Are You Building Your Life on the Concept of Separation?

by: Richard Blackstone

The creation of your life is analogous to building a house. Our spiritual growth tells us that we need a strong foundation for our life and the following spirituality information equates that premise to the building of a house as a way to see this with more clarity.

All right, let's get back on track because we are thinking up a new reality here. We are the builders of our lives, and just like the contractor who is constructing a new house, we need to start with a solid foundation. I want you to think about the house that you have been occupying up until this point in your life. The analogy we are looking for here is how you have structured your life so far. We are not going to make judgments; we are just going to make observations.

Our first observation is that most people who live unconsciously have structured a house that is built upon a foundation of the idea that we are separate from each other and separate from God. This is the foundation of thinking that most of the world has been told about since birth, conditioned to accept most of their lives, and that most of the people in the world believe. Remember, we are not making any judgments here, just observations.

Let us observe the construction process to see what happens when we build a structure on a foundational belief that we are separate from all people and things that we know of in this physical universe, including God.

The architect you use to build the structure of your life on a foundation of fear and separation is a God that is separate from you.

First of all, you are going to need some construction materials to begin the process of building the structure of your life. When you are building on a foundation of separateness, you see that all of your construction materials are separate from you. You don't seem to possess what it takes to build the structure of the life that you desire.

You need things that you don't have. Everything is external to you because you are separate from everything. So our first observation is that in order for you to build a structure, that you call your life, you need things. Because you need these things you must go outside yourself to get them. Why? Because you are separate from them. Okay, we can observe that and that is acceptable to us.

Now you must go outside of yourself to get the things you need in order to construct your life. We observe that some of the things you need are attainable and some of the things you need are not readily available to you.

Some of the things you need are hard to acquire because they are separated from you by distance or time or some other construction not within the scope of your talents or abilities at the time that you need them. This is not excluding the idea that you may be able to acquire them at another time or place, but there just seems to be some things that you can't get your hands on when you need them.
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In other words, you fail to get what you need. Your failure to acquire that which you need is blamed on the idea that you are too far separated from that which you need, either by space, time, circumstance or any other variation of separation.

Well, this is a fine kettle of fish. You need something to build your life, but you can fail to fulfill your need. You don't have that which you need. Is there an insufficient supply of that which you need? It certainly looks that way. Well, let's go ahead and build your life with what you can acquire and maybe there will be a more sufficient supply of what you need later.

So now the structure of your life is incomplete. It requires something that you need but you failed to get because you are separate from the supply, which is insufficient for your needs. You still have a requirement for your need but no way, in the present moment, to fulfill it.

Is that fair? How are you supposed to build the structure of your life if you can't fulfill this requirement that is necessary to make your life complete? Is this God, who is your architect and from whom you are separate, somehow judging the structure of your life to be unworthy of giving you what you require? What kind of God, what kind of architect, is that?

Can you begin to see how this concept of being separate from God allows to easily fall into the trap of believing we need things in life that are unattainable? This is the natural consequence of believing in the concept that you are separate from God.

I have one question, “Does this serve you?”

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How to Consciously Choose the Life of Your Dreams

by: Richard Blackstone

Everything in life is a choice and your spiritual growth depends entirely on the choices you make and the spirituality information that you immerse yourself in. The key to creating the life of your dreams is to begin the process of understanding how important it is to be conscious and aware of the choices you are making and whether those choices are serving you or not.

Relativity tells us that you can't know something as an experience until you first come to know its opposite. That is the purpose of the theory of relativity and all physical life.

That is why we have this other beautiful, magnificent and glorious ability in our lives called choice. We get to choose whatever it is that we desire. We can say “the devil made me do it” all we want, but the ultimate reality is that we make a choice about every decision we make in our lives.

Now comes the important question. Are you making your choices consciously or unconsciously? Really think about that one. Remember we are thinking up the life of your dreams here.

Are you thinking consciously or unconsciously? Think about that, consciously.

Right now you are reading this article. You are fully in the present moment. Your mind is engaged. Your brain is processing the data. You are in a conscious endeavor to improve your life. Right now you are thinking consciously, but what happens when you stop reading this article? Are you going to go over and turn on the idiot box and watch the next generation of a “reality show?” Are you going to mindlessly subject yourself to the commercials that tell you to go out and buy the next best version of the useless material possessions that already fill your cupboards and closets and your life?

Is that what you call conscious living? Does that serve you? I'm not making judgments here; I am just making observations. It is entirely your choice as to what you fill your days and nights with. I just want you think about what you are thinking about because that is the only way that you can begin to think consciously.

If we are saying that life is a process, and we are, then we want to be awake and aware of that process. You can only do that if you are conscious that life is a process and then consciously aware about how the process works.

That's why you are reading this article. To understand the true nature of how things work. This is a conscious endeavor, which takes some concerted effort, but the rewards and riches that await you are worth the undertaking.

We are not thinking about short-term gratification. We are going for the long haul, the big picture, the effortless life that awaits us when we wake up to this clarion call to consciously view life as a process.

Telling ourselves that “the devil made me do it” isn't going to cut it anymore. You can only use that excuse when you are living unconsciously. Remember we are changing the way we are thinking and thinking different thoughts. Thank you Albert Einstein for telling us that you can't change your current situation by thinking the same thoughts that got you there. You must change the way you are thinking and think different thoughts.

Start the process of consciously being aware of your current situation and the begin to consciously make choices that open up different avenues of thought that have the potential to create the life of your grandest dreams and aspirations.

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Thinking Up A New Reality

by: Richard Blackstone

Our spiritual growth has brought us to a point where we know we are creating our reality as we go along. Let us use this spirituality information to think up a reality that serves us and all of humanity.

This article is called “Thinking Up A New Reality”' so we are going to shake up our thinking here a bit. We are going to change the way we are thinking and think different thoughts. Let's get in the same league as Albert Einstein and make him proud. What the heck, let's make ourselves proud. All it takes is a thought of pride. Is that a different thought than you have been thinking?

Forward, onward, don't look back because that is what your ego wants you to do. The ego rules your past, the sacred self rules the present moment.

Whenever I think about the ego, I always come up with this visualization of a person who is trying to make a decision and there is a miniature version of that person on one shoulder dressed up as the devil and a miniature version of the person on the other shoulder dressed up as an angel.

The little devil image is pushing the person to do what he knows is not in his best interest, while the little angel image is reminding the person what the more altruistic choice would be. The way we have structured our society has allowed us to “cheer on” the little devil. We basically scoff at the goodie two-shoes angel figure and side with the character giving us bad advice.

When we make a decision that does not serve us we usually say that “the devil made me do it” and just laugh it away as something that we had no choice over. But wait a minute. That's not being very honest with ourselves. We did have choice. Remember the “angel” figure on the other shoulder? We could have listened to this voice just as easily as we listened to the “little devil” voice. It's all a matter of choice.

What is it that makes us choose to give the “little devil,” the ego, more say in the affairs of our lives than the valid perspective of the “little angel,” our sacred self?

Think about that. Remember, we are thinking up a new reality.

Does it serve us to listen to the ego? In my experience of life it rarely serves me. Sometimes, in the short-term, I will see some benefits come my way that seem to fulfill an immediate need, but when that short-term need is fulfilled the ego wants more. Then, as time goes by, the short-term gratification that came from satisfying my ego is replaced by a realization that my long-term intentions and desires were subverted by the short-term gain. One step forward, two steps back.

Wait a minute. Didn't we just say that we're not going to look back? Let's keep moving forward. One step at a time in the present moment of now.

So where does this ego belong on the spectrum of our belief system? We have revealed to ourselves that there are two paradigms of belief that are available to us. One paradigm says that we are separate from each other, separate from all the physical things that make up the universe and separate from God. The other paradigm says that we are one with all people, one with everything that exists and one with God.

All of our ego-based choices are designed to make us think we are separate beings who have to fend for ourselves because “it's a jungle out there” and the best way to take care of yourself is to believe in the law of “the survival of the fittest.”

Remember, we are here in the realm of the physical universe for a purpose. Our mission is to experience life in all of its different perspectives in order for God to know, through our experiences, all that she knows of as concepts. That is the purpose of our existence.

Let us begin the process of creating the “experience” of “thinking up a new reality.”

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Discover Where Your Ego Dwells

by: Richard Blackstone

Dealing with your ego is part of your spiritual growth. Use this spirituality information to understand where the ego hangs out so that you can gain more understanding about the ego and how to avoid its influence. Seek the influence of the ego's counter-balancing force, your sacred self.

I hate to be redundant, but I love Albert Einstein for being such an enlightened messenger and what he had to say about how influential our thoughts are. Remember this? “You can't get any revolutionary ideas by thinking the same thoughts that you have been thinking. You have to change the way you are thinking and think different thoughts.”

