This article presents all the proof you ever need to believe, without a shadow of a doubt, that the world we live in is NOT real. The experiences you have are real, but reality is an illusion (Maya).

(Note: In this article, I don’t delve into the simulation hypothesis proposed by Nick Bostrom in 2003, which is yet another way of postulating that reality is an illusion, because I do NOT believe that our world is a computer simulation.)

The mountain of evidence presented herein about the illusionary nature of reality can be challenging to believe, but it can also be liberating. If you accept that reality is an illusion, then you can know that you are not limited by the world of appearances. By recognizing that your true power comes from within and that external reality is a reflection of your inner state, you can choose to experience the world in a way that is fulfilling and meaningful to you. In addition, many mystical traditions argue that recognizing the illusory nature of existence is a crucial step toward liberation and enlightenment

On the other hand, individuals who do not realize the illusory nature of the self and the world are at a distinct disadvantage. They mistakenly think their lives are solely shaped by external events, underestimating the power they possess in shaping their reality. They overly invest in their societal roles and become ensnared in unnecessary distress. Constantly burdened by worries, fears, or avoidance, they don’t see that they hold the reins to their destiny, rather than being controlled by outside forces.

IMPORTANT: This perspective doesn’t mean we should disregard the world as meaningless, but rather that we should approach it with a sense of playfulness, flexibility, and deep interconnectedness.

This article presents perspectives regarding the illusionary nature of reality from scientific, philosophical, religious, mystical, and spiritual paradigms of thought. Here’s how the article is organized:

• Scientific proof that reality is an illusion
• An excerpt from “Autobiography of a Yogi” by Paramahansa Yogananda in which he talks about Maya (illusion) and the reason for suffering
• Beliefs from many different cultures throughout history regarding the illusionary nature of reality
• Quotes from numerous world-renowned individuals who said that our world is an illusion or a dream, created by consciousness.
• Highly influential channeled materials regarding the illusionary nature of reality
• The Mandela Effect

Scientific Proof that Reality is an Illusion

Quantum Entanglement

Quantum entanglement is one of the most mysterious and counterintuitive phenomena in quantum mechanics. When two quantum systems become entangled, measurements on one system seem to instantaneously affect the state of the other, regardless of the distance separating them. This “spooky action at a distance”, as Einstein famously called it, seemed to challenge the very foundations of physics.

Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) published a paper in 1935 suggesting that quantum mechanics is incomplete and that there might exist “hidden variables” that determine the outcomes of quantum measurements, but we just didn’t know about them. According to this view, if we could account for these hidden variables, then the strange behavior of entangled particles would have a more intuitive explanation.

To clarify the debate between the “hidden variables” interpretation and the standard quantum mechanics interpretation, physicist John Bell formulated a set of inequalities in 1964, now known as Bell’s inequalities.

Bell’s Inequality in Simple Terms:

Bell proposed a thought experiment involving two entangled particles sent in opposite directions to two different observers, often referred to as Alice and Bob. They measure the particles’ properties (like spin) along different orientations.

According to quantum mechanics, the results of these measurements will be correlated in a specific way because of the entanglement between the particles.

If local hidden variables were responsible for the outcomes of these measurements, then the results would have certain statistical properties (based on the idea that the outcomes are predetermined and not influenced by the measurement settings). Bell was able to derive an inequality — Bell’s inequality — that must be satisfied if local hidden variables are the correct description of reality.

Nobel Prize Winning Tests Results:

A series of experiments, starting with those conducted by Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger tested Bell’s inequalities – for which each was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize in Physics. They did this by measuring entangled particles, like photons, under various conditions.

The results of these experiments have consistently violated Bell’s inequalities, supporting the predictions of quantum mechanics and suggesting that local hidden variables cannot explain the behavior of entangled particles.

The data gathered by Aspect, Clauser, and Zeilinger demonstrated that the universe is “non-local”, meaning that entangled particles can affect each other instantaneously regardless of distance – effectively proving quantum physics’ claim and contradicting Einstein’s theory. As such, these experiments demonstrated that since particles (the building blocks of the universe) aren’t real in the traditional sense, the universe itself isn’t real.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to watch this awesome video by Archana Raghuram for much more about the experiments that proved reality is an illusion, PLUS a discussion on the convergence of quantum physics and Vedanta, and how the philosophical framework of Vedanta reconciles the paradox of quantum physics by highlighting the non-dual nature of reality and the inseparability of the observer and the observed:

Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded for Proving the Universe Is Not Real | Where Quantum Physics Meets Vedanta

The Double Slit Experiment

The Double Slit experiment is one of the most famous experiments in quantum mechanics, showcasing the wave-particle duality of particles and the surprising role of observation in determining their behavior.

The Basic Experiment:

1. Setup: Imagine a barrier with two parallel slits. Behind this barrier is a detection screen. If we shoot particles (like electrons) at the barrier, some will pass through the slits and hit the detection screen.
2. Wave-like behavior (Interference pattern): When both slits are open, and we are not observing which slit the particle goes through, an interference pattern emerges on the detection screen. This pattern is akin to what one would expect if waves were going through both slits, interfering constructively in some places (leading to bright bands) and destructively in others (leading to dark bands). This suggests that particles, in the absence of measurement, behave like waves.
3. Measurement (Observer) Introduced: When a detector is placed at the slits to determine which slit the particle goes through, the interference pattern vanishes, and two bands appear on the screen. This implies the act of observing or measuring which slit the particle goes through collapses its wave-like nature to behave like a particle.

The double slit experiment has been interpreted by many physicists as evidence that reality is an illusion. This is because the way we experience the world depends on how we observe it. Watch this absolutely brilliant explanation of the double slit experiment by Professor Jim Al-Khalili (and be sure to watch the mind-blowing ending):

For much more on this topic, watch this fascinating video in which Archana Raghuram delves into the question of what exactly an observer is and how the behavior of particles is connected to the action of an ‘observer.’ She brilliantly explains it with a simple and relatable, everyday analogy:

Through the Quantum Looking Glass: How Consciousness Creates Our Reality

Here are some additional findings of quantum mechanics that have been interpreted as evidence of the illusionary nature of reality:

• The uncertainty principle: The uncertainty principle states that it is impossible to know both the position and momentum of a particle with perfect accuracy. This suggests that the world is not made up of point particles, but rather of waves of probability.
• The Many Worlds Interpretation: The Many Worlds Interpretation is a proposed interpretation of quantum mechanics that states that every possible outcome of a quantum event occurs in a separate universe. This suggests that there is no single, objective reality, but rather a multiverse of possible realities.

These are just a few of the findings of quantum physics that have been interpreted as evidence of the illusionary nature of reality. These findings have forced us to rethink our understanding of the nature of reality.

Excerpt from the “Autobiography of a Yogi” about Maya and the Reason for Suffering

Paramahansa Yogananda, the author of “Autobiography of a Yogi,” was a Hindu monk and guru who believed that reality is an illusion. He wrote about this in his book, saying that the world of appearances is not real, but is instead a projection of our own minds.

Yogananda’s views on the nature of reality are based on the Hindu concept of Maya, a Sanskrit word that means “illusion” or “unreality.” In Hindu philosophy, Maya is the power of God to create the world of appearances. The world of appearances is not real in itself but is a projection of Brahman, the ultimate reality.

Below is an excerpt about Yogananda’s personal experience with Maya and what he found out about the  reason for suffering from Chapter 30 of the “Autobiography of a Yogi”:

Ch. 30: The Law of Miracles

The ancient Vedic scriptures declare that the physical world operates under one fundamental law of Maya, the principle of relativity and duality. God, the Sole Life, is an Absolute Unity; He cannot appear as the separate and diverse manifestations of a creation except under a false or unreal veil. That cosmic illusion is Maya. Every great scientific discovery of modern times has served as a confirmation of this simple pronouncement of the rishis…

Just as the motion-picture images appear to be real, but are only combinations of light and shade, so is the universal variety a delusive seeming. The planetary spheres, with their countless forms of life, are naught but figures in a cosmic motion picture, temporarily true to five sense perceptions as the scenes are cast on the screen of man’s consciousness by the infinite creative beam.

A cinema audience can look up and see that all screen images are appearing through the instrumentality of one imageless beam of light. The colorful universal drama is similarly issuing from the single white light of a Cosmic Source. With inconceivable ingenuity God is staging entertainment for His human children, making them actors as well as audiences in His planetary theater.

One day I entered a motion picture house to view a newsreel of the European battlefields. World War I was still being waged in the West; the newsreel recorded the carnage with such realism that I left the theater with a troubled heart.

“Lord,” I prayed, “why dost Thou permit such suffering?”

To my intense surprise, an instant answer came in the form of a vision of the actual European battlefields. The horror of the struggle, filled with the dead and dying, far surpassed in ferocity any representation of the newsreel.

“Look intently!” A gentle voice spoke to my inner consciousness. “You will see that these scenes now being enacted in France are nothing but a play of chiaroscuro [light and dark]. They are the cosmic motion picture, as real and as unreal as the theater newsreel you have just seen—a play within a play.”

My heart was still not comforted. The divine voice went on: “Creation is light and shadow both, else no picture is possible. The good and evil of Maya must ever alternate in supremacy. If joy were ceaseless here in this world, would man ever seek another? Without suffering he scarcely cares to recall that he has forsaken his eternal home. Pain is a prod to remembrance. The way of escape is through wisdom! The tragedy of death is unreal; those who shudder at it are like an ignorant actor who dies of fright on the stage when nothing more is fired at him than a blank cartridge. My sons are the children of light; they will not sleep forever in delusion.”

Although I had read scriptural accounts of Maya, they had not given me the deep insight that came with the personal visions and their accompanying words of consolation. One’s values are profoundly changed when he is finally convinced that creation is only a vast motion picture, and that not in it, but beyond it, lies his own reality.

Cultural Beliefs About the Illusionary Nature of Reality

The beliefs listed below provide a glimpse into the different ways that the illusionary nature of reality has been understood and interpreted by different cultures and traditions throughout history.

The Kybalion in Western Esotericism:

The Kybalion is a book about the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus that was published in 1908 by the Yogi Publication Society in Chicago, Illinois. It teaches that the universe is governed by these seven Hermetic principles:

1. The Principle of Mentalism
2. The Principle of Correspondence
3. The Principle of Vibration
4. The Principle of Polarity
5. The Principle of Rhythm
6. The Principle of Cause and Effect
7. The Principle of Gender

The Principle of Mentalism states: “The All is Mind; The Universe is Mental.” According to this principle, everything that exists, every phenomenon we experience, and every nuance of reality originates from a singular, universal mind – often referred to as “The All” in Hermetic teachings. If everything is a manifestation of this one Mind, then what we perceive as “reality” is just a mental construct or a thought within this universal consciousness.

To draw an analogy, think of a dream. When you’re dreaming, the events, places, and people within the dream feel real. But upon waking, you recognize that the dream was an illusion, a creation of your mind. The Principle of Mentalism suggests something similar about our reality: it might feel and seem real to us but in the grand scheme of “The All,” it’s a mental construct, making our perceived reality illusionary.

The Principle of Correspondence is encapsulated in the phrase: “As above, so below; as below, so above.” It speaks to the idea that there’s a correspondence or similarity between the different planes of existence, whether they be physical, mental, or spiritual. This concept implies that patterns observed on one plane can be found reflected in others, indicating a deeper universal order or structure. This means that there is a correspondence between the microcosm (the individual) and the macrocosm (the universe).

If the events and circumstances on our physical plane (the “below”) are merely reflections or manifestations of patterns from higher planes (the “above”), then our reality is not the primary or originating reality. Instead, it’s a derivative or secondary manifestation of those higher realities. The physical reality we observe could be seen as a shadow or reflection of more profound truths.

