The art of inner exploration

[Peacefulpie]

Hi Ladies,
I am going to introduce a 6 day course
of inner exploration,
I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.
You'll want to refer to this course over and over
again. Print each day out, pour yourself a tall
glass of your favorite beverage, bring along a pen
to jot down some notes, and take it all to a quiet
corner. Learning a serious subject is so much
easier when you're comfy. ;-)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Day 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTRODUCTION

by Vidya Ishaya


Let's start with what the purpose of this course is, and
what you'll get out of it, by the end.

First of all, why is "inner exploration" so important? I
suspect I don't have to say much about that, as you wouldn't
be reading this, unless the idea appealed to you. After
all, don't we spend most of our lives looking outside of
ourselves for enjoyment and fulfillment?

What if we were looking in the wrong place? What if all the
fulfillment and happiness we ever sought are right here,
right inside of ourselves?

If that was the case, then the real question to be asked is,
"How can we find what's within, in the fastest and easiest
way?"

And why should it be at all difficult to know what was
within ourselves, in the first place?

By the end of this course, it'll become clear what we mean
by "going within." You'll know exactly why it is so
important to look within. And you'll discover a way to find
what might have held you back in your life. After that, you'll
know why lots of people think they're limited or insignificant.

You'll be invited to understand why you may have the
feeling (like so many thousands of people) that "something
is missing in your life."

You'll begin to see that perhaps (just perhaps) you are
actually much greater than you think you are.

You'll discover that the process of self-discovery, of self-
knowledge and self-fulfillment is completely natural. It's
something everyone wants (whether they acknowledge it, or
not). And it's already happening to everyone, with or
without their knowledge.

A while back, I sent a little note to the subscribers of my
email newsletter, "The Seeds of Joy," asking them, "What do
you want most out of life? What would your ideal life look
like?" Here are a few of the answers I got back:


* I'd live from my highest vision and most wonderful
dream.

* My life would be filled with purpose, joy, passion
and compassion.

* I'd know that I'm a "finder" rather than a "seeker."
(That "hole inside" I yearn to fill would be gone.)

* I'd know in my heart exactly what I am committed to.
I'd be delighted with that, and always moving
towards more of that.

* I'd have total clarity in my life.

* I'd realize that my freedom is always present, and
not dependent upon money.

* I'd have the courage to do what I choose to do.


Did you notice that all of these wonderful desires are
"inner desires?" We're not going to be able to go somewhere
and get these things -- it's an inside job.

If you're like a lot of people, you may think that it's a
difficult, time-consuming and effortful job to "go inside,"
and to uncover your "innermost secrets," those things that
you even hide from yourself.

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. It's
actually quite simple and effortless. But there is one
qualification necessary to reach full self-knowledge.
You've got to WANT it. And you've got to WANT it, more than
anything else. And if that's the case, nothing can keep you
from it.

What does life looks like for someone who has mastered inner
exploration -- who has found how to access and utilize their
inner resources? Of course, this will sound totally
attractive, but know this -- these are not denied to anyone,
and are available to you, whenever you want.


-- Stillness, peace and contentment are accessible in
every moment whether in the midst of a solitary
wilderness or in the chaos of city streets or
(formerly) stressful jobs.

-- Fulfillment is not a fanciful dream, but a moment-by-
moment reality.

-- No more seeking after a "purpose in life" because you're
doing it -- and you know you're doing it.

-- Trust becomes a way of life. Fear becomes a thing
of the past.

-- "Money issues" have evaporated -- because you have
discovered it was never really about money, in the
first place.

-- What you used to see as "hidden agendas" in others no
longer bothers you -- because you no longer have any
hidden agendas of your own.

-- And perhaps the BIG one for you (as it is for a lot of
people): You no longer see yourself of low worth and
poor self-esteem -- because you KNOW what your value is.
And everyone else's too. For anyone who masters inner
exploration, it's impossible to have low self-worth.


Do you find the above list attractive? If you're like me,
you'd say, "Well, of course!" But how many of us live life,
having mastered all of these? How many even think these are
possible? And how many would give their eye teeth to have
all this?

I'll make a statement which I suspect you'll find difficult
to believe, but I know from my own experience that it's
true: it's not difficult to attain all this. In fact, it's
nowhere near as difficult as most people believe it has to
be. It can be as simple, and as effortless as you desire --
but therein lies the key point. How big is your desire?

If you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that THIS is what
you want in your life, and that you're willing to do what it
takes, then the plain fact is -- you can have it all. And
probably a lot faster than you think.