If it was important enough for Albert Einstein to think this way then, personally, that is good enough for me. In fact, changing my way of thinking and thinking different thoughts is how I got to a point in my life where I was able to sit down and write a book. Now that's a revolutionary idea, isn't it? Do you have a book inside you? Do you have a song in you that needs to get out and be heard? Do you have a passion in you that is trying to break through and reach the forefront of your thinking and desires?

Methinks that you do. There is a revolution that is going on inside you and you need to take some time to listen to yourself and nurture the voice that beckons you to reveal to yourself what you truly desire.

I am not speaking about what the talking heads on the television are telling you to desire. I am not speaking about what your parents told you to desire. I am not speaking about what Charlie, down at the neighborhood pub, told you to desire. I am speaking about what your inner guidance system is trying to reveal to you.

But let's not be mistaken here because there are two heads to this inner voice that is trying to break through. One voice belongs to your ego and the other voice belongs to your sacred self.

Remember how we live in a universe of relativity? Remember how we learned that everything in this physical universe is in relationship to everything else? Well, that inner voice inside our heads is no different than anything else in this world of relativity.

At one end of the spectrum is our ego and at the other end is our sacred self. The ego is tied to the philosophy that we are separate from each other, separate from all other things in the universe and separate from God. The sacred self is tied to the philosophy that we are all one with each other, one with all things in the universe and one with God. Our lives exist between the margins.

The ego is part of the human make-up and will be with us whenever we dwell in the realm of the physical and live within this concept we know of as time because the ego only exists in our past memories or our future imaginings. The ego cannot exist in the present moment of now. That is where the spirit dwells. When we return to the realm of the absolute, everything reverts back to the love that is the core of our being and the ego disappears because we are once again in full knowledge that we are one with the source of all that exists and there is no concept such as time. There is only the present moment of now and the ego cannot exist in this environment.

Right now we are living in this physical universe, ergo the ego is very much a part of our make-up, but we must also remember that the sacred self is just as much a part of our beingness as the ego. Unfortunately, we have been conditioned so much by our society to listen to, and take the advice of, our ego that we don't think about our sacred self too much.

The reason for this preponderance of ego-based thinking is that most people do not dwell in the present moment. We are conditioned to live in the past or the future. The more you are able to live in the present moment the more you will be able to lose the influence of the ego and listen to your sacred self, or spirit.

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How Do You Create You Own Luck? Five Practical Steps

by: Amany Mohamed

Some of us may think that there are lucky or successful people and other who are unlucky or losers, they think that if you were loser then you have no luck and if you were successful then of course you must have luck in all your life matter.

But, what do we mean by luck?

Luck is only the chances law which move through your control over the circumstances, events and people around you. You can move it up or down, increase or decrease the probabilities of reaching the desired results.

As during a certain period either month, year or years, you have made a group of small assignments ( which we will call inputs) these inputs led at the end of this period to certain results ( we will call it outputs).

So there is no lucky person; only someone who achieve many tasks and missions and control over many circumstances, events and people, doing so can raise the possibility of achieving the desired results which was set in the first place.

But, what some may call luck ( like winning a big prize, inherit a wealthy relatives or even winning a horse gamble) is not luck at all, it is only a coincident or chances were the achieved results is not under your control and you have no influence on it, because it is too risky and your chances to win it on the long run is merely zero, despite the fact that luck depends on your inputs and is under your control in every ways.

- Now you have to know how to make your own luck and how to control all the elements around you to raise the possibility of getting the results you want which some may call luck and I call consequences of your work.

- Also, you have to know how to make the possibilities law works for your benefit and not the opposite.

- Finally, you have to be free from randomly and uncertainty.

Here are five steps to do so:

1- You have to prepare a complete study to all the knowledge, skills and possibilities which you need to do a certain job ad apply this study by all means, therefore, you’ll raise the chances of your success in this job.

2- Be sure you can get whatever you want from life no matter how hard and difficult it is, just do everything possible to increase probabilities of getting it, no matter small what you do it may make a difference in future either by success or failure in getting what you want.

3- Organize your life, don’t live it hazard, put a plan for your life, a plan you will follow to raise probabilities of achieving your target. State your goals and how you will accomplish them, what is the events, things and people you will require to manage all parts of your life. Don’t leave anything to circumstances, use your full abilities and create your own life, as you are the one who make luck and you are the one who control it to your benefit or otherwise.

4- Follow the steps of successful people or what they call lucky people, do what they do to get the same results.

5- Work what you love and choose from jobs what suits your abilities, skills and your natural talents, and don’t do tasks beyond your abilities hoping for better results. Always make the right inputs to get the desired results or the right outputs. Everyday, increase what you can achieve in the job you wish to be successful at, to get final outputs as consequences to your work and not a matter of chance or luck.

And always REMEMBER that God never waste the reward of your hard work.

Who work will find and who seed will harvest.

God says in his holy Qur’an “And no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint,- none but persons of the greatest good fortune” Fusalat. So there is a reason to be patient which is the great luck in the end ( meaning the great share of reward by God), and the relationship between cause and result is what make luck, as luck in the Arabic language means the destiny or results of work.

This is because God never create anything in life without a cause, as God says ’Allah created the heavens and the earth for just ends, and in order that each soul may find the recompense of what it has earned, and none of them be wronged” Al Gathya. Just by stated and calculated rules which luck has no role in it.

And not because we didn’t discover these rules it doesn’t exist, it exists despite our ignorance of it, and God may reveal it or not according to his will and for human benefits.

As God advise Mariam "And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon thee" but if he wishes he could easily through the rips on her but everything must have a reason.

So your life is the results of your inputs in a certain period and your luck is your share from your work as God never be injustice to any of his worshipers and what people claim about luck is mere excuses to justify their failure in moving their life to the better.

I searched the internet and found a division for luck. According to them there is two kinds of luck- one is inner and the other is external - and I’ll explain it as I read, and at the end I’ll prove that there is no place for luck in life and that your life is the fruits of your hand.

First Kind: The Inner Luck

Is defined as the individual human gifts which came by inheritance like:

A- The physical beauty and harmony; which enable many people to reach their goals like sports men or beautiful ladies.

B- The intellectual superiority and intelligence.

C- Energetic power; which appear in fighting obstacles and patience, And This is what provide the person with determination and make him try harder every time he fail to accomplish a matter and thus prevent him from feeling failure and defeated.

D- The hunch, or the sixth sense; which qualify its owner to choose the right options in the mysteries situations and make him understand the events before it happened. Etc…..

Second kind: External luck

This is what stands outside the individual physical abilities like:

The environment :

We usually find that the high cultural atmosphere push its people to get more cultural and also the organized family grow in the children the of love being organized from childhood and vise versa, when we find a very poor cultured surroundings, this may be obstacle in the intellectual development of its individuals.

The materiality means:

The more it exists in a family or surroundings, the more these individuals have the chance to acquire more social, educational and cultural ranks.

Beside having the fund, owning a successful social relationship helps to acquire a high level.

Now, if we search through these kinds of luck we will find the following:

The physical beauty and harmony:

If you search through all the mankind history you will find many famous characters who didn’t have any beauty or harmony in their bodies on the contrary they may lack some of these qualities or they may represent the opposite of them, you will find them get advantage from being less beautiful than others or from having disharmony in their bodies and they became famous because of that like( Ismail Yassin the most famous comedian in the Egyptian cinema who make use of his features to present a wonderful comedy that still exists until now) can I ask you now if he was handsome?!

The intellectual superiority and intelligence:

The most intelligent people may not use their intelligent to achieve their aims and the less intelligent people may use this limited intelligent to be more successful in their life than the intelligent.

The environment and surroundings:

Didn’t you see before a poor person who succeed in his study and progress in his work?!

Didn’t you see before a rich person who is failure in his study and his work despite having every thing available for him?!

You must had seen this before, so I don’t have to say this again, just observe another time it is only working hard that raise the probabilities of reaching the desired targets.

Now you can measure that to all other kinds of luck and you will find yourself canceling every elements one by one. Just remember your luck is your share from your work and as much as you seed you will harvest, so seed flowers and roses to harvest the life beauty and happiness.

My advice to you to be more lucky than others, you must watch the followings:

- Trust in God: as everything happened or will happen to you in your life is for your good, either you know it or not.

- Knowledge: increase your cultural and educational knowledge as it gives you power in everything you want to achieve.

- Good relationship: the best and fastest way to acquire good relationship is the good manner.

- Be determined: as nothing stands against determination, it creates the influence upon reality.

- Imagine the results (pretend that you are the most lucky person): as prophet Mohammed PBUH says - that the learning is by learn, the tolerance is by being tolerant and that the patience is by being patient- so pretend that you are lucky and you will find all the doors open for you.

- Thank God for his blessings: God says ( if you thank I’ll increase the blessings) and who is more sincere than God?! So if you want to be lucky, thank God for your share in life.

And before I finish this article I want you to repeat these words every day:

-Now I’ll make my own share and luck in life.
-Now I’m controlling all details of my life.
-Now I’m moving every element to my benefit.
-Now I deserve all the success in my life and future.
-Now I’m capable of achieving whatever I want.

