes their pain? body to grow already by absorbing ener gy from the
parents' pain?bodies. Whatever the case may be, as the baby's physical
body grows, so does the pain?body.
An infant with only a light pain?body is not necessarily going to be a
spiritually more advanced man or woman than somebody with a dense
one. In fact, the opposite is often the case. People with heavy pain?
bodies usually have a better chance to awaken spiritually than those with
a relatively light one. Whereas some of them do remain trapped in their
heavy pain?
bodies, many others reach a point where they cannot live with their
unhappiness any longer, and so their motivation to awaken becomes
strong.
Why is the suf fering body of Christ, his face distorted in agony and his
body bleeding form countless wounds, such a significant image in the
collective consciousness of humanity? Millions of people, particularly in
medieval times, would not have related to it as deeply as they did if
something within themselves had not resonated with it, if they had not
unconsciously recognized it as an outer representation of their own inner
reality the pain?body. They were not yet conscious enough to recognize
it directly within themselves, but it was the beginning of their becomingaware of it. Christ can be seen as the archetypal human, embodying both
the pain and the possibility of transcendence.A New Earth
H O W  T H E  P A I N? B O D Y  R E N E W S  I T S E L F
The pain?body is a semi?autonomous ener gy form that lives within most
human beings, an entity made up of emotion. It has its own primitive
intelligence, not unlike a cunning animal, and its intelligence is directed
primarily at survival. Like all life?forms, it periodically needs to feed to
take in new ener gy and the food it requires to replenish itself consists of
ener gy that is compatible with its own, which is to say, ener gy that
vibrates at a similar frequency. Any emotionally painful experience can
be used as food by the pain?body. That's why it thrives on negative
thinking


 will feel hard and like a struggle. When you are act-
ing to receive from the Universe, you will feel as if you are flowing
with the current of the river. It will feel effortless. That is the feel-
ing of inspired action, and of being in the flow of the Universe and
life.
Sometimes you will not even be aware you used "action" until
after you've received, because the acting felt so good. You will then
look back and see the wonder and matrix of how the Universe car-
ried you to what you wanted, and also brought what you wanted
to you.
DR. JOE VlTALE
The Universe likes speed. Don't delay. Don't second guess.
Don't doubt. When the opportunity is there, when the impulse 56 The Secret
is there, when the intuitive nudge from within is there, act.
That's your job. And that's all you have to do.
Trust your instincts. It's the Universe inspiring you. It's the Universe
communicating with you on the receiving frequency. If you have an
intuitive or instinctive feeling, follow it, and you will find that the
Universe is magnetically moving you to receive what you asked for.
BOB PROCTOR
You will attract everything that you require. If it's money you
need you will attract it. If it's people you need you'll attract
it. If it's a certain book you need you'll attract it. You've got
to pay attention to what you're attracted to, because as you
hold images of what you want, you're going to be attracted to
things and they're going to be attracted to you. But it literally
moves into physical reality with and through you. And it does
that by law.
Remember that you are a magnet, attracting everything to you.
When you have gotten clear in your mind about what you want
you have become a magnet to draw those things to you, and those
things you want are magnetized to you in return. The more you
practice and begin to see the law of attraction bringing things to
you, the greater the magnet you will become, because you will add
the power of faith, belief, and knowing.
MICHAEL BERNARD BECKWITH
You can start with nothing, and out of nothing and out of no
way, a way will be made. How to Use the Secret 57
All you require is You, and your ability to think things into being.
Everything that has been invented and created throughout the
history of humankind began with one thought. From that one
thought a way was made, and it manifested from the invisible
into the visible.
JACK CANFIELD
Think of a car driving through the night The headlights only
go a hundred to two hundred feet forward, and you can make
it all the way from California to New York driving through
the dark, because all you have to see is the next two hundred
feet. And that's how life tends to unfold before us. If we just
trust that the next two hundred feet will unfold after that,
and the next two hundred feet will unfold after that, your
life will keep unfolding. And it will eventually get you to
the destination of whatever it is you truly want, because you
want it.
Trust the Universe. Trust and believe and have faith. I truly had no
idea how I was going to bring the knowledge of The Secret onto
the movie screen. I just held to the outcome of the vision, I saw the
outcome clearly in my mind, I felt it with all my might, and every-
thing that we needed to create The Secret came to us.