Oh -- about that phrase "willing to do whatever it takes."
When I first heard that, I thought it meant being willing to
endure anything, to undergo hardships. Now I know something
different. Now I know it really means being willing to give
up the concept that it has to be difficult.

And it can be incredibly surprising just how difficult it is
to give up the idea that it must be tough. I've seen people
put themselves through the most amazing hardships, until all
of a sudden, they see what they're doing, and go "Oh!" And
give up all difficulty -- just like that!

We'll start getting into all the juicy details starting
tomorrow. For now, I'd like to make a suggestion. To get
the most out of this course, you'll find that it's best not
to try to figure out all the words, not to analyze or try to
dig out meaning with your mind. It's best to simply let it
"resonate" within.

Because I guarantee -- a part of you knows exactly what
we're talking about, and is totally excited and overjoyed
that you're hearing this. But there's also a part of you
that habitually wants to "know," to figure things out, to
experience the world through the mind.

There's much more to you than just that analyzing mind,
so it's better to let things "sink in." A quiet corner, a
secluded room or comfortable space is best for this. You'll
get the most out of the course that way.

Over the next few days, we're going to cover a good amount
of ground. In that time, you'll be given all the information
you need, so that all of the benefits we just mentioned can
become an integral part of your life. You'll discover just
how easy it is to open your own "doorway to everything."

See you tomorrow.



...Vidya

[tigergirl]

Hi,

I'm very thrilled by this thread. I am looking to find meaning in my life and maybe these daily lessons will bring me closer to that. I am going to follow this.

I am doing the Artist's Way by Julia Cameron-still trying to find my way though,

thanks for this,
Tiger

[Peacefulpie]

Day 2 Welcome Back!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Over the next few days, we're going to be taking an
interesting and rewarding journey together. You'll learn
exactly what is needed to remove all stress from your life,
and find your highest fulfillment.

OK. Let's get started. So how do we master the Art of Inner
Exploration? How do we gain all the benefits you read about
yesterday? Things like stillness, peace, contentment,
fulfillment, freedom from fear?

You've seen that everything in that list is an "inside job."
You can't go to McDonalds to get these things. No one is
going to give them to you for Christmas. No amount of
searching in the world will help you find them. Why?
Because they're all inside of you. And that's where you'll
find them.

How to do that? Well, obviously, it takes some self-
investigation. It's a process of finding out what makes you
tick. And not just on the surface, but at the uttermost,
deep levels of who you are. It means "going within" all the
way, deep, deep, deep. And seeing what's there to be seen.

Does that sound a little scary to you? I mean, who knows
what you'll find when you go there? Are we really talking
about uncovering every single aspect of ourselves, with
nothing at all remaining hidden anymore?

Yes -- that's exactly what we're talking about. Let's start
immediately. You'll probably notice something right here,
and now. Did you notice that when I mentioned "uncovering
every single aspect of your inner being," that there's some
part of you which is uncomfortable with that? That some part
of you may even be fearful about doing that?

Listen -- that is not a bad thing! That's totally natural.
And expected. Let me tell you what's so great about what
you just noticed...

Whatever you noticed... is just a part of you. There are
many parts of you. There's a part which is fearful about
all this. There's a part which is overjoyed about the
prospect of going deep within. And there's also a part of
you, which couldn't care less. As we go further into this
self- exploration, you'll find many parts of yourself; some
that you hadn't even suspected were there.

But the beauty of all this is that you have a choice. In
fact, the major discovery of self-freedom is that you always
have a choice, in every moment. You have a choice which
part of yourself you wish to focus upon, which part of you
that you wish to pay attention to.

Whenever fear or mistrust arises, you have the choice to put
your attention on that -- to choose for fear as how you're
creating your life, at this time. OR you can put your
attention on the other parts of yourself -- the ones that see
the beauty, joy and wonder of life.

The fact is -- you can choose for things like praise,
gratitude and love whenever you wish. You're not forced to
pay attention to the fearful, mistrusting, "negative"
aspects of your life -- unless, of course, you'd prefer to do
that. Freedom means you're free to do anything you want.
But if you see that you DO have a choice -- will you choose
fear -- or will you choose something else?

And that summarizes the basis of this course. First, we
talk about powerful tools you can use to see all aspects of
yourself, clearly. Some people have been known to sit
peacefully, for many hours at a time, to go within, but it
could take many years to uncover all of your inner world
that way. Some people even say it needs to take lifetimes.
But with the proper tools, with the inner searchlights, you
can get results amazingly quickly.

