FIVE IDEAS THAT CAN REALLY CHANGE YOUR LIFE

‘You are terrible, but happily for you, you are not you.’ Vernon Howard.

Words have power—for better or for worse—and ideas have even greater power. An idea that expresses an eternal, metaphysical truth is the most powerful thing in the world. 

Here are five empowering ideas that have made a huge difference in my life. They have lifted me out of the depths of despair.

1.   You are be-ing

Life is pure be-ing-ness actualized. Life forever gives of itself to itself so as to create more life in one form or another. The tree of life is be-ing-ness, or Be-ing, itself. I AM-ness. Oneness. It is the impersonal principle of life that is forever becoming personal as you and me and all other persons and things.

Life is the one formless, source-less, essence-less, unlimited, unsearchable, self-existent, self-knowing, self-giving, absolute, omnipresent, indestructible, and abundant self-existence that forever takes form—incarnating as you, me, and everything—but which is never even for a moment absorbed by the innumerable objects of its self-expression. 

The omnipresence of life forever manifests itself as the eternal now by means of an endless process or renewal of the present moment. Each moment is a ‘centre’, for want of a better word, of life's own consciousness. Forms of life constantly change. No form is permanent. Indeed, every form will pass away in time, but the essence of life is formless and eternal. It never passes away. Yes, the life that takes shape in one form or another can never be destroyed. You are life itself—a unique individualization and expression of life. 

Yes, you are part of life’s self-expression, and life cannot other than be. You are be-ing and you are also be-coming. Indeed, you are always in a state of becoming because change is the essence of be-ing-ness. This means that you are constantly changing whether for better or for worse. Once you fully understand this metaphysical truth, you are ready to take charge of your life.

2.   You are consciousness

Life is consciousness. We are life itself—an integral part of life’s self-expression. Each one of us is an inlet and an outlet of consciousness. 

The materialist view that asserts that the mind and the brain are one and the same—the so-called mind-brain identity theory—is not supported by recent discoveries in neuroscience and quantum physics as respects the nature of reality. Those discoveries tend to show that the mind and the brain are not co-extensive or identical, and that mind or consciousness is the creator and governor of so-called matter. 

Because you are be-ing, be-coming and consciousness, you have the powers of thought and observation. There is a time to think and, yes, a time to simply observe … choicelessly. Listen to these words of J. Krishnamurti, pictured right:

I wonder if you have ever walked along a crowded street, or a lonely road, and just looked at things without thought? There is a state of observation without the interference of thought. Though you are aware of everything about you, and you recognize the person, the mountain, the tree, or the oncoming car, yet the mind is not functioning in the usual pattern of thought. I don't know if this has ever happened to you. Do try it sometime when you are driving or walking. Just look without thought; observe without the reaction which breeds thought. 

There will always be a time for rational, critical thought, analysis, judgement and interpretation but if you do these things every second of the day, you will end up with analysis paralysis. Learn the art of choiceless awareness. Look. Observe. Be attentive. Be aware. That is what mindfulness is all about.

3.  You are what you think

No, I am not contradicting myself. As I have said, we need to think. This is the first verse of the Dhammapada according to one famous English translation: ‘Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think.’ The same idea is expressed in the Hebrew Bible: ‘Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts’ (Prov 4:23); ‘For as a person thinks in their heart, so are they’ (Prov 23:7).

As we are consciousness, we must watch your thoughts. Are our thoughts positive or negative? Positive thinking has its detractors these days but I have never seen any benefits in negative thinking. Positive thinking is good for the mind and the body. Positive thinking releases life-affirming, healing chemicals into the brain and the body. Negative thinking releases life-destroying, malignant chemicals into the brain and the body. It’s clear which one is better for us. Of course, we must be realistic thinkers. We need to always see things-as-they-really-are. The true positive thinker is a realistic thinker who sees things-as-they-really-are but at the same time refuses to be deflected, let alone overwhelmed or defeated, by that which is negative. The true positive thinker never dwells on those things.

So, in the words of Plato, ‘Take charge of your thoughts; you can do what you will with them.’