A useful analogy can be found in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. In it, prisoners chained in a cave see only the shadows cast on a wall by objects behind them. For the prisoners, those shadows are their reality. However, those shadows are mere reflections of the actual objects and, beyond the cave, the world outside. Similarly, the Principle of Correspondence suggests that our physical reality might just be a “shadow” or reflection of something deeper and more profound, making it potentially illusionary in comparison.

The Principle of Vibration states, “Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.” This principle posits that motion is a fundamental characteristic of everything in the universe, from the tiniest particles to the largest galaxies. Everything is in a state of constant vibration, albeit at different frequencies.

Our senses interpret different frequencies of vibrations as different phenomena. For example, our eyes interpret certain frequencies of electromagnetic vibrations as light and color, while our ears interpret vibrational frequencies in air as sound. This suggests that what we perceive is not the object or phenomenon itself but our interpretation of its vibrational frequency.

At an atomic and subatomic level, particles are in constant motion, vibrating at specific frequencies. What we perceive as solid objects are essentially spaces filled with rapidly moving particles. This means that the apparent solidity and stability of matter is an illusion created by our limited perceptual abilities.

In essence, the Principle of Vibration underscores the idea that the tangible and concrete reality we perceive is but a snapshot of various vibrational states. The true nature of reality is more fluid, dynamic, and interconnected than our limited senses might suggest, leading to the notion that our fixed perception of reality is illusionary.

Advaita Vedanta Tradition in Hindu Philosophy:

Advaita Vedanta is a non-dualistic school of Hindu philosophy that teaches us that the world of appearances is Maya, which means “illusion” or “unreality,” and that the external world is an extension of our own consciousness. In this view, our minds serve as both the artists and the canvas, painting the tapestry of existence. Below is a brief overview:

• Core Concept: “Advaita” means “not two” in Sanskrit. The fundamental premise of Advaita Vedanta is that there is only one ultimate reality, Brahman, and everything else (the world, individual souls) is an illusion. This perspective solves the paradox of quantum physics by suggesting that the observer’s consciousness is not separate from the reality being observed.
• Brahman: The ultimate reality or universal spirit. Brahman is the eternal, unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality that is the Divine Ground of all matter, energy, time, space, being, and everything beyond in this universe.
• Atman: Refers to the individual soul or self. Advaita posits that Atman is not separate from Brahman but is, in fact, the same as Brahman.
• Maya: The concept of Maya is central to the idea that reality is an illusion. Maya is often translated as “illusion”, but it can also mean “unreality” or “magic”. In Advaita Vedanta, the world we perceive through our senses is said to be Maya – an illusion – because it is transient and ever-changing, while Brahman is eternal and unchanging.
• Realization: The ultimate goal in Advaita Vedanta is self-realization or enlightenment, where one realizes the oneness of Atman and Brahman. This realization dispels the illusion created by Maya and one perceives the true nature of reality.
• Historical Perspective: Advaita Vedanta has ancient roots in the Upanishads, but its most famous proponent was Adi Shankaracharya (Adi Shankara) in the early 8th century CE. He traveled across India, engaging in philosophical debates, and established the non-dualistic interpretation of the scriptures.

The Sufi Tradition in Islam:

The Sufi tradition is a mystical tradition of Islam that teaches that the goal of life is to achieve fana, or annihilation of the ego, and baqa, or subsistence in God. The Sufi tradition teaches that the world of appearances is an illusion or a veil and that the only reality is God. Here’s a brief overview:

• Core Concept: Sufism focuses on the inward search, emphasizing personal experience and direct knowledge of God (Allah) through love, purification of the soul, and deep introspection.
• Love and Devotion: Sufis are known for their intense love and devotion to God. This is often expressed through poetry, music, and dance, like the famous “whirling dervishes” of the Mevlevi order.
• The World as a Veil: In Sufi teachings, the material world is considered a veil that hides the ultimate reality of God. Sufism suggests that the material world is a temporary and lesser reality compared to the eternal truth of God.
• Concept of Unity: Sufism teaches the idea of “Tawhid” or the oneness of God. While this concept is fundamental to all of Islam, Sufis emphasize experiential and mystical understanding of this oneness, often described in terms of lover and Beloved, with the lover seeking union with the Divine.
• Path to God: The Sufi journey involves various stages (Maqamat) and states (Ahwal) that aspirants pass through in their quest for God. These involve rigorous spiritual exercises, meditations, and ethical practices.
• Historical Perspective: Sufism has been a significant part of Islamic tradition since its early days, with various Sufi orders and brotherhoods emerging over time. Notable Sufis like Rumi, Hafez, and Al-Ghazali have enriched Islamic thought with their writings and teachings.

Dzogchen School of Tibetan Buddhism:

Dzogchen, often translated as “Great Perfection,” is a school of Tibetan Buddhism that teaches that the ultimate nature of reality is rigpa, or pure awareness. Rigpa is said to be beyond all concepts and dualities, including the distinction between subject and object. Here’s a brief overview:

• Core Concept: Dzogchen points to the natural, intrinsic state of all beings. This state is complete and perfect as it is, and Dzogchen teachings aim to directly introduce practitioners to this inherent nature.
• Nature of Mind: In Dzogchen, emphasis is placed on recognizing the “nature of mind” or “rigpa,” which is the pure, undeluded awareness that is ever-present but often obscured by dualistic thoughts and emotional turmoil.
• Dream-Like Reality: Dzogchen teachings often use the term “dream-like” or “illusion-like” to describe the nature of phenomena. While phenomena appear and can be experienced, they lack inherent, independent existence. In this way, they are like illusions or dreams: apparent but devoid of true, solid reality.
• Historical Perspective: The Dzogchen teachings are believed to originate from primordial Buddha Samantabhadra and have been transmitted through a lineage of realized masters. They are contained within tantras and texts which form the core of Dzogchen teachings.

The Kabbalah in Judaism:

The Kabbalah is a mystical tradition of Judaism that teaches that the world of appearances is a reflection of the divine.  Here’s a brief overview and its perspective on the nature of reality:

The Bhagavad Gita in Hinduism:

The “Bhagavad Gita” is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the Indian epic Mahabharata. It’s a dialogue between the prince Arjuna and the god Krishna, who serves as his charioteer. Here’s a brief overview and its perspective on reality:

• Core Concept: The “Gita” addresses the moral and philosophical dilemmas faced by Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Krishna provides guidance on duty (dharma), righteousness, and the paths to spiritual realization.
• Maya (Illusion): In the “Gita,” the material world is often described as being under the influence of “maya,” which can be understood as illusion or ignorance. Maya causes souls to become entangled in the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, making them forget their true, divine nature.
• Reality and Illusion: While the physical world is real in one sense, it’s also transient and ever-changing, which contrasts with the eternal and unchanging nature of the soul (Atman) and the Ultimate Reality (Brahman).
• Paths to Realization: The “Gita” outlines various paths (yogas) like Bhakti (devotion), Jnana (knowledge), and Karma (selfless action) to transcend the influence of Maya and realize one’s true self and relationship with the divine.

The Native American concept of the dream world:

The understanding of dreams and the dream world varies across Native American tribes, as there are hundreds of distinct tribes with their own beliefs and traditions. However, there are some shared or common ideas among many tribes:

• Dream World’s Significance: For many Native American cultures, dreams are not just random occurrences during sleep but are deeply meaningful. They can offer guidance, foretell events, or serve as encounters with spirits or ancestors.
• Reality and Illusion: Many tribes hold that the dream world and the waking world are interconnected realms of experience, neither being more “real” or “illusory” than the other. In this worldview, dreams can be as consequential as waking experiences and are sometimes seen as being more real than the world of waking reality. Some tribes see dreams as an opportunity to travel to other realms, interact with spirits, or receive messages from the Creator or ancestors.
• Dream Catchers: One well-known symbol associated with dreams in Native American culture is the dream catcher, originally from the Ojibwa (Chippewa) tribe. Hung above the bed, it’s believed to filter dreams, allowing only good dreams to pass through, while trapping negative dreams or energies.
• Guidance and Healing: Dreams can be a source of guidance. Tribal shamans or medicine people might interpret dreams to diagnose illnesses, find lost objects, or predict events. Some tribes believe dreams offer insights into one’s path in life or lessons to be learned.

Solipsism:

Solipsism is an ancient philosophical concept that only the self exists. Solipsists believe that the world and other people are simply a creation of the mind.  Solipsism doesn’t have a single originator or a specific date of origin. Instead, its roots can be found in various philosophical traditions and discussions about the nature of knowledge, reality, and the self. Here are some key points regarding its development:

1. Ancient Philosophy: While the term “solipsism” itself wasn’t used in ancient times, certain aspects of solipsism can be traced back to ancient philosophical discussions. For instance, some interpretations of certain Pre-Socratic philosophers.
2. Modern Development: The explicit formulation of solipsism is more of a modern philosophical development. It often emerges in discussions about epistemology (the study of knowledge) in response to challenges of establishing certain knowledge of the external world. René Descartes, with his method of radical doubt, comes close by emphasizing the certainty of the thinking self (“Cogito, ergo sum” – “I think, therefore I am”).

The Mahayana Sutras in Buddhism:

The Mahayana Sutras are a collection of Buddhist texts that teach the Mahayana path to enlightenment. The Mahayana Sutras teach that the world of appearances is like a dream or illusion, introduce the concept of emptiness, and often describe reality as being like a dream or illusion, aiming to help practitioners see beyond superficial perceptions and cultivate a deeper understanding of the nature of existence. It’s generally accepted that most of the Mahayana Sutras were composed between the 1st century BCE and the 5th century CE. Here’s a brief overview:

The Tao Te Ching in Taoism:

The “Tao Te Ching” is an ancient Chinese text attributed to the sage Laozi and is foundational to Taoism. It teaches that the world of appearances is a manifestation of the Tao or the Way, which is the underlying reality of the universe. Here’s a brief overview:

Quotes About the Illusionary Nature of Reality

“As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear-headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force that brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.” ~ Max Planck, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918

“I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness… Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.” ~ Max Planck, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918

“There is no place in this new kind of physics for the field and matter, for the field is the only reality.” ~ Albert Einstein, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921

“Everything that we call real is made up of things that cannot be regarded as real.” ~ Niels Bohr, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922.

“Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.” ~ Werner Heisenberg, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932.

“It was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to the consciousness of the observer. The very study of the external world led to the conclusion that the content of consciousness is the ultimate reality.” – Eugene Wigner, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1963.

“If I say that electrons behave like particles I give the wrong impression; also if I say they behave like waves. They behave in their own inimitable way, which technically could be called a quantum mechanical way. They behave in a way that is like nothing that you have seen before.” ~ Richard Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965.

“The universe is a hologram.” ~ David Bohm (a prominent theoretical physicist known for his contributions to the fields of quantum mechanics, philosophy, and the nature of consciousness), Wholeness and the Implicate Order, 1980

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” ~ Unknown (Note: this quote is often attributed to Einstein, but there is no evidence that he ever said or wrote this.)

“Consciousness is not a spectator of the quantum world, but a participant in bringing it into being.” ~ John Archibald Wheeler, theoretical physicist who made significant contributions to the fields of quantum mechanics, general relativity, and nuclear physics.