As that occurs, you get to express whichever aspect of
yourself that you want to pay attention to -- through the
power of your choice. Then as you choose more and more of
stillness and peace, you get to open up more and more of
yourself. Until the day you find -- there's no more to fear,
there's no more problems, -- there's nothing but the freedom
of utter fulfillment and love.

And once again, I'll repeat -- this can be as difficult or as
easy as you wish -- it's your choice!

So why don't you experience all of the benefits we described
yesterday, right now? These things are your birthright!
When you were born, you came into the world, completely free
and innocent, totally peaceful and happy. You can see that
is obvious, whenever you hold a new-born child. So what has
happened in the years since then so that you don't
experience complete joy and freedom, in every minute of
every day, of your life?

There's a very good reason for that! And once you know the
reason, you can choose again. You can stop being a "victim"
of your life, and start being the "creator" of your life.
Let's take a look at what has happened in the years since
you were born...

We come into life innocently. As children, we live
completely in the present moment. There's no regret about
what happened yesterday; there's no worry about what may
happen tomorrow. And perhaps most important -- a baby has no
habits, no ingrained way of looking at things. A baby just
experiences things as they happen with no preconceived
ideas.

Because the baby doesn't attempt to live in the past or the
future, the power of a baby's mind is awesome. Consider how
quickly infants master a complex language. Adults generally
can't learn that quickly. Why?

Because an adult's mind is absorbed in so many habitual and
preconceived ideas about "how the world must be." These
beliefs and judgements keep the mind running in thousands
and thousands of thoughts every hour and every day. Let's
just take a moment here for a little reflection. Ask
yourself these questions:

* Is there a part of you (or a lot of you) that wonders
what will happen to you tomorrow, next week, next year,
ten years from now?

* Is there a part of you that regrets some behavior you
did in the past, and judges it as unacceptable?

* Is there a part of you which is so much absorbed in
some other moment that you're not really appreciating
what is happening in this moment?

This tendency to live in "some other moment" is a habit of
the mind. We're constantly evaluating what happened in the
past and what may happen in the future. These evaluations
are based upon ingrained beliefs and judgements we've picked
up in the course of our life.

It's important to know where all these beliefs and
judgements came from. Because once knowing *that*, then we
can choose for something different. We can live a life free
of all erroneous beliefs and preconceived judgements.

Where did all these beliefs and judgements come from?

Well, one source is our parents. As infants, we only desired
love. But perhaps our parents weren't ideal and couldn't
give us all the love we needed. Maybe our father had a bad
day and shouted at us for leaving a toy in his way.

Or maybe our mother was just too tired to be completely
loving. Thus, we develop a little way of thinking that says,
"I'm not worthy of love." This becomes a habitual thought
and continues to operate inside of us on a very deep, quiet
level.

Even when we're no longer children, this thought pattern
still affects us. We may have a tough time with
relationships because there's this little part of us (that
we may be completely unaware of) that's saying, "Hey, you
don't deserve this loving relationship."

We can pick up these habitual thoughts (which we'll call
"grooves" like the grooves in a record) from many different
sources, not just our parents. I had a lot of brothers and
sisters; naturally, there was competition and I always
seemed to come out on the short end of the stick, feeling
criticized and unappreciated. Thus, I picked up a groove
that operated in me for many years. I took everything very
personally -- like the whole world was out to criticize me.

Fortunately, we do not have to live with these grooves
forever. There IS a way to erase the grooves. We'll get to
that in a little while. But first let's consider what
happens when we go to school. We learn to compete, not to
create. We learn that we don't do math as well as Billy, so
we stop doing math. We put every bit of our creative energy
into a drawing and we're told, "Ewww, how ugly!"

Part of us totally believes everything we're told; most of
us stop drawing by the age of six. What if Monet or Picasso
had been told, "That's a crummy picture!" and what if they
believed it? The point is that these stresses picked up so
innocently through our experiences freeze our lives into a
strict form. We make a definition (or identity) of our life,
based on things that happen to us, things that seem beyond
our control.

And many of our grooves (or internal programming) come from
the society we live in. We all have cultural conditioning;
we're all part of the collective consciousness of our
society. Now, some of these beliefs are useful; and some are
not. Most of us don't need to know how to climb a coconut
tree for food. Instead, we're taught how to shop at the
supermarket. But if we were born in the tropics, our
society's knowledge would be very different. A jungle
dweller would not survive very well on the Interstate. We
probably wouldn't survive very long in the jungle.

continued...

