A.C. Ping's Blog, page 7

Are You Ready For Revolution?

"One cannot resist an idea whose time has come."
Victor Hugo

Sitting here in Australia near the beautiful beach of Byron Bay I've been amazed to see how quickly the revolutionary sentiment of Egypt, Libya and other countries has spread to Spain and other European countries.

At a recent protest rally a young man held a sign that said "Nobody Expects the Spanish Revolution". But could we have seen this coming?  How far could it spread? and What should/can we do about it?

I think the answer to the first question is YES!

If we look to nature we can see that systems like to stay in balance. This doesn't mean that everything is lovely and benign but that one force often opposes an equal and opposite force. If a system swings out of balance it may go quite some way before reaching what is called the Tipping Point – the point at which a system is displaced from a state of equilibrium into a different state.

Systems often cope with some pretty severe shocks before righting themselves and resuming along the original path as if nothing has happened. But if the tipping point is reached it may only take a very small incident to provoke major change.

When I wrote 'The Self Mastery Toolbox' a couple of years ago I proposed that there were 5 lies that would trigger the revolution. These were/are:-

1.    That rampant materialism provides for lasting happiness.

2.    That the Earth is an infinite resource.

3.    That we as human beings hold a privileged position above all the other creatures on Earth.

4.    That we, as human beings, are separate from each other.

5.    That there is only one God/answer/pathway to heaven and enlightenment.

One could write a book about these lies - as many have - but just a couple of points to note.

We've learnt nothing from the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 – in many cases the Government (read 'we') have bailed out mega rich corporations and the individuals who run them based on the idea that "They are too big to fail".

Spanish revolution is triggered in part by 21% unemployment. Rising food prices squeezed more pain into Egypt. Greeks are upset by austerity measures demanded after European Union financial bailouts...

"The rich get richer, the poor get the picture"
Midnight Oil

Unequal distribution of wealth is causing inter-generational and intra-generational tensions. That means between people of different ages and people of the same ages in different countries – see lies #1 and #4 above.

Lie #2 – can I just say BP Oil Spill, the failure of Copenhagen, the focus on growth as a way out of debt for major economies...

The point is – the lies are still in the system and they will continue to provoke instability.

So – back to opposing forces – here's my hypothesis. Terrorism as a force was/is opposed by military might – primarily US but also supported by allies such as the UK, Australia, and NATO. Because of terrorism and the threats made – we have accepted/relinquished some of our civil liberties and because of the FEAR have bought into the notion that we NEED a strong government/leaders/military to protect us.

The collapse of dictatorships in Egypt, Libya and other Muslim countries shifts the balance away from equilibrium. The result is that as Muslims have rallied against autocratic dictators who have pillaged the resources of their countries and concentrated the wealth in the hands of a few sycophantic cronies – the focus has shifted in countries such as Spain.

Suddenly Spanish people want to know why Governments let bankers and financiers go wild with cheap money. The French protestors want 'Real democracy now!'

The revolution that is occurring in 'western' countries is against the overwhelming and unfair gap between the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. In most cases this is an inter-generational conflict between baby boomers and the generations that followed. For instance in the UK In 2004, the UK baby boomers held 80% of the UK's wealth and bought 80% of all top of the range cars, 80% of cruises and 50% of skincare products. (Walker, Duncan (Sept 16, 2004) "Live Fast, Die Old", BBC News site. Retrieved 2007-01-26.)

My belief is that this revolution will spread to all developed countries.

So, what can we do about it?

1.    Become a Neo-capitalist!
(read the article 'How to change the world by being a Neocapitalist' )
- Recognise that every interaction that you have with the system either supports of violates the lies – make sure you're not supporting them.

2.    Gain mastery over the self so you don't buy into fear and greed!
- the big challenge facing us as a species can be boiled down to fear and greed versus love and compassion. Big corporations and the mega marketing arms they employ try at all times to make you afraid that you will miss out or be passed over – and that what you haven't isn't enough.
- mastery over the self is about determining what you want, how you want to live in terms of what is most important in your life (read 'Values') and how you are going to get it. See the Self Mastery online program and/or pay someone to help you/coach you.
- the challenge of the Spiritual Warrior is the ultimate battle between the self and the self (read fear and greed versus love and compassion) – this is the battle of our times.

