All we need to do with those moments is forgetting them. More to that, everything around us is arranged to help us in forgetting. Almost effortlessly we can get back to our comfort zone. Forgetting and feeling comfortable again.

All that is there is showing us our dual nature. We have the comfort zone, the one that we are used to. Our individual life, our comparative reality. Filled with anchors, hanging on to our identity. With the need to permanently define and redefine ourselves. And there is our life manifesting in a different direction, our existential reality, the so called “inner life”. Where we have less to hang on to, and what is showing up unexpectedly. Quite disturbing. Showing our inadequacies.

The contradiction in which these two “lives” that manifest in us are contradictory only at first. Obviously they are part of our nature and it is desirable to find our peace with both, to find the balance between our natures. They are both part of our human nature, having this contradiction as its major trait.

Our forgotten hidden nature comes to the surface with the taste of discomfort. It was neglected, it was buried and forgotten, so when it shows up, it is always unexpected. It brings contradictions, it conflicts with our life so far. But only through facing the discomfort, through accepting it we can get started in the search for ourselves.

“In this search perhaps there is a risk of oscillating between an imbecilic bliss (which would be deliberately ignoring the discomfort) and a kind of masochism (giving it undue importance – has it not been called by some, metaphysical anguish?).” (1) I have found these excellent thoughts of Jean Vaysse to be sharply pointing out a warning to be considered here. If you just take a moment to remember for ex. the Stakhanovist practicer of esotericism (or what). Whose behavior may be understandable at the first encounters with inner nature. Strange in its struggle and definitely counterproductive (sic!).

What to do then? By “doing” we can only mean finding a proper approach. Understanding brings change. Jean Vaysse continues like this: “The only right attitude, a difficult one to be sure, is somewhere between the two – the recognition of the precise nature of our uneasiness and our inner conflict, such as they are, in the hope of resolving them.” (1)

The first encounters with our forgotten nature are never easy. As you’ve seen before, my take on this is that it is voluntary, it is a possibility. It can be approached by choice, by decision. Forget deliverance as something to be blindly hoped to happen. If a man wants to be fully himself, the possibility is there. But There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

1. in Jean Vaysse, Toward Awakening, p. 10-11.

Defining a goal as we are commonly familiarized with ‘goals’ leads us until a turning point. Reaching that moment/place requires complete reevaluation. Few of the habits gained so far will prove to be of any help here. “After this we must understand that in the way of development, man must become a different being, and we must learn and understand in what sense and in which direction man must become a different being; that is, what a different being means.” (1) This is how Ouspensky defines this turning point. Stating that man has to become a different being gives a sharp outline of the extraordinary transformation to be realized.

Remember, we are talking about a possible evolution. That suggests that it is not necessary and by no means obligatory to approach it. But also, that this is as far as natural growth goes. Nature stops here, leaves you all by yourself. You’ve got so far all you need to live your life. From here, if you want, you can enter in the realm of consciousness and of will.

The possible evolution also suggests that we have the capacity for development. As long as the possibility is there, the ability is there too. Not being part of the natural processes any more, this leads to assuming the decision, to choice and effort. Although the concept of effort has to be completely reevaluated at this point, effort is the only reliable ally. Nothing comes effortlessly, naturally any more.

1. in P. D. Ouspensky, The Psychology of Man’s Possible Evolution, p. 8.

Then you might be in trouble. Might be. But that rarely occurs. I mean the trouble. There are so many ways to avoid getting in trouble. Eventually you can just walk away. But there is no need for that. The maximum you can get these days around those guys is boredom. So you walk away because of this.

On the other hand, here is my first axiom regarding the idea of a guru:

A person whose presence makes you feel uncomfortable.

I propose this to be your tool to test if it’s worthy to stay around him. It is hard to define exactly what this discomfort is like. The only thing you know is that you can’t explain it. I tend to be a non-believer when someone talks about feeling so good, so comforted around a guru. Whether that is the first time they’ve met or being around him for some time.

You might feel uncomfortable like this by simply reading something, or other indirect influence. But this axiom is valid only if you are affected by a living person, directly. All the rest pertains to the dead guru syndrome.

New Year’s resolutions are a sort of a custom. And such, lack of actual determination. You make those because everyone makes them at this time. Sure it is wonderful to give yourself a new chance. But are you really doing that?

1. The timing of these resolutions can be very much okay. But also it should be okay at any time of your life. If you prefer, at any time of the year.

2. The nature of the resolution is with great probability okay too. Supposedly we all know where we need to change, what we desire to change in ourselves, in our lives.

3. The will to carry them through is to be seen here.

All the enthusiasm is wonderful at this time. It gives the new hope. And seemingly, it gives some sort of energy to start the change. But it doesn’t last for too long. And then what? I think you know what follows from this point. Essentially, you slowly start explaining yourself why you don’t have the mood for it right now, postponing it, twice, and then forgetting about it.

