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19 February, 2015 by Choki team

Instinctive Choices – An Exploration of Intelligence, Consciousness and Mind

What Is and What Is Not.

What is Intelligence, the mysterious expression of all that exists. What is the Prime Directive, the Action arm of Intelligence that is the overseer responsible for the harmonious functioning of Nature. What is pristine consciousness, the medium through which life expresses itself.

Stealing Lives.

How societies are contributing to humanity’s downfall.

A natural law says a like thing cannot see itself. Mind is not capable of understanding that all its beliefs, including that of being a permanent, independent, autonomous entity that is capable of generating its own thoughts, are delusional. Mind can doubt many things, it cannot doubt the reality of its own existence. That realization comes only through the lens of the pristine consciousness. Seeing through the obscure visions of mind we cannot realize that mind is a myth.

The pristine consciousness is constantly being bombarded with false teachings and so stifling its inherent nature of Acting in relationship. Pristine consciousness doesn’t need to be told how to be, it simply needs its own space to Act.

What we believe as normal living practices is what is preventing life from expressing itself. We are ancient actors wearing the masks of past generations. That mask is mind. In all peoples, mind is expressing itself in exactly the same way. We recognize the emotions of anger, hate, jealousy, envy, fear, resentment, highs and lows of all kinds, etc. because we identify with those same emotions. This has been going on since time-immemorial. In that sense there is “nothing new under the sun”.

The survival of animals depends on the instinctive choices made in their environment.

It is a natural law that animals grow from their environment. The choices that they make through natural instinct provide for a stronger future species. So why is that human beings suffer from some of the choices that they make in their environment?

Choices are always of the mind and when acting from those choices we are behaving as the animals. The instinctive animal response is to secure and protect its environment. The response to the human environment provides only for the pristine discernments to life’s expressions. We are presently protecting the turf of mind’s choices as the animal is protecting its physical turf.

When substituting mind for pristine consciousness, both suffer. The brain suffers from physical deterioration due to its emotional outbursts and the pristine consciousness suffers bouts of depression, anxiety and other negative emotions. Suffering is not nature’s consequence but rather an error in the mechanical functioning process.

Because nature is not fragmented like mind, (where the whole is comprised of its many indoctrinated parts) Nature’s wholeness is perfect and as such can only produce that which is of its own kind. The disorder we witness in humans is not in the sum of our physical parts but rather in the mis-guided functioning of its newest part, the memory-senses complex. Mind was given as an indispensable enhancement to serve the choiceless discernments of the pristine consciousness.

Because mind cannot generate its own thoughts, it cannot have its own opinion about anything. It is chameleon like, in the sense that that it can only reflect its present environment. It is simply a uniquely marvelous recording and storing instrument. So, why does it seem at times that we are acting in an errant and erratic way?

It is not mind that is the origin of these states but rather the pristine consciousness. Our identification with mind is manipulating those defects. Mind is not directly responsible for any of the world’s ills because it is not in charge of the necessary amounts of energy needed to do any harm.

An ancient proverb says: “To train up a child in the ways he shall go and when he is old he will not depart from it”.

We are still wearing these ancient masks. It may at times be expedient to train animals but never human beings. For a very long time we have gotten it wrong. It is not the parents’ duty to train their children in the ways they should experience their lives, but rather to protect them from all who are trying to indoctrinate them so that they fit in with the ways of society. The state of not knowing is their natural state.

With the exception of human beings, Nature is expressing itself as Intelligence intended. It is we, as mind, that is out of order. An imaginary non-entity, non-self is making efforts to fulfill its hopes, dreams and desires by allowing us to believe that its actions are being self-generated and not seeing that they are being generated by the stealth deceiver, mind.

What we factually are is self-evident. An awareness that has no content. An awareness that does not condemn, identify nor justify. The pristine consciousness as choice less awareness was never born, it simply is and always will be. It is part of the mystery of how life, through the pristine consciousness, expresses itself. All species partake in this awareness. It is only human beings who have the ability to be aware of their awareness while being aware. This does not mean that we are better than other species, only different.

This awareness is not wanting to unite with any ideology, it simply desires its own space to respond to life’s challenges. For this to be realized there is only one way it can happen. There are no paths and no battles to be won. By simply witnessing how mind is desiring to be first in the challenge-response process and not allowing space for the pristine consciousness to fully experience the completed challenge. By mind’s constant interruption into the challenge-response process, our replies, for the most part, are made out of confusion. Mind sees and hears only what it is familiar with and never experiences the newness of life’s challenges.

By ceaselessly being fully alert (aware) in all of life’s challenges, mind comes to a complete halt and the pristine consciousness once again is in charge of its total energy. All challenge responses are again made whole and so, complete. For the first time we see our part in identifying with mind by falsely believing that it and pristine consciousness are the same. With that apperception, mind falls into its natural rhythm of being a true and faithful servant and the pristine consciousness once again returns to being the medium through which life expresses itself.

That returning

Is my wish for you.

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Author: Harry Krueger

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10 February, 2015 by Choki team

Knowledge Is Power

Why is knowledge power? How does awareness give you more free will?

When a person chooses willful ignorance over obtaining knowledge and becoming more aware of themselves and the world, they do not gain any immunity by this free will choice. Instead, they leave themselves under the rule of the “General Law” otherwise known as The Matrix.

In that level of being, you are bound by all the mechanical laws of this reality. You have no higher consciousness, therefore no higher connection, and you function from a somnambulistic, sleep-like/trance state of mind, which makes you easily manipulated and gives you no individual fate (since fate is tied to persons with a connection to something “higher”). Therefore, you share the collective “fate” of the sleep reality, because you have made no choice with your own freewill to become consciously aware.

But, when one utilizes their free will to choose awareness, they are protected on 3 fronts:

1) Application: A person who chooses to actively apply their gained knowledge to make better choices, ultimately leads to protecting themselves.

A simple illustration of this would be if someone begins to research GMOs. The understanding of this information has led them to seek out healthier quality food sources and now opened up a door to changing their entire outlook on the body and on health. This is applying your knowledge, and is the most basic form of aligning your free will with better choices, based on your knowledge.

2) Discernment: A person who chooses to become more conscious, is better able to both utilize and exercise their discernment.

Discernment is the ultimate facilitator of free will and conscious choice. It allows you the foresight to take preventive measures before even encountering troubles, and the ability to accelerate learning by contemplating and deciphering the deeper meanings in our daily events. Discernment is our compass in navigating our way through reality. The more you exercise discernment, the more free will you’re accessing because within the use of your discernment is the key to unlocking more options/pathways that once were not available.

Why were those options not available? Many reasons: we didn’t see them, the options were not present because we did not take actions that would have aligned us with those options, we did not have enough awareness at the time to choose them… many reasons. A common reason is those options were not available because we did not understand enough about the topic/the person/the world-whatever it be-to perceive all of our choices clearer. Options present themselves when we are conscious enough to recognize them. This requires discernment.

A person who has the awareness to perceive a broader spectrum of options, or rather the quality of their options, can align themselves – through choice – with actions geared toward the desired aims, bringing about the desired results. But none of these options exist to someone who does not use their free will to seek understanding of themselves and their world.

When consciousness is not present, suffering usually takes its place, and we are given the choice to become conscious by examining the relevance of our experiences and the events that acted as catalysts to our new understandings, or to cycle in our suffering. Hence the ancient wisdom “pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.”

3) Frequency: Your level of Being is measured in vibrational frequency. The higher your level of awareness rises, the higher your vibrational frequency rises. Then your frequency begins to guard you. With the choice to gain knowledge and awareness comes the activation of the higher spiritual realms, which we have now connected to through our vibrational frequency “synching up with” them. This resonance, or harmony between our vibrations and these higher realms, establishes a psychic connection that offers protection from negative entities and their harmful intent.

The more one wields their free will toward consciousness, the harder it becomes for negative entities to breach your realm because you are aligning vibrationally with the higher realms that provide more protection and are available to those who use their free will to evolve themselves — no longer making one simply a food source to the synthetic reality. The negative higher entities can only manipulate our ends to the extent that we are not aware. Therefore it is within our non-action – our free will choice tonot choose – that our consent for enslavement is given.

This is the cosmic fine print. The universe deals in contracts and clauses and in this free will universe, if one does not choose to observe their free will and act on it toward their sovereignty, then neither does the cosmos observe it. That is how the usurpation of our reality is allowed: Default settings (“don’t blame me, blame the self-reflecting universe”). Thus knowledge is power.

In all of this the very best news there is to take away is:

Nature favors the brave. Have heart on your quest for knowledge. Don’t lose faith in the journey if it appears purely negative. You will not be left stranded in stardust. The higher realms call out to those who wish to align with them. Trust that this reality can serve you, if you allow it to.

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Author: Sarah Elkhaldy

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4 February, 2015 by Choki team

Are You Awake? The Dimensions of Alertness

What does it mean to be Alert? When the notion of Alertness is mentioned at a conversation, people often tend to confuse it with being awake. Alertness is, however, not identical with being awake, since being awake is only one dimension of Alertness. It is the outermost dimension of Alertness, its surface only. In total, three dimensions of Alertness may be identified.

