This past weekend was the Quantum Ho’oponopono event led by quantum psychologist Dr. Garland Landrith and myself. It was a meeting of science and mysticism. It was exhilarating. We filmed it and we’ll release the DVD set later. For now, I wanted to talk about something that surfaced at the event.
A few days earlier a woman mentioned that at a dinner party her friends discussed how to tell when you’re enlightened. I thought that was a fascinating topic. It’s certainly better than discussing the latest exploits of actor Charlie Sheen.
Their conclusion was this: if you could resolve a trigger in your emotions in thirty minutes or less, you were enlightened.
Meaning, if someone said something nasty and you got upset, you’ve been triggered. But if you could release that trigger quickly, they said you were enlightened.
I don’t agree at all.
Anyone who can handle emotional upsets fast is simply a skilled psychological technician. They have tools and know how to use them. That’s wonderful. That’s terrific. That’s healthy. That’s inspiring.
But that’s not enlightenment.
So at the Quantum Ho’oponopono event, I asked , “What is enlightenment?”
If you do a Google search, you’ll find the word “enlightenment” refers to an 18th century intellectual movement sometimes called the Age of Reason. I’m sure that’s not what the dinner party was discussing.
If you dig deeper, you find the word used to describe a state of awakening in Buddhism and Vedic thinking. That’s probably what the dinner crew meant. I prefer the word “awakening” over “enlightenment” but let’s go with the latter.
What is enlightenment?
It’s the state where you have merged into the background consciousness of life. You’ve dissolved as ego into the Witness of life. “You” are the Divine.
I describe all this in my book, The Awakening Course. One of my favorite books on the subject is Awakening to The Dream by Leo Hartong. It’s worth reading. (And no, I don’t know the author.)
At the Quantum Ho’oponopono event, I urged people to look past their thoughts…past their emotions…past their body…to the “background” sky to it all.
Something in them (and in you) is observing it all.
What is that?
That “background” in your awareness is the shared quantum field in each of us. When you merge with it and become it, you are enlightened.
I don’t know of any way to make enlightenment or an awakening happen. That would be the ego trying to manipulate the Divine. In my recent books and audios, I say you can prep for it, but you can’t will it.
Enlightenment comes by grace.
How do you prepare for it?
There are countless books, courses, rituals, laws, suggestions, principles, meditations, techniques and more, all created by people seeking to be enlightened (or even enlightened) and wanting to help you achieve that state, as well.
I’m not sure you need any of them. Including my own.
Meditation seems to be the most popular way to invite enlightenment. To help you understand where I’m coming from, let me give you two meditation related insights.
First, here’s the greatest meditation quote of all time:
“Meditation is not what you think.”
Think about that. (Or not.) 🙂
Second, here’s the greatest meditation of all time:
Relax into this moment…
Note what you are thinking but also note you are somehow noting that thinking…
Note what you are feeling and note you are not the feeling but something observing the feeling….
Note how your body feels but also note you are not your body but something inside of it aware of your body….
What all of this “noting” has in common is an observer.
That observer of it all is the source of it all.
The more you can meditate on it — listening to it, watching it, feeling it — the closer you will come to merging with it.
That’s where you will find enlightenment.
That’s where you can experience an awakening.
And it doesn’t take 30 minutes.
It’s there (here) right now.
And it’s free.
Ao Akua,
PS –Another way to find this “background” to life is to look at the off-white space this blog post is set on. The words are on it. The off-white space behind the words is the backdrop to life: it’s a sort of “witness.” You have a Witness in your mind. Note it right now. It’s there. (Here.)
TIP: Bodhidharma said, “Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher‘s help.”
Warning: The following may be controversial and confrontational. I’m doing my best to help you prosper during perceived tough times. I’m getting “in your face” so you can shake off limiting beliefs, drop the excuses, and begin to help yourself and others. May the following inspire you to do just that.
Often people have trouble attracting money because they unconsciously believe it’s evil. You wouldn’t want to attract anything you thought was evil, would you?
But is money really evil?