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Pendulum Divination - Anyone Can Do It

by: Carolyn Donnelly

Divination is a simple way to tap into the deep reservoir of wisdom that each of us holds in our higher conscience. The pendulum is not a magical implement. It is only a tool. The magic comes from our ability to access a vast pool of knowledge that we already have at our disposal. Everyone has the ability to divine. For some it will come easily and immediately. To others it may take a little practice. It is a fun way to find answers to some of life’s questions and to develop your psychic ability.

People normally turn to divination when they have a burning question or when they are at a crossroad and must make an important life decision. It is usually a time of indecision and divination can help us to determine what is really important to us. Our mind is a strong and influential force that often rules our decision making. Our logical mind, however, can trick us into making decisions that do not take all the important aspects of ourselves into account. Divination helps you to tap into our intuition and find out what you really want and what will really help you to achieve your life goals.

Divination can also help you in many everyday practical ways such as: finding something that is lost; for better health; for healing; and even to help you make better gardening decisions. This paper will concentrate on how to use a divination pendulum.

The Pendulum

A pendulum is a convenient tool for divination as it can be carried around in your pocket or worn as a necklace. A pendulum can be made from any small symmetrical object that can swing freely and easily on the end of a cord or chain. You can use a bolt, screw or nut from the garage tool box, a ring or pendant from your jewelery box. The kitchen drawer can also offer surprising small objects that you be used as pendulums. Before writing this article, I searched through my kitchen drawer for examples and found a round key-ring, a small padlock and a symmetrical key, all of which could be used as a pendulum. The object must be reasonably symmetrical however in order for it to work correctly and it must be of a certain weight. For instance, if it is too light it will not pull the cord tight and swing correctly. If it is too heavy, you will find it difficult to hold it gently between your fingers.

Choosing a Pendulum

Although you can use just about any symmetrical object, made from any material, most people tend to choose a pendulum that they like the look of and feel comfortable with. You can buy beautiful pendulums for a small amount of money from new age and metaphysical shops. They are typically made from metal, wood, semi precious stones or crystals and usually come with a chain or cord attached. Remember, that the pendulum is not a magical implement but only the tool that allows you to unlock the secrets of your own higher self.

However, the material that a pendulum is made from can increase particular energies that contribute to the power of your divination. Pendulums made from semi-precious stones or crystals bring to your divination the special quality that the stone or crystal provides. These special qualities can assist you by increasing the positive energy during the divination process. Below is an example of some semi-precious stones and their particular qualities:

Amethyst – soothes the nervous system, balancing emotions. It helps you to feel more in control. It is good for relieving physical and emotional pain and overcoming addictions, dispelling anger, fear and anxiety.

Citrine or Golden Topaz - a highly positive stone that can guide you in a positive and creative direction. It is good for dispelling insecurity and negative thoughts and for attaining inner calm and security. It is motivating and helps you to achieve clarity of thought and resolution of problems

Clear Quartz Crystal – a highly spiritual stone, quartz is good for psychic development. It is purifying and creates harmony and balance. It enhances the qualities of other stones and can be programmed to achieve just about any goal.

Rose Quartz Crystal – the love stone, rose quartz creates harmony and balances emotional states. It is the stone for self-acceptance and appreciation of all things. It brings peace, compassion, self-love, happy relationships and receptivity to beautiful things.

Sterling Silver – brings clarity of thought and enhances your ability to deal with intellectual problems.

Tiger Eye - strengthens convictions and brings courage and confidence. It is good for mental focus and for promoting energy flow around the body. It is said to attract the people and things into your life that you need to achieve your goals.

Chambered Pendulums

Many pendulums contain a hollow chamber into which you can insert an object of significance to your divination questions. Chambered pendulums are usually made from metal and have a small hinged lid that opens to a small hollow chamber. Objects that are commonly inserted in the chamber include small crystals or stones to increase particular energies or a hair or piece of clothing from someone central to the question that is being asked. This makes chambered pendulums a very powerful tool for use in pendulum divination.

Preparing for Divination

Because we often turn to divination when we have a great desire to find the answer to a question, it is important to ensure we are in the right state of mind for undertaking divination. A genuine desire to find an answer is an important factor to successful divination. However, it is also important that you do not approach finding the answer in a desperate way with too much emotional attachment to the answer. You must approach divination in a relaxed manner, remaining a little detached from the answer. If you are too anxious and put too much pressure on yourself, the process will be ineffective.

For the best results, especially if you are using divination as a way to answer a question that causes you stress, it is advisable to undertake divination directly after meditating. Alternatively, here is a relaxation technique that will assist in reducing any anxiety directly before undertaking divination:

Light an aromatic candle or incense in a relaxing scent (examples: amber, lavender, geranium, jasmine, frankincense) in a room where you will not be disturbed. You could put on some relaxing music if you find that calming. Sit or lie somewhere comfortable. Once you are settled, imagine a light entering your body from your feet and gradually filling your body. As the light travels up your legs and through your body visualize the light entering every sinew, muscle, tendon and vein – every cell. Imagine the light to be soothing, calming and relaxing you as it pours into every aspect of your body. If you have an ache or a pain, concentrate the light on that point, making it bright and imagining the light healing the pain. As the light continues to make its way up through your body, it takes with it any pain, discomfort or stress until finally pouring out through the top of your head, expelling anything that is making you ill at ease.

By relaxing prior to divination, you will reduce your internal ‘noise’ and will be better able to focus your mind on the question. A more relaxed state will help you to remain calm and will assist you to get in contact with your intuition.

Determining the Question

Because pendulum divination is used to provide a Yes or No answer, you must be careful how you ask the question. The question must be unambiguous. Sometimes it is better to ask a series of simple questions that can be answered with either yes or no than to ask a complicated question where answering yes or no does not really give you a meaningful answer. Spend some time on your question as, if you ask ambiguous questions in the early stages of learning to use the pendulum, you may loose confidence in the accuracy of the process.

Practicing with a few simple questions first will help you to determine how to best form a question to find an answer to the important issues. Sometimes the timing for the question is not right. If this is the case, you will not receive an answer. You can, however, ask the pendulum whether the timing is right.

How To Use Your Pendulum

Determining the Yes and No Signals

Find somewhere comfortable to sit. Hold the cord or chain of the pendulum between the thumb and forefinger, leaving 2 to 4 inches of cord between the pendulum and your fingers. Ensure that your fingers are pointing down so that the pendulum can swing freely.

Hold the pendulum in front of you, so that it has plenty of room to swing above your knees.

To start the divination process, swing the pendulum in a motion away from you and towards you. This is the neutral action and is a way of saying, “I am ready to start divining”.

Firstly, you need to predetermine the signals that mean Yes and No. To do this, you ask the pendulum.

To determine the Yes response - While your pendulum is still swinging in the neutral action, state, ‘show me my Yes response’. You do not need to say this out loud but make sure you state it clearly in you mind. Now watch the pendulum. It will change direction or change its movement style or it may stop altogether. Whatever movement it makes after you ask for your Yes response is the movement that will be your signal for Yes.

To determine the No response - Swing the pendulum once again in the neutral action. While the pendulum is still swinging in the neutral action, state ‘show me my No response’. Watch the pendulum and whatever motion it makes will be your No response.

Repeat the process outlined above until you are confident that you have a predetermined response for Yes and No.

If You Don’t Get a Clear Signal

When you first start using a pendulum this process may take a while as you are using a part of your psyche that may not be well practiced. You need to be patient with yourself and keep you mind focussed on the question you are asking. For some this comes immediately but for many it will take practice.

If, after trying a number of times, you are not getting a clear signal from the pendulum for Yes and No, you can decide your signals using your conscious mind. To do this, repeat the exercise as stated above but this time decide on what movement you would like to be your Yes signal and what movement you would like to be your No signal.

To consciously determine your Yes signal, firstly swing the pendulum in the neutral position, then state in your mind, or out loud, ‘this will be my Yes signal”. On making this statement, deliberately swing the pendulum in the motion that you have chosen to mean Yes. Do the same thing to determine the No signal. Once you have set your responses, practice swapping between Yes, Neutral, No, Neutral, Yes, etc. Test out the predetermined responses by asking some simple questions and let the pendulum signal the answer.

Like anything new, your divination will improve through practice. Practice helps you to focus your mind and will help you to develop an emotionally detached disposition when divining. Over time you will increase your ability to ‘hear’ your intuition and improve your general psychic ability.

Pendulum divination helps you to align your intellectual mind with your intuition. It is a simple tool that is easy to use and a great way to increase your psychic development. Tap into your own immense source of knowledge and have some fun in the process. Anyone can divine and a pendulum is a simple and easy method for tapping into the higher realms.

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How To Quit Smoking

by: Garrett Davis

First off, consult a medical professional if you smoke or if you have any other addictions that may have deleterious effects.