4.  You cannot change yourself

The ‘I’ of you cannot change the ‘me’ of you. One of my all-time favourite spiritual teachers Alan Watts, pictured left, has this to say in his book The Wisdom of Insecurity about the wrong way to embark upon self-improvement:

I can only think seriously of trying to live up to an ideal, to improve myself, if I am split in two pieces. There must be a good ‘I’ who is going to improve the bad ‘me.’ ‘I,’ who has the best intentions, will go to work on wayward ‘me,’ and the tussle between the two will very much stress the difference between them. Consequently ‘I’ will feel more separate than ever, and so merely increase the lonely and cut-off feelings which make ‘me’ behave so badly.

The reason the good ‘I’ can’t change the bad ‘I’ is because they are one and the same and they exist only as self-images in our mind. Yes, all the 'I's' and 'me's' in your mind are little 'selves' that brought about by thought. These 'selves' have no separate, independent reality in and of themselves. They appear to be 'solid,' 'fixed,' and 'permanent,' but they are not. They are the product of thought which divides itself. You have hundreds of little 'selves' within you. None of them are the real you—that is, the person that you are. The person that you are is a mind-body complex in respect of which both physical characteristics and states of consciousness can be ascribed. Only the person is ontologically real. 'Selves' come and go; they wax and wane. They have no power and have no separate and independent existence from the person that you are.

You, the person that you are, can change. First, you, the person, must want to change. Secondly, you, the person, must do what is necessary and appropriate to change. The power to change is within, but it is always a ‘power-not-oneself’. Self has no power. Self cannot change self. The ‘I’ of you can never change the ‘me’ of you. Never forget that. Never.

Vernon Howard, a great spiritual author, wrote:

While there is no you who can rescue you, there can be an impartial awareness of the rescuing process. The rescue is complete when the awareness is complete.

What is this 'rescuing process' alluded to by Howard? It is none other than the process of choiceless awareness from one moment to the next, undertaken by the person that you are. Howard wrote:

You can begin to catch your false behaviour by asking the question ‘Who said that?’ and you will catch false personality being pleasant, sarcastic, and so on. As often as you can, you will interrupt yourself and say ‘Who said that?’ and if it is negative in any way at all, that is the invented self speaking in your name. 

All your little, false selves purport to speak in your name. Give them no power over you. They have no power in and of themselves. You give them power only when you believe them to be real. Don't do that!

5.   Acceptance is the answer to all your problems

‘On the acknowledgement of what is there is the cessation of all conflict,’ said Krishnamurti. Yes, acceptance—that is, acknowledging what is—is the answer to all your problems. Now, I am not saying that we should simply give in. No, not at all. However, before we can change we must first accept the reality of what is. Alcoholics cannot recover from their disease until they first accept that they are alcoholics. There’s more, though. Krishnamurti has stated a metaphysical truth of supreme importance, namely, that once we acknowledge what is, conflict in the form of resistance and the like comes to an immediate end. We must surrender in order to gain victory. Never forget that.

There are many other empowering ideas that can change your life. Many of these I have explored and discussed in other posts over the years—ideas such as the law of indirectness (don't attempt to put a thought or problem out of your mind directly but rather let the problem slip from the sphere of conscious analysis’), the principle of non-resistance (what you resist, persists), truth is a pathless land (we are always in direct and immediate contact with truth, so there is no separation or distance between us and truth), and truth is a moment-to-moment experience (truth is dynamic, not static).

I love empowering ideas. As Victor Hugo said, ‘Nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come.’

All power to you!

Note. The substance of this post first appeared on September 2, 2016 as 'Five Empowering Ideas That Can Change Your Life Forever'. Some new material has been added while some material in the original post has been omitted.

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FIVE EMPOWERING IDEAS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER

Words have power – for better or for worse – and ideas have even greater power. An idea that expresses an eternal, metaphysical truth is the most powerful thing in the world. Here are five empowering ideas that have made a huge difference in my own life. They have lifted me out of the depths of despair and helped turn my life around.

1.    You are be-ing

Life is be-ingness actualized. Life forever gives of itself to itself so as to create more life in one form or another. Forms constantly change. No form is permanent. Every form will pass away, but the essence of life is formless and eternal. Yes, the life that takes shape in one form or another can never be destroyed. You are life itself--a unique individualization and expression of life. Yes, you are part of life’s self-expression, and life cannot other than be. You are be-ing – and you are also be-coming. You are always in a state of becoming. Change is the essence of both be-ing and be-coming. This means that you are constantly changing, whether for the better or for the worse. Once you fully understand this metaphysical truth, you are ready to take charge of your life.