Ben Witherington writes in his book, Jesus and Money:
“Money in itself is just a means of exchange. It is no more inherently evil than any other material thing God created.”
Actually, the quote about money being evil is a partial one from Paul, not Jesus. Paul wasn’t enlightened but wisely warned about the love of money potentially being a problem.
I totally agree. Loving money over life itself could take you from the essence of life, not toward it. As I explained in my book, Attract Money Now, the wealthy people I know don’t love money. They appreciate it and leverage it, but they’re not in love with it. Big difference.
What about the story where Jesus said, “A rich man can’t get into heaven”?
It’s a misquote. Jesus said it would be difficult for a rich man to get in, not that he “can’t” get in.
And why difficult?
It’s difficult to get through the eye of a needle when you’re carrying a lot of stuff.
As I’ve taught, it’s fine to have material things — the material is the concrete form of the spiritual — it’s just not so fine to be attached to them. If your happiness is dependent on them, then you’re missing the miracle of this very moment.
What really matters is what is in your heart concerning money. If it’s your be-all and end-all, then money is your God and that, from a Jesus/Paul viewpoint, is a no-no. But if money is neutral to you, just a means to an end, then you are probably pure in heart concerning it. Godspeed to you.
What I do is appreciate money and use it to express my inspirations and Divinity. Money is just a cool agreed-upon tool to get things done. With it I can help myself, family and friends, and distribute it to causes and people I believe in. I do all that and more. It’s about being at peace with money.
I love Arnold Patent’s quote, in his book, Money:
“The sole purpose of money is to express appreciation.”
When you realize that money is neutral, that you can use it with a heart full of love, and you can be a steward for it to see that the Divine is expressed through you, then you are clear to attract all the money you will allow.
Mother Teresa said —
“Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God – the rest will be given.”
What is this “Kingdom of God”?
Religious wars have been fought over the answers. For me, it’s following your Divine connection; the voice in your heart that whispers what It wants you to do next. When you follow It, you move in the direction of experiencing and creating this Kingdom right here, right now.
What’s worth remembering is you can’t tell what is Divinely guided in another person any more than they can tell what is Divinely guided within you.
You’re on an ego trip if you feel you can determine someone’s motivation. We have to focus on our own connection and actions and refrain from judgments.
Scot Anderson, in his book, God Wants You Rich, says –
“What did Jesus say when someone was dumping perfume on His feet that was worth one year’s salary — in today’s numbers more than $40,000 — and someone said it should be given to the poor? Jesus said, ‘The poor you will have with you always’.”
Anderson goes on to say, “…Get out of your holier-than-thou attitude. Stop judging others and live your own life.”
That may sound harsh, but maybe it’s time to be more direct.
Buddha had his own thoughts on money, of course. According to The Buddha’s Teachings on Prosperity: At Home, At Work, in the World by Bhikkhu Basnagoda Rahula —
“The Buddha never imposed limitations on his lay follower’s efforts to be successful; instead, he clearly encouraged them to strive for success. Whether in “trading, cattle farming, archery, government service, or any other profession or industry,” a layperson should strive to advance in his or her respective field. Notably, the motivation to achieve success is an important requirement in any person’s life — an attitude of “I have a job that’s enough for me to live on” has no place in the Buddha’s teaching.
Next, the Buddha set no limits to a layperson’s wealth and never told his prosperous lay followers to stop or slow down. Instead, he unequivocally encouraged them to plan, organize, and even to obtain more…”
Buddha encouraged attracting more?
Jesus didn’t think money was evil?
The sole purpose of money is to express appreciation?
Pretty eye-opening, isn’t it?
Given these insights, how do you feel about money now?
Whether you think money is spiritual or not doesn’t matter when you need it in today’s world to survive and thrive. You best make peace with it. If you want to help yourself and others, you best clean up your attitude toward wealth.
But how?
I’ve created entire books and courses to help you get clear and then attract money to use for your own Divinely guided actions. Some of them, such as Attract Money Now, are free.
Have you read the book? If not, why not? If so, did you apply the seven steps in it? If not, why not?