If you smoke and have been thinking about quitting, or have tried quitting, then this article is for you. If you don’t smoke, but have some other addiction, then I also encourage you to read this article, as it’s theory can be used to quit other substances as well.

Quitting smoking is not all that difficult, if done properly. So many people fail to quit because of a lack of proper planning. Fail to plan and you plan to fail, as the saying goes. So how will you go about getting away from those tasty cancer sticks for good? If executed with the proper plan, quitting will not be agonizing, though you will experience some discomfort.

I'll skip telling you about how bad cigarettes are for you because you already know. You are bombarded with that information constantly.

I won’t tell you that you need to try some new nicotine patch or gum, or some other pill. These products just give you more of what you don’t want: nicotine. They are just a way for the drug companies to make more money. Don’t let them sell you on these. Quitting smoking requires no purchases.

So many people fail to quit each year because of a lack of planning. "I’m going to quit smoking" is not a plan. Not at all. Most of the time it does not work. This is because it is the goal, not the plan. If everyone who ever said or thought that actually quit, their would be very, very few smokers in our society. In fact, I suspect that the tobacco industry would have been reduced to a negligible size altogether. However, the tobacco industry remains massive because people do not quit through a strategic plan. These people are the bread-and-butter of the cigarette manufacturers.

Quitting smoking presents a challenge for two reasons:

1) Nicotine withdrawals. Nicotine is everything to the tobacco industry. Without nicotine, cigarettes would be no more addictive than chewing gum.

2) Taking smoking out of your day will be taking out an activity that is associated with taking a break, relaxing, or interacting socially with other smokers.

If we will be successful, we will have to address both of these challenges with a rigorous plan, but before I get to that plan I will go over the mind-set that is required for permanent termination of your habit.

This mind-set is made up of 3 parts:

1. Know that you will quit smoking. Think about this one for a while. Get used to envisioning yourself as a non smoker.

2. Know that you will have to quit eventually, or accept the likelihood of the onset of a terminal disease.

3. Know that the sooner you quit, the easier it will be to do so.

Let’s go over that last one a little. Often, as a smoker, you will have a cigarette sooner rather than later simply to avoid the onset of a craving. Cravings can be quite uncomfortable, as any smoker will tell you. So, you become proactive in your approach in that you will have the cigarette before the craving becomes uncomfortable. If you have one now, then you won’t need one as badly later on, so your thinking goes.

The problem with this way of thinking is that it is exactly wrong. The nicotine has tricked your subconscious mind into such rationalizing. The reality is that each and every time you have a cigarette, you are reenforcing your addiction and thus making it stronger. If your cigarette smoking has resulted in an addiction, then it follows that with every cigarette you have you are increasing the addiction. In the long run, there is no such thing as having a cigarette to alleviate craving. Sure, you are making yourself feel satisfied by having the cigarette, but the satisfaction is temporary. With every cigarette you have, you will crave the next one that much more. This progression can be very subtle, which is why nicotine addiction can creep up on so many people. They become addicted before they know it.

>From this logic follows the required mind-set in which you will know that the sooner you quit, the easier it will be to do so. Never the less, you should not start the quitting process until you have mentally prepared yourself by mulling over all three steps for a while until you get used to them, with an emphasis on step #1. (Envisioning yourself as a non-smoker).

Now that we have the proper mind-set in place, we may go about formulating a plan for addressing your addiction to the drug itself (nicotine). If you've tried quitting in the past and failed, nicotine was what drew you back to smoking. Therefore, we must eliminate your cravings for nicotine.

We will do this through a process of gradual reduction that will follow a mathematical algorithm.

The first thing that you need to do is to figure out how many cigarettes you smoke per day. This number is important, as it will be the starting point of our plan. You may be tempted here to just come up with an estimate, but I want you to be more precise than that.

You will start by taking a small piece of paper and taping it to your box of cigarettes so that you can make a simple marking with a pen for every time you smoke. You may also just carry a piece of paper around with you, but I find attaching it to the box to be more effective because you'll never be without it when you want to smoke. Do this for 1 week, then add up all of the cigarettes that you smoked all week. At the end of the week, divide the total number of cigarettes you smoked by 7 to get your average. If you are one of those people who smokes significantly more on the weekends or your days off, then it’s okay to calculate two separate averages.

Here’s the formula: Take the average number of cigarettes that you smoke per day and multiply that number by (.05). This will tell you how much 5% of the total amount of cigarettes that you smoke in a day is. If you smoke 10 cigarettes per day then 5% of that will be one half of a cigarette. For 30 cigarettes your number will be 1.5 cigarettes, and so on. It really doesn’t matter if you smoke 5 cigarettes per day or 40, you just need to know what 5% of that number is.

Once you have your numbers calculated you will start a gradual and consistent reduction in your smoking. You will do this in increments of 5% per week. This number will remain 5% of the original number of cigarettes that you smoked. If 5% of the original number of cigarettes that you smoked was 1 cigarette, then you will reduce your smoking by 1 cigarette per week, every week. Simple.

If your 5% number comes out to a fraction of a cigarette, for example ½ of a cigarette, then you will still reduce your smoking by that much. Simply take a pair of scissors and cut off half of a cigarette before you smoke it. Cutting the cigarette is important so that you are not able to smoke more than the program calls for. Also, I recommend that you cut all of the necessary cigarettes as soon as you get the pack. This will take some calculating in advance, but it will be worth it.

You will have to figure out what part of your day the cigarettes will be taken from. For starters you should pick a part of the day when you’re most busy so that you won’t be able to ruminate over the missing carcinogen.

Once you get down to about 1 cigarette per day, you may have to continue on with the gradual reduction by either progressing to ½ a cigarette per day, or 1 cigarette every other day, or even ½ of a cigarette every other day. The important part is that once you have quit, you will have quit for good. However gradual the process is in getting to quitting will be okay as long as it will lead you to total cessation of the habit.

Now that the plan for addressing the nicotine addiction is in place, we may formulate a plan for addressing the second challenge of quitting smoking. This is that in quitting smoking you will be deducting an activity from your life. Getting the subconscious mind to give up an activity that it is used to can be difficult unless you take the proper steps to help yourself along.

If you will be deducting from your life by quitting smoking, and quitting smoking becomes difficult as a result, then it follows that something ought to be added to your life for compensation purposes. What this something is will be up to you, but it needs to be an activity that's productive and enjoyable in some way. This may include reading, exercising, meditating, a new hobby, or simply devoting more quality time to your family. I find that activities which involve some form of exercise work best. Cigarettes stimulate the body and mind, and so does exercise, but in a much healthier way.

Choosing something healthy to add to your life in place of smoking will not only enrich your quality of life, it will make quitting much easier by addressing the needs of your subconscious mind. On the subconscious level you will feel less like you are at a loss and more like you have improved your general well being. The subconscious mind does not really care all that much about cigarettes being bad for you. It just cares that they bring you some level of pleasure, which is why you continue to smoke. You can help your subconscious mind feel less cheated by replacing the nicotine with something else that brings you joy.

It's also important to note that your change needs to be documented on paper through out the entire process. Keep a journal or a log detailing the number of cigarettes that you are allowed each day. This log should be small and mobile so that you can easily carry it with you in your pocket or purse.

Writing the process down on paper is important on two levels. The first is that it will allow you to keep an accurate count, and the second is that writing goals and procedures down on paper facilitates their accomplishment. If you take the time to write out a plan, you will be using more of your conscious power and your objective will thus have more energy behind it.

So there you have it, the easier way to quit smoking. Notice that I did not title the article, "The Easy Way To Quit Smoking". I used the word easier because no matter what our approach is, quitting permanently will take some effort on your part. I have found that anything in life worth accomplishing does take effort. I can promise you though that quitting smoking for good will be worth your effort in the long run. Not only will you improve your health, but the sense of pride you'll get from the accomplishment will be tremendous. You'll feel empowered and confident, ready to concur your next goal.

So go ahead, quit for good. You'll be glad you did!

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Who Am I?

by: Gerard O'Donovan

(The question that is the gateway to spiritual enlightenment)

Having been a coach for many years, in addition to having been involved in the training of at least 1400 coaches worldwide, I have come to the conclusion that one of the greatest skills that we, as coaches, possess and need to perfect is the ‘art of the question’. In fact, one could say that another definition of a coach is Master Questioner.

It is important to remember that the quality of our life is determined by the quality of questions we ask ourselves. Some people ask themselves very mediocre questions indeed. For example, “What time shall we go to down the pub?” Others look at someone who has achieved great things and ask themselves “Why not me?”. It is similar to the difference between “I can’t afford it” and “How can I afford it?”

As coaches we have two responsibilities towards our client. The first is to provide them with a first-class coaching experience through the effective use of questioning skills. The second is to educate them in the techniques and benefits of self-questioning, helping them to realise the importance of regularly asking key questions.

Of course when it comes to asking questions we can get very sophisticated and clever indeed. We can use questions with suppositions and presuppositions. We can use open and closed questions, we can get involved in nested loops, we can use hidden questions and open questions and in fact we can make ourselves feel and look very clever indeed.

