(1). Article: Your Way to Full Aliveness
True self-development is a system designed to unlock all restrictions in your being. It is not aimed at building anything, like a larger muscle or academic knowledge. Nor is it only aimed at fulfilling your goals and desires in the material world. Although a person who is fully self developed finds it very easy to create their life circumstances in whatever way they choose.
Why is this? Because just as when a piano is out of tune, the music it plays sounds dreadful and even jarring, a person who has not ‘tuned’ themselves, so to speak, can only create a life that doesn’t play in the way they want.
Self-development means to release all your powers and to know who and what you are to the depths of your being. Its purpose is to free you and allow you to live in your natural state. Not in the sense of going back to the forests and jungles, but in the sense of uncovering your essential nature. This state is called enlightenment.
You can do this as a householder, with a spouse and children, a mortgage, and a job. In fact, it is easier to work on yourself in these situations, rather than have no challenging circumstances. It is the circumstances of ordinary life that constantly give us the wake up call.
Many people make the mistake of believing that they can just ‘be in the now’ or ‘present in the moment’ in order to become an enlightened being.
It is certainly wise to have your full attention available in every moment, but in order to truly do that, you have to unhook from all that is weak, false and contracted within yourself. There are no enlightened wimps. Just only trying to be present will not do the job. True presence is a result of full self-development, not the means to it.
Many love the idea of ‘being here now’ as all you need to do. It is a sedative, which calms the mind, as it does not involve any practical work to bring a full awakening of consciousness. It can be helpful, as sedatives are, for those who do not have the strength for the real work, or are just too lazy or locked into vanity.
There are many concepts, which are essential to understand, in order for you to grow yourself to full maturity, which, by the way, is the same as saying to become an enlightened being.
Most people never reach full maturity, due to the unresolved issues of early childhood anchoring them back. So it is something we have to consciously do.
The first, and really the starting point for anyone’s process to full maturity, is to realise that almost all people are living in a trance, a semi-hypnotic state. You only have to go to any main street and stand there, watching the faces of all who pass, lost in their own dreams, to see that this is true. It is a fascinating thing, especially when you realise that you are doing it too.
And, once you have done the awakening work, and so experience a more awakened state of consciousness, it is actually shocking to see the unconsciousness people live in. You wonder how they can live. You realise they are all on automatic.
I remember once, after a period of intense practice, I entered a higher and more perceptive state of consciousness. I met a woman who I had known previously. She was an upper middle class person, intelligent, bright and breezy, married to a famous surgeon and seemed to have her act together in her world.
But the pain on her face, which I could now see for the first time, was shocking. As she spoke, I watched and saw how this pain permeated her whole being. If affected her facial expressions, her body language, the tone of her voice, the colour of her skin and so on. I had no idea this existed in her and seemingly nor did she, except perhaps in her private moments. I had never been able to see the pain in her when I was in my normal state of consciousness.
The reason for this is that when you are in a trance, meaning the normal human state, your attention is focused inside yourself. You are watching the inner movie of your mind running its images and thoughts. You do not have the perception or energy to fully see what is going on in the world outside.
This trance like state has come about due to your conditioning, and probably your genetics have a part to play. Conditioning is a process of contraction. It is the suppression of your natural state and energy system.
It involves the creation of a personality, which layers over your essential nature, your animating force. You only have to look at a wild animal to see the kind of freedom and power humans have given up in order to become civilised. Animals are not in a trance.
Again, this is not to suggest we go back to some sort of animalistic nirvana. But it does mean that we have all sorts of potentials that are available for us once we do wake up.
Check your life now to see when you are on automatic. It often happens when you are driving. You arrive at your destination, having missed the journey. Or when you are reading a book and you get to the bottom of the page and cannot remember a word you have read. This is what it means to be in a trance.
A useful exercise is when you go to bed at night, before you sleep, run through the events of the day from when you got up. See how many things you can remember, and notice how many you have forgotten.
Also see if your mind wanders during this exercise. You find you have gone back to the normal movie of the ordinary mind. Working against this tendency gives you many unexpected benefits in all parts of your life.
It is also very useful to take up some creative activity, as these require the development of your concentration, and helps to bring your to full consciousness.
Kind Regards,
Michael Rowland