"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see
the whole staircase. Just take the first step." Let's look at using the Creative Process for those who feel they are
overweight and who want to lose weight.
The first thing to know is that if you focus on losing weight, you
will attract back having to lose more weight so get "having to lose
weight" out of your mind. It's the very reason why diets don't
work. Because you are focused on losing weight, you must attract
back continually having to lose weight.
The second thing to know is that the condition of being over
weight was created through your thought to it. To put it in the most
basic terms, if someone is overweight, it came from thinking "fat
thoughts/' whether that person was aware of it or not. A person can
not think "thin thoughts" and be fat. It completely defies the law of
attraction.
Whether people have been told they have a slow thyroid, a slow
metabolism, or their body size is hereditary, these are all disguises
for thinking "fat thoughts." If you accept any of those conditions as
applicable to you, and you believe it, it must become your experi-
ence, and you will continue to attract being overweight.
After I had my two daughters I was overweight, and I know it
came from listening to and reading the messages that it is hard to
lose weight after having a baby, and even harder after the second
baby. I summoned exactly that to me with those "fat thoughts," 58 The Secret How to Use the Secret 59
and it became my experience. I really "beefed up," and the more I
noticed how I had "beefed up," the more "beefing up" I attracted.
With a small frame, I became a hefty 143 pounds, all because I was
thinking "fat thoughts."
The most common thought that people hold, and I held it too, is
that food was responsible for my weight gain. That is a belief that
does not serve you, and in my mind now it is complete balderdash!
Food is not responsible for putting on weight. It is your thought that
food is responsible for putting on weight that actually has food put
on weight. Remember, thoughts are primary cause of everything,
and the rest is effects from those thoughts. Think perfect thoughts
and the result must be perfect weight.
Let go of all those limiting thoughts. Food cannot cause you to put
on weight unless you think it can.
The definition of the perfect weight is the weight that feels good for
you. No one else's opinion counts. It is the weight that feels good
for you.
You most likely know of someone who is thin and eats like a horse,
and they proudly declare, "I can eat whatever I want and I am al-
ways the perfect weight." And so the Genie of the Universe says,
"Your wish is my command!"
To attract your perfect weight and body using the Creative Process,
follow these steps: 60 The Secret
Get clear on the weight you want to be. Have a picture in your
mind of what you will look like when you have become that per-
fect weight. Get pictures of yourself at your perfect weight, if you
have them, and look at them often. If not, get pictures of the body
you would like to have and look at those often.
You must believe you will receive and that the perfect weight is
yours already. You must imagine, pretend, act as if, make-believe,
that the perfect weight is yours. You must see yourself as receiving
that perfect weight.
Write out your perfect weight and place it over the readout of your
scale, or don't weigh yourself at all. Do not contradict what you
have asked for with your thoughts, words, and actions. Don't buy
clothes at your current weight. Have faith and focus on the clothes
you are going to buy. Attracting the perfect weight is the same
as placing an order with the catalogue of the Universe. You look
through the catalogue, choose the perfect weight, place your order,
and then it is delivered to you.
Make it your intention to look for, admire, and inwardly praise
people with your idea of perfect-weight bodies. Seek them out and How to Use the Secret 61
as you admire them and feel the feelings of that—you are summon-
ing it to you. If you see people who are overweight, do not observe
them, but immediately switch your mind to the picture of you in
your perfect body and feel it.
You must feel good. You must feel good about You. This is impor-
tant, because you cannot attract your perfect weight if you feel bad
about your body now. If you feel bad about your body, that is a
powerful feeling, and you will continue to attract feeling bad about
your body. You will never change your body if you are critical of
it and find fault with it, and in fact you will attract more weight to
you. Praise and bless every square inch of your body. Think about
all the perfect things about You. As you think perfect thoughts, as
you feel good about You, you are on the frequency of your perfect
weight, and you are summoning perfection.
Wallace Wattles shares a wonderful tip about eating in one of his
books. He recommends that when you eat, make sure you are en-
tirely focused on the experience of chewing the food. Keep your
mind present and experience the sensation of eating food, and
do not allow your mind to drift to other things. Be present in
your body and enjoy all the sensations of chewing the food in
your mouth and swallowing it. Try it the next time you are eat-
ing. When you are completely present as you eat, the flavor of the
food is so intense and magnificent; when