However I learned a long time ago the importance of simplicity and it is my opinion that the greatest coaching question of all is “Who am I?”

This question is very often ignored. Why? Because it is easy to ignore; it can take us on an uncomfortable journey and one we might prefer to avoid. And yet it is essential if we wish to understand our core, the real person, the immutable, incorruptible and authentic ‘me’. The “me” we are really meant to be.

This question is the one that helps people come to a deep and satisfying realization of who they really are. So this is one of the key questions that we must teach our clients to ask of themselves on a regular basis. ‘Who am I?’ Again and again.

True happiness and fulfilment in life is only achieved when our actions and goals are congruent with our core values. Yet the sad truth is most of us do not really know what our core values are. Unfortunately we take on board the values of others, the values that are impressed upon us by the media that constantly bombards us, and the values of the people we work with and the companies we work for. It is rare that the values that we attach to ourselves are our true values. The inner conflict that this creates is one of the underlying causes for the level of unhappiness and depression in today’s society.

You see our values are in fact the mirror of who we really are yet few of us look deep enough into the mirror to see the truth. Many thousand years ago there was a word written above a doorway in ancient Greece. The word was “ Knosti” and it was written above the doorway of the Delphic oracle. It is as true today as it ever was those thousands of years ago. It simply means “ know thyself”

There is an old adage that says that if you don't know where you're coming from then you don't know where you're going. The same is true here, if you don't know who you really are how can you possibly know what you really want out of life, what is truly important and how do you know where you are headed. I learned a long time ago that most people don't really know what they want in life, but are prepared to go through hell to get it !!!

Being able to answer the question “Who am I?” with clarity and honesty will start the process that will make a profound change in the direction your life takes. This in turn will affect those close to you; your family, your friends, and your work. The way to make a real change in the world today is simply to do it one person, one mind at a time. Start with the person who is closest to you - yourself of course!

HOW DO I ASK THE QUESTION?

It is important that when we ask ourselves the question “Who am I?” we allow time for the answers to come. The truth may have to percolate up through a number of layers, and this takes time. You may have to ask yourself this question a number of times. For example, you may ask “Who am I?” and the answer may come back ‘I am a teacher’, ‘I am an electrician’, ‘I am a solicitor’ etc. The truth is you are none of these things. You see you are not what you do! You are far more than that.

So when you ask yourself the question “Who am I?” and you get an answer, you may then need to ask again “and who else am I?” And again “Who else am I?”.

It is morally essential that we eventually find out who we are. So many of us wander through life in a kind of emotional and spiritual amnesia, deadening our response to life by producing images of ourselves that are far from the truth.

I recommend that when we engage in this important process that we do it in a place of solitude and stillness in order that we can be truly present for the answer. We cannot really experience anything without being present with it. True presence requires that we be attentive to what is happening in the here and now. It is our responsibility to be aware.

EXERCISES

EXERCISE ONE – Six months to live

Imagine that you have just come back from a visit to your doctor where you have been informed that you have an incurable disease and only six months to live. However, during these 6 months you will be perfectly healthy, fit and active. Now write down what you would do, who you would see, where you would go and, very important, who you would spend your time with - and why. Would you change any aspect of your life right now? Would you continue to work in your job/career? If not, why not?

Explanation: This should very clearly point you in the direction of what is important or even essential in your life. It is so easy to procrastinate but you need to attend to these things right now. It is obvious that these things are extremely important to you, so you should endeavour to achieve them as soon as possible – as a matter of urgency.

EXERCISE TWO - Direction

This exercise will provide you with excellent pointers towards the direction in life in which you should be heading. It is important that you sit quietly with pen and paper, and write clear, specific answers to the following questions. Do not be influenced by others, or let negative thoughts distort your answers. Please give due time and consideration to this exercise; it is not uncommon for its completion to take several hours.

1. Imagine that there are no barriers whatsoever to you achieving anything you want in life, what and where would you most want to be? Would you be President? An opera singer? Perhaps a great athlete, or successful businessperson?

2. What in the past has given you the most satisfaction and pleasure?

3. The following list of words generally encompasses what we desire in our life. Write clearly your own definition of what each word means to YOU.

Wealth
Happiness
Health
Success

Explanation: If you do not really know what it is you want in life, then how can you possibly achieve it? The answers you provide in this exercise will lie at the very heart of your final goal list. They will guide you towards what makes you happy and has true value in your life.

WHO AM I AT WORK?

It amazes me when I see the leaders of major companies like BAT (British American Tobacco) being hailed by the business community worldwide as paragons, and real exemplars of how business should be run. Yet, there are tens of thousands of people dying every month around the world because of their product. Society is putting on pedestals men and women who create products that kill, purely for profit. I sometimes wonder if the inmates have taken over the asylum!

However, what price has been paid by these decision-making men and women?

Like so many others in similar scenarios being played out in corporations all around the world, these individuals are subjugating their own values for those of the company they work for. If only they would ask themselves “Who am I?” we might see a profound and radical change in the thinking of these leaders.

I have found that when I have worked with men and women in these positions and supported them in answering my question “Who are you?” I have enjoyed watching them travel slowly towards a true realisation of self. It is at this point that they have started to make a change, to really make a difference within their companies. Making and carrying out decisions that are based on power rather than force. Making a positive difference in the lives of the employees and thousands of customers of that corporation.

Much is said about corporate social responsibility; it is a phrase that is bandied about with gay abandon and in some cases a solomneous that belies the real truth, which is that most people follow and adopt the company culture, ethics, morals and values rather than expressing their own thoughts. This leads them to do things that are not congruent with their own core values.

Therefor there is a great need for all of us to get back in touch with our core values, because the truth is that in most of us these are highly commendable. It 's just a case of getting back there and re-remembering who we are.

DO I EVEN KNOW WHO I AM?

If we are not sure of who we are right now then how much more difficult it is to try and work out who we really want to be in the future. Especially as the media does such a fantastic job of indoctrinating us into believing what we really should be. From advertisements on television we know we should all be young, slim, good-looking, tanned, without spots or glasses. From numerous magazines we learn that by paying a lot more attention to ourselves and spending lots of our hard earned money (and in some cases, yet to be earned money) we can really make ourselves young, sexually desirable, good-looking, and successful.

The result of this is that we end up setting goals for ourselves that have actually been foisted on us. Not ones that are congruent with or even based on our own true core values.

IN CONCLUSION

For many years I believed one of the greatest coaching questions of all was “What do you want?”. This question can be asked in so many ways, you can come at it from so many angles and for several years I believed this was the question of questions.

However, long ago I realised that for some of the reasons stated above this is not the great question it ought to be because, as we have seen, we don't really know what we want at all.

I now know with a deep and profound sense of knowing, that there is a higher question, a more important question, a question that reaches deep down to the core. That question is “Who am I”??

You see coaching is about performing at your best through the individual and private assistance of someone who will challenge stimulate and guide you to keep growing.

Essentially it is about helping you to reach self actualisation - a point at which you not only truly know yourself but within this knowledge possess a feeling of comfort with and understanding of the person you discover.

Coaching (or if we don’t have a coach, self-coaching) is indispensable if we want to really reach our full potential, to be all that we can be, to truly reach a point of self transcendence.

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Effective Listening in Business to Motivate and Inspire Others ~ Ten Top Tips

by: John Bell

The main cause of failing business and the breakdown of relationships tends to be poor communication. In this article John Bell reveals the main mistakes many people make and provide permanent remedies, with some top tips you can start using immediately to motivate and inspire others. John has conducted primary research into how people behave. He helps professionals to peel back the layers of individual behaviour and discover how to get cooperation. This works equally well in all walks of life.

Simple modifications to language, behaviour and response can significantly improve the interaction between people and produce positive results.

What is the secret of ensuring people listen to you?

This article contains one simple message. Here it is:

People pay attention to a good listener.

‘Meta-language’ is when a person says one thing, and means something totally different. When someone is not listening, or doesn’t intend to do what you are suggesting, they involuntarily send out signals. Once you have learned how to spot these clues, you can regain their attention, or address their lack of conviction. In this article John will show you how to identify this behaviour and tell you what you can do about it.

Many of the clues lie in your own behaviour as a listener. Learn to scrutinise how you listen; in improving yourself you will become more responsive and persuasive to those who must listen to you.

This article will show you how to be a better listener.

But - if you’re still not sure whether you need to read further, ask yourself a couple of important questions:

Do you sometimes feel that you are not very good at persuading people – or that you may not even be heard?

Would you be prepared to invest an hour of your time, if you knew it would help to make you more influential and effective?

Tip One:

Become a better listener

Work on your own listening skills and you will gain far more from your communication with other people. Learn to spot the meta-language people use when they don’t mean what they are saying. Listen actively.

Borrow the tricks of the professional listeners’ trade

If appropriate say, ‘I agree with you’. Raise your eyebrows now and then. Give little nods. Echo what the other person says.