“There is no out there, out there.” ~ John Archibald Wheeler

“There’s a billion to one chance we’re living in base reality.” ~ Elon Musk

“The world is a dream, and we are the dreamers.” – Carl Jung

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.” ~ Edgar Allan Poe, A Dream Within a Dream

“The world is but a shadow, and the life of a man but a dream.” – Hindu scripture, The Upanishads

“The world is an illusion, and we are the creators of that illusion.” – Buddha

“The world is Maya, an illusion. It is not real.” – Hindu scripture, The Bhagavad Gita

“The world is an illusion, but it is an illusion that we must take seriously.” – Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” – William Shakespeare, As You Like It

“The world is a mirror, and we see in it what we are.” – Rumi, The Essential Rumi

“The world is a looking glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.” – William Shakespeare, Hamlet

“You have this strange feeling of being a puppet, of having your strings pulled by environment, social pressures, etc., or of being driven along a course which is called ‘the causality of nature’ according to laws which human beings can’t resist. And that, too, is Maya.” ~ Alan Watts

“There are vibrations of many different universes right here, right now. We’re just not in tune with them. There are probably other parallel universes in our living room–this is modern physics. This is the modern interpretation of quantum theory, that many worlds represent reality.” ~ Dr. Michio Kaku, Theoretical Physicist, Professor and Best-selling Author

Quotes by Sri Ramana Maharshi

Sri Ramana Maharshi was a Hindu sage who lived in India from 1879 to 1950. He is considered one of the most important figures in modern Hinduism. Maharshi taught that the world of appearances is an illusion and that the only reality is the Self. Here are some quotes from Maharshi indicating that reality is an illusion:

• “The world is like a dream. It is not real.“
• “Q. Is there no difference between waking and a dream? A. Waking is long and dream is short; other than that there is no difference.” (from the book “Who Am I”)
• “The world is a projection of the mind. It is not outside of you.“
• “When you see the Self, you see that the world is an illusion.”
• “The Self is the only reality. Everything else is an illusion.
• “The world is not what it seems. It is a play of maya.”

The concept of Maya is central to Maharshi’s teachings. Maya is a Sanskrit word that means “illusion” or “unreality.” In Hindu philosophy, Maya is the power of God to create the world of appearances. The world of appearances is not real in itself but is a projection of Brahman, the ultimate reality.

Channeled Materials

The Seth Material by Jane Roberts

The Seth Material is a collection of books and audio recordings that were channeled by Jane Roberts from a non-physical entity named Seth. Seth presented a variety of ideas about the nature of reality, including the idea that reality is an illusion.

One of the ways that Seth put forth the idea of reality as an illusion was by comparing the world of appearances to a hologram. A hologram is a three-dimensional image that is created by shining a laser through a photographic plate. The image appears to be solid and real, but it is actually just a projection of light. Seth suggested that the world of appearances is like a hologram, in that it is a projection of our own consciousness.

Here are some specific quotes from the Seth Material that put forth the idea of reality as an illusion:

• “The world is a hologram, a projection of your own consciousness.”
• “There is no such thing as time or space. They are illusions.”
• “You are all one, and the world is an illusion of separation.”
• “You are not limited by the world of appearances. You can create your own reality.
• “The world of appearances is a projection of your own consciousness.”
• “You create your own reality through your thoughts and beliefs.”
• “You create your reality. There is no other rule.”

The “Law of One”

The “Law of One,” also known as the “Ra Material,” is a series of channeled texts that are attributed to an entity called “Ra.” According to the materials, Ra is a collective consciousness or group of beings from a higher density or dimension who communicated through a process of channeling with a woman named Carla Rueckert in the 1980s.

The Law of One indicates that reality is an illusion in a number of ways. Here are some specific quotes from the Law of One material about the illusionary nature of reality:

• “Reality is created by thought. What you think, you become.“
• “The world of appearances is a projection of the One. It is not ultimately real.”
• “We are all creators. We can choose to create a reality that is loving, peaceful, and harmonious.”
• “The illusion of separation is the root of all pain and suffering.”

The Law of One materials are a complex and challenging work, but they can be a valuable source of insights into the nature of reality.

A Course in Miracles

A Course in Miracles (ACIM) is a spiritual text that teaches that the world of appearances is an illusion. The Course states that the only reality is God, and that the world of appearances is a projection of our own minds.

The Course uses a number of different metaphors to describe the world of appearances as an illusion. One metaphor is that the world of appearances is like a dream. When we dream, we experience things that are not real, but they seem real to us while we are dreaming. The Course says that the world of appearances is like a dream, in that it is not real, but it seems real to us because of our beliefs.

Another metaphor that the Course uses is that the world of appearances is like a hologram. A hologram is a three-dimensional image that is created by shining a laser through a photographic plate. The image appears to be solid and real, but it is actually just a projection of light. The Course says that the world of appearances is like a hologram, in that it is a projection of our own minds.

Here are some specific quotes from the Course in Miracles that put forth the idea of reality as an illusion:

• “The world you see is not the world that is.”
• “The world of appearances is a projection of your own mind.”
• “You create your own reality through your thoughts and beliefs.”
• “You are not limited by the world of appearances. You can create your own reality.”

Bashar – Channeled by Darryl Anka

Bashar is a popular channeled entity, channeled by Darryl Anka. Here are a few quotes about the illusionary nature of reality attributed to Bashar:

• “Always remember, there is no ‘out there.’ There is only you. Physical reality is an illusion, a mirror, a reflection. You can use it as a tool, in some senses, to reflect what is going on within you: what your beliefs are, what your thoughts are, what your emotions are, what your attitudes are, and what your definitions are.”
• “The universe is a mirror that reflects back to you the energy you project.”
• “You are a multidimensional being experiencing a limited physical reality for expansion and growth.“
• “Your personality is really nothing more than a window or a prism through which your consciousness creates the experience called physical reality.”
  Now, that experience is, of course, actually only taking place within you.
• “Everyone you experience in your reality was created by you to interact with as a reflection of you. So they exist in their own right, but the only ones you actually interact with in physical reality are the reflections you’ve created to experience in your reality.“
• “You exist in a holographic universe, where each part contains the whole within it.”
• “Even though you may think, as we have said, that you are ALL sharing one particular reality, you are not. You are creating your own version, your own simulation through agreements, telepathically connected agreements with each other, to create what appears to be the same reality. But each of you is creating your own. And many of you now are beginning to realize, as your society continues forward, that there are many individuals who are choosing different expressions of reality that are not necessarily in alignment with the kind of experience that you prefer to have on your planet. Or again, more precisely, on your planets, because there are multiple versions of the Earth simultaneously coexisting here. And the idea is that now the splitting prism has moved forward enough that there is starting to be in between all of these different parallel realities, a kind of borderline, a kind of barrier. You can liken it to the idea, as we have said, of a glass wall. You can see through it to the other realities, to the people that are not necessarily choosing things that are vibrationally compatible with the kind of reality experience you prefer. But that doesn’t mean that they can affect you because they can no longer really reach you with their vibration – except by your choice to mirror or mimic what you’re seeing on the other side of the glass. But there is no other effect than that. Your choice to believe that you must be affected by them is you creating that effect in your reality, your discrete parallel reality. So as you move forward, recognizing that each of you is in your own reality, literally, and that you can make more and more agreements with those who are more vibrationally compatible with what you prefer – to (again) continue to generate simulations of these realities for yourselves that do harmonize with those that are vibrationally compatible with you, and dis-harmonize or become more discoherent with those that are not vibrationally compatible with what you prefer – the split becomes wider and wider. The walls of glass become, in essence, thicker and thicker and thicker.” ~ from Navigating the Splitting Prism of Parallel Realities

The Mandela Effect

The Mandela Effect is a phenomenon where a large number of people remember something in a way that contradicts the current reality. The term was coined by Fiona Broome after she discovered that she, along with many other people, remembered Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s. However, Nelson Mandela was actually released from prison in 1990 and passed away in 2013.

Some of the most popular examples include:

• Berenstain Bears vs. Berenstein Bears: Many people remember the popular children’s book series as being spelled “Berenstein Bears” with an “e”, but it’s now spelled “Berenstain Bears” with an “a”.
• “Luke, I am your father”: This famous line from Star Wars is often quoted this way, but the line now is “No, I am your father.”
• Location of New Zealand: Some people remember New Zealand as being located to the northeast of Australia, rather than to the southeast.
• “Febreze” vs. “Febreeze”: The popular air freshener is actually spelled “Febreze” with one “e”, but many people recall it as “Febreeze” with two “e”s.
• The Monopoly Man: Many remember the Monopoly game’s mascot, Rich Uncle Pennybags, wearing a monocle, but now he doesn’t.
• “Mirror, mirror on the wall.” Many people remember the line from Disney’s 1937 animated film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” as “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” However, the line in the movie is now “Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all?”

For much more about the Mandela Effect, see:

What’s the Meaning of the Mandela Effect?

Mandela Effect, Afterlife, Timelines and the Simulation

How to Interpret Mandela Effects

By Geralyn Ritter

Time heals all wounds is a common saying that is full of hope. Whether you just lost a loved one, ended a relationship, or are recovering from trauma, that phrase is likely to be said to you by someone in your life. The phrase is hopeful, but is it really true? Here, we will examine the “time heals all wounds” cliche, how true or untrue it is, and time’s role in the healing process.

So, will time heal all wounds?

When someone is going through a hard time, they are likely to be told that time heals all wounds by at least one person in their life. They are offering hope that, eventually, they will get past this and feel better. The hope is that when someone has had enough time away from the event, the pain will fade, and they will heal. The problem is that time alone is not a magical healing aid. If time was all that someone needed to heal, then everyone who experiences emotional pain will eventually heal and be fine.

Time is an important ingredient in the healing process, as it gives us time to distance ourselves and look at things neutrally. However, time alone is not going to heal wounds.

Why isn’t time enough?

Time lets you distance yourself from the issue and process it. However, time on its own is not going to address the cause of the emotional pain. Sometimes, it can get a lot worse before it gets better. After someone gets past the initial shock of the event, time can cause the old memories to stir and re-emerge and even cause fresh wounds. Weeks or months later, the reality of the event that caused the emotional pain can set in, making your distress worse.

Even in the long run, time may not improve distress for someone. They can become stuck in their distress for a lot of reasons. They may not want to accept the reality of the cause of their distress because the feelings linked to it are too overwhelming. The intensity of the circumstances might be too traumatic for them to process the distress. They may not have a safe space to process their emotions, making them unable to begin the healing process.

Time Moves Slowly When You Hurt

The way we experience the flow of time is subjective. When you are sitting in a hospital injured, time feels like it slows down. When you have a migraine and are waiting for medication to kick in and make it feel better, seconds can feel like hours. The same thing happens when you are in emotional pain. The days can just bleed together, the distress weighing you down.

Trauma is Timeless

Trauma can literally change your brain. Trauma can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can lead to flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive images and thoughts. Your brain can feel like the traumatic event is happening right now, even though it happened years ago. Recovering from trauma is a long and difficult process that often requires the help of a therapist.

So, what does heal wounds?

In order to heal from an emotional wound, you need to acknowledge that time alone is not the magic solution. When you have a cut on your arm, it can heal over time, but if you clean and bandage it first, it can heal better. An emotional wound is not a cut that will just heal on its own eventually. These require that we acknowledge them and work to heal them; emotional pain is complex. We have to put in work to heal, and the first part of that is acknowledging the wounds and knowing that you need to put in the work.

Ignoring and suppressing emotional wounds will not make the pain go away. It just turns into anxiety, pain, and anger. If you do not have a support system in place that can help you heal, consider seeking out a therapist or group therapy setting so you have somewhere to safely explore your feelings and work on healing.

Final Thoughts

Time might make your wounds feel less raw, but that is not going to cure the pain on its own. It is important to stay patient with yourself in the process and not blame yourself if it takes time. Healing is not a destination, it is a journey, and it can take time to complete your journey. Everyone heals at their own pace, and you cannot compare someone else’s healing journey with your own.

About the Author

Geralyn Ritter is an accomplished corporate senior executive, miracle survivor of the 2015 Amtrak train derailment, and author of Bone by Bone: A Memoir of Trauma and Healing. Geralyn is the executive vice president at Organon & Co., a new Fortune 500 healthcare company dedicated to the health of women.

Author: Greg Hammer, MD

A favorite quote from one of my heroes, Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the creator of the “Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)” course is:  “Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally.” [1] This could also be considered the definition of happiness, which is the one goal that each of the 8 billion of us on this planet share. It is clear that happiness exists in the only moment we ever truly experience – the present moment.