Above all, remember now is not the time to wait, to sit back and watch because

"We are the ones we have been waiting for"
Hopi Indian Elders

Have You Got CHRONIC Drama Syndrome?

chron-ic
lingering, lasting, constant, bad, intense
(from the Latin chronicus and Greek khronos – time)

A while ago I wrote a piece called 'Do You Suffer From Drama Syndrome?' see the link http://www.acping.net/catalyser/do-you-suffer-drama-syndrome and it seemed to resonate with quite a few of you as the feedback has been ongoing and constant. But just recently I realised that the syndrome can become chronic – see the definition above especially the part about time – yes chronic as in ingrained over time – ingrained in your being – ouch!

If you didn't read the original and/or can't be bothered to now - Drama Syndrome related to the notion that we are beings who constantly seek expansion and if we are too afraid to step into the unknown territory of the future and create something challenging and new we will subconsciously create a level of drama in our lives to feed our energetic needs – kind of a pseudo expansion or in the worst case energetic vampirism...

So in what warped way could this possibly become chronic and why in the world would we do that to ourselves anyway?

I think we can look at this from several different perspectives. If we take a scientific approach and consider how the brain works – specifically neuroplasticity – then it's fair to say that because the neurons that fire together wire together – the simple act of repeatedly buying into drama in our lives encourages our brains to literally rewire and reshape to reflect this (you can cuss now if you're the cussing type).

Consider Dr Edward De Bono's analogy of rain falling on a flat plain. First the water forms puddles then the puddles join and slowly the water begins to flow to the lowest point. As it does it takes some of the soil with it and before too long little streams begin to form and eventually rivers. Next time it rains the water flows directly into these rivers.

Same with the brain. Neural networks form and strengthen on a use it or lose it basis. Continually buy into drama and guess what? Your first and most natural reaction when faced with some sort of challenge or difficulty in life will be to go 'Oh poor me!' and default into victimhood. By telling an 'Oh poor me' story you will naturally attract to you people who are willing to listen to an 'Oh poor me story' and maybe even indulge in 'Oh poor me' type behaviour – eg bitching type behaviour that go something like "Jeez you know what happened to me today..." to which the appropriate reply is "Oh you poor thing... but let me tell you what happened to me!" which soon becomes an enduring habit generally reinforced by escapist pursuits – because reality is of course painful - maybe even aided by drink and drugs...

The hard part about this is the more you go around the loop the more you reinforce the neural networks and behavioural patterns and – yep you got it – the more you go around the loop. Such that your expectations about what you deserve change and you retreat into trying to work out what might go wrong and how you are going to deal with it when it does which – yep you guessed it – means you're now focussed on what might go wrong and hence put energy into creating what you don't want. (cuss now)

From a shamanic perspective we could consider the concept of intergenerational wounds. If you're Mum or Dad had drama syndrome and plodded through life telling an 'Oh poor me' story then the behavioural patterns they pass on to you – and the energetic wound – is along the lines of "Life sucks and when it does that's just more evidence to prove that it does and hence more reason to find good ways of escaping". Don't bother trying to cope just find a way to escape...

The other bit that accompanies this is judgement. Yes, judgement of others who have more, do more and hence must have some of what should be yours... Which leads to separation from oneness and hence of course fear of judgement of others.

Bugger!

And all this just from a habit?

Yep

A habitual way of being.

You can tell if you've got it by asking:-

When good things happen to you do you find it hard to accept and instead start waiting for something to go wrong?

When bad things happen do you find yourself saying 'That'd be right!' and getting angry and frustrated? But deep down secretly accepting that as your lot in life.

So enough already – how do you get out of it and break the habit?

It's kind of like giving up cigarettes and going to the gym instead.

The key is focus and what you do next.

Choose what you want to focus on – by that I mean thoughts – then act accordingly. Then do it repeatedly in spite of whatever happens.

I had a lesson in this just recently. I grow medicinal plants and some of them are in my front yard. The other day I went up to the shop to get a paper and some milk and when I came back I saw that some plants had been stolen.