Ask short probing questions using what, why, when, how and where

Short questions should lead to long revealing answers.

Look for clues to meta-language

When people don’t really believe what they are saying – in other words, when they are being less than honest – their hands move to cover their mouths. More clues will be revealed in Tip Seven.

Retrieve the situation

When you spot meta-language going on, gently challenge what’s being said to you. Check that the person understands what you are saying to them.

Tip Two:

Find out what you are doing that loses people’s attention

When a person appears not to listen to you, it may be that you are ‘talking at’ him or her in some way.

Ensure you cannot be accused of any of these:

Being boring

Practise putting rise-and-fall into your voice. Use short sentences and pauses to break up your message. Introduce humour if you can.

Using jargon

We all use long or obscure words, with people who specialise in a similar field to ours. It’s important to remember what the jargon means, and to use plainer words with people outside that group.

Not noticing when your listener’s attention wanders

Are you maintaining eye contact with everyone to whom you are speaking? Are they nodding and echoing back what you are saying? If you don’t notice when you’ve lost someone, you cannot bring them back.

Tip Three:

Reasons for not listening Number 1 - Embarrassment

It is surprisingly easy to embarrass a person. People who are embarrassed are not listening any more. They are more concerned with their own panicky thoughts and hope you won’t notice their red face.

Look for the clues

We all know the signs: a flushed face, perhaps a red rash on the throat and ears. Look out for sudden loss of eye contact or evidence of sweaty hands and a dry mouth.

Quickly review what you’ve just said

Perhaps you are expecting too much from the other person and he or she is ashamed not to be able to understand you. Go over the ground again more slowly, or use different language. Becoming cross will only make things worse, so keep calm.

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes

Be careful not to draw attention to the embarrassment itself: it is only a clue to internal turmoil. Work gently around it until the meta-language dies down and the person is listening properly to you once more.

Tip Four:

Reasons for not listening Number 2 - Shock

Whether you have good or bad news to share, be careful of triggering a shocked reaction.

When people look shocked, they are not listening

You may not realise you’re at risk of causing a shocked reaction. It depends what the person was expecting you to say. Watch his or her face for that wide-eyed, frozen, open-mouthed expression.

Let the shock subside

Like an embarrassed person, a shocked person is listening more to the frantic voice inside his or her own head than to what you are saying. Talk about less threatening aspects while you wait for him or her to calm down. Then go on with the more detailed information, taking it more gently this time.

Tip Five:

Reasons for not listening Number 3 – Being Unconvinced

Someone who is unconvinced by what you are saying will find that his or her attention wanders.

Look for the clues

The classic meta-language clue to this is ‘cotton-picking’, when a person picks at imaginary fluff on their clothing or dabs at apparently perfect makeup.

Quickly review what you’ve just said

Can you identify the point at which your audience slipped away from you? Go back and re-state that same point in a different way. Listen actively while you are talking. Get that person back on your side before moving on.

Tip Six:

Reasons for not listening Number 4 - Confusion

There are people who earn a living by confusing people on purpose. They are called politicians. However, it can be easy to confuse people by mistake. A confused person will not admit to his lack of comprehension, and will not dare to ask you for clarification afterwards.

Check for understanding

Instead of asking whether a person understands what you have just said, make a comment that requires an informed reply. If he doesn’t or can’t give the answer you expected, he may have become confused. Go over the facts again in a different way.

Use empathy to reduce the tension

Saying, ’I don’t know about you, but even I found this idea confusing when I was new to it,’ should bring the person’s focus back to you. Then you can rephrase your message in a clearer way.

Tip Seven:

Spot the liar

People who are not listening, or who don’t understanding you clearly, display similar meta-language clues to people who are lying. This does not mean they are liars. It merely suggests you are not getting through. Here are the clues:

Covering the mouth

A person trying to give the false impression of understanding or agreeing with you will nervously touch or cover their mouth.

Averting the eyes

Often a man will look down, and if he wears glasses will remove them.

Cotton-picking and other fussing

Sometimes a woman will fuss with her nails or skirt, or pick fluff from her collar.

Nose and eye touching

The more a person tends to touch their nose, the more likely it is that he or she is telling lies. Women are especially prone to eye-touching when lying.

Tip Eight:

Be alert to selective hearing

A person may not show any outward signs of not listening attentively and yet he is still editing out important parts of what you are saying. Believe it or not, we all tend to hear half of what is being said. We listen to only half of that, and we remember half of that. This is normal behaviour, especially when you remember how busy we all are.

Slow down

Research shows that people can listen three times more quickly than they can talk. But it’s tiring. When you are making someone work that hard, listening to you, it is natural for them to take some ‘down time’. They will think about something else for a moment. During that moment they do not hear what you’re saying.

Beware of bombshells

Sometimes an emotive word will be the only thing a person hears out of what you are saying. This is catastrophic if what he or she remembers afterwards is the opposite of what you meant. For example, you might be reassuring, ‘. . there will be no redundancies.’ or, ‘. . I’m not leaving you.’ or, ‘. . you don’t look fat at all in that’ - and all your listener remembers is redundancies, leaving me, I look fat.

Tip Nine:

Use language positively

Your choice of language can make all the difference to the meaning you convey. When the magician says, ‘Don’t imagine a blue daisy,’ you can’t help imagining that unusual flower. When a friend says, ‘Don’t worry,’ that’s exactly what you do. Saying, ‘Picture a red rose,’ or ‘Think how happy you’ll be when it’s over,’ has the opposite effect. Positive language is powerful talk.

Don’t say don’t

When you tell a child not to step in a puddle, you give it the idea of stepping in the puddle. It might not even have noticed that puddle before you mentioned it. When you want people to hear an important point you are making, make that element the focus of what you are saying. Not the opposite.

Be honest and look out for honesty in others

There are verbal clues that denote a lack of honesty. ‘By the way . .’ signals the real reason for your conversation. ‘With all due respect .’ means someone is about to insult you. ‘I’m not racist but . .’ heralds a racist comment. Look out for words that contradict what has just been said or is said next.

Tip Ten:

Think like JFK

American President John F Kennedy had the ability to walk into a room, start chatting to any person there, and within 30 seconds he had that individual on his side. JFK’s secret was to spot clues to which of these three senses a person most uses to take in information, and then to use the language to which he was most attuned.

‘Feeling’ people

Sometimes called ‘kinaesthetic’, these people learn by experiencing. They say things like: ‘You touched on an important point there’ or ‘I hope I haven’t hurt your feelings’.

Say to them: ‘I feel you are picking this up quickly’ or, ‘I sense this is going well’

‘Listening’ people

Also called ‘auditory’, they learn best through words. Give them a map and they’ll rewrite your directions as bullet points. They say things like: ‘I hear your anger’ or ‘Sounds as if you’re getting the idea’.

Say to them: ‘I hear what you’re saying’

‘Seeing’ people

Often described as ‘visual’, they understand the world through pictures. Their directions will come in the form of a map. They scribble diagrams to explain a point. They say things like: ‘The idea came to me in a flash’ or ‘I’m trying to picture it’.

Say to them: ‘I see where you’re coming from’

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Become the Miracle You Are Seeking

by: Kiernan Antares

In numerological terms 2007 was a nine year―a year of completion. It may have begun with a gentle push to heal and clear away the old but as the months progressed the intensity of the energy has increased many times over. From September through to the end of December many of us were pushed to our limits, causing some to wonder if we could make it and straining to find a way to hold on, to persevere through the adversity that was perhaps even causing us to question our faith.

Dear friends, good news is upon us! 2008 is a one year, which is a time for new beginnings. This transition is especially auspicious because it is the last one we will experience during the years leading up to 2012, which is why the energy downloads from the celestial realms to assist us have been so intense in the second half of the year. By the end of December, give or take two weeks, we would have completed our purging―if we have held on to the essence of Love. If you have not been able to maintain your center during these past few months do not worry for the love of Spirit never abandons you and your journey will not be in vain, there’s still time to remember the greatness of who you are and why you are here.

In order to start fresh we have to be broken down so that we can begin to see things from a new perspective, receive our new gifts, and rejoice in becoming stronger than before. Also remember that each one of us has been encoded to awaken at different times and those who reclaim their divine power help to elevate the consciousness on Earth making it easier for others to follow.

For those of you who have been reading my articles and following my journey you have witnessed come of the changes I have gone through and in sharing my heart opening experiences I have been rewarded with stories from you about how my insights have touched your own hearts in some way and created the space for change in your lives. Each one fills me with gratitude and deepens my love for Spirit―it feeds me with the strength to continue sharing despite how difficult it may be sometimes. So now I’ll carry on with more…

With each passing month I’ve wondered how much more can there be to heal after years of digging and peeling away the layers? When will I ever get to the core and live totally in the presence and power of love?

Going into December I felt confident that I would integrate the energies of the final month in the year of completion with strength and courage to face whatever would appear. Well, my friends, it was intense but somehow I managed to ride the wave even when I thought I would sink. It was one of the most turbulent months of my life and rivaled those from my teenage years when I felt lost and alone.

