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The Vortex of Intention and the Teachings of Abraham Hicks

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“Your prayer causes you to focus, and the Law of Attraction causes everything in the Universe that’s in vibrational harmony with your focus to come to you.” ~ Abraham

Abraham Hicks is a cluster of non-physical beings who are channelled through American woman Esther Hicks. First drawn to channelling through reading the Oversoul Seven books by Jane Roberts, Esther and Jerry answered their inner guidance and began to meditate. Esther found that, as she meditated, her head and neck was moving about in all directions and would do so with each session.

After a time she realized she was spelling out letters; drawing them with her nose in the space before it. ‘I am Abraham’ was the first contact, and after some exploration the entity began to speak through her.

What’s interesting is that, as usual when a leap of faith is required when believing in what is before you, the series of physical discomforts she is experiencing coupled with the voice that comes out of Esther’s mouth is quite disconcerting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Jzcn07k8M

In these early sessions (filmed in the 90s) we can see a much more convincing portrayal of the channelling experience, and the ‘cluster’, if that what it really is, expresses both intense enthusiasm as well as a hint of frustration that the physical beings before her just aren’t getting it. And indeed it must be frustrating for the non-physical to see us shooting ourselves in the foot time and time again.

abraham hicks quotes23Whether it’s real or not, the content of what is taught is really quite remarkable. It’s Law of Attraction taken to the next level and, even if you detest the law of attraction to high heaven you might still gain a fraction or two of insight from these ‘delicious’ (one of Abraham’s favourite words) teachings:

Our vibration creates worlds

If the universe is holographic and therefore a projection of all the frequencies we are projecting, then we really are at the leading edge of thought.

Abraham describes how, in the increase in discontent of the masses we brought into being the enquiry to know more about our universe and created interactions with beings like her/himself. That without that mass discontent he/she would never have been able to come forward in the first place.

If we can create worlds with our thoughts and the vibration attached to them, then the implications are mind blowing…. (and rather exciting too).

Our perception of others is also their reality

If we think certain thoughts about another person it becomes their reality, even if they are not consciously aware of your perception (although this ‘6th sense’ is swimming about in our consciousness and we actually are aware of it whether we admit that or not).sacred geometry 141 endre balogh

Pretty scary right? So the best thing you can do for anyone is to focus your attention on what you love about them and the scope and depth of their potential and you will shift that energy into a positive one therefore helping them enormously.

In this way we are co-creating constantly when we think negative thoughts about the other, and can help ourselves as well as them by consciously shifting that focus and allowing compassion to flow.

You are attracting at your best when aligned with your inner being

Why is meditation such a good thing? Because it focuses the mind, therefore bringing our focus from any negative thoughts we may be having and creating our world in the process.

We are literally creating our world with our thoughts, so meditation helps us first to bring awareness to how much we channel our focus into negativity, and then gives us the space in our head to focus on the positive alternatives.

Don’t focus on what you don’t want, but what you do want

By aligning with your inner being then re-shifting your focus you are wisely investing in your life. It’s that simple. But it’s an exploration as most people don’t know exactly what they want.

In the vortex of intention you can experiment and what you are wanting to manifest won’t manifest for a short period of time, therefore allowing you to time experiment before the momentum gets going.

For example if you want to manifest a partner and are saying positive affirmations (the best way to experiment as you can directly feel what the vibration connected to those words feels like; if you believe it’s true and if not, why) and imagining your perfect partner, you might then be directed to the fact you’re not expressing yourself fully and therefore not attracting a mate who is in the vibration of what you want to be attracting.

By then addressing any negative beliefs you have about your career and your attitude to yourself, for example, you might then become closer to finding a partner who is the sophisticated, professional person of integrity that you now are.

Of course to line up with your true self in order to do the work you love might take a year, so it’s important not to lose hope and use any negative emotion or bump in the road as an indication there is something you need to work on. This is why ignoring your emotions won’t get you anywhere. To ignore them is to ignore your inner guidance system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cE50fJteiGk

The Vortex of intention

The vortex of intention is when you’re aligned with your inner being and are flowing positively in the direction of aedcf511a9dec4d0c0d12f2f936373c4what you want. Simply asking directly for what you want and noting the vibration that brings on can help.