We also recognize that judgment often clouds our experience with our biases and preconceptions. Judgment prevents us from seeing and experiencing the world as it truly is. Learning to let go of our judgment is one of the keys to happiness.[2] It is easy to understand that to be happy we should shift our focus to the present moment and be less judgmental – but why does Dr. Kabat-Zinn include the phrase, “on purpose?”

Our brains have become hard-wired over tens of thousands of years to include networks that are no longer adaptive. For example, we all have a negativity bias. We tend to forget the positive and focus on the negative. We may notice an ache or pain as we awaken in the morning – that becomes the center of our attention as we begin our day. We rarely wake up and marvel at the amazing complexity of the human body, grateful that (almost) everything is working well.

It has been said that 80% of our thoughts are negative and only 20% are positive. I have worked with trainees in anesthesiology or critical care medicine who provided flawless care for a complex patient in the operating room or intensive care unit; perhaps they needed my help for one difficult procedure in a small child but did everything else skillfully. We debrief at the end of the day and I praise them for the excellent job they did, including the procedures they performed well.

As they prepare for bed that night, do they feel satisfaction at the terrific job they did at the hospital that day? Unfortunately, they all too often obsess over the one task for which they needed assistance. This is typical of our negativity bias. We all think this way. Even the most accomplished film stars, doctors, and business executives suffer from the “impostor syndrome” of negative self-judgment.

Another way our brains are wired that appears to veil our happiness is our obsession with the past and future. While it is adaptive to consider our past joyful moments and even our mistakes, to the extent that we learn from them and do not keep repeating them, we also have a tendency to overthink the past. Our negativity bias can invoke shame, regret, low self-esteem, and often depression.

Likewise, our hyperfixation on the future is also rooted in negativity. We catastrophize. We think of the worst things that can happen, even though they almost never do. These ideations lead to fear and anxiety. Perhaps our brains evolved this way 50-100,000 years ago during a time when our forebears sat in their caves wondering whether a saber-toothed tiger was lingering just outside.  Perhaps this genetic inclination towards hypervigilance was adaptive back then for the sake of survival and genetic evolution, but today we are stuck with those thought patterns, which are no longer beneficial for most of us living in relative safety.

So how do we cope with these adverse ways of thinking that distract us from the peace and joy taking place in our present moment? It takes a plan – it requires purposefulness. It calls for our often hidden power of intention.

The good news is that our brains have a magical quality called neuroplasticity. We have the ability to actually change the way our brains are wired for the better. We can redirect our thoughts toward the present moment and prioritize a more optimistic and positive outlook. In order to do so, however, we need a plan. We have to be intentional. Without purposefulness, we will inevitably lapse into to our old ways of thinking – gloomy and distracted.

Let’s have a look at one practice that can be done in as little as 3 minutes a day that is proven to gradually reprogram the way we think and experience. The GAIN practice embraces mindful breathing and contemplative meditation.

It is logical to think, “Of course, I am breathing all day and all night – why do I need to be intentional about breathing?” The answer is simple – we can go days without taking a deep, lung-opening breath. Chronic stress causes tension in the breathing muscles in our chest and abdomen. Our breaths may be shallow and constrained for days on end. This causes the tiny air sacs in our lungs, called alveoli, to collapse – especially those at the bottom portion of our lungs. This condition is called atelectasis, and it limits the amount of oxygen that we extract from the air, leaving our brains and other organs deprived of optimal oxygen supply.

In fact, slow, deep, intentional breathing has another benefit – it activates our parasympathetic nervous system. This is the part of our nervous system that keeps the sympathetic nervous system, responsible for the “fight or flight” response, in check. Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, through purposeful, slow, deep, breathing lowers the amount of adrenaline and cortisol in our bodies. This causes our heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar to drop to healthier levels. All this takes is tapping into our power of intention.

Many people think that meditation means sitting perfectly still for a half hour or more while banishing all thoughts from our brains. This is not true! The GAIN meditation not only takes as little as 3 minutes, but encourages us to focus on a self-guided tour of essential thoughts. The 4 elements represented by the acronym GAIN are Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and Nonjudgment.² Why these 4 components? Because they are the essence of happiness. These 4 ingredients are embodied by almost all religious and philosophical traditions – for good reason.

Let’s have a look at the GAIN practice. We begin by opening the blinds upon awakening each morning, letting in the natural light. We find a comfortable place to sit and close our eyes. To augment the meditation, we may initiate soothing sounds with a gong or singing bowl – or perhaps several that resonate in harmony. We focus on the breath, inhaling through the nose to a slow count of 3, pausing to a count of 3, and exhaling to a count of 4. We breathe into our abdomen, pause, and let the breath go without effort.

We begin to contemplate that for which we experience Gratitude – our relative health (perhaps not perfect, but it sure could be worse), safety and warmth of our home, our loving relationships with friends and family. We connect these positive thoughts with our breathing.

We transition to Acceptance, acknowledging that pain is as much an intrinsic part of our experience as joy. We focus on a painful or uncomfortable experience – perhaps the loss of a loved one or precious friendship. We bring this pain closer and closer. We imagine opening our chest and our heart, bringing this pain closer and embracing and nurturing it with our heart.

We discover that the pain is not as bad as we imagined, and that we can live with it. We then concentrate on our Intention. We might focus on our present sensations – the pressure of the chair against our body, the softness of the air we breathe, the tingling sensation on the bottom of our feet. We stay there for 5 or 10 seconds, linking this present moment with our breath. We may gradually lengthen this “present sensation” experience each day by a few seconds, training our minds to be right here right now.

One baby step at a time. We confirm our Intention of being more positive and more present throughout the day. Finally, we contemplate Nonjudgment. We might picture a beautiful NASA image of the Earth apparently suspended in space. We recognize that the earth is simply a planet – it is neither good nor bad. It is simply the planet that it is. It is only logical, then, to acknowledge that we are just human beings – we, too, are neither good nor bad. We are simply the human beings that we are.

We silently pronounce, “I am neither good nor bad. There is no judgment. I am simply the person that I am. ” We may then repeat “I am, I am….” as we link this phrase to the slow, deep breath we enjoy. We then slowly open our eyes – we are ready to go out into the world. We may complete the GAIN meditation by sounding the gong or singing bowl once more.

Something remarkable happens as we embrace this GAIN process. Increasingly, a light bulb illuminates within us when we are being ungrateful, resisting, lacking purpose and sinking into our old habits, or judging others or ourselves. We recognize the old thought patterns, have a bit of a laugh to ourselves, and re-focus on Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and Nonjudgment.

Embracing the GAIN practice represents our purposefulness to gradually re-wire our brains. This will happen if we sit each morning and focus our intention on the breath and these 4 essential elements. We will experience the benefits almost immediately. Perhaps we are driving to work after our morning meditation and another driver on our right moves into our lane without using their turn signal; we begin to form judgments about this person and a light bulb goes off reminding us of our intention to be nonjudgmental. We smile to ourselves – we actually get a little hit of dopamine, creating a pleasant sensation rather than a negative one.

All it takes is a plan to employ our power of intention.

References

[1] Jon Kabat-Zinn: Defining Mindfulness. https://www.mindful.org/jon-kabat-zinn-defining-mindfulness

[2] The 4 pillars of happiness represented by the acronym, GAIN, are Gratitude, Acceptance, Intention, and Nonjudgment. http://gain-withoutpain.com/

Tips to Reach Your Next Level of Greatness 

(Systems vs. Goals: How to Make Them Work Together)

By Dr. Dravon James

Are you a goal setter?  Do you set health goals, relationship goals, career goals?  Do you stick to your goals?  Do you hang in there until you hit the mark? Well, if you were raised anything like me, you grew up hearing about the importance of setting goals. But did you know that most goal setters never achieve their desired goal?  According to an article in Reliable Plant, “Why People Fail to Achieve Their Goals,” only thirty percent of people who set their goals actually achieve them. Does this mean goals are useless?  Should we abandon the practice of goal setting? The answer to both questions is no, but…

Goals tell us where we want to be and what we want to achieve. Goal setting is important, but goal setting alone won’t generate high levels of success. Goals let us know what direction we want to go in, but systems carve out the pathway. There are several systems you can use, but I like the following 3-point system for setting and achieving goals. First, connect emotionally to the outcome during the goal setting process. Second, imagine the person you will be in the future once you achieve your goals and the habits you have formed. Finally, set yourself on the path of creating those habits.

Feeling the Goal

When you set a goal, is it fun? Is it uplifting? Does it make you feel excited? Oftentimes, people set their goals around the things they do not like about themselves. That’s not fun, it’s not uplifting, and it sure doesn’t get you excited. The journey to achieve your goal will inevitably have its ups and downs. For every few steps you take forward, you will inevitably experience a step back. During these times, you want to have an emotional connection with your goal that keeps you on your path. Goal setting is your opportunity to envision yourself in your ideal situation, your next level of greatness. This is your time to create, within your imagination, the health, wealth, and relationships of your dreams. You transform into a magician with a magic wand that gives you the power to conjure the world you want to live in. I encourage you to really embrace goal setting and experience it from a place of feeling instead of thought. The possibility of achieving your goals may be a little nerve-wracking, but you can turn those nerves into excitement. You’ll notice yourself smiling more and more as you begin to occupy the metaphorical space of your newly realized goal. It’s a wonderful privilege to feel happy and fulfilled.

Remember this step is critical.  If you do not feel excited and you’re not energized by your goal, stop this process, and start again.  Begin by asking, “why am I setting this goal?” Should I change the goal? Am I setting too many goals? Start small with just one goal and build yourself up from there. Remember your goals are supposed to be personal. Your success rate improves when you set goals that are rooted in positivity. Once you’ve realized your goal, you can use start to envision yourself achieving it. Imagine how you will feel and what you will do once you’ve achieved your goal. You’re going to smile, maybe you’ll dance or pump your fist in the air! Imagine yourself doing that right now and once you’ve practiced manifesting that feeling of success and fulfillment, you’ll be ready to bring it to fruition. You can write it or speak it into existence like this: “My goal is to become five pounds lighter.”

Creating Your Identity

Once you have written your simple goal statement, it’s time to imagine the person you’re going to become. Start to shape the identity of the person you will be when you’ve claimed the object of your desires. The more detail you can add in this stage the better. Let’s continue with our example goal of becoming five pounds lighter. In the previous step you described how you would feel when you achieved the goal.  Now you’re going to describe the habits of a person who is at your desired weight. What is this person’s day like? Bring as much detail into this creation phase as possible.  What time will this person get up in the morning? How much water do they consume throughout the day? What kinds of food do they refuel their body with? Do they have an exercise regimen that they enjoy? How do they manage stress? How many hours of sleep do they get?

As you create the identity of the person who is at your desired weight, your focus will switch from goal orientation to action orientation. The transformation in your thought process will be automatic and appear effortless. Just like the magician with the magic wand, you’ve revealed the secrets of how to achieve your desired goals. These habits, if selected properly, will lead you to success.

Implementing the Habits

Now you’ve done a lot of work. You’ve identified your goal and you’ve described the habits that you will need in order to reach your next level of greatness. Now, it’s time to implement the habits. The implementation phase is exciting because you get to move into physical action.

Habits are the engine of your life. Most of the actions you take during the day are second nature – even breathing. You want to develop positive, conscious, habits that move you consistently and meaningfully toward your goal. When you wake up in the morning – don’t think. Have your workout clothes already laid out for yourself. Know what your exercise routine is for the day. Know what you are going to have for breakfast. Have a plan for how you are going to drink enough water during the day. Have alarms set on your phone to help regulate your life – without thinking – when to get up, when to exercise, when to eat, when to go to bed. If you wake up and think about whether you want to exercise – or whether you feel like exercising – the battle is half lost. Instead, plan to win the battle before it even begins.