The Dimensions of Alertness

The surface, that is, the outermost dimension of Alertness is when the focus of attention is open the widest. Being Alert then means that now, in this very moment, with our eyes closed (or open) you pay attention to the processes of your inner world (bodily sensations, the stream of your thoughts, the shifting of your emotions), and the external world surrounding you (noises, scents etc. from the direct world around you). In such an instant you only focus your attention on what takes place in that very moment.

From the aspect of another, deeper dimension of Alertness it is a quality of your consciousness when you cease to evaluate, qualify and control the experience affecting you at that particular moment (disregard the functions of the mind) and, at the same time, you give up all your desires to control events. You have no expectations in connection with the given moment, you accept what is taking place, without making judgments, what is wrong and what is right for you.

The deepest dimension of Alertness is a state of Consciousness, the most important characteristic feature of which is the presence of the observing Consciousness, the capability of Sight. In this state of the Consciousness we, as an external spectator, view what is happening inside and around us, and we do not allow these events to take us with them, to affect us deeper. There is a virtual space between you as the contemplating Consciousness and the experiences affecting you. This space enables you to avoid identification with your experience and to look at that experience as an external spectator. Alertness is, at the same time, Presence, which means that your are not only aware of your current actions, but you are also aware of yourself. It is only possible to talk about real Alertness when all three dimensions are present at the same time.

The Notion of the Illusionary Self

In your present, individual state of consciousness you identify with the thoughts and emotions that appear in your mind, so you believe that you are a separate, illusionary person, an Ego. Living as an Ego in this world, you attempt to stabilize your illusionary sense of self. You believe that the more (knowledge, material wealth) you add to your Ego, the stronger and more permanent it will be.

Passing time will, however, prove you wrong, since the illusionary self is just a shape and as such is subordinate to the eternal law of the world of shapes and forms. The law is that of the law of change which stipulates that in that world, the world of shapes and forms, it is not possible to stabilize anything, as everything is in the process of constant changes. Your thoughts and emotions keep changing, and so does their centre, the Ego, with them.

Your sufferings are cause by the fact that you attempt to stabilize something that cannot be stabilized by nature. But you fail to recognize that, since you fully identified with the Ego, and forgot that you are in fact pure Consciousness, free of identifications.

An Unchanging Factor

There is, however, one factor that remains unchanged in your life through the years, and that is the sense that ”I am.” As a result of the identification with your mind and its functions, the emphasis shifts from ”I am” to ”I am this and that” (I am a man, I am American, I am a doctor, I am a father etc.).

The concept of ”I am this and that” is in constant change, as they are all bound to the objects of the forms and shapes. The only thing not subject to change, what is beyond ”I am”, is the formless Consciousness.

You must wake up from the deep stupor of identification, you need to become alert, because that is the only way for you to abandon your identification with the thoughts, the works of the mind, and that is how you are able to shake off your illusionary existence.

If you are alert, only the here and now exist for you, and you may discover the quiet Presence behind the illusionary and constantly changing small Ego, the ”I am” which in turn you may recognize as your real and unchanging Self.

This state of consciousness is characterized by deep silence and tranquility. When you submerge into this quietness, the duality between you and the world ceases to exist, and in that Presence you are amalgamated into one unity with the universe. That is how the emphasis is shifted from ”I am this and that”, that is, from the forms and shapes to ”I am”, that is, to the existence free of forms and shapes. Alertness thus becomes a form of existence for you.

If you identify with your thoughts and continue to live as an Ego, dreaming that you are already awake, then you will be content with the outermost dimension of Alertness. In this way, you will feel no urge to become fully awake, to be introduced into the deeper dimensions of Alertness. Consequently, you will find the fact that I see you sleeping utterly absurd, since you think that you are awake.

In that case, only a completely radical event that shakes your life all the way down to the foundations may alarm you from the dream of your identifications.

The Signs of Awakening

In these days it seems that identification with the forms and shapes becomes more and more superficial at an increasing number of people. In these people something from the deeper dimensions of Alertness appears to emerge.

If you are still reading this it means that these dimensions make themselves felt in your life too, so Consciousness is slowly awakening from the dream of isolation.

With the appearance of the deeper dimensions of Alertness, a gap is generated in you between the world of forms and shapes and the world without these, that is between ”I am this and that” and ”I am.” One of the signs that you are on the way towards awakening is when you begin to feel your current, limited existence, bound to your Ego is of very poor quality, and you begin to suspect that there are deeper, more profound mysteries behind your life.

Another sign of your awakening is the permanent restlessness, rooted in an unconscious desire. This desire comes from an ancient, long forgotten centre of your soul, from the deeper dimensions of Alertness.

The Ego lends a form to that unconscious desire by directing it towards an external objective in the world of forms and shapes. The objective is to become as perfect as possible within the limits of your external circumstances. You wish to include the stabilized, allegedly permanent Ego in that perfection as well. Naturally, you intend to achieve that goal some time in the future.

The mind, with which you currently identify, is full of currents and streams: thoughts and emotions come and go all the time. This is your present state of existence. The first signs of the deeper dimensions of Alertness loosen the glue of your identification with the mind, so you will be able to gain more and more experience of the free spaces of the Consciousness, and you recognize that you are not an isolated, small self, but the Consciousness itself.

Recognizing yourself as Consciousness is independent of all the activities of the mind. This recognition will only come if you have had some experience of the deeper dimensions of Alertness.

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Author: Frank M. Wanderer.

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19 January, 2015 by Choki team

The Medicine Wheel of Time and Karma

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen all at once” ~ Albert Einstein

Time in the spiritual world doesn’t exist as we perceive it on the Earthly plane. Spiritual “time” is relative to our karmic experiences and whether or not we choose to transcend – to live only in the Now and learn the lessons the universe brings to our attention, the “karmic wheel” if you will. The medicine wheel, as it’s known in Native American Indian culture, represents a karmic, peaceful balance with the Earth and each other.

The Medicine Wheel
We tend to look at time as linear with events happening one after the other and this is true. But time is also experienced in cycle. We may not find the exact same events or opportunities recur, because change is constant in the Universe, but we will find similar energetic opportunities are presented to us so that we may confront and release our karmic patterns and emotional triggers.

Wherever we go, there we are. In that, we can consider a different perspective in regards to time and the shift in consciousness by saying that “time” is a form of karmic responsibility. We are collectively co-creating the future, and this karmic responsibility is there for all of us – which is why it’s true that “what comes round goes around”, and why it’s important to “do unto others…”.

There’s no such thing as zero other than in the binary code of the “matrix” or the universal law of duality. There is no concept in the universe that includes a zero outcome yet we find ourselves, intentionally or otherwise, spending our time going round and round in the cause and effect of duality while the wheel of never stop turning. Guided by our perceptions of past and future, we perpetuate our karmic patterns in cycles, with no beginning or end, running from the only person who can truly provide any kind of relief… our Self.

Thus, when we think of “zero point time” we can relate it to the transcendence of duality, or a graduation of sorts; a state where we’ve worked to identify and release energetic patterns and where we have an unwritten, clean karmic slate in which to Create.

The karmic wheel is a gift and a challenge for us to rise above the energies, emotions and influences that are hampering our spirit and experience of true freedom, and to reach a higher state of grace and abundance within, then without. With a little currency, an understanding of how these emotional roles play out in our lives, a new perspective on time, and the Heartfelt intention of transcendence… we’re prepared to heal our “karma”.

And when we do, we clear the energy of the “past” and clear the path to understanding and manifesting our soul desires for the “future”. And with our karmic pathway cleared, our emotional being (now) and our soul desires (future) become our conscience, informing our thoughts and actions in the now moment and in the future we create. Our Heartfelt intention.

The Human Drama

We come into this world with pre-assigned roles that we’re expected to adapt to and participate in, even if it often feels unnatural to our being (and it does). Our roles are based on gender, social status, race, financial concerns, and on it goes. These social repetitions have shaped our society today – one that is built on judgment, fear, competition and separation, leaving us pre-disposed to miss the entire point of our existence. We tend to get lost in competition, thinking we missed this boat or that opportunity, and therefore a plethora of other golden opportunities that most surely will never pass this way again.

It’s true that our thoughts create our reality, at first. Most importantly, they inform our belief in what’s possible in the first place. The very first step is changing the neuropathways in the brain from an imbalanced energy to a more positive approach about life and all its infinite possibilities. But the true key to creating and manifesting is through our spiritual and emotional “body”, our energy signature. If we perceive our karmic lessons as punishment we’re completely missing the gift of transcendence.

We tend to judge or deny the issues that we’re fearful of, have been taught to avoid, or find distasteful in some way. From there, we create emotional roles for ourselves to feed our “ignorance” which is just another way of saying we haven’t chosen to learn something yet – in the case of our emotions, ignoring our own nuances and/or personal truth.

The emotional roles in the human drama typically take on the character of either the victim/martyr, the oppressor/antagonist, or the savior/messiah – all depending on the relationship. When we take the time to genuinely consider that we’ve played some or all of these roles in our relationships, we can begin to see them for what they are – unresolved emotional patterns – and why we continue to play out our dramas on an individual and collective level.