Even the best reasoning weakens your will

What happened here? Instead of carrying through your commitment, you are using your energy to figure out the best explanations for why you should postpone or stop it. In the backgrounds, invisibly you are weakening your determination, your own will. These kind of explanations are rarely new to you. And now you have to wait a whole year to make new ones…

The will to carry through commitments is a rare bird. We all should be extremely careful when making resolutions. It is nice and easy to make them, it is tough and hard to keep them. Enthusiasm is not enough. It helps you with the decision, but soon it vanishes.

Will needs to be cultivated.

Determination empowers will. Some people seem to have it without doing too much for it. Others need to cultivate it. Cultivating it takes time. Not just one year.

Start with only one goal. One step at a time. Be clear and sincere with yourself when deciding. Start with something so easy to achieve that it makes you smile. If there is the slightest chance to be overwhelmed, find and easier one. You will be amazed how difficult it is to hold up your determination in carrying through the easiest commitments. You can even carry through a nonsensical action. I was once told about a will exercise to break a picker at noon, every day, for a month. The idea is to get in touch with your will. To bring it to the surface. Once you get along, you can go for the big commitments. But your will is fragile at first, approach it slowly. Never hurry, never engage in a commitment that overwhelms your actual power of will.

Remember not to give in to the temptation of New Year’s exuberance for resolutions. Even if everybody does that. If you will give up, it will weaken your will as any other unfulfilled commitment. Even if it feels so good to be in the collective enthusiasm. Enjoy the fiesta, but do not hurry to precipitated resolutions.

The truth about not knowing

Just consider how ravishing it sounds in its simplicity to acknowledge the state of not knowing. But this works only if one says it about oneself. It never works if someone else does the honors. Can you imagine that? How would you react if somebody would tell you that in fact you don’t really know anything. Anything at all. Truth hurts. Mostly when someone else tells it to you. So, at least that much knowledge was left there. Knowledge of being insulted.

Awakening is the preferred term to denote the radical change required in terms of spiritual development. Usually it is pointing out the first phase of the unfolding of such a process. Then, it might point out different stages of the process. The concept can be tricky, as there is no linearity involved, not in the time and space as we know. But in the subjective time and inner space.

Letting go of the so obsessively embraced identity is a requirement. Mistaking ourselves for the things we gathered around us, holding on so tightly to our imagined self, sometimes even to our sufferings – needs to end. Some say, the ego needs to be destroyed. This one still goes beyond my understanding. I don’t get the combative mood here. I don’t see anything that needs to be destroyed.

Awakening doesn’t only mean that one realizes the worthlessness of the accumulated knowledge. But going even further. Realizing our nothingness. Also, realizing our absolute helplessness. When you start to understand yourself, at certain moments you get horrified. Then you decide to get rid of that horrifying part of yourself. But you can’t. Slowly you start to accept your helplessness, your nothingness. Only then you can see how you really are.

Changing the focus from what is seen to the seer

We use the term being awake generally to indicate that we are not sleeping. Awakening from sleep goes naturally, meaning that you are not commonly aware of how that happens. There might be exceptions. If we consider conscious dreaming, we might realize that it is possible to wake up voluntarily. How does that happen? The methods indicate that if you wish to end your dream and wake up, then you should focus your sight on one spot. That is supposed to make it happen. It is interesting to see, that what in fact makes the awakening happen is the change of focus not necessarily of your “eyes”, but you are in fact focusing on yourself. On your self. Reorienting your focus and amplifying your self awareness. Remembering yourself in a dream causes the awakening.

Why should it be different if we consider the spiritual connotations of “awakening”? Changing the focus, orienting it towards a less altering identity. Towards a self that seems different from the ones so deeply identified with its surroundings. To a more objective one. Seemingly the end of comparative reality can come to an end only through self remembering.

Obviously autodidacticism is very much present on many levels of our modern lives, in many forms. Learning languages for example, although you know that a teacher or a native speaker must show up at some point. I am not talking about this kind of self-education.

In what the common knowledge calls personal development, autodidacticism has reached nowadays its all-time high. By now, self-help can be considered not only an ideology, but also a movement. Behind this ideology there is a whole industry. Complete sets of business models are available in the fields of personal motivation, mind shaping etc. Scientific and pseudo-scientific explanations are there to serve the cause.

Authenticity is seemingly not a requirement

Autodidacticism seems to perform well here. Tons of books, audio-video materials, also courses and trainers are available. If those authors have reached the goals of personal success designated in their own methods – seems to be irrelevant. Most of those methods being popularized through global channels, it is somewhat understandable. You don’t really have a connection with the author. Your choice is just to follow the recipes and see for yourself if it works. Authenticity is present here just as the promise of future success and in the false form of convincing marketing. Actually your sole choice is to be a habitual autodidact.

Saturation and isolation

Currently the influence of this conviction is placing its marks on forms of spiritual development. “The Age of Masters is over” states Jodorowsky. And he might be very much right. Not that there is no more need for guidance and authenticity. But the habitual autodidacticism led to a psychological complex. This is what I would like to call the Autodidacticism Complex. The autodidact reaches a level of saturation and isolation where a misconception is installed. The misconception of being able to learn anything on your own. There is no room left for an outer point of support. Maybe support is too much, let’s just say point of reference. There is only space left for yourself.