My initial reaction was anger followed by thoughts of GBH to the perpetrator, followed by an 'Oh poor me story' and a 'That'd be right'. Slowly though I realised how disempowering that story was and how it painted me into a corner as a victim afraid of the world thinking about how I was going to get a bigger fence and maybe some security and a BIG dog!

Eventually I realised that I didn't want to live like that and that I didn't need to feed the energy of the person who had done such a low act. I'm not God, I don't need to be the judge, I don't need to buy into someone else's shit and I don't even need to know why it happened. Fear of it happening again simply draws my focus onto the fear and the negative which is what I don't want. I choose then to hold my space and focus on abundance. To have compassion for the person that did that knowing that :-

"We are punished by our sins,
not for them."
Elbert Hubbard

So, if your Drama Syndrome has become chronic my advice to you is get off the drip feed of negative energy, manage your focus and CHOOSE what space you hold – NO MATTER WHAT!

How To Gather Power

"We will not know truth until we lose the fear of knowing ourselves"
Alex Polari de Alverga

In talking with a friend the other night over dinner we got onto the subject of meditative and shamanic practices and the ability to access intuitive guidance. Although he had studied shamanic teachings and had been a regular meditator for many years, of late he'd found himself out of the habit and struggling to connect with his deeper guidance.

Shamanic teachings, advise that there are other realms that we can access through journey work, dreams, drumming and other practices. A Shaman is someone who is able to access these alternate realities at will. The key to being able to do this is to have enough power to make the shift.

Logically those on a shamanic path are tasked with practices that enable one to gather power but what does that mean in a day to day sense? I guess the easy way to explain it is by referring to energy. On a daily basis we each have a certain amount of energy – some naturally more than others. We can waste lots of energy on worrying – the brain is about 4% of our body weight but uses about 17% of energy. We can waste lots of energy on getting angry.  We can waste lots of energy on engaging in trivial activities. When we finally come to the end of our day we are exhausted – too exhausted to exercise or eat properly, and hence in subsequent days our available energy diminishes.

Managing our energy allows us to have more energy which allows us access to more engaging activities in our lives.

Power is much the same. The Toltec teachings are known to many through the books of Carlos Castaneda and in them the Toltec Shaman Don Juan provides a few techniques for gathering power.

First and foremost in I think all shamanic and religious teachings is being able to rid oneself of ego. Self Importance is the activity that consumes the greatest amount of energy. The key practice in being able to rechannel this energy is stopping the internal dialogue. You know the voice in your head that keeps telling you the same old story?

Buddhism teaches single point meditation focussing on the breath or a mantra to allow the mind to slowly settle and the dialogue to stop.

Don Juan proposes this technique – slightly cross the eyes and keep a peripheral view of everything. Keep one's unfocussed eyes at a point just above the horizon – it is possible to notice everything in a 180 degree radius. This will shut off internal dialogue.

Not Doing is the next technique to gathering power. Students of neuroscience will know that the more often neurons fire together they will wire together. Hence the more often you do something the more habitual it becomes – and the more it traps you in a fixed way of being that won't allow you access to deeper intuitive guidance.

Not Doing is the technique to practice – and it is literally as it sounds. Anything you do habitually – break it up. So, if you drive one particular way to work – change it. If you always have coffee in the morning – have tea. If you always go to sleep and wake up at the same time – change it.

The next level is to break it down a bit further – so for instance walk half as fast and open your senses to everything around you.

The third technique for gathering power is Recapitulation. In our lives we go through experiences that cause us to have attachments to various people and places. Some parts of us get either intentionally or accidentally left behind. Some people still maintain an energy link to us – not always good.

Recapitulation is the process of going back through the events of your life and reliving the significant moments. As you do so consciously reclaim your own energy and give back any energy that you may have accidently or deliberately taken from someone else. Also – if you find an energy cord still open – sever it.

By using these techniques you can slowly gather power just as you can slowly gather energy by exercising, sleeping and eating well. The key - of course - is to develop a daily pratice that incorporates these techniques.

What's Your Code of Honour?