The first step in re-writing the play is identifying and nurturing the aspects of ourselves that are wounded in the first place. The key is not creating new roles but looking for areas of healing, with the goal of moving toward our unity and divinity. In unity, we resonate with the vastness of experience, remaining open to receive, feel, and experience, without the need to assign roles, labels and words of limitation.

There’s a tool in our toolbox that we all came “here” with and we all have access to. There’s a ladder lying around somewhere inside the labyrinth of boxes, squares, patterns, emotional addictions and the insanity of doing the same thing over and over even though it doesn’t work. Once we find the ladder, it takes a process of patience, persistence and, most importantly, a Heartfelt intention to make the climb.

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Author: Jennifer Deisher / Wake Up World

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9 January, 2015 by Choki team

Bhutanese Folktale: Meme Haylay Haylay and his Turquoise

Once upon a time there lived a poor old man called Meme Haylay Haylay. He liked his life, and was not unhappy. One day, while he was digging in a field where the soil was hard, he uncovered a large, round piece of turquoise. The stone shined a bright light into his eyes. Even through it was so heavy he could hardly lift it, Meme Hayley Hayley placed the treasure in a cane basket and set off for home.

On the way, he met a man leading a horse with a rope. The man asked him, “Where are you going, Meme Haylay Haylay?” The old man replied, “Meme’s fortune is burning today. As I was digging in a meadow, I found a turquoise.”

Before the horseman saw the jewel, the old man made a proposal. “Will you exchange your horse for this precious stone?”

The horseman thought, Who in the world would barter a turquoise for a horse? Meme Haylay Haylay put down his basket and revealed the jewel of great fortune. The horseman was speechless. He was happy for the poor old man.

Meme Haylay Haylay persevered. “Will you not exchange your horse for this turquoise?”

“Don’t joke, Meme Haylay! Your turquoise is priceless. My horse is worthless!”

The old man spoke earnestly. “Priceless or worthless, are you for the trade? Take this stone and hand over the horse’s rope to me!”

The horseman lost no time in giving the rope to Meme Haylay Haylay, and then went his way with the precious turquoise. He considered himself the happiest and luckiest man in the world. Meme Haylay went his way as well, feeling even happier than the horseman.

Then Meme met a man with an ox. He exchanged the horse for the ox. Then, he bartered the ox for a sheep, and swapped the sheep for a goat. In each exchange, the people he traded with thought Meme Haylay Haylay was a fool.

Then he traded the goat for a rooster. With each barter, Meme Haylay Haylay grew more and more joyful.

As he neared his home, carrying the rooster under his arm, the old man heard someone singing in the distance. The closer he walked to the singer, and the louder the song became, the more joyous he felt. As he listened, tears of happiness swelled in Meme Haylay Haylay’s eyes.

He thought, I am content hearing this song. How much happier I would be if I knew how to sing it myself.

Suddenly he found himself face to face with the singer.

“Where are you going?” the singer asked.

The old man smiled. “I am going home. Today, Meme’s fortune is burning. As I was digging in a meadow, I found a precious turquoise. I exchanged it for a horse, the horse for an ox, the ox for a sheep, the sheep for a goat, and the goat for this rooster. Now, please take this rooster and teach me how to sing.”

The singer could not believe his ears. He thought it was unlikely that this foolish man had found a precious turquoise. Only the richest, most powerful, meritorious, and lucky persons ever found such a jewel. Then he thought, Supposing this man was lucky? Even the most foolish person would not exchange a precious turquoise for a horse, the horse for an ox, the ox for a sheep, the sheep for a goat, and the goat for a rooster. One mistake would be enough to sharpen the mind of the most stupid person!

The singer also knew that Meme Haylay Haylay had the worst voice in his village. A foolish trader and a bad voice! he thought.

Finally, after much discussion, the singer became convinced that the old man was serious. So he taught Meme Hayley Hayley the song. When the old man departed from the rooster and the man who had taught him the song, he walked home singing.

Meme Haylay Haylay felt like the most successful trader in the the village, the richest man in Bhutan –and, most importantly, the happiest person in the world.

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This tale was collected by Dorji Penjore in Bhumtang, Bhutan. It is a retelling of one of the most popular tales in Bhutan.

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7 January, 2015 by Choki team

Who Am I?

The question is an eternal one. If you don’t answer it, you may never be able to distinguish between what your essential self wants and what other people manipulate you to want. Each of us may do best to answer it for himself or herself. Yet the answers given by others do affect the way we approach (or avoid) this question. Several general types of answers have been offered.

The most traditional answer in Western culture is that you are a creature, a creation of God, a creation that is flawed in vital ways. Conceived and born in original sin, you are someone who must continually struggle to obey the rules laid down by that God, lest you be damned. It is an answer that appears depressing in some ways. One the one hand, it can lead to low self-worth and the expectation of failure. On the other, it can lead to the rigid arrogance of being one of the “elect.” Further, this view doesn’t much encourage you to think about who you really are, as the answer has already been given from a “higher” source.

The more modern answer to “Who am I?” is that you are a meaningless accident. Contemporary science is largely associated with a view of reality that sees the entire universe as totally material, governed only by fixed physical laws and blind chance. It just happened that, in a huge universe, the right chemicals came together under the right conditions so that the chemical reaction we call life formed and eventually evolved into you. But there’s no inherent meaning in that accident, no spiritual side to existence.

I believe that this view is not really good science, but rather what we believe to be scientific and factual. More important, it’s a view that has strong psychological consequences. After all, if you’re just a mixture of meaningless chemicals, your ultimate fate – death and nonexistence – is clear. Don’t worry too much about other people, as they are just meaningless mixtures of chemicals, too. In this view, it doesn’t really matter if you think about who you really are – whatever conclusions you arrive at are just subjective fantasies, of no particular relevance in the real physical world.

Psychologically speaking, this materialist view of our ultimate nature leaves as much to be desired as does the born-into-original-sin view. As a psychologist, I stress the psychological consequences of these two views of your ultimate identity, because your beliefs play an important role in shaping your reality. Modern research has shown that, in many ways, what we believe affects the way our brain constructs the world we experience. Some of these beliefs are conscious. You know you have them. Yet many are implicit – you act on them, but don’t even know you have them.

If you think life in general is a meaningless accident, your perceptions of the complex world around you will likely be biased toward seeing the meaningless and absurd. Seeing this will in turn reinforce your belief in the meaninglessness of things. If you believe in original sin and the great difficulties of finding salvation, your perceptions will likely be biased toward seeing your own and others’ failures, again reinforcing your belief in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Our beliefs about who we are and what our world is like are not mere beliefs – they strongly control our perceptions. So we can gain more control by finding out what we believe and how those beliefs affect us.

Between the traditional religious and materialistic views of who you are, there are a variety of ideas that embrace elements of each which include rich possibilities for personal and social growth. The common element in these other views is that life and the universe do have some meaning and that each of us shares in some form of spiritual nature. Yet they also recognize that something has gone wrong somewhere. We have “temporarily” lost our way. We have forgotten the essential divine element within us and have become psychologically locked into a narrow, traditional, religious or materialist views.

There is an old Eastern teaching story that illustrates this – the story of the Mad King. Although he is actually the ruler of vast dominions, the Mad King has forgotten this. Years ago he descended into the pits of the dankest cellar of his great palace, where he lives in the dark amongst rags and rats, continually brooding on his many misfortunes. The king’s ministers try valiantly to persuade him to come upstairs into the light, where life is beautiful. But the Mad King is convinced these are madmen and will not listen. He will not be taken in by fairy tales of noble kings and beautiful palaces!

We have a lot of evidence in modern psychology to show how little of our natural potential we use and how much of our suffering is self-created, clasped tightly to our bosoms in crazed fear and ignorance. Yet the ministers do carry a light with them when they come down into the cellar, and they do bring the food which keeps the king alive. Even in his madness, he must sometimes notice this. In the real world, events keep occurring that don’t fit into our narrow views, no matter how tightly we may hold them, and sometimes these events catch our attention.

So-called psychic phenomena are like that. They certainly don’t fit a materialistic view, just as they challenge the traditional religious view held by many that this kind of phenomena only happened thousands of years ago, and are thus to be believed, but not pondered.

Psychic phenomena are disturbing to both the traditional religious and materialistic views of who we are. It is one thing to consider abstractly that our true identity may be more than we conceive, or that our universe may be populated with other non-material intelligences. It is quite another thing, with channeling for instance, when the ordinary looking person sitting across from you seems to go to sleep, but suddenly begins speaking to you in a different voice, announcing that he is a spiritual entity who has temporarily taken over the channel’s body to teach you something!

Now you have to really look at what’s going on. Who is that so-called “entity?” Who is that person who channels? If someone else can have his or her apparent identity change so drastically, do we really know who they are? Can I even be sure about who I am? If you have been conditioned to believe that who you are is meaningless or inherently bad or sinful, you might not welcome this stimulation that the phenomena of channeling gives to the question “Who am I?”

We have many ways of psychologically defending ourselves against dealing with things that don’t fit into our organized and defended world. You could just say, “This person is crazy, or maybe even deliberately faking this stuff.” It’s a good defense, for of course there are some people known as channels who are probably just crazy or deliberately faking it. The best lies usually contain a very high proportion of truth.