How far should one go with autodidacticism?

It looks like a new religion was born and we did not even noticed it. Such an intensity in believing the infallible efficiency of the success recipe makes it resemble to what we used to know as dogma. The authoritarian presence of the teacher is also there, whether in person or by books, DVDs and nowadays on-line seminars. It is just striking how belief plays such an important role here. Just like in religion, except no god(s) are involved. Same old, maybe better, maybe worse. If this is where the revolt against the older world got us, then we got nowhere.

When I wrote the “How much of a secret is The Secret?” I felt that my biggest concern is “The lack of moral considerations” (see point two here). And this I still sustain. Maybe even more. I suggest you watch the videos (links below) and see for yourself about some secrets in details. See the reactions of “The Secret” ’s preacher to the simple question of “Do you feel sorry for those people?”. Quite shocking. Oh, and there is Bob Proctor involved as Schrimer’s close friend, who categorically denies any responsibility. At least he had the decency to say (under some pressure though) that he is sorry for the money loss of those people.

• David Schirmer Exposed – Part 1
• David Schirmer Exposed – Part 2
• David Schirmer Exposed – Part 3

His own words from his reply video confirms that he considers ‘The Secret’ part of his belief, saying that he was hurt in his beliefs. Much truth has slipped out.

(I first found the videos linked on Steve Pavlina’s blog)

[These days 'The Secret' arrived in my small Easter European country. I've heard it being advertised intensely on the radio, seen it on the local Internet portals. So, I am curious about the local reactions (although I might be able to predict a few).]

Update. Here is Part 4, thanks to the comment left by John:

• David Schirmer Exposed – Part 4

In straight accordance with your age, you are now in a distinct phase of your life where you are redefining yourself. Self-definition is an ongoing process, for as long as you live. Our lives are subdued to a historical presence and an existential reality. The historical presence is also subdued to live in a comparative reality. In every time sequence of our lives, the comparative approach is remodeling our identity. And comparative approach is dependent on the cultural, social and historical context. This dependency is what creates the frames for us, mostly in how we can manage to define ourselves. This self-definition needs to be ever reassuring in order to keep our balance. We live now, so is the actual context in favour of this need for self-definition? With all the progress of the modern world, is it easier today to define ourselves?

What actually started me to be preoccupied about this question was an interview a saw with Alejandro Jodorowsky. If you don’t know who this guy is, you should look around a little bit. The effort is worth it. His true art and expressiveness in all of his endeavours are extremely inspiring for all seekers of genuine self-transformation.

This interview is available here. I suggest you watch it all, for at least his unmistakable style. The part that is really pertaining to this topic starts at about 6:30. He is being asked about his ramifying artistic activities. His reply goes like this:

“Things have no definition now. Why should I have a definition?”

“… Because I’m an artist. I am not a zombie… In our civilization now we are becoming zombies. Doing only one thing, like a machine. But we are not in the old time… of the fixed telephone. We are in the time of the iPod. The telephone isn’t any more a telephone. [pulling out his mobile from his pocket] With that you can send messages, take photos, take pictures, listen music. What is that? What is the name of that? Is a telephone? Maybe not. If you use it like a telephone, is a telephone. If you use it like an e-mail, is another thing. If you use it to take a photography, is another thing. Things have no definition now. Why should I have a definition? …”

Being a fan of his movies (but not only), I consider him one of the very rare artists able to constantly actualize his visions, his message. And I guess, for that he needs to be able to constantly redefine himself.

His analogy with the mobile here, I find to be expressive for our present times, frames – social, cultural or historical. There are so many ways to express ourselves today, that maybe never were. But does this make it easier? Is it easier now to define ourselves?

If you consider blogging, – because this is what most of us are doing here, – this can be another way for self-definition. Blogging exposes our need to write about things we are interested in, for some or many of us even to write about ourselves. And this is not just a way for other people to find out about us, but a way for us to find out about ourselves. Why not, a way to help us defining ourselves, more or less consciously.

To be clear from the start, I am talking here mostly about what is often called ’spiritual evolution’. According to most of the believers in the ’spiritual evolution’, there is a finality involved in this. The final station is sometimes called enlightenment, spiritual realization, even redemption, and there are lots of other terms going around for this. So, what is said to be a certainty here, is that evolution will occur. Is that so?

This view over man’s evolution sees it as a necessity. It is a must. It means that you will reach the glorious finale whether you want it or not. It is all just a matter of time.

But I said from the beginning that the existence of evolution is a certainty. Am I contradicting myself here? Maybe. But maybe not. I think that accepting the possibility of evolution is not the same with considering it a necessity.

The evolution of man is a possibility. Thus, it is a matter of choice.

Choice is the true first step. At this first step you have the chance to realize a glimpse of freedom. Right from the start. You are free to make your own decision here. It is not obligatory at all.

The concept of the human being seen as a machinery is not a new one. But in spite of that, it is one of the most avoided ones when it comes to self development. So let’s take a closer look at it. There must be something about it, as this avoidance seems strikingly disturbing. The sentiment of freedom, knowing that we are acting freely, being able to decide about our lives – this is how we like to picture ourselves. Is this how we really are?