[Peacefulpie]

Day 2 Continued
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The point here is that some of the beliefs we've adopted are
useful; some are not. It's useful to remember which house we
live in, so that we don't have to ring all the doorbells and
ask, "Hello. Do I live here?" It's useful to remember how
to drive. But many of our internal programs, our grooves,
are not serving us, in any way. Many of them are damaging.

And the grooves are subtle. They're operating at a level
below our ordinary, everyday awareness. Have you ever tried
to break a habit and failed? It's practically impossible to
root out the source of our destructive behaviors through
effort, through trying hard.

The good news is that effort is not what's required. What's
required is a tool that shines a bright light on that which
is hidden within. When we actually see (and see clearly)
what's been hidden from our surface awareness for so long,
then it becomes quite a simple matter to make a different
choice, if we so desire.

What happens when we're not aware of all these subtle
grooves operating inside of us? Don't we all want good
things like ideal relationships, ideal jobs, great health,
and a fulfilling life? The problem comes when all these
quiet, internal programs are saying, "You don't deserve
that!" or "Come on, be serious, you're not good enough for
George (or Mary)." If you're quiet enough to notice these
little voices, you'll become aware that they sound just like
your mother or father, or maybe a teacher you once had. They
could all be long dead, but they live on in you: criticizing,
condemning, causing you to fail before you even begin.

When the mind works against itself like this, your ability
to succeed in any area is greatly diminished as is your
ability to be happy, or even healthy! In the average adult
person, the mind is full of these judgements, criticisms,
and self-destructive grooves. How could it not be, when
that's what we've been told, most of our lives?

What is left of the baby's innocent, silent mind?

Have you heard how much of the mind is used by the typical
adult? Scientists have estimated it to be about 5% to 10% of
the mind. That's all that's left! And what is the rest of
the mind doing? Thinking, incessantly thinking, chattering
away, never stopping for a rest. Stanford Research Institute
scientists have estimated that the average person thinks
more than 60,000 thoughts a day.

But it's not that we're sitting around thinking up
symphonies or creating works of art. It's usually, "What's
for dinner?" or "Why did he say that to me?" Or "Why did I
marry her?" -- and on and on, over and over, pointlessly
chattering away. Going nowhere, creating nothing but
fatigue.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could once again have the silent,
innocent coherence of the child's mind? No regrets about the
past, no worries for the future. Simply being Here and Now?
Imagine if you could learn to still the internal chatter,
learn to experience life again in the present moment. Then
the full power of your mind would be available to you, at any
time.

And that's exactly what is available to you. As we continue
in this course, you'll see that, even though the last few
paragraphs paint a picture that seems very negative, it's
actually a pretty simple process to reverse the effects of
all those grooves and habitual patterns. It's not anywhere
near as difficult as you might think.

We *can* learn to utilize the full power of the mind. How do
we do that? Well, that's the subject for tomorrow's email.
At that time, we'll discuss more about the mind, and it's
potential for total coherence, stillness and peace. We'll
look at what's been called, "peak experiences" -- and better
yet, how to make those peak experiences repeatable. It's a
fascinating subject, especially when you realize you can
have all these things, without a lot of effort.

See you then.



... Vidya

[Gypsygirlmom]

Pie,

I hope I am not late for enrollment...definitely count me in!
Will have to print out & take to work to read it all!

Hugs,

[myles1]

Good idea Peacefulpipe.

Ngaire

[Peacefulpie]

Day 3 Welcome Back!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday, we talked about the "grooves" in the mind, and
where they came from. Today, we'll discuss how we can go
beyond (or rise above) the grooves, and live a more
effective, joyful and peaceful life. OK? Let's get to it...

How can we utilize the full power of the mind?

The mind is like a pond. The thoughts moving in the mind are
like the waves moving in the pond. Have you ever dropped a
single stone into a quiet pond? What happens? Perfectly
concentric ripples spread across the water. This is like
having only one thought moving. The mind is coherent, it is
orderly, it is powerful.

But what happens when you drop a whole handful into
the water? The waves become very choppy. It looks chaotic.
This is like the mind, when it is caught by those continually
running habitual thoughts and grooves. It just keeps going
and going -- and nothing comes out of it.

This has actually been measured by scientists. Hooking EEG
terminals to the left and right hemisphere, they find that the
measurement of the 10% thinking level of the mind looks very
much like a chaotic pond -- lots of different frequencies,
very little coherence. And this is the way most adults
think.