You could also just naively accept whatever the ostensible channeled entity says. “Yes, you are Master Shananangans from the 17th planet of the central divine galaxy Ottenwelt. Teach me Master, I hear and obey.” This overenthusiastic acceptance can be just as much of a defense against deeper thinking and questioning as overenthusiastic rejection.

Channeling and other psychic phenomena are having a great impact on our culture today. We can use this impact for personal and social growth if we are willing to think about the deeper implications, and examine the things we take for granted about our inherent nature.

If we just believe or disbelieve without really looking, this opportunity will be lost. Read, reflect, examine your own beliefs, argue, go meet some psychics or channels. Perhaps you will decide that they are “real.” Perhaps you will decide they are not “real” in the ordinary sense of the word, but are somehow psychologically or spiritually real or important. Perhaps you will decide that some (or most or all) of this stuff is really crazy. But in the process, you will learn a lot about who you are, and who we are.

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Author: Prof. Charles Tart

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6 January, 2015 by Choki team

20 Transformational Truths From Sages Throughout the Ages

Throughout the ages, there have been many who have had gotten a taste of incredibly mesmerizing higher states of consciousness. Rather than keep their experiential knowledge and wisdom about the higher and deeper elements of existence to themselves they spread the word to others, be it through spoken word, written works, or other methods.

Thanks to the sages, luminaries, spiritual teachers, thinkers and every-day people who had and shared their enlightening experience, we can ignite the light of expanded awareness of the higher and deeper aspects of the human experience and existence itself, within ourselves. When the future looks bleak and the motivation to excel and advance seems pointless, we can look to those who have lived and are still alive who possess that inner wisdom, realized through their own personal experiences of an enlightened state of awareness.

The transformational truths that such guiding lights to humanity express to us can raise our level of hope once more to the domain of energy that makes us more proactive. Reignited excitement and passion can drive us closer to the successes we imagined and dreamed would come true. We are all capable of incredible feats.

Ask yourself: is your state of mind stopping you from realizing that ‘realized life’ success story that you undoubtedly played within your head so many times before? Don’t let it stay a dream, let it become a reality. Living in the 21st century of our archaic timeline, we have the amazing opportunity to taste such consciousness-shifting words of wisdom.

Today we will take a look at 20 such enlightening truths from sages throughout the ages. Allow these timeless words nourish your mind, heart and soul.

Transformational Truth 1: Albert Einstein

A human being is a part of a whole, called by us a universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest … a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

– Albert Einstein

Transformational Truth 2: The Digha Nikaya

You should be an island to yourself, a refuge to yourself, not dependent on any other but taking refuge in the truth and none other than the truth. And how do you become an island and a refuge to yourself? In this way. You see and contemplate your body as composed of all the forces of the universe. Ardently and mindfully you steer your body-self by restraining your discontent with the world about you. In the same way, observe and contemplate your feelings and use that same ardent restraint and self-possession against enslavement by greed or desire. By seeing attachment to your body and feelings as blocking the truth, you dwell in self-possession and ardent liberation from those ties. This is how you live as an island to yourself and a refuge to yourself. Whoever dwells in this contemplation, islanded by the truth and taking refuge in the truth–that one will come out of the darkness and into the light.

– The Digha Nikaya

Transformational Truth 3: Unknown

“Life is what you make it,” this is very true.
Find beauty and magic in all things,
and the Love that sees you through.
When you look at the world where you live,
seek not your gain, but what you can give.
When a man is poor, and hungers, and thirsts,
serve not yourself til you serve this man first.
When a man is down and seeks shelter from cold, give him shelter.
You’ll receive blessings untold.
Live by the Golden Rule:
Do unto others as you’d have done unto you.
And always remember:
When you destroy, you destroy a part of you, too.
Life is what you make of it!

– Unknown

Transformational Truth 4: Carlos Castaneda

Loving this world, seeing the beauty in everything.
Appreciating every moment as a beautiful, wholly contained,
pearl of eternal nature, this is the world to me.

A never ending string of pearls…. every moment is in and of it’s self a life time,
and when we have affection and let ourselves experience life without expectation…
that is when the majesty of the world opens her petals to us…
And welcomes us home.

– Carlos Castaneda

Transformational Truth 5: Max Heindel

We may liken truth to a mountain, and the various interpretations of that truth to different paths leading up to the summit. Many people are traveling along all of these paths and every one, while he is at the bottom, thinks his path is the only one; he sees only a small part of the mountain, and may therefore be justified in crying to his brothers, “You are wrong! Come over to my path; this is the only one that leads to the top.” But as all these people progress upward, they will see that the paths converge at the top and that they are all one in the ultimate.

– Max Heindel

Transformational Truth 6: Nisargadatta Maharaj

Stop attributing names and shapes to the essentially nameless and formless, realize that every mode of perception is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched or smelled, felt or thought,expected or imagined, is in the mind and not in reality, and you will experience peace and freedom from fear.

– Nisargadatta Maharaj

Transformational Truth 7: Gautama Buddha

Do not believe anything
because it is said by an authority,
or if it is said to come from angels,
or from gods,
or from an inspired source.

Believe it only if you have explored it
in your own heart
and mind and body
and found it to be true.

Work out your own path,
through diligence.

– Gautama Buddha

Transformational Truth 8: Osho

Every man has his woman within him and every woman has her man within her. Only the meditator comes to know his whole being. Suddenly his inner woman and the inner man melt and merge into each other. That creates an orgasmic state in him. Now it is no more a momentary experience that comes and goes; it is something that continues, day in and day out, like the heart beating or breathing.

– Osho

Transformational Truth 9: Lao Tzu

When you find the way
Others will find you
Passing by on the road
They will be drawn to your door
The way that cannot be heard
will be reflected in your voice
The way that cannot be seen
Will be reflected in your eyes

– Lao Tzu

Transformational Truth 10: John Gray

When we experience the pain of another person, we instinctively want to take away that pain. But by taking away the other person’s pain, we also take away his or her opportunity to grow. To be truly compassionate, we must be able to share another person’s suffering and pain — knowing there is nothing we can do to relieve it and that we are not responsible for it, and yet knowing and understanding what that pain feels like.

– John Gray

Transformational Truth 11: David J. Lieberman

How people see the world is often a reflection of how they see themselves. If they think that the world is just a cesspool of lies and deceit, then they themselves may be full of lies and deceit. Watch out for those people who are always telling you just how corrupt the rest of the world is. As the saying goes, “It takes one to know one.”

– David J. Lieberman

Transformational Truth 12: Lao Tzu

Throw away holiness and wisdom,
and people will be a hundred times happier.
Throw away morality and justice,
and people will do the right thing.
Throw away industry and profit,
and there won’t be any thieves.

If these three aren’t enough,
just stay at the center of the circle
and let all things take their course

– Lao Tzu

Transformational Truth 13: Terence McKenna

Ego is a structure that is erected by a neurotic individual who is a member of a neurotic culture against the facts of the matter. And culture, which we put on like an overcoat, is the collectivized consensus about what sort of neurotic behaviors are acceptable.

– Terence McKenna

Transformational Truth 14: Ghandi

Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive, because your words become your behaviors.
Keep your behaviors positive, because your behaviors become your habits.
Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny.

– Ghandi

Transformational Truth 15: Franz Hartmann

All the forms of Life in the Universe may be looked upon as being manifestations of the One and Universal Principle of Life in various forms; the whole of the Cosmos, being a product of the Universal Mind, may be regarded as universal, absolute consciousness becoming relative in separate forms. The universal consciousness of the Universal Mind forms spiritual centres of consciousness in living beings, whereby each being may feel and know its surroundings; and as the kind of living beings expands, their consciousness and power of sensation and perception expand with it; for all their powers belong to the mind. and not to the body: the latter without the mind is merely a form without life.

– Franz Hartmann

Transformational Truth 16: Bettie Eadie

If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely.
If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative.
In our thoughts and words we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths.
Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts.
We can always replace negative with positive.

– Bettie Eadie

Transformational Truth 17: Huang Po

Since time without beginning, the nature of Awakened Mind and Emptiness has consisted of the same, absolute non-duality of no birth or death, no existence or non-existence, no purity or impurity, no movement or stillness, no young or old, no inside or outside, no shape and form, no sound and color. Neither striving nor searching, one should not use intellect to understand nor words to express Awakened Mind. One should not think that it is a place or things, name or form. One should not think that it is a place or things, name or form. Only then is it realized that all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and sentient beings possess the same natural state of great Nirvana.

– Huang Po

Transformational Truth 18: Dalai Lama

As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery. We have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger and attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion, a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.

– Dalai Lama

Transformational Truth 19: John Lennon

There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.

– John Lennon

Transformational Truth 20: Sarah Ban Breathnach

Greet everyone you meet with a warm smile, no matter how busy you are.
Don’t rush encounters with coworkers, family and friends.
Speak softly. Listen attentively.
Act as if every conversation you have is the most important thing on your mind today.
Look your children and your partner in the eyes when they talk to you.
Stroke the cat, caress the dog.
Lavish love on every living being you meet.
See how different you feel at the end of the day.

