Purpose, Personal Power and Commitment

On Tuesday, the mindshifters group watched the second half of the lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce titled, “Purpose, Personal Power, and Commitment”. The theme of the second half of this talk was about the process of denial and suppression and how it leads to discomfort and dis-ease within the human energy system. Dr. Ryce traces a path beginning with the suppression of ENTHUSIASM and resulting in total unconsciousness. Throughout the process, the suppression of the natural expression of our connection to our source, Love, and the subsequent reactions to that suppression, build stronger and stronger negative reactions within the system until the system is almost totally shut down.

The process begins when a child is innocently spending time fully engaged in whatever feeds her soul, and then a parent or teacher comes along and demands that they stop being focused and engaged in ENTHUSIASM, and do what the adult thinks they should do. When this ENTHUSIASM is suppressed it results in PAIN for the child. When the child tries to express her PAIN she is punished, and this results in an ANTAGONISTIC response from the child. This is punished and suppressed and that results in OVERT HOSTILITY from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in ANGER from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in COVERT HOSTILITY from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in PROPITIATION, (doing the right thing for the wrong reason), from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in SYMPATHY from the child. This is punished and suppressed which results in GRIEF from the child. This is punished and/or suppressed which results in APATHY from the child. This is punished and/or suppressed and results in UNCONSCIOUSNESS from the child.

At each stage of this process the negative energy which is denied and suppressed gets stored in different organs in the body and the energy system, and each of those organ systems begin to shut down, or struggle to function fully. The end result is aging and dis-ease and death. Another way to look at this process is the gradual denial of our connection to our source of Love.

During the first half of the two hour lecture, Dr. Ryce details how the Primary Purpose for each of us is to develop a Viable, Conscious, Spiritual body, and in doing so, we need to tithe, or commit ten percent of our; time, intelligence, money and energy to those activities which help feed and nourish us spiritually. He is clear that this is an individual path and that it will be different for each of us, but that the goal is the same for all – to develop and strengthen a Viable, Conscious, Spiritual body.

He then proposes that each of us develop a Secondary Purpose which will be unique to each of us. He proposes making two lists and then writing out a statement of “What the world will look like, to me, when it is perfect.” The first list is a list of ten unique talents, or ten things that I am really good at, just naturally. The second list is ten things that I just love to do, whether I can make money at them or not, and whether anyone else thinks it is a valuable or productive use of my time. Once these two lists are completed and the statement of how the world will look to me, when it is perfect, is written out, then I compose a declaration in the following format. “I now choose to use, ( one, two or three things from the first list), in order to do, (one, two or three things from the second list), in order to help the world become, (insert your statement of how the world will look when it is finished).

Then when I move through my day, and I am faced with a choice of what to do, or a decision about how to spend my time, I can ask myself whether the activity is in line with my Primary Purpose. If it is, then I can ask if it is in line with my Secondary Purpose, and if it is then I should move forward with it. If it fails to be in line with either my Primary or my Secondary Purpose, I should drop the activity and move on to something else.

In this way I will focus my personal power, and become more of what I was created to be.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love! Everything else is false.

The Circle Of Life And How To Play It

Tuesday night the Mindshifters group watched the first half of the lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce titled, The Circle of Life and How To Play It. The lecture describes two different patterns of observing, interpreting and responding to the events in one’s life. Following one path makes us Winners in life and following the other path makes us Losers. The key point at the beginning of the lecture is that in order to get where we want to be, we first need to know where we are. The list of traits, behaviors and response patterns for those who choose “the high road”, and those who choose “the low road”, offers a kind of a road map which we can use to determine exactly where we are, and what we need to change in order to get to where we want to be.

My impression of the central characteristic of those choosing “the high road”, is their ability to understand that they are creating their internal reality, and therefore if they are in pain in any way, they are in error and can therefore make a correction. The people choosing “the low road”, are essentially blaming others or their circumstances for anything in their life they don’t like, and they are busy either playing the role of “victim”, or the role of “hero”. These people believe that “If I am in pain, you did it to me!” Therefore they are always externalizing their problem and therefore looking for external solutions.

When people who are choosing “the high road” become uncomfortable or experience a negative emotion, they take this as an indication that they need to make a correction because they are somehow creating a false reality which is causing them pain or discomfort. These people welcome the information that comes to them from their discomfort because it offers them an opportunity to learn and grow. When people on “the low road” become uncomfortable or experience a negative emotion, they either deny it and suppress it, or blame it on someone or something outside of themselves. This reinforces their belief that they are powerless and that they are being victimized.