"Revenge is a dish best served cold"Anon.
"An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind"
Mahatma Ghandi

In announcing the death of Osama Bin Laden, US President Barack Obama was very clear about why it had happened:-

"...as a country, we will never tolerate our security being threatened, nor stand idly by when our people have been killed. We will be relentless in defence of our citizens and our friends and allies. We will be true to the values that make us who we are.

And on nights like this one, we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al Qaeda's terror, justice has been done."

"It's all about the code brother" Vin Diesel's character says in Fast and Furious 4.

So, what's your code and how do you justify your actions?

Ghandi proposed peaceful resistance. Something that Martin Luther King Jnr. also advocated.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Martin Luther King Jnr.

How much of this is fantasy and how much reality?

Could the USA have simply sat back and peacefully resisted Al Qaeda or did they need to go after them?

Nelson Mandela is lauded as a man of peace but as a young man, frustrated by the lack of progress in changing the apartheid system in South Africa, he established Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), translated as "Spear of the Nation". It was the armed wing of the African National Congress and Mandela was trained in guerrilla warfare tactics. In 1961 MK was declared a terrorist organisation by South Africa and the United States and banned.

It's interesting to speculate about what would have happened if they had gone and killed Mandela after they found him as this is the same justification for killing Bin Laden.

We can never know the future but one thing is for certain and that is our actions speak louder than words and the consequences reverberate through the ages.

Western leaders are now warning about reprise attacks by Al Qaeda operatives which, of course, they would justify by claiming revenge for the killing of Bin Laden.

I'm sure US Leaders would now claim that we are even and hence all hostilities should stop – and there's the rub.

You see with regard to game theory, the strategy 'tit for tat' has almost always been the winner in competitions. But Tit for Tat depends on four conditions:-

Unless provoked always cooperate
If provoked  retaliate
Be quick to forgive
There must be a good chance of competing against the opponent more than once.

The problem is – who decides when the 'tit' equals the last 'tat'?
And what sort of World does this leave us with?

If you have kids you might have found yourself in the same situation with each party claiming that the other started it and that whatever has happened since has left them somehow the loser. The get out of jail answer is "I don't care who started it just get over it and move on".

Hmmm...

I guess the key in the tit for tat conditions is that the competition doesn't end. Just like life eh? At the end of the day we all have to continue to live together don't we – despite various predications of Armageddon it hasn't happened yet has it?

So, what's your code?

At some stage someone has to take the lead and instead of RE-ACTING to others simply decide what VALUES and PRINCIPLES they wish to live by in an IDEAL world and start living them ala Nelson Mandela. 27 years later he got some justice didn't he?

"All the lessons of history in four sentences: Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad with power. The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small. The bee fertilizes the flower it robs. When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. "
Charles A. Beard

8 Ways To Be Stronger

"When all you can feel are the shadows, turn your face towards the sun"
Helen Keller

I'm a great subscriber to the belief that we are 'already healed' – it comes up again and again in spiritual teachings throughout the ages and I'm happy to see that modern science is now catching up on the benefit of 'turning your face towards the sun'.

I believe many of us spend too much of our time focusing on what's wrong with ourselves, others or the World and not enough time focusing on what we want and what we are doing right.

I spent a lot of time a few years ago trying to 'fix' myself and everyone else around me. Eventually I realised that if I spent a whole heap of time looking for what was wrong with me then, guess what, I was sure to find an ever increasing list of issues, ailments and problems.

All of the work that I do with people now is focussed on strength training and how you can achieve self mastery by using daily practices and simple techniques to slowly but surely change your old habits.

Neuroscience research now tells us that whatever you focus on strengthens the neural networks around that type of behaviour. So the carrot and stick approach both work to strengthen the behaviour they make you focus on. That is, using the stick brings the attention to the negative behaviour and hence strengthens the neural networks around the NEGATIVE behaviour.

YES you got it! That's why beating yourself up about whatever you have done wrong actually strengthens the negative story about yourself or others...

Also – I think we should all recognise the interconnected nature of ourselves and the World. In Visioning I recognise the five parts of being – physical, mental, emotional, material and spiritual. All affect each other. Ignoring one is to the detriment of all. Working on each one affects the others.