2.    You are consciousness

Each one of us is an inlet and an outlet of consciousness, that is, awareness. Life is consciousness and we are life itself. Listen to these wonderful words of the spiritual teacher Papaji (Sri H W L Poonja): ‘You are the unchangeable Awareness in which all activity takes place. You are eternal Being, unbounded and undivided.’ Because you are be-ing and awareness, you have the powers of thought and observation. There is a time to think and, yes, there is a time to simply observe … choicelessly. Listen to these words of another great spiritual teacher J. Krishnamurti [pictured left]:

'I wonder if you have ever walked along a crowded street, or a lonely road, and just looked at things without thought? There is a state of observation without the interference of thought. Though you are aware of everything about you, and you recognize the person, the mountain, the tree, or the oncoming car, yet the mind is not functioning in the usual pattern of thought. I don't know if this has ever happened to you. Do try it sometime when you are driving or walking. Just look without thought; observe without the reaction which breeds thought. Though you recognize color and form, though you see the stream, the car, the goat, the bus, there is no reaction, but merely negative observation; and that very state of so-called negative observation is action. Such a mind can utilize knowledge in carrying out what it has to do, but it is free of thought in the sense that it is not functioning in terms of reaction. With such a mind, a mind that is attentive without reaction, you can go to the office, and all the rest of it.'

There will always be a time for rational, critical thought, analysis, judgment and interpretation but if you do these things every second of the day, you will end up with analysis paralysis. Learn the art of choiceless awareness. Look. Observe. Be attentive. Be aware. That is what mindfulness is all about.

3.    You are what you think

No, I am not contradicting myself. As I have said, we need to think. This is the first verse of The Dhammapada according to one famous English translation: ‘Our life is shaped by our mind, for we become what we think.’ The same idea is expressed in the Hebrew Bible: ‘Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts’ (Prov 4:23); ‘For as a person thinks in their heart, so are they’ (Prov 23:7).

As we are consciousness, we must watch our thoughts. Are our thoughts positive or negative? Positive thinking has its detractors these days but I have never seen any benefits in negative thinking. Positive thinking is good for the mind and the body. Positive thinking releases life-affirming, healing chemicals into the brain and the body. Negative thinking releases life-destroying, malignant chemicals into the brain and the body. It’s clear which one is better for us. Of course, we must be realistic thinkers. We need to always see things-as-they-really-are. The true positive thinker sees things-as-they-really-are but refuses to be deflected, let alone overwhelmed, by that which is negative. The true positive thinker never dwells on those things. 

So, in the words of Plato, ‘Take charge of your thoughts; you can do what you will with them.’

4.    You cannot change yourself

Really? Now, you are contradicting yourself, Ellis-Jones! No, I am not. It is simply the case that the ‘I’ of you cannot change the ‘me’ of you. One of my all-time favourite spiritual teachers Alan Watts [pictured right], in his book The Wisdom of Insecurity, has this to say about the wrong way to embark upon self-improvement:

‘I can only think seriously of trying to live up to an ideal, to improve myself, if I am split in two pieces. There must be a good ‘I’ who is going to improve the bad ‘me.’ ‘I,’ who has the best intentions, will go to work on wayward ‘me,’ and the tussle between the two will very much stress the difference between them. Consequently ‘I’ will feel more separate than ever, and so merely increase the lonely and cut-off feelings which make ‘me’ behave so badly.’

The reason the good ‘I’ can’t change the bad ‘I’ is because they are one and the same and they exist only as self-images in our mind. Yes, all the 'I's' and 'me's' in your mind are brought about by thought, and they have no separate, independent reality in and of themselves. They appear to be 'solid,' 'fixed,' and 'permanent,' but they are not. They are, the product of thought which divides itself.

However, you, the person that you are, can change. First, you, the person, must want -- really want -- to change. Secondly, you, the person, must do what is necessary and appropriate for a person in your situation to change. The power to change is within, but it is always a ‘power-not-oneself’. Self has no power. The ‘I’ of you can never change the ‘me’ of you. Never forget that. Never.