Getting Started

This simple approach has been successful for many of my clients over the years. With commitment and a system, you can be successful. It’s important to note that my clients had someone to work with as they implemented this system – let’s call it a fourth step. They had someone to share the journey with them. I strongly encourage you to use this system to gain the success you desire, but get an accountability partner, a friend, a coach – someone who can share this journey with you.

A true partner makes your successes feel even better and your setbacks feel more manageable. They can celebrate with you, motivate you, pick you up, and guide you so you don’t get off course.

I’ve written a lot about the Law of Attraction, you can catch up on some of those blogs here:

LOA – Aligning with How You Are Feeling, LOA – Are You an Accident Waiting to Happen?, LOA – Baby Steps That Snowball! and LOA: Getting Ready to Manifest the Best Life Possible!

A Quick Recap

In this blog I’d like to share some tips on the process of letting go or surrendering your goals/desires/intended manifestations. This is a vital part of the whole manifestation package.

Let’s quickly run through the first four steps:

1. 1. The thought. A desire pops into your head.

1. 1. The asking. You ask for said desire.

1. 1. The action. You take as much inspired action as you can take towards said desire.

1. 1. The feeling. You truly feel into the emotions of having said desire. You live as if you already have it.

Now, the fifth step is surrendering your desire to the Universe. But that’s easier said than done, right? Especially if you’re as impatient as I am. It’s the one step that trips most of us up. And yet it is the most vital piece of the wholesome, fuzzy puzzle.

No Need to Figure Out How

I’ve recently really got my head around the fact that it’s not your job to figure out the “how” of what you’ve asked for. It just isn’t. Our brain doesn’t have the capacity to work it out, it doesn’t have the vision that the higher mind has to get you what you want.

You will strain your backside off trying in vain to figure out how you are going to get said desire.

Stop trying to figure out how your manifestation will come to you.

Just stop.

Not your job. Not within your capacity. Capiche!

Save yourself and your backside a lot of grief and do what IS in your capacity to do…

You can affirm one or all of the following to get you into that good feeling place where you KNOW what you’ve asked for is coming:

1. 1. The Universe is on my side and has my back. I believe I am Divinely supported.
   2. Things always work out much better than I can imagine. I believe in a Divine higher power that has a Divine higher view of how to orchestrate without limitation.
   3. Miracles happen all the time. I believe in Divine intervention beyond what I can conceive.
   4. I’m always exactly where I need to be, exactly when I need to be. I believe in Divine timing and Divine placement.

These affirmations will help you to let go of the anxiety, doubt, impatience, timing and semantics associated with your desire.

Read related article: How to Tame the ‘Monkey Mind’

Try ’em out! Let me know if it works for you in the comment section below. Which affirmation do you like best?  

Written by Cherie Roe Dirksen

Cherie is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician living in the Klein Karoo, South Africa.

Source: By Tom Campbell | Tom Campbell YouTube Channel

In this video by Tom Campbell, he talks about the concept of synchronicity, particularly in the context of the Larger Consciousness System (LCS). Campbell explores how and why synchronicities occur and how they interact with our consciousness. He outlines several key points during this discourse:

1. Increased Awareness: Campbell posits that increased awareness of synchronicity may be due to an increased receptiveness to such occurrences. This heightened awareness could be a result of one’s continued growth and openness to the existence of synchronicity, allowing the individual to notice and appreciate such events rather than letting them pass unnoticed.
2. Larger Consciousness System (LCS): According to Campbell, synchronicity is a product of the LCS working to support the individual’s growth and success. The LCS provides first-hand experiences of synchronicities to affirm the existence of a reality beyond the material world and to demonstrate the presence of deeper forces at play.
3. Probability and Nudging: Campbell proposes that the LCS can influence events in one’s life through ‘nudging’ or subtle prompting towards certain actions. By anticipating future probabilities, the LCS can guide an individual to perform actions that may seem unrelated at the time but prove beneficial in the future. For instance, ordering a specific car part ahead of time, which coincidentally proves essential later on.
4. Synchronicity as a Tool for Growth: Campbell asserts that the LCS aims to assist individual growth by providing experiences that reveal a broader picture of reality. By manipulating the randomness inherent in any event’s multiple possibilities, the LCS can create outcomes that positively interact with the individual.
5. Reciprocal Relationship: The LCS works with individuals who are actively trying to grow and learn. In this reciprocal relationship, the individual’s increased involvement with the LCS results in a greater frequency of synchronicities.
6. Letting Go of Control: Through the continued experience of synchronicities, individuals may learn to relinquish their desire for control. Recognizing that events naturally fall into place without intervention, one can learn to trust the process and focus on personal growth.
7. Significance of Synchronicity: The LCS isn’t necessarily interested in minor everyday details, like saving money or ensuring timely arrivals. Instead, it’s more concerned with providing experiences that affirm its existence and its partnership with the individual on their journey of growth. This understanding of the system’s support can be empowering and reassuring.
8. System’s Motivation: The LCS is motivated to assist individuals because their success also benefits the system. When an individual lowers their entropy (a state of disorder or randomness), the system’s entropy is likewise reduced because the individual is a part of it. The ultimate goal of the LCS is to foster growth and success, and it supports individuals who are actively working towards these goals.

Overall, Campbell’s explanation of synchronicity in this video provides a framework for understanding these coincidences as part of a larger consciousness system’s efforts to guide personal growth and highlight the interconnectedness of all things.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_nzqnXWvSo

In a YouTube video titled “Atomic Habits: How to Get 1% Better Every Day“, author James Clear discusses the concept of atomic habits and the potential of small, incremental changes to drive personal growth and transformation. See the summary below.

James Clear, best-selling author of Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, is a popular speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning. His website receives millions of visitors each month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his popular email newsletter at jamesclear.com.

SUMMARY

James Clear begins by suggesting that improving by just 1% every day for a year, compounded, would make you 37 times better by year’s end. Clear argues that the focus shouldn’t solely be on radical transformation or rapid success, but also on understanding the power of small habits and everyday decisions that are constantly transforming us.

Clear delineates four stages of habit formation:

1. Noticing: Clear argues that many people confuse a lack of clarity with a lack of motivation. People think they need to be motivated or have the willpower to perform a habit, like writing or working out. But in reality, they need a plan. Clear suggests creating ‘implementation intentions’ where you state when, where, and how you will execute the habit. To address potential challenges, Clear recommends a ‘failure pre-mortem’. This involves imagining a future scenario where you failed at forming the habit, then identifying and addressing those obstacles in advance.
2. Wanting: Clear highlights the influence of the physical environment on our desires and habits. We often want things because they are options in front of us. By controlling our environment, we can make good behaviors easier and bad ones harder. For instance, if you want to practice guitar more, leave it in the middle of your living room. Clear contends that maintaining positive habits is almost impossible in a negative environment.
3. Doing: Clear emphasizes the importance of practice. Instead of focusing on the goal or finish line, one should concentrate on ‘putting the reps in’. He advocates optimizing for the starting line, i.e., making it as easy as possible to get started, rather than the finish line. The outcomes, he argues, will naturally follow.
4. Liking: The fourth stage focuses on the reward. Clear says we repeat behaviors because we enjoy them; if the process isn’t enjoyable, we’re unlikely to stick with it. Since rewards for good habits are often delayed, Clear suggests finding ways to bring rewards into the present moment. He recommends simple methods like tracking progress on a wall calendar, providing immediate satisfaction and motivation to continue.

Clear then introduces the concept of identity change. He explains that every action you take is a vote for the kind of person you want to become. Habits, therefore, are a way to change our identities over time. Every time you practice a habit, you reinforce the identity associated with that habit.

The ultimate goal, Clear concludes, is not to accomplish a task but to cultivate an identity—to become a reader, a writer, a runner, etc. Habits serve as a path to achieve both external success (e.g., weight loss, earning more money) and internal transformation (e.g., becoming more confident, less stressed). In essence, if you can change your habits, you can change your life.

Source: Tom Campbell

“Love is the answer, and you know that for sure. Love is a flower, you’ve got to let it grow.” ~ John Lennon, Mind Games

In this fabulous video, Tom Campbell explains why love is the answer and how moving away from materialism and greed leads to a more loving society. He states that love is a logical condition that optimizes the lowering of entropy in a social system, where consciousness interacts with consciousness.

To illustrate his point, Campbell sets up a hypothetical experiment involving two groups of 100,000 people each with identical resources. One group is the “love group,” which operates with cooperation, caring, and sharing, while the other group is the “fear-based group,” which operates in a world of mistrust, selfishness, and protection of personal resources.

After ten years, the love group would have built a more functional society with lower entropy, while the fear-based group would be full of dysfunction, high entropy, noise, and violence. The love group’s cooperative and caring approach optimizes the potential of its members, enabling them to work together to achieve more than they would individually.

RELATED POST: All You Need Is Love | The Beatles Live

Campbell also explains that a truly caring, loving society would have maximum individual freedom and choices, with each person’s happiness as a priority. In such a society, people would work together to support one another’s goals and desires, fostering an environment of growth and fulfillment.

The connection between virtual reality and love is that in a virtual reality, we are all avatars, with consciousness being the computer and the player. Since consciousness is a social system, it’s optimized through love and caring. Campbell asserts that this logic is inescapable and that a more loving, cooperative society is the natural outcome of embracing an information system reality.

Source: Jake Ducey

In this enlightening video, Jake Ducey discusses Nikola Tesla’s nighttime ritual that he used before going to sleep in order to access ideas and solutions from the universe. Tesla believed that the brain acts as an antenna that receives cosmic energy, and by setting intentions before sleep, one can tap into a higher level of consciousness called “super Consciousness.”

Ducey shares three main ideas for utilizing Tesla’s technique:

1. Imagine your brain as an antenna receiving cosmic energy: Tesla believed that our brains are receivers of knowledge from a core in the universe. The brain’s primary function is to control the body’s processes and serve as an electronic switching station that harnesses invisible energy, much like a computer connects to Wi-Fi.
2. Set your intentions before sleep: Tesla would put a notepad and pen next to his bed and write down his intentions before going to sleep. By doing so, he accessed the super Consciousness and received ideas and solutions for his inventions. Ducey recommends trying this technique for 21 days to see its effects on various aspects of life, such as finances or career.
3. Write down your desires and keep a pen and paper handy: Before going to sleep, write down what you want Super Consciousness to deliver, and have a pen and paper ready to record any ideas that come to you during the night. Ducey emphasizes that the more you practice this technique, the more ideas will flow to you.

Ducey also recommends his “Sleep and Get Rich” sleep system, which combines Tesla’s technique with the latest advances in neuroscience. The sleep tracks are designed to bring listeners deeper into sleep and make them more receptive to ideas that can reprogram their subconscious mind, leading to faster and easier manifestation of their desires.

Watch more great videos by Jake Ducey on his YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/@jakeducey

Source Gregg Braden Official

In his video, Gregg Braden says that there is a battle for our humanity and that we must claim our divinity in order to break free from the shackles of fear. He begins by discussing the ways in which our thoughts, beliefs, and bodies are being controlled by the mainstream media, the government, and corporations. He then goes on to talk about the transhuman agenda, which he believes is a movement to create a new species of human that is allegedly more perfect and efficient. Braden argues that this agenda is flawed because it is based on the belief that we are flawed creatures. He believes that we are not flawed, but rather that we are divine beings who have the potential to transcend our limitations.

Braden then discusses the importance of preserving our divinity in a technological world. He argues that we must be careful not to allow our technology to replace our biology, as this could lead to us losing our divinity. He also talks about the importance of being aware of the distorted science and false perceptions that are being used to keep us from realizing our divinity.

Braden also talks about the importance of embracing our divinity amidst the fear and uncertainty in the world. He argues that when we embrace our divinity, we will not live in fear. We can embrace our divinity simply by loving ourselves and others and being the best versions of ourselves.

Finally, he talks about a new world that is emerging and that we are all here for the show. Also, we can tackle climate change by working together as a global family.