Man is the most wonderful and complex machine

There have been odes dedicated to the perfection of the human being, at all times. Being the most wonderful and complex of all known living things is quite flattering. Essentially, those sworn on the mechanistic view of man are not against this. I often hear from the side of the humanists quite the contrary, saying that even comparing man to a machine is outrageous. But this is untrue. The mechanistic view of man states indeed that we are machines, but agrees on the attributes. They also say that man is the most wonderful and complex – machine.

One of the basic statements of the mechanistic view is – and this is one cause of the major differences – that there is no deliberate action on the side of man. Because a machine is unable to come up with a true initiative by itself. All that the machine does is reacting. It reacts to the stimuli that reaches him. It reacts according to how previous learning proved to be efficient. So there is no autonomous deliberation and nothing of that kind. Just reactions.

I will not enter into more details about the mechanistic view of the human being now. But will focus on what they are teaching us in terms of self development. Here are the four rules to be followed by all self development addicts bold enough to consider themselves machines.

1. Learn the machine

The first thing to be done is to learn the machine as thoroughly as possible. Mapping the machine, learning the descriptions, picturing the interactions between its parts, figuring out its correlations, understanding it. Doesn’t this bring the knowledge of predictability? What is more to be hoped from learning the ways of a machine then predicting its reactions?

2. Fix the machine

If you’ll learn about its possibilities, you might notice that right now it is not performing as it is expected. So it might need some fixing. Fixing the machine takes guts. Being bold enough to interfere here and there, just to get a better performance from it. The first rule above is a prerequisite. Learning it, knowing it will give far better results when fixing it. Otherwise you might mess about it and cause some serious damage.

3. Make it work

If you’ve been successful in fixing it, now it must perform as expected. Put it to the test. If it doesn’t work as expected, go back to step two above. Rule no. 2 is the prerequisite here. But if you are persistent enough, you will get the results. And then your machine will enchant you. Even more, it might impress you. And it might impress other people too!

4. Keep it working

You’ve learned what kind of machine you have, you are able to fix it and tune it and you were able to make it perform. It is working like a charm. But not forever. All kinds of fuels are needed. Also it needs servicing from time to time. These kind of efforts are still and will be required from you. But now you have something special. Your machine works at the most of its potential. Maybe it is time to give a purpose to it. Make it work For You.

Make it work For You. Why not? You learned it, you fixed it, you made it work, you are keeping it functioning. Maybe it is time to think of the engineer, the mechanic, the driver or the passenger. You deserve it after all the work. But wait a minute! What if the passenger wants to get off? Homo ex machina?

It is actually about how you learn. All personal development handbooks are telling you to follow certain recipes. If you do it by the book, then you will succeed. Nothing more true. So how should we call this way of learning? I would suggest we should call it learning by imitation. Doing it exactly as told, doing it by the book to succeed.

Imitation is the way of the monkey.

Since it was stated before that personal development, when reaching its goal, leads to a soul, it must then lead you to being truly human. Alright, so if imitation is the way of the monkey, then this is some sort of mapping the Darwinist evolution?

After being seemingly the second most praised movie on personal development blogs – the first being undoubtedly “The Secret” – I decided to watch “Peaceful Warrior”. Made after a book written by Dan Millman and according to the movie makers “inspired by true events”. I never had the chance to read the book, a chance that I never gave myself. As far it concerns the true events behind the story, it just made me curious to get on with watching it.
Now let’s get on with some comments on this movie.

When it starts by appealing to “true events”, you tend to expect some sort of realism. But it is soon spoiled, just when you start believing them. I mean Nick Nolte suddenly jumps in an instant on the roof of a store. Maybe it was some sort of levitation, but this definitely lacks a clear insight. On my side.

And after that, all the trivia and obviousness enrolled in any decent and self-respectful New-Age ideology is one by one given to you. Starting with “Are you happy?” and rolling on with “The mess is in your head” or “Live in the present. There is only here and now” (approximate quotes).

The movie suffers from an essential New-Age malady. The one that affects artistic performances in particular. It is what I would like to solemnly declare as the Revelation Syndrome. The cause of it is the strong effort to present the “Sole Truth” as is. You don’t have a chance to figure out something on your own. It is given straight in your face. And the symptom is the kitsch. Unfortunately.

I also did some reading around for reviews. Most of them are diplomatically factual and descriptive. But some of them were expressing similar thoughts to the ones showing up in my mind while watching and after watching the movie. Here are 3 of them:

• Roger Ebert starts his review like this: “If “Peaceful Warrior” were not based on a true story, I might have an easier time believing it.” These were also my first impressions.
• Scott Brown has a concise review in which he just calls it a “self-congratulatory self-help seminar”. To the heart of it.
• And another pick is Michael Phillips who concludes his review like this: “‘Peaceful Warrior,’ which is basically ‘The Karate Kid’ with a bigger kid and a bigger mentor, represents a journey of predictability, rather than a destination worth the trouble.”