Too many people have shrugged off the pursuit of money saying it was evil or material, or that Jesus or Buddha wouldn’t use or acquire or accumulate money today.
Come on. Obviously, that’s not true. They wouldn’t be attached to money, but they’d certainly attract it and leverage it for good.
And who’s good would they use it for?
Their choice.
Meaning they wouldn’t listen to you, but to their own inner direction. You might not even agree with how they handled their wealth. You might even be surprised and confused by it. You might even think they were greedy.
Do you think your opinion would stop them?
Hardly.
They’d adapt to modern times, too.
Do you really think they’d ride in an ox cart today? Not fly in an airplane to get overseas? Not have a bank account — or entrust someone to have one for them? Not do marketing to get the word out?
When I wrote my dissertation to earn one of my doctorate degrees, it was on the marketing methods every great religion and metaphysical movement did to attract followers. They all used money and marketing to spread the good word of their ideas. All of them.
Apparently their leaders were just fine with money.
But let’s dig below the surface of all this:
Why do you even care what anyone does with their money? Or what Buddha or Jesus thought about wealth?
Sometimes people use not having money as an excuse for not following inspirations.
I’m sorry, but excuses are no longer allowed.
It’s time to awaken.
You have a job to do here. I don’t know what it is. You do.
Dr. Kalinda Rose Stevenson, in her very enlightening e-book, Going Broke With Jesus, says —
“When you have money, you have the power to have a greater impact in the world. Most of us are used to playing small roles, partly because we don’t have enough money.”
John Kay, in his book, Obliquity, pointed out that the wealthiest people – from Andrew Carnegie to Bill Gates – achieved their riches through a passion for their work, not because they set materialistic goals.
Passion.
That’s the real ticket to success and the real thing to focus on.
Don’t let lack of money or time or energy or experience or education stop you. Far too many people with less than you have created their dreams.
Focus on your passion.
Don’t let opinions about what Jesus or Buddha would think or do stop you from following your own inspirations. That’s a cop-out.
Focus on your passion.
Don’t let religious bullies or well-meaning interpreters of ancient spiritual literature distort your perception of the world and what’s possible for you.
Focus on your passion.
It’s time to act.
Will you?
Ao Akua,
PS — Let me be even more in your face: Stop judging people with money and how they use it. How does that serve you, except to make you feel self-righteous? Start attracting money and using it for the good you see will help the most. If you want to make a difference, make a difference. It begins with you. Will you sit on the sidelines and judge or will you enter the game and be part of the solution? Will you follow your passion or not? The whistle has blown. The game is on. The clock is ticking. Get on the field and play. Now.
On a recent private call for students in my Miracles Coaching program, someone asked me how I achieved my level of spirituality and what they could do to attract it, too. I reflected on the flattering question and came up with the following:
1. Reading.
I’ve been a bookaholic since I was a teenager. Over the course of 57 years, I’ve read too many books to count. Not all were great. But numerous titles stand out as ones that influenced my spiritual thinking. Emerson and the Transcendentalists movement gave me a deep spiritual insight into the world back in the 1970s. The early Law of Attraction authors flipped me into the stage of empowerment, from William Walker Atkinson to Genevieve Behrend. Neville, of course, awakened me. So did Robert Collier. I’m a fan of everything by Byron Katie and David Hawkins. The Book of est nailed me, as did Why Is This Happening To Me…Again? I’d add listening to self-help audios also made a difference. Decades ago I drove around Houston, often unhappy and looking for work, listening to many programs from Nightingale-Conant. Today I’m published by them. I still read and listen. All of this education informed and inspired me, as well as made me more self-aware. I attribute this on-going study to my success today.
2. Meditation.
I’ve been doing some form of meditation virtually every day since 1980. At one point it was the Dynamic Meditations of Rajneesh; at another it was sitting in silence and focusing on breathing, or repeating a mantra. Later it was “intentional” meditation, where I visualized what I wanted to have or be. These days it’s usually ho’oponopono. Currently I’m experimenting with drumming as a way to clear and center. I think we need to do whatever it takes to connect to the Divine and hear Its whispered inspirations.
