There is so much information these days about vigilance in our thinking. I've been in groups--in fact, led groups--where that vigilance was definitely promoted. What I know about this is not so much the content of the thought, but the focus of the consciousness, is what is important.
In seminars, people are often surprised to hear me say that God is not interested in affirmations. Somehow, they have what we do to re-focus our own thinking confused with praying. For some, from more fundamentalist belief systems, they continue their fear-based behavior and do affirmations "religiously." The only purpose affirmations serve is to keep you focused on a new thought pattern, likely a more positive one than you previously entertained.
Let's not confuse consciousness with thinking! Mental activity is a reasoning activity. It is about thinking. Consciousness does not reason or think. It just becomes aware. I can see you standing there without thinking. I simply become aware of your presence. Two and two are four is a state. Thinking does not make it so. It has always been four, never three or five, so there was no process of making them four, no mental activity that made it so.
Awareness is the only activity required. That is why sitting in Soul Solitude is such an important practice. Bringing the awareness of "I and the Father are one." into focus and giving it our attention lifts us to greater spiritual discernment. Being aware that this is our truth is the practice. Bringing it to consciousness is the only activity.
Joel Goldsmith wrote:
"It is only when the human mind isn't working, when in the very stillness of your innermost being, when your soul senses are aroused--when your spiritual awareness is aroused--that you can behold the perfect man. ...In other words, the humanly mental process has nothing to do with spiritual truth....No amount of any human mental process enters into this presentation. It is purely through the development of your spiritual consciousness. It is through the development of the soul sense."
This is a giant leap for many, a next step for some, in spiritual understanding. Things like 'The Secret' open our minds to possibilities, to new thought. Many will rest there. I encourage you to keep on moving forward in spiritual growth and awareness.
Make love the dominating influence in your experience. Become aware of and receptive to God's presence in your life. There is no power apart from God and we can get the spiritual "feel" of that. Sit in Soul Solitude, open and receptive...and listen.
Many blessings,
Rhoberta
Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
Co-Author, SOUL SOLITUDE: Taking Time for Our Souls to Catch Up
www.SoulSolitude.com
Join us at the free social networking site for spiritually-minded folks. It's free!
www.SpiritualLivingNetwork.com
Monday, May 26, 2008
Let's not confuse consciousness with thinking!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I find your blog Beautiful.
You may have a look at my blog too at rajrishi.gaia.com/blog
I agree that consciousness is an observant state of being. I'm interested in how you can exploit consciousness to help you in achieving your goals.
I use mediation every single to relax and prepare my subconscious mind to soak in my visions of a better lifestyle. However, I feel like I only slip into the "trance" for a brief moment. How do I stay in this moment for longer?
Another method I've been using lately is visualization with vision boards. Have you ever heard of them? They are images pasted on a board that represents your hopes, dreams, and goals. Studying these boards every days plants seeds of these goals within your subconscious mind.
Your subconscious mind is where all of habits are formed. Combine these visualizations with mediation and affirmations, and the seed in your subconscious mind will begin to grow, sprouting a newly developed habit that is oriented towards your desired outcome, or goal.
John Assaraf does a better job of explaining this and showing you how to do it in his new book "The Complete Vision Board Kit." I downloaded the free chapter here: http://tinyurl.com/56mfen
Thanks for sharing your insights. They are always welcome here.
Expanding the moments when we feel truly "connected" in meditation is a worthy goal. It seems paradoxical that it happens when we are both relaxed and focused. Keep the body relaxed and the mind focused.
I don't think there is a need for many rules for this. Sit comfortably. Take a few deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Fall silent. Turn your attention connecting and communing with God.
One thing that I have found that works for me is to turn my attention to the middle of my forehead. This disinhibits thinking and creates quiet. It is really helpful to me.
I know that visualization boards, or 'treasure maps' as they were originally called, are very effective. That's so because it turns your consciousness to what you wish to draw into your life and sets the intention in that direction. That's why I wrote the book, What You Pay Attention to Expands. It works!
Many blessings,
Rhoberta
Post a Comment