The discussion after the video led to many interesting areas. The area that stood out most for me was the idea of looking to someone else as being a “master” or a “guru”. It is common for those who are trying to improve their lives to study, read, listen to, or even “follow” a “master”, “teacher”, or “guru”. We discussed how this pattern creates a sense of “one-up” and “one-down”, or “better than” and “less than”. I mentioned that the teachings that have resonated most with me, are those in which it is understood that the only significant difference between any two people, is the degree to which each understands that “We are all the same!”.

We also discussed how the book of The Way of Mastery frequently mentions that “It takes one to know one.”, which means that I cannot recognize the truth taught by a great teacher unless that knowledge already resides somewhere in me. I suggested to the group that rather than talking about how someone else is such a great teacher or great master – it would be interesting to see how it feels to simply say, “What this person teaches, really resonates with me.” This leaves the space for recognition that we are all the same and that in order for me to be able to recognize Love, and Wisdom in another, it must already be within me. The work we are engaged in then is simply to continue to uncover, and dismantle, anything within my mind and energy system which is less than Love.

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.

Mindshifters Support Group Watched "The Laws of Living"

This week and last, we watched the video of a lecture by Dr. Michael Ryce titled, “The Laws of Living”. In this lecture Dr. Ryce points out the dramatic difference between a natural law and the laws of man. A natural Law is simply a description of how things work. When we function with the knowledge of natural Law and keep our behaviors in accordance with those Laws, we flourish. When our behavior deviates from those described by the Law, the Law does not get broken, we get “broken”, or “injured”.

The laws created by man, on the other hand, are often in conflict with the natural Law, and therefore result in a very conflicted and dysfunctional society. For example; the natural Law states that your body is an energy system and that there are only two types of energy relative to that system. Integrative energy which builds the system up, and dis-integrative energy which tears the system down. The positive, loving, integrative energy which comes from the positive emotions and Love, are what the energy system is made of, and what it is designed to contain and expand with. The negative, fearful or hostile emotions are energies which disintegrate or tear down the energy system.

Now, our current legal system is based on holding other people responsible for what happens in one’s own life. We are encouraged to “press charges” against others, and “sue” others for things that happen in life. Then while the legal process is churning away, the negative emotions are also churning away in my mind and body. I will be angry at the other and feel justified in my anger. I will want revenge, or financial compensation, and again feel angry or hurt if I don’t receive it. The longer I hold these negative emotions in my body and mind, (my energy system), the more damage there is to that energy system. I am the one who gets hurt, in any way that really counts, when I choose to blame others for what I am experiencing. “The vessel in which anger, fear and vengeance are stored, always sustain more damage than the object upon which they are poured.”

This lecture starts with the question about what is the greatest commandment. The answer to that question is that we need to hold the condition of Love in our minds, whenever we think of God, neighbor, or self. In this context the word neighbor means, anyone we think of. So the first and most important law for healthy living is that we hold the condition of Love in our minds whenever we think of God, neighbor or self. This is a Law. The result of not acting in accordance with the Law is not that the Law gets broken, it is that we get “broken”, or damaged or injured, because we are not acting in our own best interests.

Whenever I hold any energy in my body, or my mind, other than Love, I am putting negative and dis-integrative energy into my system and it begins breaking down my energy system. This is not helping anyone else, but most importantly, it is hurting me. This is why we are encouraged, not to just “let go” of negative energy, but to actively dismantle the thought structure and belief system which creates the emotion and the intense negative energy which damages our minds and bodies. This is the reason for all of the tools Dr. Ryce teaches and makes available for free on his website, http://www.whyagain.com

The discussion after the video was once again very lively and wide ranging. There are several group members who are coping with health challenges and others who are coping with relationship challenges. There were a number of different book titles mentioned by different members related to the nature of physical and spiritual health and healing. The crux of the conversation for me was whether one puts more emphasis on the belief of themselves as being a physical being or a spiritual being. We emphasized yet again in the group that we support people in reading and doing any work which leaves them feeling Love and compassion for themselves and others, since that is the energy they need to hold in their system to get and stay healthy, physically and spiritually.

Next week we will watch the lecture titled, “The Circle of Life and How to Play it.”

We come from Love, we are made of Love, we are Love. Everything else is false.