So – here we go:-

Choose to Love Yourself UNCONDITIONALLY – yep – no conditions – acknowledge that beating yourself up is of no benefit to anyone including you and just sets you down a slippery slope. So, make a choice that even if you do things you are not happy with do not beat yourself up – simple Acknowledge and Re-direct. That is – "Ok I see I'm not happy with what I did. I acknowledge the behaviour and now I choose to redirect to what I want".
Be Fully Emotionally Expressive – check the research on this by Google-ing 'Neurocardiology'. There are neural networks around the heart which act like another brain. Denying your feelings might seem like a strategically good thing to do to get what you want but won't feel so good if it results in a heart attack. Try using the phrases "When you, I feel..." and "I understand what you are saying however I feel... and I want ..." If it all seems too hard refer to #1 and remember you deserve to be heard.
Exercise Your Imagination – here's the mental part for you. Researchers say we have about 50-60,000 thoughts every day (women more than men of course) BUT 90-95% of them are the same ones we had yesterday! Ooops Ground Hog Day! You know what happens when a horse and cart goes round the same track over and over again? Yep – ruts! Same in your brain. So – reading, painting, writing and any form of creative play – including day dreaming!
Move Your Body – Taoism tells us that the chi or life force enters us through the top of our heads and goes out through our feet into the Earth. Emotional blockages cause the energy to get trapped resulting in physical pain – hence acupuncture to clear blocks. Modern energy medicine supports this – see EFT or TFT. Neurobiologists also have identified the link between the body and the chemical triggers in the brain – see the work of Candace Pert. Hence – move your body or get your body moved (by massage and body work) – to shift energy and remain strong.
Connect With Nature – this is about being spiritually nurtured. So what is spirit anyway? – How about the acknowledgement that we are part of something bigger than ourselves? An overwhelming focus on the self and our own issues causes us to become smaller not bigger. So – take the time to LOOK UP! See the trees, the birds, the clouds, the sun, the moon, and the stars. We are the bridge between Heaven and Earth – our role is to bring light and love onto the Earth plane. Take time every day to connect with nature and give love.
Give Stuff Away – yep – this is the material side of things. To get stronger give things away to others. There is an aspect of this in all spiritual teachings however the one that is most specific is the American Indian culture where they have a Give Away Ceremony. The aim is to give away things to other members of the tribe. This shows your abundance and is a demonstration of faith that you will be looked after by spirit. Many people who have much material things are actually poverty stricken inside – afraid that others will take away what they have. To be abundant take care of others and give things away.
Never Wait Just ACT! – waiting constricts one to a position of hope. Hoping for something or someone to come along and make things right. This by its very nature dis-empowers you. Action by contrast has power. We live in a material world so action precedes results. To be strong you must ACT. Turn the wheel of dharma and create.
Manage Your Focus – last but not least is the habit of managing your focus. We create what we habitually focus our attention on. If we focus on what is wrong with the world or us we put energy and intent into that. Instead do these two simple things: in the morning before you get out of bed ask "What is my intention today?" and at the end of the day before you go to sleep ask "What did I do right today?".

So – there you go – 8 ways to be stronger. May your life be blessed!

"Whatever we build in the imagination
will accomplish itself in the circumstance of our lives."
W.B. Yeats

Learning is the Art of Remembering - Part 4 - Feeling the Natural Path

"It is a poor kind of memory that only works backwards."
The White Queen, in 'Through the Looking Glass'

This is the last part of this four part series on 'Learning is the Art of Remembering' and by now, if you've been following the first three parts you should have released a whole heap of baggage that's been dumped on you from others.

Feeling lighter and freer the next step is to trust yourself unconditionally and feel your natural path. This may sound a little esoteric but deep inside of you some part of you really does know what you are doing here and who you really are. The problem is that we get taught NOT to trust ourselves and hence we stray away from the natural path of our energy because we don't THINK it is the right way to go.

Feeling is the language of creation – just go and ask an artist if he or she thinks their way through a painting and they will laugh at you. Feeling is the way to find the path of least resistance.

So stop trying to work it out and try this exercise instead.