5.     Acceptance is the answer to all your problems

‘On the acknowledgement of what is there is the cessation of all conflict,’ said J. Krishnamurti. Yes, acceptance -- that is, acknowledging what is -- is the answer to all your problems. Now, I am not saying that we should simply give in. No, not at all. However, before we can change we must first accept the reality of what is. Alcoholics cannot recover from their disease until they first accept that they are alcoholics. There’s more, though. Krishnamurti has stated a metaphysical truth of supreme importance, namely, that once we acknowledge what is, conflict in the form of resistance and the like comes to an immediate end. We must surrender in order to gain victory.

There are many other empowering ideas that can change your life. Many of these I have explored and discussed in other posts over the years -- ideas such as the law of indirectness (don't attempt to put a thought or problem out of your mind directly but rather let the problem slip from the sphere of conscious analysis’), the principle of non-resistance (what you resist, persists), truth is a pathless land (we are always in direct and immediate contact with truth, so there is no separation or distance between us and truth), and truth is a moment-to-moment experience (truth is dynamic, not static).

I love empowering ideas. As Victor Hugo said, ‘Nothing is stronger than an idea whose time has come.’

All power to you!

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EXALT, MAGNIFY AND GLORIFY A MORE PERFECT YOU!

Is there a problem in your life at present---perhaps an illness, a disability, a lack, or a limitation of some kind? Well, although there will always be a number of things that need to be done in order to be free of the problem, here is one very important thing that you need to do---see yourself as you would like to be.

In traditional evangelical Christianity it is said that Jesus Christ, by his death and resurrection, conquered sin and bought for us a ‘robe of righteousness,’ such that, although we are all said to be dead in sins, if we repent and accept Jesus as savior and lord, God then sees us clothed in a robe of righteousness. We wear this robe, and God sees us so robed. Another interpretation of the foregoing is that when God looks at the person (you or me), God sees only Christ (God’s Son) in all his perfection, Christ himself being the robe of God’s own righteousness.

Well, all that is quite difficult to understand, and I am of the view that the interpretations set out above have carnalized and literalized in the one person of Jesus what is otherwise a most important spiritual or metaphysical truth of general, indeed universal, application. First and foremost, the Bible is a psychological and metaphysical document, despite what others have made of it. It’s all about how you can have an abundant life right here-and-now as opposed to your safely securing the eternal destiny of your not-so-immortal soul. It’s all about how you can discover, in this life, the wonderful ‘kingdom’ that can only be found within you. In the Hebrew Bible, this kingdom is called ‘Israel,’ as well as the ‘secret place of the most High’ (Ps 91:1), and in the New Testament of the Bible the kingdom is described as the ‘pearl of great price’ (Mt 13:46) as well as ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Col 1:27). This kingdom is a state of consciousness, filled with all those things we ordinarily associate with the idea of ‘God’---things such as power, vitality, wholeness, love, joy, hope, and peace. One more thing---this kingdom in you is ‘greater than that which is in the world’ (cf 1 Jn 4:4).

The truth is, there are always two ‘images’ of ourselves. One image is of us as we presently are, in all our imperfection, and the other image is of us as we could be, or as we would like to be. Now, if we want to change for the better, we need to envision ourselves as we would like to be. If, for example, we are sick in some way, or in bondage to some condition or state of consciousness, we should see ourselves as healthy or as free, as the case may be. There is an old Oriental maxim, ‘What you think upon grows.’ Of course, we may have to do a number of other things as well if we are to have any chance of achieving our goal or objective.

The ‘robe of righteousness’ is a bit like Plato’s theory of forms (or ideas). It is the ideal or the perfect---the spiritual as opposed to the material. We could not appreciate beautiful things unless there were a form called ‘beauty,’ and we could not appreciate goodness unless there were also a form called ‘the good’ or ‘goodness.’ Also, we could not talk about the sky being blue unless there were such a thing called ‘blueness.’ These ideals or forms are eternal (that is, unchanging), timeless, and paradigmatic, and, as I see it, the forms are expressed or instantiated in actual things and persons. Indeed, these ideals or forms are, in a very real sense, the efficient ‘cause’ of all the changing phenomena we see in the visible world.