But not everyone. Research done by psychologist Abraham
Maslow shows that the mind can become completely coherent. He
found that this happens during a Peak Experience. And he
defines a peak experience as "those moments of pure,
positive happiness, when all doubts, all fears, all
inhibitions, all tensions, all weaknesses were left behind.
Now self-consciousness was lost. All separateness and
distance from the world disappeared..."

These experiences are rare, but can come at any
unpredictable time and completely transform life. People
have adopted whole new belief systems from one single taste
of a peak experience.

What if these experiences were not unpredictable? What if
you could choose for those moments, whenever you wanted to?
What if you could have a mind that is still, that is in the
present moment, not caught by regret for the past or worry
for the future?

A mind that is working like this is creating a healthy body.
Your body is already spewing out millions of chemical
reactions every second. When your mind is tense, anxious,
nervous, your body responds by producing tense, anxious,
nervous molecules, like adrenaline and noradrenaline. When
your mind is calm and peaceful, your body produces calm and
peaceful molecules like Valium. When your body produces
Valium, it makes you feel tranquil but without making you
feel like a zombie. When your body produces anti-cancer
drugs and anti-bacteria drugs, there are no side-effects.
The body does this absolutely naturally, in the right
amount, at the right time. Your body does this for you when
it is not stressed. How often is *your* body unstressed?

How do we unstress the body? How do we keep new stresses
from accumulating? How do we learn to maintain inner peace
and tranquility in the face of the hectic pace of the modern
world? How do we learn to stop undermining ourselves with
destructive internal programs? How do we learn to expand our
minds (from 10% to 100%) to our full potential?

Finding a way to do that is the purpose of this course. Let's
start talking about specifics of how this can happen...

What would we need to defeat the old, internal programs that
have been running for so long inside of us, at a level we
may not even be aware of? First, we'd need something that
could shine a bright light on these grooves, so that we
could be aware of what's going on.

Next, we'd need some way of refraining from thinking those
old thoughts. The thoughts we think, in this moment, are
what bring our future, in the next moment. So we wouldn't
want to continue to think our old self-defeating thoughts.
We'd want to think uplifting, expanding, creative thoughts --
thoughts that not only bring us into a new life of joy and
fulfillment, but help us to release all the old beliefs in
lack and low self-worth.

And above all, thoughts that are so effortless and so
charming to the mind that we can continue to think them all
the time. What would be the use of effort? Who wants to
work hard at enjoyment? How about if we could go straight
there, and stay there?

Well, we can.

What you are being offered is a series of natural and
effortless techniques to expand the mind permanently. And
they also have the effect of clearing all stress from the
nervous system, permanently. Because these techniques help
us to rise beyond our old ways of thinking, we call them
"ascending thoughts" and we call the process "Ascension."

It's NOT a belief system. It's NOT something mystical or
strange. It's down-to-earth, everyday usage of techniques to
help the mind become familiar with expansion -- with clarity
-- with coherence and stillness. These techniques are purely
mechanical. They work, whether you believe they will, or
not.

As the mind becomes more familiar with expansion, life
in the present moment returns. The self-defeating beliefs
and habits, the incessant hammering of the grooves and
internal programs gradually cease. Then the mind becomes
quiet, unless we wish to direct it in a specific direction.
The creative power of the mind is maximized. The full
resources of the mind are available in every moment. Life
starts becoming easier and easier.

The result for the body when this expansion of consciousness
happens is deep rest, actually much deeper than that of sleep
at night. This deep rest removes the stress and fatigue of the
intense pace of our modern civilization so that health
automatically begins to improve. The entire body settles
into a profound state of rest, but the mind remain clear and
alert.

What happens when you begin to "ascend" (translation: "use
these techniques") is that your life starts to function more
effectively. As stress decreases, every area of life starts
spontaneously and naturally developing. Why? Because
Ascension deals with the most fundamental area of life: our
consciousness. It's like the root of the tree of our life.
If a gardener wants a plant to be healthy, he goes to the
root -- he tends to the nourishment of the root. Similarly,
if we want our lives to develop in all ways, we must deal
with the root of our life: the nervous system.

As the stress decreases in the nervous system, every area of
our life improves. Happiness increases. Our ability to be
successful in relationships and work improves. Our memory
works better. Our level of energy and achievement rises. Our
health improves.

And this does not come about because we are focusing on
simply one aspect of life. Consider a self-destructive habit
like smoking, for example. Everyone knows smoking is
damaging. They've known this for years. Why do so many of
us, then, continue to smoke? Why is it so hard to stop? The
reason is that the motive for our smoking is deeper than the
conscious level of our mind. Some pernicious little groove
inside keeps running and inspiring us to engage in damaging
behavior.