– Sarah Ban Breathnach

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Author: Paul Lenda / Wake Up World

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2 January, 2015 by Choki team

Apple Cider Vinegar – One Of The Most Powerful Health Tonics In Your Kitchen

The question is not what Apple Cider Vinegar can do, but what can’t it do. As a folk remedy, it has been credited with curing everything from the flu to warts or sunburn to dandruff. However, it also can help reverse many serious diseases that many would immediately turn to pharmaceutical medications to solve.

The benefits of apple cider vinegar come from it’s healing compounds which include acetic acid, potassium, magnesium, probiotics and enzymes. Science has verified this through empirical evidence observed through the ages.

Apple cider vinegar can kill head lice, ease digestion, prevent flu, prevent acne, reduce inflammation, kill fungus, regulate pH balance, dissolve kidney stones and helps relieve allergies, migraines, asthma, nausea, heart burn and wash toxins from the body.

1) Diabetes.

The effect of apple cider vinegar on blood sugar levels is perhaps the best researched and the most promising of its health benefits. Several studies have found that vinegar may help lower glucose levels. For instance, a study (White, A. Diabetes Care, November 2007) of 11 people with type 2 diabetes found that taking two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before bed lowered glucose levels in the morning by 4%-6%. In another study from Arizona State University, subjects took a drink of 20 grams of apple cider vinegar and 40 grams of water. Those with insulin resistance who drank the vinegar had 34% lower postprandial (after-meal) glucose compared to controls.

Vinegar may be the most cost-effective diabetes medicine in history, but most people with diabetes still aren’t aware of its benefits.

2) Allergies

This miracle vinegar helps to break up mucous throughout the body and cleanse the lymph nodes. Believe it or not, research suggests that apple cider vinegar can help with allergies because of its ability to reduce mucous and sinus congestion. When reducing the effects of allergies, it can also help stave off sinus infections and their related symptoms, such as sore throats and headaches.

3) High Cholesterol.

A 2006 study reported in Medscape General Medicine, showed evidence that ACV could lower cholesterol. In a study published in a foreign medical journal, scientists found an apple cider vinegar-enhanced diet may increase HDL (“good” cholesterol) and reduce levels of triglycerides, while research in rats also suggests that apple-cider vinegar can help control triglycerides and cholesterol (Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, June 22, 2011).

4) Blood Pressure and Heart Health.

A large observational study found that people who ate oil and vinegar dressing on salads five to six times a week had lower rates of heart disease than people who didn’t. Researchers have suggested that ‘this reduction in blood pressure may be caused by the significant reduction in renin activity and the subsequent decrease in angiotensin II’. Potassium in the vinegar ‘balances sodium levels in the body, which aids in maintaining blood pressure within healthy limits’ and ‘apple cider vinegar also contains magnesium, a mineral that works to relax blood vessel walls and thus lower high blood pressure’. Another study in rats also found that vinegar could lower high blood pressure.

5) Restores Acid/Alkaline Balance

Apple cider vinegar helps the body maintain a healthy alkaline pH level, and some ‘alternative’ practitioners recommend using apple cider vinegar to help balance the body’s alkaline/acid levels. The theory behind the alkaline diet is that our blood is slightly alkaline (with a normal pH level of between 7.35 and 7.45) and that our diet should reflect this pH level as the body constantly strives to achieve this state of equilibrium.

Research shows that higher acid levels (lower pH level) leads to a lack of energy and higher incidences of infection. Proponents of the alkaline-acid theory believe that a diet high in acid-producing foods leads to lack of energy, excessive mucous production, infections, anxiety, irritability, headache, sore throat, nasal and sinus congestion, allergic reactions, and increased risk of conditions such as arthritis and gout.

6) Face and Hair Health

It is widely known that apple cider vinegar can be used as a rinse for your hair after shampooing to add healthy body and shine. Recycle an old shampoo bottle and fill it with 1/2 a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a cup of cold water. Pour through your hair after shampooing several times a week.

You can also dilute apple cider vinegar with two parts water, and spread the concoction over your face with a cotton ball as a toner at night after washing, or in the morning before you apply your moisturizer. You can also dab apple cider vinegar directly onto age spots and leave them on overnight to lighten their color.

7) Weight Loss.

For thousands of years, vinegar has been used for weight loss. Why? White vinegar (and perhaps other types) might help people feel full. A study (Ostman, E. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition,2005) of 12 people found that those who ate a piece of bread along with small amounts of vinegar felt fuller and more satisfied than those who just ate the bread.

A 2009 study on mice showed that consuming acetic acid (the active component in ACV), upregulates the expression of genes for fatty acid oxidation enzymes in the liver causing a suppression in body fat accumulation. In a double-blind experiment, obese Japanese were assigned to three different groups based on similar body weights, body mass indexes (BMI), and waist circumference. Each group drank a 500 ml drink containing either 30ml, 15ml, or 0ml of vinegar daily for 12 weeks. Those in the 30ml and 15ml groups had lower BMI, visceral fat area, waist circumference, serum triglyceride, and body weight to the control group of 0ml. The 12-week weight losses were modest: 1.2kg in the 15ml group and 1.7kg in the 30ml group. These two groups consumed a similar number of calories to the control group and also performed a similar amount of exercise, so the effect is not likely to have been due to an impact on appetite or other lifestyle changes. It was concluded that consumption of vinegar might reduce obesity.

Final Note.

Unpasteurized or organic Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) contains mother of vinegar, which has a cobweb-like appearance and can make the vinegar look slightly congealed. It’s the best way apple cider vinegar should be consumed.

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Author: John Summerly / Wake up World

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30 December, 2014 by Choki team

6 Stories That Will Make You Believe In the Power of Your Mind To Heal You

My book Mind Over Medicine is full of data scientifically proving that the mind can heal- or harm- the body. But data can be dry, and sometimes what resonates most deeply within our souls are stories. So sit back, grab a cup of tea, and let’s have story time. I’m going to tell you a few true stories that will demonstrate to you how powerfully the mind affects your physiology.

Mr. Wright

As reported by Bruno Klopfer in the Journal of Projective Techniques in 1957, Dr. West was treating Mr. Wright, who had an advanced cancer called lymphosarcoma. All treatments had failed, and time was running out. Mr. Wright’s neck, chest, abdomen, armpits, and groin were filled with tumors the size of oranges, his spleen and liver were enlarged, and his cancer was causing his chest to fill up with two quarts of milky fluid every day, which had to be drained in order for him to breathe. Dr. West didn’t expect him to last a week.

But Mr. Wright desperately wanted to live, and he hung his hope on a promising new drug called Krebiozen. He begged his doctor to treat him with the new drug, but the drug was only being offered in clinical trials to people who were believed to have at least three months left to live. Mr. Wright was too sick to qualify.

But Mr. Wright didn’t give up. Knowing the drug existed and believing the drug would be his miracle cure, he pestered his doc until Dr. West reluctantly gave in and injected him with Krebiozen on a Friday.

To his utter shock, the following Monday, Dr. West found his patient walking around out of bed. Mr. Wright’s “tumor masses had melted like snowballs on a hot stove” and were half their original size. Ten days after the first dose of Krebiozen, Mr. Wright left the hospital, apparently cancer free.

Mr. Wright was rockin’ and rollin,’ praising Krebiozen as a miracle drug for two months until the scientific literature began reporting that Krebiozen didn’t seem to be effective. Mr. Wright, who trusted what he read in the literature, fell into a deep depression, and his cancer came back.

This time, Dr. West, who genuinely wanted to help save his patient, decided to get sneaky. He told Mr. Wright—that some of the initial supplies of the drug had deteriorated during shipping, making them less effective, but that he scored a new batch of highly concentrated, ultra-pure Krebiozen, which he could give him. (Of course, this was a bold-faced lie.)

Dr. West then injected Mr. Wright with nothing but distilled water. And a seemingly miraculous thing happened—again. The tumors melted away, the fluid in his chest disappeared, and Mr. Wright was feeling great again for another two months.

Then the American Medical Association blew it by announcing that a nationwide study of Krebiozen proved that the drug was utterly worthless. This time, Mr. Wright lost all faith in his treatment. His cancer came right back, and he died two days later.

The Hexed Girls

As described by George Engel in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Baltimore Case Study Number 469861 was an African American woman born twenty-two years earlier on Friday the 13th in the Okefenokee Swamp near the Georgia-Florida border. She was the third of three girls delivered that day by a midwife who proclaimed that all three girls, born on such a fateful day, were hexed. The first, she announced, would die before her 16th birthday. The second would not survive her 21st. And the patient in question was told she would die before her 23rd birthday.

The first two girls died within one day of their 16th and 21st birthdays, respectively. The third woman, terrified that she would die on her 23rd birthday, showed up at the hospital the day before her birthday, hyperventilating. Soon afterwards, before she turned 23, she died, proving the midwife’s predictions correct.

The Blind Women of Khmer Rouge

As described in Anne Harrington’s The Cure Within, two hundred cases of blindness were reported in a group of Cambodian women forced by the Khmer Rouge to witness the torture and slaughter of those close to them, particularly the men in their lives. Examination of these women found nothing physically wrong with their eyes. The conclusion those trying to help them came to was that by being forced to view the unbearable, “they had all cried until they could not see.”