3. Coaching.
You might think I’m just trying to sell coaching, but the truth is my life didn’t skyrocket until I got a coach. An outside loving observer can help you see your limiting beliefs. It’s not likely you’ll see them on your own because your beliefs will appear as reality to you. It doesn’t have to be Miracles Coaching, but some form of coaching will help you move forward. There are many programs available. Miracles Coaching is just one.
No doubt there’s more to attracting spirituality, but the above have worked for me.
What has worked for you?
Ao Akua,
PS – I don’t know if this will help you attract wisdom or spirituality, but it’ll certainly move you: My first music CD, called Blue Healer, is ready. It contains five long tracks of what I call blues meets trance music, all designed to stir your energies and awaken your soul. More on it later, but for now go see The Blue Healer.
I just completed reading the 1976 autobiography of Desi Arnaz, the late Cuban-born musician who married Lucille Ball and together created the legendary TV show, I Love You.
I love simple titles. His book is called A Book. It’s a joy to read. Desi was a riveting storyteller. He was smart, talented, persistent, creative, charming, and driven. He and Lucy became the most beloved television couple in history, as well as one of the wealthiest.
But he also went through hell before he ever arrived at success. As with most “overnight” successes, his career took decades to develop into something worth writing about.
What stood out for me in A Book is a lesson Desi learned from his father in Cuba. His father was mayor of Santiago. He was popular and successful. He owned land, businesses, and resort property. His father taught, “There is always a way.”
No matter what the challenge, problem, or circumstance, “There is always a way” to resolve it.
Desi saw this belief in action as a child. When the revolutionaries entered Cuba in the early 1930s, they burned down his family home, destroyed his crops, killed his animals, ran off his mother and family, and put his father in jail.
They went from a life of luxury to being homeless and penniless. They later escaped that country, went to Miami, and started a new life — with nothing at all.
But the belief, “There is always a way” kept them going.
Desi struggled, but kept working; kept taking action.
When opportunities came his way, he took them, even when he didn’t have the skills or experience on hand to pull off the opportunity. He knew he could attract or develop the skills as they were needed.
When asked if he could act, when he had never acted at all, he said, “All my life!” He then learned acting, appearing in several movies and of course later on television.
“There is always a way.”
When he and Lucy found themselves with the opportunity to be involved in a new TV show, they needed to find actors, raise funds, develop new camera methods, use a live audience, build a set, and much more — all firsts at the time with no paths to show what to do, and all with little or no money to make anything happen, and all under a time crunch that would make most people faint — they knew “There is always a way.”
When Lucy was accused of being a communist in the 1950s, Desi put on his fighting gloves and destroyed the rumor. Front-page headlines vindicated the redhead. Desi said the only thing red about Lucy was her hair, and even that was false.
Desi knew, “There is always a way.”
Reading Desi’s book was a real treat. Not only because I always loved him as Ricky Ricardo on I Love Lucy, but also because “There is always a way” is one of my beliefs, too. It’s in my book The Attractor Factor. It’s one of the prime directives in my operating belief system.
You may not know how to do something, but by taking action and moving forward you can find it, create it or invent it.
“There is always a way.”
I recently tweeted a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr. that recaps this lesson from A Book:
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
You don’t need to have all the answers to begin working toward making your dreams come true.
You don’t need to have all the money to begin working toward making your dreams come true.
You don’t need to have all the experience or education or much of anything else to begin working toward making your dreams come true.
You just need to take action right now — while believing, as Desi proved — “There is always a way.”
Ao Akua,
PS – Right after reading Desi’s book, I read Lucille Ball’s autobiography, published after her death, titled Love, Lucy. Her early life was no party. She, too, struggled. But her persistence, talent, and hard work ultimately paid off. You can learn more principles of attracting what you want through my Miracles Coaching program. Meanwhile, enjoy Desi Arnaz in his prime and try not to smile in this early video of him that breathes the fire of life:
In the first part of this article I asked you to think about how you created this moment. Your answer will help reveal how to speed up the Law of Attraction. If you haven’t reflected on that question yet, please do so right now.