Sit in a quiet space and allow your energy to settle by doing some four fold breathing – that is breathe in through the nose to a count of four, hold for four, then exhale through the mouth to the count of four, then hold for four and repeat. As you are breathing in visualise healing white light entering your body. As you hold for four visualise the white light coursing through your body and the oxygenated air going to where it is needed most. As you exhale visualise the black toxic energy and associated waste leaving your body. As you hold for four visualise your energy settling.

When you are ready visualise a beam of white light going up from the top of your head and into the clouds. Feel your energy body becoming lighter and lighter until you are able to ascend up the beam of white light and into the clouds.

Feel yourself sitting up in the clouds and then set your intention and ask for assistance to travel forward in time – you can set a certain time if you want to – for instance next year, five years etc

Now with that intent in mind come back down the beam of white light and into your body. Look in front of you and you will see a door – this is the door to your house. Don't try and judge whether or not this is right or wrong just allow whatever comes up. Enter the house and take a look around. See your future self living there.

Who else lives there? What sort of work are you doing? What do you look like? How do you feel?

When you are ready release the image of the future and allow yourself to ascend back up the beam of light to the clouds. Set your intent to come back to the present and come back down the beam and into your body. Feel the parts of your body again. Allow yourself to be present in this moment and slowly open your eyes. Now write down what you have experienced especially what you have FELT.

So is this just a kooky exercise?

Quantum physics recognises that all possible futures exist at once and that it is possible to move forwards and backwards in time. Doing exercises like this free your mind up to be able to explore the future.

Free of all the baggage from the past and trusting in yourself you can then start to FEEL what different futures are like and whether or not they are on your natural path of energy. This is why I created the Self Mastery Program – so you can use the tools to become who you really are and create what you really want.

"The soul has the ability to conform to her character the destiny that is allotted to her."
Plotinus

If you would like to explore further you can work through the program online at the website www.acping.net

Learning is the Art of Remembering - Part 3 - Releasing Judgement

"Judgement locks the gate to
true possibility."

The quickest way to change the world is to accept the world exactly how it is now and the quickest way to change yourself is to accept yourself for exactly who you are right now. Sounds easy eh? But how difficult it is in reality!

I wrote in Part 2 that to find our true selves what we need to do is forget a lot of what we have been told about ourselves, who we are and how we should be so we can 'fit in' to mainstream society.

Releasing judgement is the crucial next step.

Consider once again the Ontological model of 'Being' below:-

 

Berceuse of the way we are hardwired we are constantly trying to make sense of the world and 'work it all out'. That's because we inherently disclike uncertainty – it stresses us out and sends us into obsessive worrying about what's going to happen next.

The thing is though this process is a tautological trap that limits our possible futures. You will see if you look at the model above that if you are going around and around in the Past/Present loop then you are operating in a safe mode where you believe you know everything and have a good idea of what is right and wrong. The decisions you make – when faced with a problem in the present – are based on your past experiences and your understanding of how the world works. Because of this you are simply re-acting to events as they occur based on what has happened to you in the past.

Don't worry you'll recall if you've been reading this blog for a while that most of us are going around and around in this loop about 90 – 95 % of the time and in fact most of the 50-60,000 thoughts you will have today will be EXACTLY the same as the ones you had yesterday!

Yes we work very hard at maintaining our tenuous grip on reality by telling ourselves the same stories over and over again.

Judgement – by definition - is based on right/wrong thinking and the longer you have been going around and around in the same past/present loop the deeper ingrained will be the habits and the more blinkered will be your thinking.

Hence – on the journey to remember who you really are, once you've managed to forget some of the stories that have been put in your head about who you are then the next step is to release judgement in all its forms.

Easier said than done. However, awareness is the first step so if you recognise that having a fixed and narrow view of the world will limit your ability to see TRUE possibility then maybe you can rationally see the benefit of letting go of judgement.

Of what? Is the next obvious question.

YOU for starters.

Accept yourself for EXACTLY who you are. CHOOSE to love yourself unconditionally.

Next – OTHERS – pay attention to your level of judgement of others and work at eliminating any and all judgements.