Multiple Personalities With Different Health Issues

Anthony Robbin’s Unlimited Power describes a case of a psychiatric patient with a split personality. One of her personalities was diabetic, while another was not. Her blood sugars would be normal when she was in her non-diabetic personality, but then when she shifted into her diabetic alter ego, her blood sugars rose, and all medical evidence demonstrated that she was diabetic. When her personality flipped back to the non-diabetic counterpart, her blood sugars normalized.

Psychiatrist Bennett Braun, author of The Treatment of Multiple Personality Disorder, describes the case of Timmy, who also had multiple personalities. One personality was allergic to orange juice, and when this personality drank orange juice, Timmy would break into blistering hives. However, another personality drinks orange juice uneventfully. If the allergic personality was in the midst of an allergy attack and he shifted back to the non-allergic personality, the hives would disappear instantly.

Stamatis Moraitis

Stamatis Moraitis was a Greek war veteran who was living in the United States when he was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and told he had only 9 months to live. He was offered aggressive treatment, but after 9 doctors apparently assured him that it wouldn’t save his life, he decided to save his money, decline treatment, and move with his wife back to his native Ikaria, a Greek island where he could be buried with his ancestors in a graveyard overlooking the Aegean Sea.

He and his wife moved into a small house on a vineyard with his elderly parents, where he reconnected with his faith and started going to his old church. When his friends got wind of the fact that Stamatis was back home, they showed up with bottles of wine, books, and board games to entertain him and keep him company. He planted vegetables in a garden, basked in sunshine, savored the salty air, and relished in his love for his wife.

Six months passed, and not only did he not die, he was actually feeling better than ever. He started working in the untended vineyard during the day, making himself useful, and in the evenings, he’d play dominos with friends. He took a lot of naps, rarely looked at a watch, and spent a lot of time outdoors. At one point, 25 years after his diagnosis, Stamatis went back to the United States to ask his doctors what had happened. Apparently, the doctors were all dead. Stamatis finally died this year in Ikaria. He was 102 years old.

Anita Moorjani

In her book Dying To Be Me, Anita Moorjani tells the story of how she was dying of end stage Stage 4 lymphoma when she experienced the classic “white light” near death experience many have described. As she traveled to the other side, she was able to look down upon her loved ones, even though some of them were not in the same room with her. Her heart was filled with a feeling of profound unconditional love, and she was happy to be free of her dying, tumor-riddled body.

Then she was told that she had a choice. She could stay in the white light and die, or she could go back and share her story with others. She didn’t want to come back. Her body had been in so much pain, and her soul had been suffering. But she was told that if she came back, her cancer would be cured. She believed what she was told, and felt called to come back so she could share her experience.

Anita’s cancer was gone within several weeks. This all happened under the care of her bewildered doctors, who documented her spontaneous remission. Anita is now on the Hay House speaking circuit with me, spreading the message that death is nothing to fear.

Have Your Heard Stories?

When we doubt the mind’s power to help – or harm – the body, it helps to share stories. Have you had a personal experience with the mind’s power to affect the body? Share your story!

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Author: Lissa Rankin / Wake up World

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23 December, 2014 by Choki team

One New Year’s Resolution That Can Transform Your Life – Forever!

We create New Year’s Resolutions as a way to start over and maybe even create a whole new us, but often, those promising resolutions fail before they ever really begin. Perhaps, we are just making the wrong resolutions.

What if there was one New Year’s Resolution that had the inherent ability to completely transform our lives? Instead of changing or improving something, what if we went to the core of all issues and weresolved it once and for all? What if you could reclaim your full connection to Who You Really Are?

Most of us operate in a perpetual state of disconnection to who we really are: aka higher self, source self, true self or whatever you may call it. Many of the challenges and issues in our lives could beresolved by simply getting connected and staying connected. Of course, we wouldn’t be alive if we weren’t connected at some level, but there is a big difference between minimal connection and full connection. When we are fully connected, we are aligned with something greater than us, and we are in sync with the natural rhythm of the universe.

When you are connected to the source of who you really are, you know it, because life flows with ease and grace. You can create what you desire, and you are joyful, peaceful and abundant. Everything in your life is a direct result of being connected or not connected. When you set your intention on getting connected first and foremost, you will also align with the realization of other resolutions that you may desire.

The less connected you are, the harder it is for the universe to answer your hopes, dreams and prayers – not because you are less deserving. You are always deserving, but rather because you are not plugged in and the energy cannot flow – therefore what you desire cannot manifest in your life. Manifestation is the flow from thought to thing. The more connected you are, the easier thoughts can flow into things. In other words, the easier and quicker the universe can deliver your dream.

You have innate control of this connection – you are the captain of your ship and you can consciously make choices, on a moment to moment basis, that either connect or disconnect you.

If your resolution is to connect to who you really are, this is not a one-time thing. You must intentionally make this connection every day, until you reach an energetic and emotional threshold where that connection clicks for good. It does take effort, but once you fully connect, it is easy to stay connected and, in fact, life becomes effortless. This is what we have all been seeking.

The key to this resolution is to make your connection to your Real Self the most important aspect of every day, and to make your relationship with your Real Self the most important relationship that you have – because it is.

It is extremely beneficial to have a practice, such as breath-work, meditation or yoga, that helps connect you to your source-self, but this article is not about that; I will leave your personal practice up to you. This article is a step by step guide that will show you how to wake up, get connected and stay connected in real, every day, life.

If you haven’t been living a connected life, at first it may feel uncomfortable or challenging to get connected, but that is only because you are not accustomed to it, but keep going. After a while, disconnection from who you really are will be so obvious and uncomfortable that you will stop everything in order to get connected.

When you do feel dis-connected, pause what you are doing, and partake in whatever is necessary in order to get reconnected. A common excuse is, “I don’t have time,” but that is like saying I don’t have time to find my car keys so I will walk thirty miles to work. Your connection to who you really are is the key to your full awakening, and creating the life that you dream, desire and deserve. Nothing is more important.

Symptoms of disconnection include: fear, stress, overwhelm, worry, feeling unloved, unworthy, alone, and basically any emotion that feels uncomfortable. Signs that you are connected include: feeling exhilarated, creative, joyful, engaged, enthusiastic, peaceful, loving, and feeling really good for no external reason at all.

Your New Year’s Resolution Program

Connecting to who you really are does not happen overnight. Despite what we may hope and believe, spontaneous awakening is not the norm. Waking up and getting connected requires consistent intention and attention over a period of time. To support you best, I have created a 12 part guide, with each section providing an essential key that will help you get connected and stay connected.

On the path to connecting with your Real Self there is no failure – so just do your best, and remember each day is a new day, and you have unlimited “do overs.” Above all, be kind to yourself, as you use this guide to support your journey to awakening to Who You Really Are!

1. Master Your Mind

Your greatest resource is not time, money or investments. Your greatest resource is your energy. Not just the energy necessary to get through the day, but rather the vibrational energy that makes you who you are. The universe in which we live is one of vibration, and vibration is also what creates each of us.

Your vibrational energy always measures somewhere on a scale between high and low. On the low end of the scale, one is down or depressed. On the high end of the scale, one is radiant – life shines brilliantly through the one whose vibration is high. There is a direct correlation between your vibration and how connected you are. When you are disconnected, your vibration is low, while the more connected you are, the higher your vibration. Intentionally raising your vibration is a powerful way in which to get connected, so this is where we will start on your journey to being who you really are.

Thought is key.

If we were to reverse engineer human vibration, we would observe that our vibration is effected by our emotions, and our emotions are precipitated by our thoughts. Therefore, we can say that thoughts influence vibration. This is great news, because our thoughts are really the only thing that we have any control over. Since you cannot think negative thoughts and have a positive vibration, the first call to action is mastering your mind.

Your thoughts and imagination are priceless technology and you are meant to be the controller, but if you don’t take intentional command of this internal technology it is easy for outside sources to take over. Reclaiming your mental powers might be new to you, so don’t get discouraged if it feels like your mind has a mind of its own or your thinking is like a runaway train.

It does take time and practice to master your mind, but there is nothing in the world of greater value in order to raise your vibe and get connected. You cannot expect anything in your life to change or improve until you claim the most important power that you have – your power to think and your discernment in what thoughts to believe and give energy to through your attention.

Resolving to change negative thinking can be overwhelming, but you don’t need to change all your thinking at once in order to experience a shift. Simply, begin by eliminating “that one negative thought” – you know the thought. It is the repetitive negative thought that you think every day. The one that brings you down and makes you feel bad. Be careful not to replace this one thought with an equally debilitating thought. Once you have mastered this one thought, move on to negative thought number two, and so on….

Maybe there is a series of negative thoughts that you can group together and choose to eliminate, for example, judgmental thoughts. Because judgment excludes, rejects and pushes away, it is a quick method for disconnection. Sometimes we use judgment to motivate ourselves or others, but it is ineffective because it actually de-motivates – you cannot be motivated when you are not connected.

The way to release judgment and most negative thinking is simply allowing yourself to be who you are, exactly as you are now, and allowing others to be who they are. You don’t have to accept anything about anyone, simply allow, and see what happens. As you simply watch your thoughts, you become the Watcher of Thought – a non-judgmental observer who is closely aligned with your higher self. In this way, you can begin to unmask the ego.