How do we get rid of these damaging programs? By expanding
the conscious level. By coming to the point where that
pernicious groove stands out clearly. And we can see it. And
why it's there. And we can choose to *do something* about
it. Ascension helps shine a bright light on all the grooves.
It is completely natural and effortless.

These techniques are mental. They're used by the mind.
They're frequently called "attitudes." They involve no
concentration or control. No work or effort is involved.
Nor is it necessary to change your behavior in any way. The
only requirement is the innocent willingness to give them a
chance.


Continued

[Peacefulpie]

Day 3 continued
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Let's look at these attitudes and why they are so incredibly
effective...

First, I'd like to mention that Ascension is and always has
been completely natural. Ever since the beginning of time,
we have had the ability to rise in our thoughts, i.e., to
Ascend. It's easy to imagine these attitudes coming up at
different times in different parts of the world, whenever
anyone realized that it *must* be simple and natural to return
life to the innocence of the child, to life in the present
moment.

People have experienced it jogging, staring at the stars, at
the beach, during childbirth, over a full desk on a crowded
day -- everywhere throughout the full range of human
experience. Ascension comes to people at any unpredictable
time. It is something built into the fabric of the human
nervous system. All we're doing by using the Ascension
attitudes is making it repeatable and predictable.

And it's a simple thing to do. I'll give you a small
illustration. I remember being in a hurry to get somewhere
on a crowded highway, and there would always be this one car
that was leisurely taking it's time rolling down the road.
Invariably, I'd end up stuck behind it. I'll tell you this --
it's a good thing the driver of that car couldn't hear the
words I used to say. Of course, the only thing that happened
was that I ended up feeling totally aggravated. In that
moment, nobody else felt this way -- just me.

Now, it's different. Sure, I sometimes end up behind a
Sunday driver, but now I'm able to catch myself starting to
"descend." And so I choose to "ascend" instead. Nothing
really changes. I don't get past the car. I don't get
anywhere any faster. But I sure feel a heck of a lot better
when I get there.

That, of course, is a very basic example. But you get the
point. Through the use of these Ascension attitudes, we find
we have the power to bring our lives back to stability and
clarity, with the innocence of a child. It's a life free of
anxiety, free of difficulty, free of anything we don't
choose for. Life full of wonder, full of satisfaction, full
of peace and stillness.

What if we had a tool that instantly brought us back to the
present moment? A tool that helps us make the choice for
upliftment rather than aggravation? A tool that helps us see
clearly why we get so aggravated -- a tool that illuminates
our inner self so brightly that we can always choose for the
biggest part of our being, rather than the smallest.

I'm sure you've guessed what I'm going to say next. Yes.
That's exactly what the Ascension Attitudes do. Consistently
and easily.

Tomorrow, we'll examine the attitudes in detail. It won't
be really necessary to fully grasp all this in detail. The
attitudes work, whether we understand why, or not. But some
people find it helpful to know exactly what they're working
with.

As we take a closer look at the attitudes, it'll become clear
why they work so well, and how you can use them in your life.
We'll also bump up against a biggy -- that one root stress that
seems to be a common denominator in everyone's life. And
how to shoot right past that...

So that's it for today. See you tomorrow.

... Vidya

[Gypsygirlmom]

Pie.......................................... are you playing in the clouds again?

ahem....

Am needing to know the "one root stress" and "how to shoot right past it" ????

Or am I jumping a day here? Where is everyone? Maybe I'll go have a snowball fight!

Hugs

[rebel]

Hi Pie,

Can't wait for more...Thank you...rebel

[Gypsygirlmom]

[Peacefulpie]

Day 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome back! I hope you've been enjoying this
course, so far. Up to now, we've been talking about the benefits you can get from using the tools of Ascension.
Today, we'll look at the tools themselves, and gain some understanding of why they're so powerful and effective.

OK. So what's up with these attitudes?

Each has three parts: one for the heart, one for the mind,
and a part that the full power of the heart and mind is
applied to.

Let's start with the heart, which is usually considered the seat
of our emotions. Scientists say that our emotions are centered
in the right hemisphere of the brain. This "right brain" is
intuitive, creative, artistic, and emotional. And it is the emotions
the most cause us to ascend -- or for that matter, to descend.
Negative emotions, like anger and fear, cause a lowering of
our life -- a descension.