Go ahead. I’ll wait….
For me, the secret to how you instantly manifest anything (including this very moment) is in your unconscious mind, which is where your programming lives. It holds your life operating mental software.
As a reminder, your programming is your belief system, your mindset or paradigm, given to you from birth (even from before birth). In this post I want to explore how to clean up that programming so you can get the results you prefer.
But first things first.
You need to fully realize that your results aren’t completely coming from positive thinking or positive feeling or even positive doing.
Nope.
Your results are coming from the unconscious beliefs you were programmed with up to now. Based on those beliefs, you have thoughts, which lead to feelings, which lead to actions, which attract results.
In other words, you can think positive all you like but if you have unconscious beliefs about deservingness, for example, you won’t attract what you consciously think about.
And when you don’t, you’ll blame the Law of Attraction, the Secret, and everyone else. You’ll be frustrated, disappointed, and maybe even angry.
I don’t blame you. I’ve been there. I’ve been broke, unhappy, depressed, despondent and hopeless. When you’re feeling defeated, it’s easy to blame the rest of the world and hard to take full responsibility.
But it’s in taking complete responsibility for where you’re at that real change begins.
Again, you can’t just poke around on the surface of your mind. Affirmations may not be enough. Visualizations may not be enough. Intentions may not be enough. You have to go deeper, into the unconscious where the command center is operating. And again, this isn’t that difficult. You just might need some guidance.
So let’s recap before we go deeper:
What you have right now is exactly what you will allow.
How do I know that?
Because it’s what you attracted based on previous thoughts, feelings and actions. Others joined in “the dance” of life with their own thoughts, feelings and actions, and you ended up co-creating this instant moment. This moment matches your comfort zone, based on your inner set-point of what you believe is possible right now.
But let’s go even deeper –
What you allow is based on your unconscious programming.
If you’re doing everything right and still not getting the results you want, unconsciously you are getting exactly what you feel is suitable for you. I know it’s hard to believe, at least at first. But your deep seated beliefs about money, love, romance, health, and everything else, is what filters out reality so you only see what is a match to those very beliefs.
Those beliefs got there from conclusions you made throughout life. You’re not to blame for any of it. We’ve all been programmed to various degrees.
For example, when you watch numerous movies where the wealthy people are corrupt, you unconsciously conclude “money corrupts.”
Later, when you try to manifest some cash, you block it.
It makes sense, doesn’t it?
You wouldn’t want to attract what you think corrupts. So you don’t.
To move beyond all these blocks, you need to get clear of those hidden beliefs.
I’ve written many books and recorded many audios offering guidance on how to get clear, everything from The Attractor Factor and The Key to The Secret to Attracting Money. Many people find using the methods I’ve described is enough. They do them and they make the changes. Done.
But what about when you try all the methods — whether mine or someone else’s — and you remain pretty much the same?
This is deeper than a blog post can handle, but here’s the answer in short: any counter-intentions in your unconscious will veto conscious intentions.
In other words, if you say “I believe I’ll attract a new job” but underneath it believe, “I’m not worthy of a new job,” or “I don’t have the right skills,” or “The current economy sucks,” then guess what? Those counter-beliefs will attract a match to them.
Follow?
Your un-conscious beliefs will over-ride your conscious intentions.
Given that, how do you change the beliefs in the unconscious?
Relax.
There is hope.
Here are some tips:
EFT/TFT. I’ve been a fan of “tapping” since I learned it via Roger Callahan, the creator of it, decades ago. I call it psychological acupuncture. I use it virtually every day. I believe it’s a wonderful tool for erasing and releasing all kinds of concerns. But in all honesty, I’m not sure how deep it can go. I’m sure practitioners of it will swear by it, but I’ve found deep programming in the unconscious mind hard to reach with just tapping meridians. I’m not dismissing it. Again, I love it. I’m just questioning its depth. Many EFT preachers have personal issues they still deal with. If the method worked, all the time, for everything, it would seem they’d be free by now. Maybe it just takes time. Still, it does work.