Also, by using your sense memories to remember times when you felt free and connected (travelling or going on holiday for example) or in love (past experiences without specifically focusing on the individual) can help to channel into and feed your intention into the vortex.

This is an exploration in itself, in that you are experimenting with what makes you feel good, and that you feel good is what life is really all about.

You can’t feel good stealing from another or speaking unkindly about another person because your inner being knows that that’s not positive, so when you engage in these actions you get what you don’t want as you are emitting a negative vibration.

The universe will line up with you

In allowing things to come to you (rather than reaching or grasping which takes you away from your inner being – the inner being can be found by sitting back in the armchair of your being and energy, being present and accepting) the universe will then line up with you. If you’re looking for a perfect job then it’s also looking for you.

The hard bit is not the job, it’s the belief you have that it doesn’t exist or is beyond your grasp. Focus on solving the agreements you have with yourself through positive intention and the job will manifest. Do the work on yourself and the universe will work out the rest.

Through a brief exploration of Abraham’s teachings you can find all the answers to all the questions you have ever had and simplify them into one nutshell of truth: What you focus on becomes your reality. Wow, I mean, just wow!

This is our way out of the sludge, we can simplify our lives down to the nuts and bolts of it and recognise it for the game it really is. We have been given a body and told to go create so we can go create. And who would want to create anything but a masterpiece?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylyPuAPXsZ4

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Zen and the Art of the Home-full Cosmopolitan

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“All who wander are not lost.” ~ J.R.R. Tolkein

We’re all familiar with homelessness and we’re all familiar with having a home, but most of us are not familiar with the concept of being home-full. Being home-full is proactively living a cosmopolitan lifestyle; meaning, common to the whole world, at home in all places, and broadened by travel.

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A Stoic Perspective: Meditating on the Ephemeral

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“Mankind is poised midway between the gods and the beasts.” ~ Plotinus

There are moments in life that put things into perspective; like climbing a mountain and looking out over the world, for example, or standing at the precipice of the Grand Canyon at sunset and gazing into the geological history of the earth, or staring up at the stars on a moonless night away from the bright lights of man. Such moments take our breath away.

They reveal the impermanent nature of all things, and how all things are in flux; changing and transforming unpredictably. Most of all, they reveal the ephemeral nature of mortality. How brief our moment in time is.

The Stoics had a particularly effective exercise for putting life into perspective: meditating on the ephemeral; remembering that life is short and the universe is grand, and how right now-this moment-is our chance to soak it all in and to use it as a tool to become better people.

Remember how small you are

“For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.” ~ Carl Sagan

Meditating on the Ephemeral

It is said that if the solar system were the size of a CD, the Milky Way Galaxy would be the size of the earth. Let that sink in. Wow! And the Milky Way is only one of billions of other galaxies in the universe. That’s some dwarfing knowledge. It’s almost crippling, the enormity of it all. It seems impossibly enormous, but that is only because we are so impossibly small compared to the universe.

Meditating on our smallness may seem counterproductive at first, but it has a way of putting life into perspective like nothing else, say death. When we allow ourselves to attempt to drink in the grandeur of it all, we tend to discover a kind of sacred resonance at the bottom of the cup. Some call it God. Some call it the Great Mystery. But meditating on our smallness has a way of counterintuitively connecting us to the interconnectedness of all things.

Feeling the gargantuan weight of Infinity on our shoulders crushes us into accepting that we are a part of this Infinity. It helps us to let go of our smallness so that we can better grasp the importance of the moment. To be fully present and aware of our uniqueness contrasted with ubiquity.

As Neil DeGrasse Tyson said, “We are part of this universe; we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts, is that the universe is in us.”

Remember: Life is fleeting


“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.” ~ Carl Sagan

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Life is short. We all know this to be true, but few of us really feel it. Similar to how our smallness contrasted with the vastness of the universe puts things into perspective, our mortality contrasted with infinity makes each moment that much more precious. We will never be here again. That second just went by! One step closer to the inevitable squeeze of our mortal coil.