So we have two directions we can go in. We can either ascend
or descend. Anger, for example, shuts down the brain and
speeds up the heart. We go into the classic "fight-or-
flight" response. That used to be needed when you were faced
by a saber-tooth tiger, but there's not too many of those
around anymore. Even so, when someone cuts us off on the
freeway, or our boss yells at us, still the fight-or-flight
response is turned on. Our blood pressure goes up and stays
up. The internal organs start shutting down: we're talking
heavy-duty descension here.

But, of course, everyone also has built into them all of the
positive emotions, too. These cause ascension. When asked
what the most powerful ascending emotion is, most people
automatically reply, "Love." Love is totally uplifting.

That's why almost every culture in the world has said, "God
is love." The fact is -- love is the most powerful way to
ascend. Whenever we feel love, our minds function more
effectively and our bodies respond by producing the
molecules of health. You don't notice surface imperfections
when you're in love. Stub a toe when you're in love -- and
you hardly notice it. But if you break up a relationship and
then stub your toe, then it's "Why is my life so cruel? Why
am I so miserable?"

How you feel when you're in love -- *that* is the sweet
influence of ascension. However, there's a small problem
with love. You just can't turn it on, at will. You can't
just tell two people to go over in the corner, and fall in
love. It may work -- or it may not. Probably not. For most
people, love is hard to make happen. That's why we don't
start with a Love attitude. Of the three primary emotions
that cause ascension, love is the hardest to create at will.
But there are two others.

Let's look at another one. Similar to love, but not quite as
powerful, is gratitude. Thankfulness produces similar
changes in the body and mind. It's a definite ascending
emotion, lifting you up. However, it's a lot easier to
culture than love. If I were to give you a pile of money,
it's pretty certain that you'd feel some thankfulness to me.

But again, gratitude sometimes has a bad name in the world.
We've been told to be thankful so many times when we're not
actually thankful. I can remember getting a green sweater for
Christmas one year when I really wanted an electric train
set. And then I was told I had to be grateful anyway. Some
of us have been told to be grateful so many times that we'd
rather eat nails.

So even though gratitude is easier to develop than love,
it's still not totally easy -- which is why the Gratitude
attitude is the second, not the first. What could the first
attitude be? What is an emotion that is certainly uplifting,
and at the same time, simple and effortless to turn on, at
will?

The answer is: appreciation. Or in one syllable, Praise.
Appreciation is almost as powerful as Love and Gratitude,
and it's a lot easier to choose for, at will. You can simply
shift your mind toward appreciation instead of continuing to
focus on criticism. When you do this, your body responds by
making you healthier and your mind becomes happier.

How is it a simple choice? Because if you're holding a half-
full glass of water, you can choose to be sad that it's half
empty. Or you can choose to be glad that it's half full.
It's the same thing -- just a different choice. And the
simple truth is that condemnation never helps anyone
improve, whereas appreciation always does.

If you criticize a drawing that a child brings home from
school, will it inspire her to draw better next time? Not
likely. And yet if you offer praise to her, then you can
almost guarantee that the next drawing will be much better.
Praise works like that.

Praise is like magic, for anybody, for everyone, always. And
it's just a choice: a choice for joy and life. It is the
easiest of the ascending emotions because it grows from
simply making the decision to appreciate rather than
criticize.

Sure, our society and our world may have programmed
criticism rather deeply into us, but whenever we find ourselves
moving down the descending path -- whenever we feel our
emotions and energy sinking due to condemnation -- it's an
easy choice to turn upward again, simply by finding
something to appreciate. Anywhere, anytime, always.

So for the right brain, the force, the driving emotion that
causes upward ascending comes from choosing to praise rather
than to criticize. What about the left brain? Is there
something that causes the left brain to experience an
upward, ascending energy? Well, sure, there is.

The left-brain is logical, analytical, and rational.
Thoughts that cause ascension in the left brain are thoughts
that bring on an awe-inspiring wonder -- an expansion into
wonderment. Think, for example, what it's like to stare at
the sky in January on a moonless night. What happens when
you realize that there are as many as four hundred billion
(!) stars in our Milky Way? When you remember that some of
those points of light are really distant galaxies with more
stars than ours? And that there are as many as one thousand
billion galaxies in this Universe? The whole thing is so
huge! And awesome.

In some people, such a thought causes a degree of ascension
in the left brain. For others, different thoughts are more
awesome. Some, for example, feel awe when considering the
order in the human body. Fifty trillion cells are all
operating in harmony. And inside each of the 50 trillion is
a molecule of DNA; something so complex that if any one DNA
molecule was stretched out, it would be six feet long.
Whew! That's amazing, isn't it?