And for the grand finale, my conclusions (sic!). The “Peaceful Warrior” is an unsuccessful attempt to demonstrate how enlightenment can be achieved. Quite absurd. Also its message could be rephrased almost like: “The few easy steps to enlightenment”.

The thought manifestation method I am presenting here is based on teachings I received from a yoga teacher years ago. When I started to experience with it, getting some first pale results, I started to adapt it here and there to make it fit into my own frame of doing it. You should do the same. So, the first and most important thing here is, that after you start experimenting, you will see results showing or not showing up the way you expected. Then you’ll need to actualize it, tailor it to fit your own way of life.

The 9 steps of successful Thought Manifestation

1. Clarification

Examine your desire or need. You must be absolutely clear on exactly what you will be manifesting, what thought will be condensed and brought to life. You need to be sure that this is what you truly wish/want to show up in your life.

2. Weighing

Considering resources and consequences. You have to be aware of your true capacity in carrying this through. By realizing the possible consequences of your action, you gain confidence that your action is a rightful one. An accurate sense of realism and self knowledge is required here in order to be successful.

3. Comfort

Being comfortable with what you are doing. At this stage you can have the feedback of the first two phases being completed successfully. If you are not 100% sure and do not feel 100% comfortable with what you intend to bring to life, you should go back and start again the process.

4. Formulation

Here you create the thought as vividly as possible with your inner eye. Use your focused imagination here. Be confident and accurate. Give a command for that thought to become real in your life.

5. Remembering

Be aware of your command. Do not forget it until it is manifested. Repeat it from time to time and then wait again patiently.

6. Confidence

You know now that what you firmly commanded will be delivered to you. It is just a matter of time now. At first, there is no way to influence the time factor. It will show up when it is time for it.

7. Delivery

Your thought shows up. It might be a moment when you expected it less. Or it happens exactly when you thought it should. It depends on the nature of your wish and on its apparent difficulty.

8. Awareness

Now you can see it in your life. Is it like you intended it? Does it look like exactly as you saw it with your inner eye? At this point you have the possibility of learning. Besides enjoying the fruits of your mental seeds, you can improve here your own understanding of the method.

9. Thankfulness

You can thank to God or to the Universe or the Energy behind all or to whatever/whoever you feel like. But it is important to do this in order to keep your balance, physically, emotionally, mentally.

Be sure to read attentively each phase and not to miss any details. The order is important. Do not skip any of the phases!

So, here you have it. This is how I see thought manifestation in practice. I deliberately do not mix in the Law of Attraction. As I wrote before, I consider LOA more like a presentation of the phenomenon, and a less effective expression of it. Thought manifestation is much more pragmatic by all means.

For those of you who will use this particular method, I would be delighted to hear about your results. Don’t hesitate to come back and share. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask them by leaving a reply below or contact me in private.

I am sure that many of you were/are using it in some form. In order to improve and understand more thoroughly the method, your opinion, experience is most welcome.

In the game of help there are 3 players involved:

1. you
2. an other person
3. God

So, when you need some help, you have 3 possibilities to get it. Three sources. For the atheist, there are just 2. Good enough.

A major issue to be clarified here is the nature of the needed help. Figuring out how the camera works is important. But there might be even more demanding situations. There can be effective crisis situations in life when getting help is vital. There can be serious health problems, family problems, social problems where getting help is of utmost importance.

In terms of self development, the concept of help is getting quite specific connotations. What is the need here? What kind of help is needed? Is there a problem or a crisis that needs help? This is a different kind of help we are talking about.

As our society got more evolved technologically, the 3rd player got more and more excluded. Rationality and faith are seldom walking hand in hand. Although personal development doesn’t necessarily involves technological aspects, the 3rd player wasn’t taken back in the game. Two players seem to be enough.

The help you can get from the 2nd player is dependent on two things: friendship and/or interest. In the self developmental context, this can be clearly seen. There are people willing to help you out of friendship and people who will help you for money or something else in return.

Then there is the 1st player in the game of help. When this is the case, it is called self-help. Is one player enough for the game? You have to admit that with all the effectiveness and promptitude of self help, it is not possible to use this option only. The 2nd player has to be involved. In terms of a healthy social life or life in general it is vital to be able to get help from other people.

Finally, this might sound one sided. It is about getting help, no mention of giving help. I deliberately did not approach the issue of offering, giving help here. Altruism and effective help are to be discussed separately.

Conclusions:

• Help in self developmental context is different in its nature.
• To rely on self-help only is a mere illusion and a mistake.
• It is essential to learn how to get help for our self developmental needs.

This is the first carnival hosted at Vertegram. It was thrilling to see so many excellent posts being submitted. Thanks for you all!

Victor Fam presents Towards a Better Life Articles » Archive » Lose Weight through Self-Affirmation posted at Personal Development Articles.

Tracee Sioux presents Staking Everything on Faith – Personal and Confidential posted at So Sioux Me, saying, “Sometimes you must risk a lot to believe in your self and your dreams.”

Joseph presents time management posted at Self Help and Personal Development.

bdurfee presents Wealth In What You Love posted at Thinking-Rich.com, saying, “There honestly is money to be made in doing the right thing for yourself and others.”