Thirdly – THE WORLD – accept the world for exactly how it is now. Stop complaining and moaning about anything in the world.

So – where does this leave you?

Able to focus on the future that you want to create and with a big space for ALLOWING true possibility and unconditional love into the world. AND with a big space for ACCEPTING yourself for EXACTLY who you are.

The Story Behind My New E Books

"We only understand the world through language,
and the writer is at the centre of our understanding of the world,
and our ability to change the world."
Fatima Bhutto

Over the years I've found it interesting to ask authors why they write and more often than not the response is "I just had to get it out of me, put it down on paper, give it life."

I've heard it said that we all have at least one book inside of us and I don't disagree. For me, I've found over the years that the more I write the more I need to write. It's kind of a portal that's been opened up in the top of my head and now that it is open it has no intention of closing.

About 10 years ago I wrote the book 'BE' because I'd spent months sitting in the Drakensberg mountains watching sunsets and talking about life with a great friend Dorle. When Dorle left to go back to Germany she asked me to 'write it all down' and so several months later, finding myself in far north Queensland, I did just that.

The journey since has been interesting to say the least. BE was originally published in a small run with a friend of mine and when we sold all the copies I approached Penguin who published BE and the follow up book DO together. Penguin then went on to sell the international rights and when the third book in the series FAITH was published in 2006, Marlowe & Co. in New York took over the publishing duties.

Since 2006 I've written a book about my experiences in South Africa pursuing my dream of creating a retreat space and what it was like to live amongst the Zulu people. The book explores African Shamanism and is called 'A Place Where You May Find Peace'.

From that experience I had a dose of how to deal with FEAR and hence as art follows life I wrote a book called 'FEAR' which explores the darker side of life.

In the last three years I have had the opportunity to revisit all of my experiences over the last 20 years or so and to reflect on the philosophy in the books. In working with people one on one I recognised that there was a need to put together a program and a resource book that would support people to actually live what they had learnt. Yes – Walk the Talk!

The book that came out of that is called 'The Self Mastery Toolbox'.

For the last few months I've been wondering what to do with these three books as I recognised that the whole platform for publishing was shifting and to my mind will inevitably move to an electronic format.

Then, as is often the way, a friend of mine brought Smashwords to my attention. It's a site that allows you to upload E books and have them distributed in a multitude of formats.

And about the same time another person pointed out that the 3 books also formed a Trilogy – an Experiential Trilogy - that very logically followed on from the Foundation Trilogy of BE, DO and FAITH.

So, I invite you to visit my Smashwords page http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/acping

And to download the new books as they become available. At the time of writing the first two have been converted and 'The Self Mastery Toolbox' will be available soon.

And to all the people who have supported my work over the years I thank you from the bottom of my heart as I feel incredibly blessed to be able to follow my passions and write and share the gifts that come to me.

Learning is the Art of Remembering - Part 2 - How to Forget

"Reality is merely an illusion,
albeit a very persistent one."
Albert Einstein

Isn't it neat that with all the effort that goes into teaching us as young children how to 'fit in' to society we actually manage to overlay our deepest inner knowing with a whole lots of 'must do' things?

Consider once again the Ontological model of 'Being' below:-

 

From a 'being' perspective our current patterns and habits have momentum. That is, if you are in the habit of doing something what that means is you have a learned and habitual response to certain stimuli. Take one of the worst examples – cigarettes – if you have ever been a smoker or know a smoker then you will see that the completion of a meal usually stimulates the desperate need for a cigarette. Likewise the partaking of alcohol.

The absence of a cigarette after such an event causes distress because of the way our brains are structured. Put simply – neurons that fire together wire together. And the more often you fire the neurons together the more strongly they are wired together. So the more often you have cigarettes with alcohol the more strongly you will desire it.

You might say 'Yes but there are chemicals involved here' – to which I would say – 'Good point, go read 'Molecules of Emotion' by Candace Pert and you will see that ALL emotions have a corresponding chemical signature.

So, back to habits and momentum – if you are used to doing something and/or feeling a certain way bottom line is you are hooked on the associated chemicals.

Refer to the model and you will see that your way of 'being' has a momentum. You cycle round and round the Past/Present loop not only because of the chemicals but also because it is safe and known – no risk.