So these are examples of left brain ascending thoughts. They
involve some sort of analysis of life to create expansion,
awe, wonder. It's an incredible, magical universe. Everyone
sees this in a different way, through the filter of his or
her left brain.

What you want for ascending, then, is not any old awe-
inspiring thought, but the Ultimate Thought for you. It is a
thought that means your ultimate conception of the greatest
force for good, for you and everyone else. It is your
personal, private part of the Ascension attitude.

At this point, I'd like to mention again that it doesn't
matter if you believe these attitudes will work or not. You
don't have to believe in Ascension for it to be effective.
Part of the mind would like to believe in it, part of the
mind would like to reject it; this makes no difference. Why?

Because belief is from the surface level of the mind, and
the whole point is to ascend that. This is what happens
immediately, as soon as we start using the Ascension
attitudes. We're creating your most effective path to
complete self-awareness and fulfillment. This is built on a
series of individualized techniques; it's simply not a
belief system.

Now we take these two, appreciation for the right brain, and
our Ultimate Thought for the left brain, and we add one
final thing. Remember it was said that these techniques have
three parts? The first two put together do cause some
ascending. You can feel this right away. You get some
upliftment by using the two together.

But now what we want to do is take this uplifting motion and
apply it to the root stress of life. By this, I mean that
one stress that is at the foundation of all our stresses.
These attitudes have the power to help us get rid of *all*
of our stresses in life -- by chipping away at the one
fundamental stress.

If we want to tumble a building, we don't do it by removing
one block at a time. We remove the foundation block and the
whole thing comes right down. Similarly, it's a long, hard
path to work on each individual stress in your life -- but if
we get right at the foundational stress, then voila! The
whole structure of your internal habitual patterns comes
apart at the seams. No more stress!

You see, some of the stresses in our life are supporting
others. If we can remove the root stress, all the others
will leave, because their support will be gone. So.. what do
you think is the root stress of your life in the world today?

I suggest taking a moment to reflect on this before
continuing further. You might even want to take time out,
and write down a few for yourself, so you can see clearly
where we're going with this. OK? So time out for a minute
...right now.

[Peacefulpie]

Welcome Back....

We're back. OK. Let's consider what some people say the root
stress would be. I've known lots of people who say, "Lack of
money." Other people say, "My lousy job." For others , it
runs the gamut from relationship anxieties to lack of
fulfillment to health problems. But what is common amongst
all of these stresses? There is one thing that stands out
as being part of each and every one of these stresses. And
what would that be?

Simply stated, that "something is wrong with my life."
Something is just not quite right, and it needs to be fixed
or adjusted so we can have more of what we want. Now, this
is not saying that there aren't things that could be
improved -- just that the focus on what's wrong causes a
general descension -- the opposite of what we're looking for.

These, then, are the three parts of the first Ascension
attitude. Appreciation for our heart; the Ultimate Thought
for our mind; then a focus for healing. We move upward, we
ascend; then we apply that ascendant energy onto the
fundamental root stress. Although appearing simple, this is
an amazingly powerful process.



"Thank you very much for the work you do. It is worth
it, believe me. Whenever I am doubtful, lost, lonely,
or whatever -- I am guided to the power of the attitudes
I have been learning, and I use them again, and my world
improves noticeably. God Bless You!"
...Elisa Mangual


"I just want to say thanks again for the MIRACLE ascending
has been, and is, in my life. I brought in the new year
ascending. WOW, it was a great experience! The whole world
is becoming more safe for me, more and more I see love about
me, and the beauty around me is always jumping out at me in
all it's magnificence. The last several days, my longing has
been to go even slower, to stop, to go even deeper. Maybe one
day I will find the words to tell of the deep healing I am
experiencing as a result of ascending."
...Thanks, Daria



Tomorrow, I'll have the opportunity to tell you about my own
personal experiences with learning the attitudes, and what I
discovered practically immediately. We'll see how many
attitudes there are, how they're arranged, and then we'll
take a look at the origin of these techniques -- a little
history, if you will. And we'll also talk about where we go
next.

That's all for today! See you tomorrow.


... Vidya

[Peacefulpie]

Hello Ladies...


I am VERY sorry about the inconvience of this delay...
I do not know what has happened, however I have emailed V.
and she sent me this link where we can download the complete course.

www.awakeningpath.com/dow...xplore.htm

Be well my beautiful dynamic friends,