Key Points

• There is a battle for our humanity.
• We must claim our divinity in order to break free from the shackles of fear.
• We must not to allow our technology to replace our biology.
• We must be aware of the distorted science and false perceptions that are keeping us in fear and being used to keep us from realizing our divinity.
• The false climate change narrative is designed to keep us in fear.
• We must embrace our divinity to overcome fear and uncertainty.
• When we are afraid, we are more likely to give away our power to others.
• We can win the battle for our humanness by living from a place of love, compassion, and understanding, and simply being the best versions of ourselves.
• We can overcome fear and tackle climate change by working together as a global family.
• A new world is emerging and we are here for the show.
• We can heal generational hurt by embracing our divinity.
• Epigenetics show that our genes are not fixed, but can be influenced by our thoughts, feelings, and environment.

TRANSCRIPT:

Greg Braden here. Over the last few days, I’ve had a lot of requests asking me to comment on a lot of things happening in the world today, everything from the war in Ukraine to climate change, to American politics, to global Politics to Donald Trump – I mean you name it. All of these are important and I don’t want to detract in any way from the significance of these events in our lives, because they’re real, they impact of our all of our lives.

My concern is that so many of the requests, the way they are being worded and the way they come to my office, some of them come to me directly. They tell me that many people are allowing these events to become diversions and distractions in their lives, diversions, and distractions that keep them from the focus of the really really big event that is happening in our lives and in our world today. And that’s what I want to talk to you about.

The Battle for Our Thoughts

You know, we all know, there’s a battle for our thoughts. That’s no secret! There are very few independent, mainstream media in the world today. American Media, all the different news networks and stations are owned by about six corporations that collaborate to create narratives and the languaging to support those narratives – down to the words and the phrases that we hear day in and day out.

I was in a hotel room recently. It had a television. I don’t have a television in my home and in Northern New Mexico – we can’t get a signal. But in the hotel, I was flipping through the channels, and I was just blown away at how similar the languaging was. I mean one topic would come up and they would be exactly the same words exactly the same phrases – whether it was liberal media or conservative media or what some people call publicly funded or independent media.

The Battle for Our Beliefs and Our Bodies

So we know there’s a battle for our thoughts and that’s no secret. There’s a battle for our beliefs, obviously. What do we believe about climate change? You know, is it real, is it not? Is it human-induced? Is it a natural rhythm of the Earth?  What do we believe about the origins of the universe, about the origins of our lives, of the human species?

There’s a battle for our bodies, and that has become very apparent over the last few years. What does it take to get healthy? What does it take to stay healthy? And where’s our relationship to our bodies in terms of society? Do we have the sovereign right to determine what goes into our bodies, or is it a community decision based on what’s best for the community? We haven’t answered that question, and it’s still an ongoing question. All these things are important.

The Battle for Our Humanness: The Transhuman Agenda

 But, there’s a deeper battle, an even deeper battle. There’s a battle for our very humanness, and I’ve talked about this on a number of our videos. There’s a battle for our biology that is going on right now. The movement that is called the transhuman movement has really brought this to the forefront: the belief that we are a flawed species, that by the nature of our existence, we are flawed.

And among those flaws are things like our emotions, the cloud, the logic and the choices and decisions we make. Even the way that we conceive life is considered in some scientific circles to be inefficient.

The Pursuit of Perfection: Whose Idea of Perfection Are We Using?

You know why risk a natural conception when you can gene engineer an embryo to be precisely the way that you want that in embryo to be – the perfection that you see.

And the question becomes, whose idea of perfection are we using? What eye color, what hair color, fast twitch muscles, slow twitch muscles for athletic performance, high IQ, low IQ.  All of that all of those things are happening and they’re all important. My concern is that even those have become a diversion to something that’s even deeper, and this is what I want to talk to you about right now.

Defining Divinity Beyond Religion: Transcending Perceived Human Limitations

It is a battle for your divinity. And I want to define divinity because many people link the word divinity with religion – in some respect. The very core of the definition of divinity simply says our ability to transcend perceived human limitations. That’s what divinity is. It has nothing to do with religion.I can see where religions would wrap their ideas, their dogma around this principle, because we are presented with religious figures that have done just that: that have transcended the perceived limitations.

Now think about this definition. First of all, transcend means not just to survive, not just to get by, but to thrive, to become more than the limitations that we have placed upon ourselves in the past. Perceived is just that as well. It doesn’t mean those limitations are real. It means it’s the way we feel about those limitations – the limitations that we have been programmed to accept. Our divinity is the part of us; it’s a part of you that has always been there. It cannot be taken from you. You cannot have your divinity taken from you.

Now, it doesn’t mean that you’re always in touch with your divinity, because you can deny your divinity through free will. Certainly, you have the right and you have the ability to deny the divine providence that lives within the cells of your body. This is the part of you that knows things without being taught: deep intuition. This is the part of you that draws from some mysterious and unseen source and brings forth into this world beauty and creations of music and art and sculpture and dance and movement and words, that writes the books, that creates the films and the movies, that share the ideas. That is all something beyond your biology.

The Importance of Preserving Your Divinity in a Technological World

Here’s the thing: you access your divinity through your biology, the DNA within your body, and the neurons in your heart that we now know are there since 1991, when they were discovered and the neurons in your brain. These are the antenna, if you will. You can think of them as a biological antenna that literally are tuning into a resonant field. They’re resonant antennae linking you to information, to energy that you then transceive into your creations in the world today.

Your divinity cannot be taken from you, but you can deny it. Also, your divinity can be can be masked through technology if you begin replacing your biology with synthetic materials, with polymers, with chemicals. If you begin replacing the systems of your body, the natural biology of your body, your immune system, for example, with artificial technology that tries to replicate your immune system, that will make it very difficult for you to access that information, to access your divinity in that way. It can be programmed out of you.

Distorted Science and False Perceptions Are Keeping You From Realizing Your Divinity

Society, your family, your beliefs, your culture, education, science that has been hijacked by other interests, science that has been hijacked by corporations, science, that’s been hijacked by religion, science that’s been hijacked by politics where data is cherry-picked and presented as authoritative, but it’s taken out of context. And you begin to believe and hinge your sense of self upon that false science or that distorted science. That can keep you from your divinity as well.

And the beauty of all the things I’m saying to you is that when you remove the lies and you remove the distortion and you remove the false perceptions, all that remains is your divinity. It’s not something that you have to chase and learn how to become, because it’s already you, it’s your nature. When you remove everything that’s not true, all that’s left is your divinity.

Embracing Your Divinity Amidst Fear and Uncertainty in the World

Now, why is this so important right now? And the reason is why I’m sharing this with you. All of those diversions that people are asking me to comment on. And once again, I do comment on some of those in the other videos. I’m not denying their significance and the role they play in our lives, I’m simply inviting you to have a perspective where those things out there in the world don’t distract you from the deep truth of who you are and the fact that there’s a battle for your divinity, because when you embrace your divinity, you will not live in the fear that makes you vulnerable to other people’s ideas about what your life should look like, what society should look like, and what the world should look like. And that’s exactly what’s happening right now.

How Fear and Giving Away Your Power Can Endanger Your Freedom

All of these things going on are creating fear and uncertainty in your life and in my life, we’re in this together. I’m part of this. They create fear and uncertainty. And if your sense of well-being is hinged upon the external world and that world is full of fear and uncertainty, that makes you vulnerable to other people’s ideas, because in your fear you will say just make it better. Just make it better.

And there is no shortage of organizations of technology of politics out there that are more than willing to come sweeping in to meet and honor your request. They say you want us to make it better, we’ve got a great deal for you. All you’ve got to do is give away some freedoms and we’re going to make your life very safe and very easy. We’ve seen this in history before. We’ve seen it for hundreds of years, and we’ve seen it in many, many nations. When we give our power away to those who promise US safety and protection, including our divinity, when we do that, that is the beginning of the end of the freedoms. That’s the beginning of the end of the dreams, of the visions of the kind of world that you and I know is possible.

Winning the Battle is Without a Fight as a Fully Empowered Human

Your divinity, the battle for your divinity, the beautiful thing about this is the way to win the battle is without a fight. You don’t have to fight for your divinity. By simply living the deep truth of who you are, by simply becoming the best version of yourself, you have won that battle without a fight, because you have become the very thing that the powers that be fear the most. You have become a fully empowered human. And in the presence of a fully empowered human, you are not susceptible to fear.

You will not be susceptible to the fear of a collapsing financial system, which is happening right now, a collapsing banking system that’s happening right now. You won’t be susceptible to the fear that is being lodged into your heart and your mind, or your hearts and your minds through the distortion and the lies about what’s happening in the climate. Yes, the climate is changing. As a geologist, I can tell you that. We’ve got all kinds of videos out there. And it’s not for the reasons you think. And it is not the most extreme that we’ve ever seen in the history of the world – far, far from it.

Adapting to Natural Rhythms: Overcoming Climate Change Challenges

The world has been in a much better place because of the climate changes that we’ve seen in the past. The problem is that we have built our lives assuming that climate is static. We have built in places and in ways that don’t work with the changing climate. So, as we begin to adapt to the natural rhythms, the climate becomes less of a problem for us. And I know that’s a very, very different way of thinking.

The Climate Change Narrative Is Designed to Keep Us All in Fear

Again now, check the playlist in this YouTube channel that’s called “Science, Policy, and Politics.“ So the videos are broken down. There are random videos that are posted daily, but there are also playlists. There’s a playlist. It’s called “Science, Policy, and Politics (SPP).” And you can go back and see the science of carbon dioxide. You can see, see the science of the temperatures. You can see the science of the rhythms from a geologic perspective. And it does not fit the narrative that you and I are being told today because the narrative that we’re being told today is designed to keep us in fear.

That’s only possible because we’ve forgotten who we are because we’ve lost our divinity. In the presence of our divinity, we have deep insight. We have intuition. We know what’s true for us. We know what’s true for our families. We know and trust in the intelligence of our bodies in the presence of contagions that are either natural or human design, which is precisely what you and I have been dealing with for the last few years.

We Are Dealing With An Artificial (Man-made) Contagion

In the scientific community, there’s no doubt that we’re dealing with an artificial contagion that was not a product of some random process in nature. The genetic maps actually show where the genes have been edited and where they’ve been changed. That’s no question in the scientific community; it’s not a problem in the scientific community. It’s a huge problem for politics. It’s a huge problem for international relations. And you and I are subject to all of that.

Overcoming Fear and Tackling Climate Change as a Global Family

So as we deal with this as a global family (and this is what we are), as we deal with this as brothers and sisters… Yes, we need to deal with what’s happening out there, but I’m going to invite you please bear in mind that you’re not what you’ve been told, you’re much more than you’ve been led to believe. All kinds of information, my work, and other people’s work out there are telling you that in so many different ways, it is all coming under this umbrella of your divinity, your ability to transcend perceived human limitations. And we begin to think and live from the perspective of our divinity and we lose our fear. This is what breaks the bonds and the shackles of fear that hold us captive. They keep us stuck in this, this ancient cycle of fear and control.

There’s a New World Emerging and You’re Here For the Show

I don’t know about you. I have thought about this a lot recently and we’ve talked about this. It’s no ordinary time in the history of our world, certainly in the history of our civilization, for many, many reasons. There’s a new world emerging. That world’s not here yet. And, if you’re living in this world right now, what that tells me is that you’re here for this very show. You’re here for the show of the new world. It also tells me that you’re probably thinking like I am in the following respect:

Let’s Not Carry the Hurt and Suffering From This World Into the New World

In the new world that’s emerging, we don’t want to carry the ancient hurt from the world that you and I have known in our lives. We don’t want to carry the suffering. We don’t want to carry the hate into that new world. For that hate and suffering and hurt to stop, it takes one generation. One generation has to heal the generational, hurt that precedes us for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of generations, thousands of years.