Your Past captures you in a fixed view of the world.

To remember who you really are you need to find a way of taking the blinkers off and opening up to different perspectives.

Break out of the Past/Present loop.

Thankfully over the ages people have realised the need to do this and hence there are some really good tools you can use:-

Vipassana meditation – break the samsaric loops by finding peace and equanimity in the moment – stop reacting to sensations.
Not doing – always a good and paradoxic technique – literally don't do what you would usually do – break the patterns by consciously doing something out of your ordinary ways.
Drumming – rhythmic drumming breaks down the brain wave patterns and pulls you out of a left brain rational view of the world – to hopefully a state where you 'can't think'.
Dancing – same as drumming – you're seeking a state where you can't 'think' and can't stay in your rational mind and keep trying to 'work it all out'.
Journey work – getting a bit more out there now but journey work using drumming or other sacred instruments is a great way to open the mind to other possibilities.

All of these tools need to be used and practiced with to get some really good benefit.

If you remember that what you are trying to do is to free your mind from a fixed view of the world and fixed ways of doing things then slowly but surely with perseverance you begin to open your mind up to a new reality.

Incorporating any one of these practices into your daily or weekly routines is of great benefit to connecting with who you really are. Letting go of the need to be right is the next step on the journey.

Learning is the Art of Remembering

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time."
T.S. Eliot

Recently I have been reading the book 'The Healing Wisdom of Africa' by Malidoma Patrice Some who belongs to the Dagara people of Burkina Faso in West Africa. In the book Malidoma puts forward the view that we all come into this life with a specific purpose and gift that we subsequently forget as we incarnate into this physical realm. In his belief system it is the responsibility of the tribe to help young people to remember what their gift is so that they can best contribute to the tribe. The failure of a person to find their gift is a failure of the tribe.

It is a concept that I have explored at length with people doing Vision Quests and I believe it is useful to ask the question 'If that is the case then HOW do I remember?'

The first step I believe, paradoxically, is to forget!

If we come into this World with some remnant memory of our true purpose then what is certain is that in most cases we are encouraged to quickly forget all about it as we are taught how to fit into the exiting World.

Generally in the Western World we assume that a child has no knowledge – that they are pretty much a blank sheet of paper. As we grow we learn what is right and wrong from the perspective of those already here – usually our parents and those closest to us. With all good intention they seek to help us to understand the World as they BELIEVE it is.

But in seeking to educate us they LIMIT us to THEIR fixed view of the World. What is more they overlay THEIR interpretation of who we are on top of our deep seated KNOWLEDGE of who we are. In essence they – with all good intent remember – often invalidate our inner knowing.

As children go through school these days they are usually encouraged to address the question of WHAT they will DO when they finish school and how they will CONTRIBUTE to society (read 'the economic production machine').

The concept of connecting with PASSION and finding a sense of deeper meaning in life is often overlooked in the race to find a CAREER. Recently a discussion has raged on the professional networking forum LinkedIn on how one can ovoid the often 20 year time frame that it takes many to find their true passion. The comments posted have been instructive.

So back to forgetting - Kunihiro Yamate explores this concept in his book 'The Way of No Thinking' – a great and very confronting read for those wishing to delve into the philosophical aspect of reconnecting to one's deeper knowing.

For those of us with more focussed on the HOW the starting point is to try and stir the pot.

If you imagine that your existential being is a pot of stew which has been cooking for a while then maybe you can see that the heavy bits have sunk to the bottom of the pot and may well be clogging up your Vision. Asking the following may help to stir it up:-

1. In your life what have you REALLY enjoyed doing?
2. In your life what have you been GOOD at?
3. What is the common element between these two?

"Where your talents and the needs of the world collide,
there lies your vocation"
Aristotle

Identifying the answer to these questions may stir up two things:-

1. What you deeply believe you DESERVE from the World
2. Your sub conscious limiting stories about who you are

So, if you are game and you truly believe that you have as much right as anyone else to have a life filled with deep passion and purpose then start stirring!

"We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone."
Marianne Williamson

Part II coming in two weeks time.