We have from this moment until the day we die to live the life we want to live. A life we can fall in love with. A life we can grow in, toward the direction of our dreams. And right now- this moment- is the only chance we may have to leverage such a life. For there may not be another chance.

As Plotinus said, “Knowledge, if it does not determine action, is dead to us.”

Remembering that life is fleeting is really letting it sink in that ephemerality is reality. The sooner we can accept that fact, the sooner we can get busy living the life of our dreams, or at least attempting to. Whether we succeed or not is secondary. Which brings up another central teaching of stoicism: how unpredictable the world can be.

Again, our inability to predict the world is secondary. Action is primary. Being proactive is exemplary. And there is perhaps no other philosophy that is more proactive than stoicism. The Stoic exercise of meditating on the fleetingness of life puts into profound perspective the necessity to become more proactive in the moment.

Happiness is secondary; the pursuit of happiness is primary

“You don’t have a right to the cards you believe you should have been dealt. You have an obligation to play the hell out of the one’s you’re holding.” ~ Cheryl Strayed

Similarly, we don’t have a right to happiness, but we do have an obligation to pursue the hell out of the happiness we want. Taking into consideration the precept that life is fleeting, ephemeral, and unpredictable, it stands to reason that happiness is not a given.

Indeed, happiness is secondary, it is derivative, and it may be just as fleeting and elusive as life itself. So, since we cannot control whether life brings us happiness or not, we ought to focus on what we can control, which is being proactive about pursuing the life we want to live, and a life we can fall in love with. Which may or may not bring happiness, but at least we tried our sincere best.

At the end of the day, meditating on the ephemeral nature of reality brings into perspective the need to be proactive regarding the course our lives take. We may be small in the grand scheme of things, but we can be proactive about allowing the grandeur of it all to move us into higher states of awareness.

Our lives may be fleeting compared to the greater Infinity, but we can be proactive with the precious time we have and leverage a life we can love. Happiness may forever elude us, but the pursuit of happiness is the thing, so perhaps we can at least find a modicum of happiness in that. And even if our lives end up sad and tragic, there is always an underlying humor to lean on while we laugh at the absurdity of it all.

As Shakespeare said, “A tragedy is a comedy misunderstood.”

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The Universe Is in Us

The Psychology of Probability

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“We balance probabilities and choose the most likely. It is the scientific use of the imagination.” ~ Sherlock Holmes

One of the most important keys to open-mindedness is the effective use of probability, specifically epistemic probability. Knowing how to utilize probability effectively prevents the mind from clinging too tightly to any given thought or disposition.

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Utilizing the Niyamas as a Path for Personal Growth

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The second limb of Yoga in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is the practice of Niyamas, or personal observances. Where the Yamas are a series of restraints focused primarily on how one interacts with the outer world (not lying to others, not grasping onto situations, things, or relationships), the Niyamas focus primarily on the practitioner’s inner world.

Practicing the Niyamas gives rise to an increased sense of self-confidence. The root word of confidence is fidere, a Latin word that translates to faith, or fidelity. To have self-confidence means to have faith in oneself, faith that you will move through and interact with the world in a way that feeds you, instead of diminishes you.

One way to look at this is using a Cherokee legend many of you are likely familiar with.

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Integrating the Niyamas into daily life is the active practice of feeding the wolf of love, peace, and serenity. Here are the five niyamas of Yoga ~

Shaucha: Purity of body & mind

“Krishna insisted on outer cleanliness and inner cleansing. Clean clothes and clean minds are an ideal combination.” ~ Sathya Sai Baba

The first Niyama is all about cleanliness, both inside and out. This practice is intimately linked with the practice of Brahmacharya, as the sutras state that as you practice Shaucha, the desires of the body begin to drop away.

Internal Shaucha means ridding your headspace of mental impurities such as anger, jealousy, and greed. Anything that moves you away from the Love that is Divinity is considered an impurity of the mind. This is not a switch you can just flip, though. It requires vigilant attention being paid to your thoughts and, when one of these elements arises, purposefully shift your thoughts toward love.