We come to know these forms through the process of instantiation or exemplification in particular things. Perhaps it is more correct to say that particular things are known only through the forms that are instantiated in them. All creative and constructive ideas, visions, and possibilities point to the reality of these forms or ideals which exist, not on some supposed higher order or level of reality or plane of existence, but rather in and as things themselves---including you and me---in varying and ever-changing degrees of manifestation and expression. So, if sickness be your problem, the robe of righteousness for you is perfect health and wellness, and if bondage to alcohol or some other drug be your problem, the robe of righteousness is sobriety or clean time. Get the idea?

This robe of righteousness is said in the Bible to be a ‘garment of salvation.’ There’s another grossly misunderstood word---salvation. Now, the word salvation comes from the same Latin root as the word salve and refers to a healthy kind of wholeness. Salvation is not primarily connected with sin, which is simply a symptom of an underlying morbid condition. Sin means ‘missing the mark’ (as in archery), that is, not being all that we could be, and what, in truth, we really are. When a person is ‘truly saved,’ that negative condition is offset. In short, salvation is all about health and wholeness and not just holiness. Actually, the word health means wholeness or holiness. Yes, the words health, holy, hale, heal, as well as whole, all come from the same Anglo-Saxon root.

Each one of us ‘falls short’ (says Plato, as well as the Bible) of the ideal---that is, the perfect, unflawed, unchanging form. We may fall short in terms of our physical or psychological health, or we may fall short in terms of our conduct or behavior. However, whatever be your problem, first envision, and then continue to hold fast in your mind, the vision of yourself as whole, perfect, and free. You may presently be experiencing illness in your body or mind but know this---there is a part of you that can never be ill. What is that part? Well, it is the life itself in you and as you. Your body or your mind may grow old, but life itself can never grow old for it is birthless and deathless. I love these lines from Sir Edwin Arnold’s beautiful ‘translation’---or rather poetic version---of the Bhagavad-Gita (dubbed ‘The Song Celestial’):

Never the spirit was born; the spirit shall cease to be never;

Never was time it was not; End and Beginning are dreams!

Birthless and deathless and changeless remaineth the spirit forever.

Can you envisage, that is, envision or imagine, a perfect man or woman? Can you feel ‘at-one’ with your ideal or desire? It’s hard to do in the abstract, but not so hard to do when you narrow it down to some particular sought-after quality, which is what I suggest you do. Never forget that the power to change your life is within you---within every one of us. If, for example, you are sick, envision yourself as well, for what you seek is available at least in potentiality if not actuality. Now, there is a Bible verse that wonderfully encapsulates the essence and modus operandi of this metaphysical approach to healing and wholeness, and it is this: 'He calleth those things which be not as though they were' (Rom 4:17). Got that? You affirm that which is not, that is, that which you wish to see actualized, as if it were true already---for in truth it is already ... at least in the realm of pure ideas and forms.

Of course, you have to be sensible about this, but in the realm of ideas and forms there is no sickness, lack, or limitation of any kind, and we can learn to use our mind to help create desired experience through desire, vision, and intention. In my work as a wellness instructor and practitioner I often use this form of healing which is sometimes referred to as ‘spiritual mind treatment.’ You do not deal with the ‘material’ person (what is now) but rather the ‘spiritual’ person (the sought-after ideal, what could be). Even if healing in the physical sense does not occur, or does not fully occur, I find that there is invariably a change in consciousness for the better, and that is a healing in its own way. As the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche pointed out, ‘Even a thought, even a possibility, can shatter us and transform us.’

So, see yourself not as imperfect and sick but in perfect good health, and hold fast to that vision irrespective of circumstances or appearances to the contrary, the aim being to induce a state of consciousness in which you become more fully aware of that which already is a reality, at least in the spiritual realm (that is, the realm of ideas). That, as I see it, is the true, inner meaning of the Bible verses that urge us to ‘glorify God in [our] bodies’ (1 Cor 6:20) and to ‘exalt the Lord our God’ (Ps 99:9). Then there’s the Bible phrase that says ‘magnify the Lord’ (cf Lk 1:46). I could go on.