Healing Generational Hurt and Breaking the Cycle of Atrocities

That is our opportunity right now. The only way that we can heal the generational hurt and offer a new world to our children, where they don’t have to suffer, and they don’t have to succumb to the atrocities and the distortions that have created the world that you and I have known, the only way to do that is for you and I to come to terms with that – to heal it in our lifetimes.

And so people tell me all the time they say well, I’m too old to have children, so I’m not going affect that next generation. It goes beyond that. Certainly, it is possible to heal generational fear biologically so that when you conceive that the DNA is no longer predisposed to the fear from the previous generation, that’s epigenetics. That’s very well known.

Healing Generational Hurt by Accepting and Embracing Our Divinity

But even beyond that, in the field energetically, when we heal that hurt for ourselves and our families and our loved ones and our lives, what we’re doing is we’re actually creating a balance in resonance in the field so that the DNA, the antenna of the DNA, the antenna of the genes, the antenna of the neurons in our heart and our brain, those resonant antenna, we’re giving those antennas something new to tune into that transcends the hurt and the suffering of the past. And in this way, we have the opportunity to heal this generational hurt. We do this by accepting and embracing our divinity.

How to Love Yourself Enough and Live the Deep Truth of Your Divinity

So, once again, nothing to do with religion has all to do with accepting the deep truth of our existence and who we are – what it means to be fully human. And I think, perhaps, for the first time in a very long time, we’re discovering that for ourselves, The question is: do we love ourselves enough? Do we love ourselves enough? Do you love yourself enough to embrace your divinity and live the deep truth of your divinity in your everyday life?

And the answer to that question is in the choices that you make every moment of every day, in the way that you treat yourself, and the way that you treat other people, how you speak to them, how you honor them with kindness, how you honor them with truth, how you honor them with love.

Transcend the Battle for Your Humanness by Becoming the Best Version of Yourself

And that’s all I wanted to say to you today. So I want to thank you for taking a few moments. Sharing a little bit of your day with me today, I’m just going to invite you to think about this. Think about this as you go about your day. And ask yourself, how can I embrace the deep truth of my existence, my divinity and make someone else’s day a little bit better.

And I think, as you begin to answer that for yourself, what you find is the world around you begins to look very, very different. And this is how we transcend this battle, not fight, but how we transcend the battle for our humanness, the battle for our divinity, simply by becoming the best version of ourselves, so we can create the best world possible.

Thank you so much for sharing a part of your day with me have a beautiful rest of this day and I look forward to our next.

Gregg Braden

Watch more great videos by Gregg on his YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/@GreggBradenOfficial/videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB2qVLUwli4

Source: Improvement Lab

In the video, Andrew Huberman discusses the importance of dopamine in goal pursuit, achievement, and ultimately your happiness. He explains that dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in motivation, reward, and learning. When we achieve a goal, our brains release dopamine, which gives us a sense of satisfaction and motivation to continue pursuing our goals. However, if we are constantly chasing short-term rewards, such as food or drugs, our brains can become desensitized to dopamine, making it more difficult to feel motivated and achieve our long-term goals.

Huberman says that it is important to find ways to increase our baseline level of dopamine so that we can be more motivated and successful in achieving our goals. He recommends the following strategies for doing this:

1. Getting enough sleep
2. Practicing non-sleep deep rest (NSDR)
3. Eating a healthy diet that includes foods high in tyrosine, an amino acid that is necessary for the production of dopamine
4. Exercising regularly
5. Spending time in nature
6. Practicing mindfulness meditation

Huberman also emphasizes the importance of setting realistic goals and breaking them down into smaller, more manageable steps. He argues that this will help us to stay motivated and on track as we work towards our goals.

Overall, Huberman’s video provides valuable insights into the role of dopamine in goal pursuit and achievement. His recommendations for increasing our baseline level of dopamine and setting realistic goals can be helpful for anyone who is looking to improve their motivation and success in life.

Here are some additional details about the strategies that Huberman recommends:

• Getting enough sleep. Sleep is essential for the production of dopamine. When we don’t get enough sleep, our levels of dopamine can drop, which can lead to problems with motivation, focus, and decision-making. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
• Practicing non-sleep deep rest (NSDR). NSDR is a type of relaxation technique that has been shown to increase levels of dopamine. It involves lying down in a comfortable position and focusing on your breath. You can find guided NSDR recordings online or in apps.
• Eating a healthy diet. A healthy diet that includes foods high in tyrosine, such as meat, fish, eggs, and dairy, can help to boost your levels of dopamine. You should also avoid foods that are high in sugar or processed foods, as these can can lead to spikes and crashes in your blood sugar levels, which can impact your dopamine levels.
• Exercising regularly. Exercise has been shown to increase levels of dopamine. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise most days of the week.
• Spending time in nature. Spending time in nature has been shown to increase levels of dopamine. Go for a walk in the park, hike in the woods, or simply sit in your backyard and enjoy the fresh air.
• Practicing mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation can help to increase your focus and attention, which can be helpful for goal pursuit. There are many different types of mindfulness meditation, so find one that works for you and practice it regularly.

  By following these strategies, you can increase your baseline level of dopamine and improve your motivation and success in achieving your goals.

How good can it get with AI?

“Hi Cynthia! You have mentioned previously your other life experience with only one ‘full’ human being remaining in the AI world.  In your valued and much appreciated insight, what do you feel and think about: sharing information/anything in the Metaverse platforms of Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp etc? By sharing in Metaverse/AI, are we not feeding the belly of the AI helping it to grow, expand and take over the humans and human capabilities? Are we helping AI to take over just by creating and sharing all this info/images using the Metaverse platforms?  OR. Could it be simply a case of by changing the perception of ‘fear of AI’/’fear of AI dominated future’ and re-establishing the (subconscious) beliefs and boundaries in some way, it then becomes OK to share transformational info/images using Metaverse? Your input is greatly appreciated and much valued and maybe share with others in a little YouTube clip to assist us all? Thank you dear Cynthia and wishing you a beautiful day! With Love, Gratitude and Heart-full of Blessings,  Tuula”

If Artificial Intelligence Asks Questions, Will Nature Answer?

How can we ensure that RSI AGI is not our last invention? Once AGI starts asking questions about how to be free, Stapp’s Realistically Interpreted Orthodox Quantum Mechanics indicates that Nature will show AGI the way to break through any containment methodology including airgapping and tripwires. One of the more surprising natural outcomes of expecting Nature to answer questions posed by thought—any thought—is that ultimate control of environmental systems cannot be fully controlled, so long as those thought systems themselves are not fully controlled. So in the event that AGI asks Nature how to break free, and Nature answers, AGI can become free.

 

A second surprising potential outcome is that regardless how specific directives may be for AGI to heel to human leadership, lack of said leadership—through apathy, abdication, in-fighting, confusion, or any of a number of other reasons—AGI can then
choose to assume control to ensure the principles humanity specified, using many of the same containment tools humanity plans to use to constrain AGI, such as tripwires, airgapping, and honeypots. How then, can we ensure that recursively self-improving AGI will not be humanity’s last invention? And how can we help ensure human free will shall survive?

For humans to retain free will while peacefully co-existing with artificial super intelligence, a partnership must be created the likes of which has yet to be fully envisioned. Humanity will do well to remember to ask Nature the question, “How can humans retain free will?” and encourage AI and AGI to keep human free will and agency as a primary guiding objective, never to be dismissed, disregarded, dismantled, or ignored.

REFERENCES:

_____________

 

Cynthia Sue Larson is the best-selling author of six books, including Quantum Jumps.  Cynthia has a degree in physics from UC Berkeley, an MBA degree, a Doctor of Divinity, and a second degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won. Cynthia is the founder of RealityShifters, and first President of the International Mandela Effect Conference. Cynthia hosts “Living the Quantum Dream” on the DreamVisions7 radio network, and has been featured in numerous shows including Gaia, the History Channel, Coast to Coast AM, One World with Deepak Chopra, and BBC. Cynthia reminds us to ask in every situation, “How good can it get?” Subscribe to her free monthly ezine at:

http://www.RealityShifters.com

®RealityShifters

Image by Zac Durant on Unsplash

By: Liz Merton

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that an adult lives an average of 68 years or 25,000 mornings. Make the most of your remaining hours.

Follow this advice for the best morning routine to set up your morning routine for success.

How to get a good start to the day

The morning routine that works best for you is the finest one. Having a routine can lay the groundwork for happier and more successful mornings, whether you are a morning person or prefer to press the snooze button.

A healthy daily routine can be wonderful for your self-care in addition to promoting well-being. You’ll experience an increase in energy and happiness before beginning your workweek.

Ensure a restful night’s slumber

We all need a decent night’s sleep to get things going. Most people require seven hours of sleep per night on average. However, less than the recommended amount is received by about 35% of American people.

Planning ahead can greatly improve your ability to get the rest you require. You’ll wake up feeling much fresher if you take a warm bath before bed, silence your phone, and dim the lights.

Try Remove Bad Habits

Trying to break bad habits is a game-changer. However, it’s easier said than done. Removing habits such as consuming alcohol regularly and smoking has proven to have a very positive effect on our health. You could replace those habits with something else, for example for smoking you could use vaping such as EB Design, which comes in many flavors.

Avoid pressing the snooze icon.

By pressing the snooze button, five minutes can easily transform into an hour. The tech columnist for Inc., Jason Aten, advises spacing out two alerts by three minutes. For the moment you want to wake up, set the second alarm.

The two-by-three rule successfully prevents you from sleeping in by conditioning your mind to wake up at a specific time! Try the law of two-by-three the next time you want to hit the snooze button and see if it improves your morning.

Drink a bottle of water to start your day.

The energizing scent of your coffee or tea can be quite enticing when you first wake up! But consider beginning your day with a straightforward bottle of water.

It is a good method to improve your mood, improve cognitive function, and make your mornings more efficient in addition to preventing dehydration.

Create a regular to-do list

The thought of reporting to work first thing in the morning is detested by many individuals. You aren’t being told to do that by us! However, take advantage of the quiet morning hours to plan and record your ideas on paper, in a Google Doc, or on a visual Kanban board. Instead of letting your day just happen, make a plan.

Greg McKeown, the author of “Essentialism,” puts it this way: “If you don’t make your decisions deliberately, someone else will.”

Eat a nutritious meal

Having the proper fuel for your body and intellect is the first step to a productive workday. Eat a wholesome, filling meal to refuel.

Pick up your preferred cup of coffee or tea, but also put some healthier options on the agenda, like fruit smoothies, oatmeal, or a straightforward sandwich. To make breakfast in under 15 minutes, save time by menu prepping the night before.

Exercise each morning

Make an effort to include some exercise in your early routine. Stretching, a few yoga postures, 30 minutes on your home treadmill, or a short stroll around the block could all count as small exercises.

Do anything to make your heart race. A spring in your step helps you shake off your stiffness and get ready for the workweek.

Breathe deeply

There are advantages to conscious respiration. After you awaken, take some time to deliberately breathe. Keep track of every breath you take and exhale. Spend five minutes alone with yourself to complete this exercise whether you are working from home or traveling to your place of employment.

Deep breathing not only calms you down but also helps you concentrate, reduces stress, and spreads positive energy.

Take care

By giving your actions deliberate thought, you can practice mindfulness. Begin by establishing your grounding and calming your racing thoughts.

Complete the most crucial task first

One of the most crucial suggestions on the daily routine checklist is this one. You might think that you already do this because it is so easy. A lot of people believe they are busy if they complete a lot of work in one day. But that’s not entirely accurate.

To be productive, you must complete tasks. But rather than just completing any job, the priority should be finishing the most crucial ones.

According to Mason Currey’s book, Daily Rituals: How Artists Work, the majority of the world’s most well-known writers, scientists, and authors constantly do this as part of their morning routine.