External Shaucha means taking care of your body and your environment. Eating a plant-based diet full of unprocessed foods, drinking plenty of clean water, bathing regularly, and creating a simplified and clutter-free environment all go a long way towards cultivating outer purity. This, in turn, helps to cultivate inner purity.

Santosha: Contentment

contenment niyama
“Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune.” ~ Walt Whitman

Contentment is the true root of all happiness, self-love, and love for others and the world. It is the practice of accepting the world exactly as it is and recognizing the beauty in it.

The alternative to containment is restlessness and dissatisfaction, this idea that some aspect of reality – a relationship, a work environment, the shape of your body – should be different than it is.

Santosha is not resignation, however. It is not asking the practitioner to not work towards change and improvement inside and out. It is the practice of seeing things as they are, which is the only footing from which you can change.

Santosha is looking at the map, seeing the intersection where you’re standing, and from there figuring out how to navigate to where you want to be, while not pining after this idea that you should already be across town.

Tapas: Fiery discipline

fire
“Everyone must choose one of two pains: the pain of discipline, or the pain of regret.” ~ Jim John

In Sanskrit, Tapas translates to heat. It is the process and practice of passionate self-discipline which creates a crucible effect, burning away impurities. When you feel excited to get on your yoga mat, or determined to take a ten-day Vipassana course, this is Tapas at work.

Often, when the topic of self-discipline comes up, it’s associated with a sense of dread. It means denying yourself what you really want to do for the sake of something you should do. Tapas, to me, is inextricably linked with Santosha.

If you start from a place of contentment, you can make changes in your life with a sense of exploration. If you start from a place of discontent, however, the perspective becomes that of needing to fix something, which implies there is something wrong or broken about you.

But the beauty of it is, there’s nothing wrong with you, or me, or any of us. We are all complete and perfect, om purnam, exactly where we are. As with all things, approach yourself with the gentle touch of a loving mother, not the whipping stick of the authoritarian.

Svadhyaya: Self-Study

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” ~ Aristotle

If we go back to the map analogy, Svadhyaya is the practice of recognizing which intersection you are standing at. In order to get a clearer look at yourself, you have to move your focus from the outer to the inner. There are several methods for manifesting this shift, meditation being perhaps the most well-known and possibly most effective.

Svadhyaya is certainly not limited to meditation, however. Reading sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Bible, are also considered self-study, as well as mantra recitation and kirtan.surrender

The idea is to find something, whether it be a meditation, a mantra, or scriptures, that will absorb you so completely the regular cacophony of thoughts quiets down and you dwell in a place of inner resonance.

Ishvara Pranidhana: Surrender to God

“Be ground. Be crumbled, so wildflowers will come up where you are. You’ve been stony for too many years. Try something different. Surrender.” ~ Rumi

Ishvara pranidhana is the ultimate surrender and dedication of your practice (meditation, kirtan, yoga, the other Niyamas and Yamas, life) to your personal view of God. Or, as Seane Corn puts it, “the God of your understanding.”

This is the process of giving your labors to the God of your understanding, and letting Divinity work through you. It requires you to incorporate Aparigraha, non-grasping, because it means letting go of the outcomes of your actions and trusting in a higher power. It calls upon Santosha, contentment, as you put your faith in this power and rest in the knowledge that, really, it’s all good.svadhyaya e1492930149973

Patanjali states that through Ishvara pranidhana, samadhi (union), is achieved. It is the simplest, and the most difficult, of the Niyamas and Yamas. All it asks is surrender, but we as humans are seemingly designed to seek control wherever and whenever we can.

Bringing the Niyamas into your life

Looking over this article might inspire a bit of intimidation in you. Keeping all of the Niyamas present in your mind as you go through the routines of your life can seem daunting. So, don’t do that.

If you’re interested in exploring the Niyamas (or the Yamas), start small. Choose one, and make a commitment to yourself in the morning that you will endeavor to embody this practice throughout the day. Just do the best you can.

Remember, Svadhyaya is knowing where you start, and Santosha is being okay with that.

"Santosha: Don't Run After Things" - A Talk by Swami Satchidananda (Integral Yoga)

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