In short, exalt, magnify, and glorify your sought-after objective, and affirm with feeling and conviction that which you know to be true about the ‘ideal’ (spiritual) you---for example, that you are strong, healthy, vibrant, energetic, and alive---and be prepared to do what is otherwise necessary to achieve your goal, ideal or vision. ‘In the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs,’ wrote the New Thought writer James Allen.

‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Prov 29:18).

THINGS REALLY ARE---REAL!

Reality is a question

of realizing how real

the world is already.

-Allen Ginsberg.

When you look at all of the different philosophies, they essentially come down to two---idealism and realism. The first---grounded in the teachings and ideas of Plato---asserts that what you see is not all that there is, and that reality is essentially unknowable (except perhaps to the few). The second---grounded in the teachings and ideas of Aristotle---asserts that what you see is essentially all that there is, and that reality is knowable---and very real.

Some (including my good friend John Z), say that the idealism/realism debate, and its close cousin the rationalism/empiricism debate, are more and more yesterday's concern, but I respectfully disagree. As I see it, the two schools of thought are saying very different things about the world and our place in it. They are saying very different things about knowledge, and how we come to know things. Idealism is the cornerstone of faith, belief, revelation, traditional religion—and even rationalism (which is just another form of idealism). Realism is the cornerstone of free and independent inquiry, true reason, doubt, skepticism, and empiricism. Both schools of thought claim to see and describe things-as-they-really-are, but only realism has both feet firmly on the ground. Realism uses logic, the latter being about things, not thought, and how things are related. Idealism relies upon faith in ideals and ‘things unseen’---some supposed higher order or level of reality. Having said that, I think we all would be the poorer if we hadn’t had the inestimable benefit of having both schools of thought.

My own journey from idealism to realism coincided with, or perhaps was the result of, my recovery from alcoholism. Actually, the more I think about it, embracing realism was perhaps the catalyst for my recovery. You see, alcoholism---indeed, any addiction---is a disease of ‘self-ism’, which, I assert, is an idealism of sorts. The alcoholic or other addict needs to undergo a ‘Copernican revolution’ of the self---that is, come to realize that the world does not revolve around … me. Self-obsession, self-absorption, self-centredness---that is the essential problem of the alcoholic or other addict. Selfishness---and self-ism. To again quote Allen Ginsberg [pictured above], I have known …

the feeling of being closed in
and the sordidness of self,
the futility of all that I
have seen and done and said.

Eventually, when the pain got too great, I got real. Like the Prodigal Son, I woke up, came to myself, and saw myself---that is, the person that I am---as I really was. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Recovery has been ‘a question/ of realizing how real/ the world is already’---and it has been wonderful.

True, recovery requires a ‘power-not-oneself,’ for, as I have often written the problem of addiction is one of ‘self,’ and self can’t change self, hence the need to rely upon a power ‘not-oneself.’ That may sound like just another form of idealism, and perhaps it is---for some (for example, those whose ‘power-not-oneself’ is of a supernatural, theistic kind). However, my ‘power-not-oneself’ is the person that I am, as well as the energy of association with, and the power of example of, like-minded people (other recovering/recovered addicts). In that regard, I am greatly indebted to the writings and ideas of the British philosopher P F Strawson [pictured right] who, in his famous 1958 article ‘Persons,’ articulated a concept of ‘person’ in respect of which both physical characteristics and states of consciousness can be ascribed to it.

Yes, each one of us is a ‘person among persons.’ We are much more than those little, false selves---all those waxing and waning ‘I’s’ and ‘me’s’---with which we tend to identify, in the mistaken belief that they constitute the ‘real me.’ Nothing could be further from the truth. Freedom comes when we get real, that is, when we start to live as---a person among persons.

Life is not easy, indeed it is damn hard. Pain is real, so is death, growing old, addiction, and sickness of all kinds. Here's Ginsberg one more time ...

…        …        …

For the world is a mountain

of shit: if it’s going to

be moved at all, it’s got

to be taken by handfuls.

 

There are only facts, they are very real---but they are more than enough. Know this fact---you are a person among persons, you are in direct and immediate contact with what is real, so don’t let anyone---including yourself, that is, the person that you are---put any goddamn barriers between you and all else that is real.

So, get real---now!

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