Roger Callahan
The Tapping Solution
Ho’oponopono. I wrote the book (Zero Limits, with Dr. Hew Len) on this, so naturally I love it. I’ve been using it since around 2005. It’s saying four phrases (I love you, I’m sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you) as a type of petition to the Divine to correct any errors of perception. I do believe this works, and goes deep. It goes to the dark corners without you even knowing it. But I’ve also wondered if a faster approach would be better. As a result, I was inspired to create advanced ho’oponopono, which I explain and demonstrate in my new audio program, The Abundance Paradigm. It rocks.
Resources:
Zero Limits
http://www.self-i-dentity-through-hooponopono.com/
https://secure.theabundanceparadigm.com/checkout/order_form.php
Reframing: I’ve spoken and written about the power of story in my books, and in both key areas of my life, the spiritual (Expect Miracles, etc) and the marketing (Hypnotic Writing, Buying Trances, etc). When you change your story about your life, you suddenly alter an entire belief system. I remember author Leo Buscaglia saying he had a happy childhood. Yet when his sibling was interviewed, he said he had no idea what Leo was talking about. Their childhood sucked. Well, which brother was correct? BOTH. They simply had a different story. You can rewrite your story today. I believe this will cause things to shift in your world. The only snag with this process is that you may write your new story from within the old one. In other words, you’ll be writing a story for a new you from within the old you, meaning the old beliefs may be tinting what you describe.
Resources:
Byron Katie’s The Work
The Lefkoe Method
Questioning: I’ve been using variations of The Option Process since the early 1980s. I learned it direct from Barry Neil Kaufman, author of such books as To Love Is To Be Happy With. But I’ve also had many sessions with the original miracles coach, Mandy Evans. In short, it’s a way to question your beliefs with love and curiosity. I’m pleased to report that the creator of Option, the late Bruce Di Marsico, has three volumes of teachings now available, called The Myth of Unhappiness. I also feel that this is a tough process to do on your own. You can do it, but since you’re the belief owner trying to find your own beliefs, which is operating your very looking, it may be sluggish.
Resources:
Mandy Evans
http://www.choosehappiness.net/option-method-store/the-myth-of-unhappiness-the-collected-works-of-bruce-di-marsico/
Coaching: My life skyrocketed when I found a good coach. I had been doing everything right; reading the right books, listening to the right audios, attending the right lectures, and even doing the right things. I had baby step success. But when I got a coach, things exploded. Barriers melted. Why? My own view is that a coach can help you see your belief system and programming. Again, you looking at your own beliefs is a challenge as you are looking from within the very beliefs you need to see. A coach can see from the outside. Obviously, this is the way to go. Because of the power of this, I created Miracles Coaching.
Resources:
Again, I’m not dismissing anything else. I’ve been studying hypnosis since the late 1960s, for example. It’s another powerful tool. So is cognitive therapy. And positive psychology. So are clearing audios.
If you have something working for you, keep using it and tell us about it. But if you’re not attracting what you want, it may be time for a change.
Finally, you might want to remind yourself of this —
You are a work in progress. It’s important to not judge yourself or your process. After all, when will you one day think “I’m done growing! I’ve arrived!”? You’ll be working on yourself till the end. That’s the life adventure. Enjoy it.
So maybe the best news of all is that you can accept yourself and your situation and your process right now, knowing it will transform as you do.
The more you can be happy now, the more you will relax the desperation, release the stuck energy, and slide into a new paradigm.
I’ve said it before and here it goes again: the miracle you seek is right here, right now.
The more you understand that this moment is it, and be grateful for it, the more you will move into the world of instant manifestation.
Expect Miracles.
There’s one right now.
Ao Akua,
PS – I can’t stress enough that the real secret to instant manifestation with Law of Attraction is in truly appreciating this moment. Look around. There’s bound to be something you can be thankful for in this moment. Focus on it. Feel the gratitude. I mean really feel it. The more you do, the more you will morph your energy into one of well-being and happiness, and that very feeling will attract more moments even better than this one. Why not try it right now?