My emotions changed from moment to moment during the month. One minute happy and content, the next desperate and confused. Getting through each day was difficult and challenged me to live in the NOW. Some days I felt so strange in my body and mind that I could barely function, meditation was nearly impossible, and my sanity―well, all I could do was grasp on to the hope that Spirit was with me every step of the way and I would get through it.

I was being triggered every which way I turned by the people in my life and especially by my life partner. It began to look to me that we were traveling on different roads and the distance between them was growing wider. I wanted to blame him for things not being perfect, for him not being the perfect partner. Fortunately I continued to pray and meditate looking for guidance rather than lashing out, which I so desperately wanted to do. This saved us, it saved me. I turned inward and sought my divinity through facing my inner longings buried from years and lives gone by.

Two days before Christmas I woke from an amazing dream that helped me to see that what I was seeking was a divine union with both the masculine and feminine aspects of myself and that it was time to release the critical part of me that instilled guilt and shame which overshadowed my desires. I didn’t want to wake from the dreams―I wanted to bask in the love of the Divine God and Goddess.

When I did finally surrender to waking consciousness I decided to begin a love affair―with myself. I felt the presence of my twin flame within me and I began to ‘listen’ to his words of love and adoration.

That very same morning I received an email from a wonderful Lightworker at 10:44 (adding up to nine in numerology… how timely and beautiful) which described an energy being directed towards Earth assisting us in our sacred marriage of our internal twin flames, our SELF. This is a necessary process to undergo in preparing ourselves to anchor a whole new level of self-mastery in 2008 and reaching totality in 2012. Its purpose is for us to become ONE within―the union of the God and Goddess. Taking responsibility for our own happiness and following our passions.

We are being asked to become the miracle we are asking for, to become everything to ourselves that we are seeking in a life partner. Ironically during this process our physical life partners are triggering us to recognize the need for our sacred marriage of the SELF. You know what I’m talking about… what is he or she doing in your life that is driving you crazy, irritating you to no end? Look at what you are dissatisfied with in your relationship and find ways to give it to yourself, follow your desires and the dynamics in your relationship with yourself and partner will transform as you see things from a new perspective.

My dream was an instrument of change followed by confirmation with that incredible email. That day things began to shift within. I treated myself to some beautiful flowers and was filled with love for the part of me that said, “I appreciate you. I love you for the work you are doing on yourself and sharing it with others.” While the act was a small one the rewards were divinely healing. The love between my partner and I has deepened because we are undertaking to honor a sacred union within and with each other―it’s a glorious magical gift.

PLAYGROUND

In all my articles one of the key messages I’ve imparted is to follow your passion. Let’s take it further and join me in the playground. Contemplate the following questions:

1. What is the source of your life?
2. What motivates you everyday when you open your eyes?
3. Do you greet the morning with joy and passion?
4. Or do you drag yourself out of bed everyday because you have to get up and face your life?
5. Do you love what you do?
6. Do you love your life?

Your answers reveal to you whether your life is guided by love or fear and merely surviving.

If your life is not filled with love, joy, and passion then you need to make major changes. But take heart, these changes can begin with baby steps.

Often by changing our perception alone we can change our life. For example, when I began to review the amount of time I spent in December feeling miserable it astounded me because I had reached a place of living in peace and gratitude prior to then. Although my dream helped me to see how I needed to embrace my twin flame within I still had a few moments of uncertainty but Spirit guided me to snap out of it, quit whining, and get back in the game. I began to ask myself when I felt down, “What can I do to make me happy or fill me with peace?” I’d listen and then act.

Remember, how we perceive things is also important. Now, if I’m feeling strained because there’s too much noise or chaos in the house I’ll decide to take a long bath, listen to some great music, and putter in the bedroom because it gives me joy not because I need to escape. See the difference? It totally changes how I’m feeling.

It is suggested to aim for living 70% of our time in joy, inspiration, and being creatively passionate. In time that will automatically increase to 90% effortlessly. So begin asking yourself today, right now, “What can I do to make myself happy?” Then witness another, deeper shift begin to occur in your life.

FINAL THOUGHT

Love, honor, and forgive thyself. Take a moment, breathe deeply, and bask in the glory of love of your eternal divinity.

New beginnings are on the horizon.

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Psycho-Spiritual Development

by: Lee Bladon

We come into this world with nothing and we leave it with nothing, so it is pointless trying to acquire lots of material possessions while we are here – because there is no net gain. Our material balance sheet is always zero at the start of our life and it is always zero at the end of our life, and no one is ever going to change that! But it is a different story with our spiritual balance sheet. If we end our life with a higher level of consciousness than we began with, we can claim success. Adding to our spiritual balance sheet by developing our consciousness is the one purpose that remains the same in each and every life, no matter who we are.

All living beings possess an inherent drive to evolve, to become the highest possible expression of life and to fully realise themselves. Personal development is the wilful co-operation with this natural evolutionary process, but an understanding of the processes involved is required if it is to be truly effective. We only learn lessons and develop new faculties through direct experience; theoretical learning does not develop consciousness. For example, seeing the word "fear" in print is not the same as experiencing it firsthand – that is why we incarnate.

During the lower stages of human development, material ambitions and an egotistical nature are justified because they drive us onwards and upwards. But once we have progressed beyond the lower stages we no longer have any use for those motives and they are gradually eliminated from our being. Eventually we come to realise that nothing outside of us can bring lasting peace or satisfaction, and that the only way we can achieve these is to develop our consciousness.

Methods of Development

There are two main methods of self-development:

1. Active: The "way of the student" involves actively working at your own development. Your level of consciousness is directly related to what you choose to focus your attention on. For example, a person who is nearing the end of the developed stage naturally focuses much of their attention on mental and intellectual interests, but if they are content to limit their thinking to intellectual issues they will not progress any further. They must actively decide to study abstract and conceptual material (such as esoterics) in order to attract the higher vibrations of causal matter and begin to develop subjective causal consciousness. Examples of active development are constant conscious awareness, living in the now, meditation and visualisation exercises.

2. Passive: The "way of the saint" involves forgetting about your self entirely and dedicating your life to serving others. Serving others means helping and protecting those who are less developed, less experienced, less knowledgeable or less capable than you are. All developing monads are dependent on energies and assistance from the next higher kingdom, but the condition of receiving this help is service to others. Life is give and take – we give to those who are less developed than we are and receive from those who are more developed than we are.

More often than not people use a combination of the two methods or alternate between them in different incarnations. Personality types (rays) 1, 3, 5 and 7 are generally more inclined to the active method and types 2, 4 and 6 are usually attracted to the passive method. There are many different paths but they all lead to the same destination; some are more winding than others but all eventually get there.

Controlling Consciousness

To become whole we must integrate the subtle bodies of our persona by learning to control their energies and consciousness. Emotional conscious can only be controlled by mental consciousness, and mental consciousness can only be controlled by causal consciousness, etc. The main challenge facing most people is for the mind to gain control over the emotions and desires of the emotional body. This does not mean ignoring our emotions or killing them off altogether; it simply means us controlling them, rather than them controlling us. An integrated and balanced persona is the natural result of breaking down the automated behavioural patterns and reactions in our subtle bodies.

The automated responses of our emotional body give rise to all sorts of feelings about our self and others. Learning to disregard these emotional reactions is a very difficult but incredibly important aspect of human development, because if we don’t disregard them and end up giving them attention we inadvertently reinforce them. Ridding ourselves of old patterns of behaviour is a pre-requisite for acquiring higher levels of consciousness. We are not free unless we determine the content of our own minds, so we must learn how to control our attention so that it doesn’t wander aimlessly and reinforce every thought or feeling that passes through our subtle bodies.

Our sub-conscious continually feeds our waking conscious with thoughts, feelings and impulses that our waking consciousness assumes are its own. Our waking consciousness continually feeds our sub-conscious with bad habits, illusions and fictions. So negative thoughts and fictitious concepts are continually recycled between our conscious and sub-conscious minds, which reinforces our weaknesses. This vicious cycle can be only broken through persistent awareness of our thoughts and feelings to ensure that we only give attention to (and reinforce) positive influences and quickly discard the negative ones. Eventually the negative stimuli will grow so weak that they are unable to send impulses up into the waking consciousness.

Developing Consciousness

Consciousness develops by moving our attention away from the activity within our subtle bodies (senses, emotions and thoughts) and towards our soul (higher self or second triad). Freeing ourselves from identification with our bodies is a particularly difficult and time consuming aspect of our evolution. It can only be achieved by refusing to pay attention to the lowest impulses of our subtle bodies, i.e. negative feelings, emotions and thoughts. This causes the lowest molecular types within our subtle bodies to gradually lose their vitality and become redundant; only then can they be replaced by higher molecular types.