Remember, thoughts are not things until you believe them. It is up to you to believe thoughts that support you and release thoughts that keep you asleep.

Don’t under estimate the Power of Positive Intention. For example, practicing gratitude automatically shifts your thoughts in such a way that your vibration naturally rises, and you become connected. Just as judgment quickly disconnects you from your Self, gratitude is a powerful path to connection.

It is very helpful to notice what thoughts make you feel connected and what thoughts immediately disconnect you. If you can track your thoughts and understand the direct relationship between thoughts and connection, you have gained an immense power that will allow you to become master of your mind – which is exactly the way the Real You intended it to be.

2. Free Yourself

Your connection to who you really are is intrinsic and guaranteed. There is really nothing to do in order to connect. In fact, the real secret to connection is undoing all the things, thoughts, stories and beliefs that have disconnected you because they are out of alignment with who you really are. In order to reclaim your connection you must free yourself and everything that has interfered with that connection.

Freeing yourself means Letting Go.

Letting go is an unraveling process, and you can begin anywhere in your life. You can practice letting go of things that no longer serve you. You can let go of relationships that no longer support you. Or, you can let go of everything – every day. Letting go does not mean that you must go off and live in the woods; in fact, you don’t necessarily have to give away anything when you let go. In letting go, you are letting go of attachment – to anything that has imprisoned you, in any way.

If you are honest with yourself, you already know what needs to be released.

For years, I went through a process of mentally letting go of everything in my life, including my cherished children and even my life’s purpose, but in letting go, all my relationships improved and my life took on a greater clarity. In letting go, I freed myself energetically and emotionally, and as a result, I got plugged in to a higher way of living and relating to others – and even myself.

We are not meant to grasp onto life. Life is meant to be lived through us, and the only way that can happen is if we let go. Letting go is not giving up. Just the opposite. When you let go, that which you truly desire can come to you in the best possible way. So, don’t be afraid to let go. In letting go, you automatically connect to your true self and then everything good can flow to you in ways that you never could have imagined. Letting go is magic. Yes, it takes practice but you can do it.

When you completely let go, you are instantly connected. Try this for even five minutes a day. Let go of everything and see what happens.

3. Be True to Your Self

If you are trying to be someone other than who you are, you immediately disconnect from who you really are. The more your false self operates in your life, the more disconnected you become, and the lower your vibration.

You are a special and unique being in this world and you are meant to express your style and creativity. The more you allow yourself authentic expression, the more connected you are and the higher your vibration. This is the year to be yourself and create what you truly want to create.

Now is the time to use your voice. You cannot be your greatest or truest self without speaking your truth. When we stay closed and hide our truth, we cut ourselves off from evolving and becoming who we really are, while resolving to speak your truth gives you the ability to shine and teach others how to shine as well.

In order to connect to yourself, it is essential that you become Self-full. Most of us have been brainwashed to believe that putting yourself first makes you selfish, but this is furthest from the truth. When you put everyone before you, you become depleted and have little to give. When you resolve to put yourself first, you become someone who takes care of themselves to such a high regard that you have an abundance of love, clarity and energy for everyone else.

Don’t forget to have fun! A huge part of being yourself is having fun and doing things that make you feel good. In feeling good, you get connected because who you really are is joyful; so every time you reach for joy, you reach for your true self. What is that one thing that makes you feel connected more than anything else? For me, it is skiing deep, fresh powder through the trees. Sounds crazy, maybe, but this is where I “lose myself” and I get plugged into my Self. What is it for you? Walking in nature, music, dancing, tennis, sky diving, gardening – whatever it is, do your best to make it a regular practice because it is an essential shortcut to your connection.

There will come a time – once you become completely connected, you will become blissfully Self-Less. In becoming Self-less, all your needs and desires are fulfilled and you can put everyone first without compromising or sacrificing yourself in anyway. The path to getting there is through being Self Full, for as long as it takes. Now, you have some leverage to truly take care of yourself.

4. Open Your Heart to Receive

When we close our hearts, we disconnect from who we really are, and the more we open our hearts the more connected we become – the more love flows to and from us, and the higher our vibration.

Our first defense in protecting ourselves from real or imagined threats is often closing our hearts, but staying closed to the world is exhausting and counter-productive because it cuts off the energetic flow of who we really are. Yes, you do become vulnerable when you open your heart, but you also become strong and powerful – and most importantly, you stay connected.

It is not possible to authentically give or receive when our hearts are closed. Only through an open heart can we give unconditionally and without attachment, or needing something emotional in return. Often it is easier to give than receive because we must be even more open and vulnerable in order to fully receive. We are talking about receiving from others, as well as, receiving from the universe. Of course, the universe gives to us through the channel of those in our lives, so, if you cannot openly receive from others, you are also not receiving the good that you seek from the universe.

When your heart is closed, your flow is blocked, and you may experience overwhelm, exhaustion, resentment, and even prosperity issues in all areas of your life. By learning to receive, you allow yourself to get back into the flow of the universe which is always in a perfect cycle of giving and receiving.

This is the time to practice opening your heart to receiving. Notice all the places in your life that the abundant and loving universe is giving to you – and really accept these gifts. The more you can receive the more Life has to give.

Don’t worry so much about the giving part initially. Giving happens organically from an emotional state of self-fullness. When we are full, we overflow with the desire and means to give abundantly to the world. The problem has been that we have been taught to give before we have anything to give. If you are in need, and you give, you create more need for yourself – because you become depleted.

The key to giving is first receiving by plugging into the infinite flow of the universe.

Close your eyes, breathe, and imagine the energy of light flowing from the Infinite through the crown of your head and filling your whole body, and every cell in your body – with pure love.

5. Own Your Worth

Who you really are is unconditionally worthy, so as soon as you question, or try to prove your worth, you disconnect from your Self.

The world cannot, and will not, give you worth, because worth cannot be given. In fact, the search to prove your worth disconnects you from your intrinsic worth. I won’t get into all the reasons why most of us go through life feeling unworthy. It is enough to say that life programs us in this way, and that programming causes us to stay asleep and disconnected, but that program can be turned off, with your intention to do so.

You cannot be connected and question your worth at the same time.

Owning your worth is much simpler than it sounds, because there is really nothing to do. In fact, it just requires that you stop chasing the elusive carrot on the stick, by taking a permanent break from seeking worthiness. Claiming your worth is an undoing process, and it doesn’t happen overnight, but you can “un-do it” and the reward is great.

First, notice all the ways in life that you might be trying to prove your worth. Just notice them – without judging yourself. Self-judgment is another way we disconnect ourselves, so skip the self-judgment and just observe.

The next step is beginning to dis-entangle your identity and your life from issues of worth. You dis-entangle by taking your energy and attention away from it – and releasing all the stories you tell yourself about your worth. Giving energy to worthiness feeds and perpetuates the issue.

Remove your energy from worthiness and unworthiness loses power and dissolves.

The bottom-line is unworthiness is an illusion, therefore, trying to prove worth is living a lie. We have been trying to heal feelings of unworthiness by “being more and doing more,” but you don’t overcome the lie by trying to fix the lie. You overcome the lie (illusion) by withdrawing your energy.

You resolve the issue of unworthiness by turning your back on it – over and over again, for as many times as it takes, until it is gone forever.

We are talking about emotionally detoxing from unworthiness, and ending the cycle of “not enough.” We are talking about releasing yourself from an imaginary prison that has probably effected your whole life. The thing is, no one is keeping you in this prison, and only you have the keys to open the door and the needed courage to step out.

Knowing and owning your unconditional worth as a powerful and special being in the universe plugs you in, and aligns you with a high vibration. When you are no longer pursuing paths or people in order to feel good about your-self, you become empowered and connected. You also become free to live your life as the Real You intended to live.

Imagine how your life will change from a state of Knowing Your Intrinsic Worth.

6. Claim Your Power

There is a direct correlation between owning your power and your connection to who you really are. The more you own your power, the more connected you are. When you give your power away through self-sacrifice, not speaking your truth, putting yourself last, doing one thing in order to get another, not following your inner guidance, hiding behind others or repressing or diminishing yourself in any way, you immediately disconnect.

A huge clue to understanding where you give your power away is to notice where you give your energy away and where you become emotionally drained. The places in your life where you feel as if you are losing energy, are likely the same places where you are giving away your power. Is it in a relationship, work situation, organization, etc…? Maybe you own your power in some situations or relationships but not in others. You give your power away anytime you believe that someone has something that you need, and you alter your behavior in such a way that you compromise your integrity. If you could “get out of your own way,” your intrinsic power would flow to you – and through you.

You get out of your own way by “not doing” all the things you do that stop the flow of this infinite power. This power naturally flows until we do something that impedes the flow. Your thoughts, beliefs and actions are so powerful that they have the ability to cut you off from this immense Power Source. That should show you how powerful you really are; you have the power to stop the flow of the universe in your body and in your life!

If you listen, your inner voice will tell you exactly where you are not standing in your power and being true to yourself. This time is dedicated to listening to that all-knowing voice and taking inspired action in your life that allows you to reclaim your power, thereby connecting to who you really are.

Above all, do not give your power away in exchange for anything, including love, approval and rewards, or to avoid conflict. When you give your power away, you disconnect and nothing and no one is worth the loss of connection to who you really are.