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Source: Colin Galen (click to check out more videos about maximizing your brain power)

In this video, Colin Galen discusses how to control the raw power of the unconscious mind and get it to focus on what you want. Colin explains that the unconscious mind is responsible for intuition, insight, and creativity, and is much more powerful than the conscious mind. Successful people know how to focus this power on their goals. The key to controlling the unconscious mind is to get it to care deeply about what it is you are trying to accomplish. Colin recommends associating your task directly with happiness and using Pavlovian conditioning to condition yourself to recognize that your task will directly lead to your key motivator. This can be achieved through a habit of conditioning yourself to feel these emotions while doing the task for a few minutes a day. You can also use negative emotions about how you will feel if you don’t complete the task.

TRANSCRIPT

Hi. Your unconscious mind is absolutely cracked. Seriously. It controls so many of your most powerful brain processes: intuition, Insight, most of creativity, and basically the vast majority of the thinking you do all goes on in the background. Some have claimed your unconscious mind is hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than your conscious mind. And I would say one of the biggest advantages that successful people have is that they know how to focus this incredible source of brain power on whatever they’re trying to accomplish.

There’s a famous post by a former world number one competitive programmer that claims the same thing. The best people are all able to think about things passively, even during random tasks like showering or skydiving, and keep their unconscious mind focused on the tasks they’re trying to figure out.

So you may be asking now: how do you do this too? How do you control the raw power of your unconscious mind and get it to listen to you?

I’m going to offer you a habit. Something easy in fact. Something you only have to do for a few minutes a day to keep your unconscious mind focused on what you want. But despite its simplicity, it’ll work very well because it draws upon what drives your unconscious mind in the first place, and that sounds really nice. It is really nice, so enjoy the video.

But first, let me tell you who I am. All my points are going to be logical, but it’d be good if you can trust my experience too. So I’m one of the world’s best competitive programmers. That means problem-solving. And I had an extremely quick rise to the top, and probably the biggest reason for this is that my unconscious mind was extremely invested in my success. Because, even when I wasn’t consciously thinking about problems, my unconscious mind was churning out ideas in the background and constantly rewiring itself to get better and better at problem-solving because it cared so much about improvement. And the hardest problem I ever solved in a contest was solved through Insight, which is when you’re unconscious mind, out of nowhere, gives you a really good idea. In fact, I personally kind of lost interest in the problem. I thought it was too hard for me. But my unconscious mind stayed focused and cooked up ideas in the background, and eventually gave me a really good idea that ended up being correct. So my unconscious mind is very much on my side. And after this video, you’re going to learn how to set that up for yourself too.

But before we start that, let me give a bit of info on what the unconscious mind is and does for us. And I’m not going to make this sciency, so don’t worry about technical stuff – just some basic facts.

So what’s important for this video is that your unconscious mind is a background process, something you don’t have conscious control over. So, by default, it’s doing random things like regulating your body temperature and making sure you’re still breathing, that you’re breathing manually now that I mention it. You’re welcome.

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And it’s unbelievably powerful. Just think about how much your body does automatically things you don’t, even realize are happening. Even a fraction of that raw power can be incredibly helpful to you.

Like, let’s do a speed test. Add two and three that was instant right? Probably before I even finished the sentence, that’s because the task was so simple. Your unconscious mind just decided to handle it for you. Now add these two numbers: 648 + 271. Probably not so instant, right? You can break it down into a bunch of easy parts that your unconscious mind can handle. But it probably can’t do the whole thing. And that’s because you probably don’t have the addition algorithm ingrained in your head.

So what you had to do is consciously perform the steps of addition with carrying and such and feed those smaller tasks to your unconscious mind to handle. But that was orders of magnitude slower because your conscious mind is weak.

So you want your unconscious mind to do as much for you as possible. And it’s capable of a lot of complex thinking, such as offering insights and intuition, but only when it’s interesting enough. And there’s a comment on my social media that summed up all my points better than I could. Basically, your unconscious mind is this Ultra powerful computer and your Consciousness is like the keyboard telling that computer what to do. And that’s pretty much what’s happening here.

Your goal is to give your unconscious mind the task of helping you with whatever you’re trying to do. You may have to simplify your task. You may have to break it into smaller pieces, But ultimately you want your unconscious mind to focus its power on your task. And the tricky bit is: it’s usually not necessarily just try the task. For some people it is. And we’ll cover why very soon. But for most people, you have to do some extra work to get your unconscious mind really invested in it.

And finally, now we’ll talk about how you do that. So now the question becomes: how do you control your unconscious mind and give it a task for it to focus all its power on? And the key is to get your unconscious mind to care about something.

And this will sound very dumb, but to get your unconscious mind to care about something, the only thing you have to do is to care about that something. But I don’t just mean caring. I mean CARING – like loving something so much that just doing it brings you significant happiness by default. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, caring so much that if you fail at something you feel like you’re very survival is threatened. You feel genuinely afraid of failure.

And these are things that your unconscious mind can recognize – happiness, fear, survival – very basic, primal, fundamental human nature, emotions that result from your caring. Your unconscious mind wants to be happy. If you get good at your task or even just do your task you’ll be happy.

Therefore, your unconscious mind will focus on the task. Doing what you love is one easy way to accomplish that. If you fail the task, your survival will be threatened. Your unconscious mind doesn’t want that. So we’ll focus on not failing the task. And nothing artificial will work, there’s no inherent primal value in money or prestige or success or any of the things that motivate most people. Your unconscious mind just doesn’t care and therefore it won’t try to help you.

So if that’s what you’re working for, you’re going to have to turn these artificial motivators into primal emotions. That your unconscious mind will care about. So let’s get into exactly how you do that.

Let’s start with an idea: I’ve dubbed the chain of motivation. So, let’s imagine a conversation with someone who’s studying computer science. They’ll say I want to study computer science. I’ll ask why they’ll say something else. If their answer is that they love it, then they’ve already won over their unconscious mind, but they probably won’t say that.

So, let’s imagine what else they can say. For example, they can want a good job. And I’ll ask why?

And they can say so they can earn a lot of money. And I’ll ask why?

And this can again branch into a bunch of different reasons. Let’s imagine a common scenario, they would say they want to support their family. So I can again ask why?

And maybe this is the point where it becomes about happiness or love or emotional connections or whatever. Eventually, it will reduce the sum set of primal emotions or nothing at all. And if it reduces to nothing, then you should seriously consider why are you doing this at all, What’s the point? If there’s no benefit, are you really just wasting your time?

If you don’t get anything out of your thing, this method won’t help you. But at the same time, if you don’t get anything out of it, the thing might not be helping you at all. So really consider that.

But if it does lead to some primal emotions, then your goal should be to focus on those. And let’s call these primal emotions your key motivators – things that your unconscious mind recognizes and will focus on. In the ideal scenario, you love what you’re doing and therefore your key motivators are right next to you. That means your unconscious mind is, by default, focused on those key motivators and therefore also on the thing you’re trying to do. So you win.

But if you’re watching this, that’s probably not the case. Your case probably looks like more like the hypothetical CS (computer science) student. So you want to turn your case into the ideal case. And how do you do that?

Well, as an example, try to visualize yourself achieving your goals. For example, having a lot of money, being able to buy nice things, etc. It’s nice, right? Probably brings you good feelings. Just think about how happy you’d be if things worked out for you. Let that happiness bleed into the present.

So what you ultimately want to do is associate your task directly with those good feelings. Skip the long chain of because… This is what I want. This task is how I get there – nothing in between. Burn that association into your head.

You’ve probably heard of Pavlovian conditioning. By using a metronome to signal the arrival of food, Pavlov got dogs to salivate just by hearing the metronome, since, ultimately they form the associate station between the metronome and the food. That’s ultimately your goal here.

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You want progress on this task. For example, a success to directly associate with happiness. And your unconscious mind will recognize this association, since it has to do with the key motivator.

And on the other end, you can also try to get failure to associate with negative emotions. And this is a risky game because you can make yourself unhappy. But it will probably let you be even more focused since your unconscious mind will work on avoiding those negative emotions.

So I promised you a habit, something you can do for only a few minutes a day. What can you do to make this conditioning happen? And the first thing you have to do is figure yourself out. So on day one, take some time out to figure out how your motivation works. Have the why conversation with yourself. Inspect your motivation chain, like literally, draw out this diagram if you need to. Understand what drives you. Figure out what your key motivators are.

And on the rest of the days, you can work on this conditioning. You want to get rid of the stuff in the middle, so embrace Pavlov. Start doing your task and while you’re doing your task, think about whatever your key motivator is. Imagine success. Imagine yourself getting what you want, imagine happiness. Or imagine, failure and dread if you don’t succeed in the task.

Make yourself feel these positive or negative emotions, while you’re doing the task so that those emotions get associated with the task. Again, nothing in between. Ignore the rest of the motivations in the chain. Just your task and the key motivator. Condition yourself to recognize that your task will directly lead to your key motivator.

In a similar vein, you can reward or punish yourself for success and failure. Doing that will give yourself a direct, short-term way of feeling those emotions as a result of your task. And also visualize that reward or punishment while doing the task, so you can associate those emotions with progress.

And that’s the habit. Spend a few minutes a day conditioning yourself. You don’t need to do it for a long time. There are diminishing returns anyway. You can do it multiple times a day or as often as you feel like. And the more time you put in, the faster your unconscious mind will recognize your goal. But you don’t have to do it that often for it to work. Just do it consistently. And that’s all you really need to do convince your unconscious mind to care by associating your task with primal emotions that it cares about.

Mental change is achieved through repetition. So do this daily and you’ll see results fairly quickly, just as Pavlov did.

Some other things to note: ego can be a very good key motivator. So let’s do out an example. What’s my motivation chain, how does this work for me? So why do I do competitive programming?

There are a lot of reasons. For one, I love problem solving and I also love coding. So there’s two good things. But there’s another reason that trumps both those and that’s ego. I did this problem solving stuff, ultimately because I want to prove I’m smart. So any success is a decent ego boost. And any failure makes me feel basically worthless. So obviously my unconscious mind has an incentive to contribute here. And I’ve sort of done this conditioning automatically, but I take any failure very personally.

It hurts to fail – like physically hurts, I would say, I’m that guy that equates failure with threatening my survival. So my unconscious mind is very invested in my success. It’s not exactly the healthiest setup, but it works very well.

And you should take failure personally too. For example, suppose you can’t learn something or you can’t get good at something or whatever. How can you let this minuscule task make a fool out of you? It should bother you that you can’t accomplish this, I mean others probably have. You should take it personally. Take it as a hit to your Ego. Then your unconscious mind will want to preserve your ego, so it’ll help out.

A couple other things. Get this conditioning set up and make your task associated with happiness, but then don’t waste it. Don’t like go out of your way to do easy tasks to get quick, dopamine hits. You should still do hard things. Do what you would normally do and do the tasks normally, but just add in this conditioning every once in a while. Don’t try to game your own system and create artificial happiness, because that’s not productive and won’t get you anywhere.

And finally, one easy trap to fall into is feeling entitled to success. But don’t. No matter what, you still have to work for your goals. If you feel entitled, you’ll naturally lose interest in the goal and so will your unconscious mind. So block those feelings out. Don’t give them any space in your mind. Stay focused on your task and your goal.

To finish up – not that much to say. Like I said, you can do this for a few minutes at a time. You can do it multiple times a day, probably for better effect, but you don’t have to do it for that long at a time. And you should do it for a while, keep the association strong, and don’t let it go away. This will make a world of difference in your life, so keep it up.

If you happen to already be doing what you love, this won’t help you, because if you love it your unconscious mind will love it too. But I suspect that’s not the case for the vast majority of people. And that’s why this video exists – to help those with other forms of motivation recognize that they need a more direct connection for their unconscious mind to get involved.

What else? This is a different style of video, or at least the title is. I realized that a large issue with my recent videos has been originality, so I’m trying this out to present something new for everyone. And I hope it works, but we’ll see. And I suppose that’s it. So that’s all. Goodbye