Brandon Peele presents An Open Letter to My Parents posted at GT.

Conan Stevens presents Will You Die Before You Even Live? posted at Conan Stevens Online.

Debra Moorhead presents Easy! posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Jonathan PIppenger presents Change of Perspective posted at Personal Renaissance.

Nathan Andersen presents “How much can we control our own thoughts?” posted at Nathan Andersen’s personal development blog.

Ruby presents 7 ways you can join forces with friends to be more frugal posted at Frugal Aussie.

Rickey Henderson presents Rickey’s Weekend Running Diary (Of Doom) posted at Riding with Rickey, saying, “Rickey’s weekend and what he learned from it.”

Nathanael presents Egocentrism and the myth of happiness posted at Despair and Coffee.

Alex Blackwell presents The Next 45 Years: 14 Ways to Learn the Secret to Happiness posted at The Next 45 Years.

Jeremy Reeves presents Being Weird Is a Good Thing posted at The Road To A Perfect Life.

Mike Estep PhD presents Right-Brain Training – Practical Applications Part 4 posted at Mike Estep.com, saying, “This article describes right-brain development using imagination and cartoon-like mnemonic imagery. Benefits include heightened creativity and memory skills.”

Fred Black presents 13 Steps to Dramatically Help You Achieve Your Goals. posted at Fred Black: Internet Business Blog..

Amethyst DeNies presents Strange Dominion: Editorials – Vipassana posted at Strange Dominion, saying, “I attended the ten day Vipassana course at the NW Vipassana Center and this is my story. I hope you enjoy it.”

Raymond David Salas presents Lessons from a Master of Manifestation posted at ZenChill.com Power Tools Blog.

Anco presents Daily Expenses Sheet Template posted at Tipskey – Unlock Practicality, saying, “Recording down daily expenses helps us monitor our financial fitness and makes us frugal automaticaly by surprising us with substantial figures.”

Christine Kane presents Doubt is a Drag Queen posted at Christine Kane’s Blog.

Carol presents FORGET THE BEST? posted at On The High Road.

Amit presents Destiny Vs Capability posted at Amit, saying, “An good reason to surpass your destiny!”

Craig Harper presents My Body is Not Who I am… It’s Just Where I Iive. posted at Renovate your life with Craig, saying, “As long as our identity is rooted in something which can be taken from us (looks, jobs, money, toys), we’ll always be insecure.”

David Richeson presents How to Overcome Negative Emotions posted at 360 Degree Success, saying, “For the Law of Attraction to create positive results, it is necessary to learn how to maintain a positive mindset. Learn how to overcome negative emotions in this article.”

Shauna Arthurs presents Wealth: Your Financial Education posted at Law of Attraction|Breathing Prosperity |Cross the Wealth Gap Today!.

Alvaro Fernandez presents Yoga and stress management posted at SharpBrains, saying, “How yoga can help your brain”

Daniel Brenton presents Destiny’s Calling, and it’s Getting a Busy Signal posted at The Meaning of Existence, saying, “A little story about how I discovered that the Universe talks to us, even when we don’t want to listen. It’s about the night that Life cut through the scars of my heart and showed me what I truly felt about the woman who wanted to be my wife.”

JoLynn Braley presents Can Weight Loss Make You More Money? posted at The Fit Shack, saying, “A study was conducted over a 14 year period that determined that people with higher self-esteem earn more money in life. Since weight loss normally raises your self-esteem, it follows that you can help yourself earn more money in life by getting fit!”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of the personal development carnival using our carnival submission form.

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I said they get petrified. Just to soften the material a little, I am sure you know the expression “wooden language”. This is what this is about. When overuse threatens the terminology of a self development method, slowly it shows the symptoms of the wooden language. Realizing it is a key for a fresh start. Is the key for getting your previous effort to another level.

When you are deeply involved into some method of self development, it is very natural at first to become used to its terminology. After that, routine is gained. Then you reach the ease of communicating with other people involved into the same activity. So far, so good. As a rule, after routine becomes a habit, wooden language is showing up. The only exception from this rule is made by those with a strong self observing attitude. This is a rare bird, often known as a gift. But it’s important to mention that there is an exception.

When the boat of creativity is leaking…

The first symptom of wooden language gaining ground is the absence of creativity. It is just if the boat of creativity would have got a leak. Slowly sinking, it let’s you get used to it. It happens so slow that you start to feel quite comfortable with it. And in the end, there is nothing left but the stereotypes of the wooden language.

5 tips to get rid of wooden language

Here I give you my 5 tips on how to get rid of wooden language:

1. Listen to yourself. Try to act as a witness to your discussion. Try to see yourself from the outside. This makes you aware of your verbal stereotypes.
2. Listen to others. Especially to new people or people whom you did not met for a long time. They will sense the change in you and probably will let you know about it.
3. Stop repeating the same terms. If you have to speak about the same idea again, try to rephrase it with different words. This is how you can start regaining your lost creativity.
4. Try to be more specific. Wooden language brings the ability to generalize. When there is a chance for a new term to enter into your verbal frames, commodity will choose generalization. That’s the easy way. So, try to be more specific, try to enter into details.
5. Shut up. If there is no way out at all, at least try to keep your mouth shut. That way you won’t bother others with your verbal splinters.