7. Power of Choice

You cannot be awake and stay connected without exercising your power of choice. Your power to choose is your power to consciously create your life. When we don’t consciously choose, life chooses for us and we allow the world to keep us asleep.

Being awake and connected to who you really are means that you must make conscious choices in your life. This can be as simple as choosing what thoughts to believe. When you remember that no one can control what thoughts you think, and what thoughts you believe, your power to choose exponentially expands.

When you make conscious choices, through your thoughts, intentions and inspired actions, your life responds accordingly and you become aligned with not only who you really are, but also with your highest and best possible destiny.

The Power of Choice has two “secret weapons” – the power to say yes and the power to say no.

The Power of No!
Giving yourself permission to say no allows you to set boundaries in your life – to do what you want to do and not do what you do not want to do. The choice to say no allows you stay in alignment, and in integrity, with who you really are. When you fail to say no, when you really want to, you immediately disconnect from your Self, and your vibration lowers. This is why if feels so bad when we don’t follow that inner guidance.

The Power of Yes!
Virtually everything you desire that you don’t already have exists outside your comfort zone. Saying “Yes” allows you to bridge the gap from where you are to where you want to be. As you follow your inner guidance by saying yes, you might experience some discomfort at first, but as you follow the lead of your higher self, you will become more connected to yourself and to life.

Every choice should be prefaced with the question, “Will this disconnect me or connect me?”

If your number one intention is to be connected, your choices become crystal clear.

8. Give Yourself Time

Imagine a life where you have more than enough time. Here is a real-life magic trick; when you slow down and get off the adrenaline roller coaster, you will discover that everything still gets done and maybe even gets done better. We think that time is the same for everyone, all the time, but this is an illusion. Time morphs according to our thoughts and feelings at any given moment.

When you slow down, life slows down.

Because life responds to your lead, you must give to life what you want in return. A rushed life is a mirror for rushed energy. If you want more time, you must align with a feeling of having “all the time in the world.” This might also mean that you stop measuring your life by ticking years, and you consciously choose to become Ageless.

The key to creating more time is being present in the moment.

When you are present, you are connected. It is impossible to have one without the other. A quick fix to getting connected at any moment is to become present. Stop what you are doing. Take a deep breath. See, hear, smell, taste, feel – drop into now. Being present is an extreme sensory experience. When you are present, sight improves, hearing heightens, taste is delicious and your sense of touch and being touched is sensational. Presence precipitates bliss, peace and even ecstasy.

9. Inner Guidance System

How you feel at any given moment is your inner guidance system communicating with you. Everyone has an inner guidance system (intuition, gut feeling, sense of knowing), but many of us have been “trained” not to listen, but that training has taken us away from one of the most important gifts that we have. Your Inner guidance system is like your telephone to who you really are. If you want to be connected, then you must use this “phone system” on a daily basis.

Your inner guidance system speaks to you through emotional energy.

Because who you really are is joyful, moving in the emotional direction of joy moves you closer to connecting to your Real Self. If you are in emotional pain, in any way, it is an indication that you are thinking thoughts that are not aligned with thoughts that your Real Self would think, and the pain you feel is a result of disconnection. It is also that pain that will eventually cause you to let go of the lower vibration thoughts that create separation – and eventually you will move toward feeling better. This is your Real Self navigating you by means of your inner guidance system.

Often we come to crossroads in life and we don’t know which way to turn, but your inner guidance system does and it will guide you through the form of tangible energy; if you follow this energy you will always be guided. In other words, when we are meant to take inspired action or move in a certain direction, we have the physical energy to do so, because the flow of the universe connects with us and through us to give us tangible energy. You can even imagine different choices and feel if you have the energy or not, before ever taking action. If you lack energy to move in a certain direction, listen to this insight.

Forcing yourself to do something when it doesn’t feel right immediately disconnects you, while listening to that wise inner voice, strengthens your connection to who you really are.

Your inner guidance system will tell you when you are connected and when you are not. Just pay attention to your feelings, and if you are not connected, ask yourself how to get connected, or what you need to “stop doing” in order to get connected. The more you listen, the stronger your intuitive voice will become.

In order to hear your voice, quiet down and be still. You cannot hear your voice in the midst of outward chaos or inward chatter. It is in your highest interest to spend time every day with the intention of listening to your Wise Self.

10. Master Your Emotions

Our emotions drive us and they are directly responsible for our vibration, and therefore, whether or not we are connected.

There are two primary elements to mastering your emotions. The first is meeting your own emotional needs and the second is owning your emotional reactions.

Give to yourself what you have been seeking from others:

Do you desire acceptance, understanding, appreciation, compassion? Whatever it is, give it to yourself. If you need others to meet your emotional needs, you give your power away, and you disconnect from who you really. Being emotionally needy lowers your vibration – this is why it feels so bad, and rarely even works. How can the universe meet your emotional needs, if you are vibrating at a low level where the high vibration of love cannot easily flow? Ask yourself, what emotional need am I lacking? If it is appreciation, for example, set your intention to appreciate yourself, and take inspired action that supports self-appreciation. You might also want to give appreciation to others as well – the more you give something away, the easier it can come back to you.

Give up emotional addictions:

What is your most common reaction when things go wrong? Frustration, impatience, guilt, regret, etc…? What you may not realize is that when we develop emotional patterns of reacting certain ways, we become magnets for situations that cause us to react those ways. First determine your emotional addiction and then make the choice not to react in this way despite provocation. At first, you may still experience situations that provoke the addicted reaction, but after days or weeks, you will have broken the emotional addiction and life will respond by no longer irking you in that same way.

Here is a challenge: Instead of responding with your personal emotional addiction when things go wrong, what would happen if you responded with the emotion that fulfills your emotional need. For example, if your addiction is frustration and your emotional need is understanding, instead of getting frustrated when things go wrong, you respond with understanding.

Finally, the Magic of Love is always available to you. By choosing love, you immediately connect because who you really are is love. The more you give love, the more life will love you in return. If you only do one thing this year, let it be to Practice Love.

11. Pay Attention to Life

What is fundamentally you is not separate from the outside world. You are everything. You are the whole universe – every flower, every molecule, all the good and all the bad. You are not just a temporary extension of life, you are the infinite expression of life itself. Believing that we are separate from life alienates us from the very life that we are. Waking up to who you really are, means waking up to life – your life.

Many of us go through life asking for what we desire, and this is fine, but do we ever stop to ask, “What is life asking of me?” Did you know that life is speaking directly to you every hour of every day, but most of us are oblivious to this two way conversation?

Often, we want to know what is in our subconscious minds, but there is no mystery to this, because your subconscious mind is constantly and accurately projecting itself out onto the screen of your life. The key is to pay attention to your life. What would happen if you resolved to pay attention to your life?

When you drop your rationalizations and justifications for who you are, or for life being the way it is, what is your life telling you? Who is life asking you to become?

By paying attention to your life, you have the power to receive valuable information – making your life the best it can be. The more connected you are to life, the more connected you are period.

Take time to really listen. Imagine that life has a voice – what is life saying to you now?

12. Take 100% Responsibility

Waking up also means that you focus on the areas of your life where you are not conscious – and you become conscious. The issues in your life are presented to you in order to direct your attention in such a way that you do wake up. Pain and discomfort are powerful wake up calls. The problems in our personal lives and in the world are intrinsically designed to awaken us. That is the point

It is not enough to just pay attention to your life, in order to be fully connected, you must also be 100 % responsible for your life.

Every time we blame someone or something for our issues or problems, we not only give our power away, we become disconnected from who we really are. In order to stay connected, you must be responsible for your life, and everything in it.

The final key to connection is claiming responsibility – your full ability to respond to life.

When you completely own your power, you take responsibility for everything in your experience; this includes everything that directly happens in your life, as well as everything that you are even conscious of in the world. Nothing is happening outside of you; everyone and everything is a reflection of you. This means that there is no blaming others for doing or not doing things – without blaming the world, anger, frustration and a host of other disconnecting/low vibration emotions are no longer provoked.

If something is not working in your life, you must look inside yourself to find the corresponding “inner cause” of outer-trouble, and shift it. From a higher state of consciousness, you find the dis-harmony in yourself and you harmonize it.

Even though you are responsible for your experience of reality, you are not responsible for others. This means that you allow others to be exactly as they are – without trying to fix or change anyone for any reason.

The key to effective self-responsibility is to shift yourself in such a way that the outside world responds accordingly and ultimately becomes more harmonious. You do this by mastering your thoughts and emotions, letting go of negativity, expressing yourself, being at choice in your mind and in your actions, listening to your inner guidance, and always responding from a place of intrinsic power. This is your dynamic recipe for getting connected, being connected and staying connected.

Happy New Year!

As you live your life from the state of wholeness, you gain an abundance of everything truly important in life – that abundance naturally overflows, so that you have enormous gifts to contribute. But of all the gifts the greatest one is showing others, through example, how to connect with who they really are. This is your most sacred purpose.

You make the biggest difference in the world when you live from the exalted state of True Selfhood, and you cherish, nurture and honor this state, above all else. This is what it means to be the change you wish to see in the world!

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Author: Nanice Ellis / Wake up World

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