In order to progress, we must free our selves from the automated patterns of our sub-conscious (by continually "watching" our consciousness) and identify more with our super-conscious (by meditation and "living in the now"). We must also dedicate our development towards the service of humanity, and not do it for personal gain. Caring not for our own development and putting the needs of humanity ahead of our own is the only way we can overcome our inherent egotistical nature and attain enlightenment. We shouldn’t ponder over how far we have come or how many incarnations remain, because these things don’t matter. What is important is to make the best of the incarnation we are in now. If we rush to achieve enlightenment we will never get there, because we won’t have learnt the most important lesson of all: You need to forget about your self in order to free your self. By helping yourself you help no one, but by helping others you also help yourself.

As we progress we must be careful not to develop a "spiritual ego" or think we are special because we are more advanced than others. A spiritual ego is no better than a regular ego but is a trap that we all fall into many times during our human development. It’s not possible to overcome the ego by fighting it head on because whilst our monad is centred in the first triad we are the ego, so it would be like punching our self in the face. The only way to overcome the ego is to transcend it; to move up to the second triad and become our soul. In order to achieve this (enlightenment) we must:

1. Disassociate our self from our ego (first triad or lower self) by actively putting the needs of others ahead of our own.

2. Identify our self with our soul (second triad or higher self) by mediation, contemplation, visualisation, aspiration to unity and the development of virtuous qualities.

This dual-pronged approach gradually tips the balance of power in favour of our higher self and helps it gain control over the egotistical lower self.

Rapid Development

Rapid development is the reward of unselfishness – we develop the fastest by helping others to realise the meaning of life and live in accordance with the laws of life. In order to help others understand we must first have an understanding of life and the stages of human development. We must understand the difficulties they face at each stage, their motivations and what they are capable of grasping. Trying to force people into accepting a particular belief system is a violation of their freedom, so those who are content with their current beliefs and world view must be met with loving understanding, even if they are wrong. They will have plenty of opportunities in future incarnations to correct their views. In the meantime we must respect the fact that their current beliefs are appropriate for their current level of development. Everyone who reflects on the meaning of life gradually develops their own belief system. Initially it will be flawed but over time, perhaps many incarnations, it will gradually build into a system of knowledge and description of reality that matches that of those in the fifth kingdom – the ones who gave us esoterics.

Two additional factors contribute to rapid development – awareness and will power. Maintaining constant awareness of our desires, emotions and thoughts is of prime importance because we can’t address our weaknesses unless we are aware of them. Once we become aware of a particular issue we will obviously need will-power to overcome it. Will-power is also necessary to sustain our efforts over an entire lifetime or series of lifetimes.

Every new effort gives rise to a corresponding resistance from the persona. It may seem that when you first start out on the path that things are conspiring to make it difficult for you. Don’t be discouraged by this – it is just a test to see if you are up to the task ahead. The path of the spiritual aspirant is the one straight up the mountain whereas the path of the normal person is the one that meanders around the mountain. The first is much more difficult but the rewards are far greater. Many set out on the steep path but lack the commitment to follow it through to the end. They put in a concerted effort at the start but give up quickly and slip back down again. It is better to proceed at a steady and sustainable pace because a lifetime of commitment is required if you truly want to succeed. Don’t necessarily expect immediate results or you may become demoralised and slip back down again. So the tests that confront us as we begin our journey are for our own protection; they stop us from proceeding unless we are truly ready.

Quick Tips for Personal Development

1. Just as you can’t develop your muscles just by reading about exercise, you can’t develop your consciousness just by reading about esoterics or spirituality.

2. Unless you change your internal life, your external life will never really change.

3. What you assimilate into your mind affects your mental and emotional well-being in much the same way as your diet affects your physical well-being.

4. Trust life and have faith that it will provide you the experiences you require for your continued evolution.

5. Accept the fact that there are no accidents and everything happens for a reason.

6. Learn to trust yourself, your instincts, your intuition and your inspiration.

7. Don’t hold on to the past or worry about the future – just live one day at a time.

8. By helping yourself you help no one, but by helping others you also help yourself.

9. Those who live in accordance with the laws of life are better than those who preach them.

10. Try to notice every motive and desire that passes through your consciousness. Give conscious energy to those of a high order and discard those of a low order.

11. You won’t find peace and happiness by looking outside of yourself.

12. Try to contact your higher self for a few minutes every day and imagine how it might direct your life.

13. Remember that you are not your body, your emotions or your mind – they are separate beings and you (the ensouling monad) are their master. If they are well trained they will serve you well, otherwise they will run wild.

14. Learn to distinguish between your wants and your body’s wants.

15. Free yourself from addictions, e.g. alcohol, drugs, coffee, sugar, tobacco, sex. You can still enjoy them from time to time; just don’t let them become habitual.

16. Make little sacrifices to help develop your will-power. For example, give up chocolate or alcohol for a month.

17. Be true to yourself and never pretend to be anything you are not. If people don’t accept you for who you are, you don’t need them in your life.

18. Don’t be too critical because any fault you see in others probably also afflicts you.

19. Be unconcerned about other people’s opinions. You are free to form your opinions and they are free to form theirs.

20. Whether people like you or not is their business not yours, so don’t take it personally.

21. Forgive everyone and everything – you can’t change the past so there is no point being bitter. It hurts you far more that it hurts them; so why torture yourself?

22. Give up the need to win and the need to be right.

23. Don’t interfere in other people’s affairs, but always be willing to help if you are asked.

24. Don’t pass on hearsay or gossip – break that cycle of vindictive negativity.

25. Don’t be offended by anything because it is all part of the divine plan.

26. Calmly accept whatever life deals you – you probably can’t do much about it so there is no point getting angry or depressed.

27. Remain optimistic – if times are tough be thankful they are not worse and be grateful that you are working off some of your karmic debt.

28. The only evil that can befall you is of our own making. Rather than fearing what you are due it is better to welcome it, because at least you will have re-paid part of your karmic debt.

29. Don’t blame other people for your misfortunes because you alone are responsible for your life. The one’s you blame are merely instruments who helped to manifest your karma and destiny.

30. Accept people for who they are – their behaviour merely reflects with their level of development.

31. Make allowances for other people failings rather than judging and condemning them.

32. Try not to judge people who are at a lower stage of development because you were once just like them.

33. See the good in everyone, no matter how bad they may appear.

34. Be happy and think happy thoughts – if you don’t identify with negative emotions they can have no hold over you and will quickly pass.

35. Love unconditionally – treat everyone as you would like them to treat you, and try to treat everyone the same whether you like them or not.

36. Be willing to make sacrifices and put the needs of others before your own.

37. Do your best and you will always succeed, even if the world considers it a failure.

38. Be unconcerned about failure – there is no such thing as failure, only opportunities to learn lessons.

39. Don’t regret anything – the cyclic nature of life means there will always be another opportunity.

40. It takes time for noticeable improvements to manifest in your life, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t seem to be making much progress.

41. Forget about your self and how far you have come.

42. Thinking highly of your self is a clear sign that you still have a long way to go.

43. Don’t take yourself too seriously because life is just an educational game.

44. Maintain an inner awareness to ascertain your motives before you speak or act.

45. Remember that the solution to all your problems lies within you.

46. Recognise that all your troubles are caused by uncontrolled emotions. Emotionality feeds a conflict but rationality brings resolution.

47. Be honest, upright, dependable and sincere, with no hidden agendas.

48. Be impartial in every decision you make, irrespective of any advantage you may gain or disadvantage you may incur.

49. Always set a good example to other people.

50. Stand up for freedom and fight for your rights.

51. Stand firm in matters of great importance but yield in matters of no importance, and remember that most things in life are unimportant.

52. If you let go a little you will have a little peace, if you let go a lot you will have a lot of peace, if you let go completely you will have complete peace.

53. Don’t conform to customs and arbitrary rules – they stifle freedom and expression.

54. Don’t succumb to advertising – it is nothing but mental and emotional manipulation.

55. Ignore public opinion – investigate things for your self and make up your own mind.

56. Study esoterics and apply it in order to develop wisdom, but don’t read too much too quickly because you will dilute what you already know.

57. Read slowly so that you have time to fully absorb the information, contemplate it to develop your understanding then apply it in your daily life.

58. Remain open minded but not gullible.

59. Be generous and charitable – can you really justify another spending spree when there are so many poverty-stricken people in the world?

60. You get what you give, not what you take.

61. Don’t want more than you need.

62. Too many possessions are a burden, so give away anything you don’t need.

63. Don’t envy other people’s wealth because it is better to have a reasonable standard of living in all your incarnations rather than one decadent life followed by ten poverty stricken lives.

64. Wealth, power and fame only give you an advantage in one lifetime; a developed consciousness gives you an advantage in every lifetime.

65. Be kind to everyone, without exception.

66. Stop harming other people with negative words, feelings and thoughts.

67. Do right for the sake of right, not for recognition or reward.

68. Don’t just refrain from doing evil; actively do good.

69. Do what you can (no matter how small) to make the world a better place.

70. Remember why you are here!

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