The 5th one goes for me now. Hopefully those 5 tips should do for a start. But the above list is open for your completions.

If I remember it well, it was about 14 years ago when my first yoga teacher spoke about “The law of perfect realization”. This is how it was called there and then. Essentially, it is similar to what further on I got to know as “Thought manifestation”. Also, somewhat similar was another concept I met through the teachings of Kashmir Shaivism, the concept of Spanda, translated in context as resonance. I will not consider now those hybrids like Mind Control, self hypnosis suggestion techniques etc.

Thoughts tend to become reality

Although the way it is to be put in practice, both “The law of perfect realization” and “Thought manifestation” are almost identical, I would prefer to use the latter as denoting the same phenomenon. Essentially, it is all about being able to manifest your thoughts. It is said, that thoughts tend to become very real. They tend to show up in the physical world. It is all a matter of time. It is dependent on timing.

Perfect realization of your strong intention

When they said “perfect realization”, it was meant to point out very clearly that this law makes perfectly possible to realize exactly what you are asking for. A perfect realization. In this context, it was defined as making a firm command. A firm mental command to manifest exactly the object of your will. So, this is a very pragmatic approach in its essence.

The expressive example usually given for thought manifestation is to picture it like when water condenses into ice cubes. Similarly, thoughts become real after being intensely visualized. All that visualization being accompanied by a strong, firm belief, a strong intention. Then intention takes a visible shape. It becomes reality. Essentially, this is what thought manifestation is about.

The third form mentioned above in how I met the law of attraction before, was the actualized theory of resonance. In its essence, this says, that whatever is showing up in you like thoughts, feelings, desires, wishes, fears etc. will have an echo in your close or far surroundings. And thus, you will be vibrating on the same frequency with similar phenomenons, carrying the same type of energy. The major difference form how the law of attraction is presented is, that you yourself become not just a passive receiver, but also a relay for that energy. It takes it one step further. This brings in different connotations, but I will stop with those for now.

Why you can’t influence the time factor?

Getting back to “Thought s manifestation”, we see that it is dependent of time. The most important factor for thought manifestation is time. Whether you approach this as the law of attraction or as striving for a perfect realization of your intention, you have to be very aware of the time factor. You can not really influence much the timing of thought manifestation. Why is that? Usually this is not explained. It is just left to the trivia that you just have to be patient. Sounds like, “sit back and relax, the Universe is at your service.” Looks like a religion of commodity is showing up there. But anyway, let’s try to give an answer to the question. Why you have to wait? Why you can not influence the time factor? What kind of a perfect law is this if it does not work instantaneously?

My take on this is, that the time for manifesting your intention is also dependent on how permeable is your personal unconscious. Your unconscious is formed by your repeated thoughts during your lifetime. If you prefer, this can be analogous somewhat to the Oriental concept of karma. In that context, you can say that it is your karma that permits or not the manifestation of your intent. I guess it permits eventually anyway, but it is a question of time again. If your personal unconscious is formed very differently, then it will take time for your intention to travel through all that and make its way through it.

Conclusions:

• The law of attraction was there in front of many of us before. It was just given a different name and less advertisement.
• In its essence, the law of attraction is the phenomenon of thought manifestation.
• The phenomenon is dependent on time.
• Timing is dependent on permeability of your unconscious.

Some of the above approaches might deserve further discussions. Probably many of you are already applying those in one or other form. I would be curious to hear from you about your preferred frameworks. Also, about your understanding of the phenomenon. Was it successful for you? Did you face any concerns or obstacles? Which approach seems to work well for you? Do you have other contexts in which you see or apply it?

A proper intro for this could be the short story written by Anthony De Mello, the Jesuit priest whose work was once condemned by the actual pope, later the ban was lifted. I guess there was some truth involved, or at least according to the “symptoms” it seems like… So, here is the story:

The devil once went for a walk with a friend. They saw a man ahead of them stoop down and pick up something form the ground. ‘What did that man find?’ asked the friend. “A piece of truth,’ said the devil.

‘Doesn’t that disturb you?’ asked the friend.

‘No,” said the devil. ‘I shall let him make a belief out of it.’

The story above remembers me of a situation I’ve been into, with quite similar connotations. I had a good friend, whom I still like to think as a good friend, deeply involved in some sort of spiritual and religious mixture. Actually, I was part of that for a short time, but left soon for my interest turned towards other things. Seeing in time that my good friend got more and more involved, I got emotional at one moment, telling him that I think he is being blinded. We got into a quite interesting conversation, and at some sort of climax of the discussion, I got to show him what I considered the truth about his situation. Then, to my amazement, he gave me the following shocking reply: “Please do not spoil my happiness. I want to believe in this, even if I admit that you are right. Let me believe in this.”

It took me a while until I recovered from the stupefaction it caused. Then, after that discussion, I thought I realized something about facing the truth. And about helping others to face it. Here are some of my conclusions.

People prefer to follow the flock if it brings the promise of happiness.

They like to imitate the patterns that seem to be true happiness. They would prefer to follow promises instead of making efforts.

People do not want to be freed by truth.

Truth brings responsibilities. They do not want to carry responsibilities on their shoulders. Commodity is stronger than truth. Commodity is the chosen gilded cage.

People want to be lied.

They prefer and want to live in an illusion. Avoiding to confront reality with their own mind is preferred to truth.

Obviously honesty doesn’t always pay. But when friendship and love are involved, it brings almost unsolvable dilemmas. You feel quite stressed, like in a vice. You might feel as your duty to show the truth to the ones you care for. But you know that they don’t want the truth and it is practically impossible to bring a change. The magic formula of balance should be applied here too. Not easy, but I don’t see other solution. How to find balance in both showing the truth and accepting the lie? How to do that? Now that’s a question dude.

It might be an early start…

In one of the first posts on the Vertegram blog I have outlined the organizing principles of self development according to my experience and actual knowledge. I stated there, that true spiritual development starts when the goal of personal development was reached. But I am sure that you know many people who have started their spiritual development already. Or at least they say so. Maybe you are one of them. What can we say about them? Are they wrong on this? Is it possible to start a spiritual path before accomplishing the goal of personal development?

Is it true spiritual development?

I tend to say yes. I think there is nothing wrong with starting a quest of spiritual development whenever it feels right. But will that be a true spiritual development? Or it’ll be just a waste of time? There are radical approaches to this, but also more permissive ones. Some may say that this is crazy, some may show more acceptance. My take on this is known from defining the organizing principles of self development. But I would not exclude the possibility of a parallel development, on both levels, at the same time. The only aspect I would add to this apparent tolerance is that personal development and spiritual development do not have the same weight. While personal development appears to me as a necessity, spiritual development is always a choice.

I am fully aware that this topic might stir up some disagreement among those of you who have been keeping up with me on Vertegram, but I am willing to take my chances. So, here I give you 5 guiding rules for starting your spiritual quest.

1. To look for a living accomplished spiritual master.

Pros: A liberated spiritual master is a guarantee of the infallibility of the spiritual path he is representing. A human being like this represents the perfect assurance that you will reach the utmost on this path. By all means, finding someone like this can be considered a great luck. This often sounds like an idealistic-romantic fairy tail, but the state of grace it brings leaves room for humility in front of the unknown essence of all life.

Cons: It is impossible to have the certitude that you’ve found one. How can you possibly understand the level or nature of the realizations of a spiritual master? This is a very difficult path for those inclined too much for distrust. These days, when everybody tends to teach and speak up instead of learning and listening, it is almost impossible to follow this path. And the master might not want to take you as his student, or as his responsibility after all your searches. Or the very term “master” might make you jump out on the window.

2. To look for an existent spiritual school.

Pros: The framework presented there is a guarantee for the safety of the spiritual path presented there. Teachings and methods presented there were previously tested. There were previous human beings who have succeeded by complying to the framework presented there.

Cons: It is difficult to follow a path without a living guide who knows all the way. Although it seems like today we are most probably inclined to choose this approach to spiritual development, the abundance might as well be an obstacle. It is tempting to join a school that seems fitted for your needs, but at this point, you might not even know correctly your needs. This might be a deadlock, caused by confusing commodity with correctness.

3. To follow a spiritual teaching left by an authentic spiritual master.

Pros: A liberated spiritual master most probably has left behind a working and valid path. There were others who have reached the same realizations as the initiator. And they were probably confirmed by the initiator of the path. This is a confirmation of the validity of the path. You might have more confirmations of the authenticity of the path here, than on any of the other 4 approaches.

Cons: It is easy to fall into altering those teachings according to your tendencies. Although the teaching might be very much valid, your actual level of understanding might be an unsurmountable obstacle. The possibility of failure and disillusionment is immense.

4. To seek for spiritual knowledge and realization autonomously.

Pros: Wider possibilities for inspiration. Truly working correlations often show up to you as enlightening revelations. The freedom you have will always let you choose the best fitted method for your individual needs and aspirations. You are not likely to be disillusioned here as the maximum level of discerning and making decisions is available and left entirely at your sole discretion.

Cons: Extremely dangerous ground, you need great discerning capabilities as you are exposed frequently to erroneous ideas. Obviously this path is extremely difficult to follow. The trap of being puffed up and arrogant can easily eclipse your mind and overshade your efforts.

5. To seek for self-knowledge in a total introversion.

Pros: Complete introversion keeps you completely safe from deviations due to outer influences. Your unique effort is oriented towards a unique goal. The inner resources you are able to mobilize are taking you fast to your goal. This is the most direct path that leads to spiritual realization.

Cons: It is impossible to progress on this path without being extremely inspired, a true spiritually intuitive genius is required here.

I hope these guidelines consist in a good starting point for further unfoldings of the subject. Also, that these guidelines are helpful for some of you. Feel free to make corrections or just add your completing thoughts as I am sure that the subject is interesting for many of us.