Written on 2010-01-04 02:38:38
Note: This includes extracts from Chapter 6 of my book Sage of Synchronicity (see end of document for details).
In the video and book The Secret, we are told that we can manifest whatever we want, as long as we put out the right signal to the universe. This secret has been suppressed. We are shown a scene from a cigarette filled room full of grey-haired men, presumably plotting to keep the secret out of the hands of the filthy masses.
I hope those old fogies were fired, because they did a lousy job. The idea that you can manifest your dreams has been the central motif of Californian New Ageism for the last 30 years. It is also the central theme of one of the first books I ever read on alternative spirituality, some twenty years ago: Wayne Dyer’s You’ll See it When You Believe it.
The big problem, besides the obvious fact that the “secret” isn’t a secret, is that it is observably wrong. The richest and most powerful people on the planet are not into Californian woo-woo. And just quietly, California is now in massive debt. And a lot of New Agers and hippies are not exactly living the good life.
Yet there is truth to the idea of manifestation. You can create the life you Dream of - you just have to do it according to the laws of Spirit. Things are a little more complex than what we have been told. I therefore use the term “naïve manifestation” to refer to the simplistic version of the idea.
I once bought the naive manifestation idea myself. In 1998 I got myself into a rut, and decided that manifestation was the way to get myself out of it. It was not long after I’d been kicked out of my beloved spiritual group. The mistake I’d made was to spend too much time and energy on inner worlds. Sure, I learned an awful lot about the mind and consciousness, but unfortunately, I forgot there was a real world out there to attend to. I had casual work as a relief teacher, but the work dried up, as it often does near the end of the school year. So just at the time I was supposed to be reaping the rewards of my exhaustive self-work, I basically lost everything.
Still, being the stubborn type, I didn’t give up. I knew that the only reason that I hadn’t landed a position as CEO of a Fortune 500 company was because I didn’t believe it enough. Every morning, on top of my other inner work, I meditated to a manifestation CD by a certain New Age guru. I imagined the money and job offers pouring in, and my life going from strength to strength. Strangely, nothing happened. I applied for jobs and got turned down. Suddenly, I had no money.
The landlord was nice about it. Too nice, in fact, and one day I found myself five weeks behind in rent. I refused to go on social security, because that would admit my failure to believe enough. Then, one day I looked up after my morning manifestation visualisation and saw the brand name of a tinned apple manufacturer written on the side of a cardboard box: “Dole”. I knew then and there that I was going to have to put aside my pride. I hightailed it down to the social security office, crawled in and applied for the dole.
Now, I have said that I believe that there is some truth to the idea of manifestation, and that it is just more complex than what we are often told. There were good reasons why I was unable to manifest what I wanted. By the end of this chapter, I will make clear what those reasons are. This should be of practical benefit to readers, as you can avoid the mistakes I made, as well as learn a little about how the universe really ticks.
I want it all, and I want it now
In a nutshell, the reason why The Secret doesn’t work for most people is because the mind is multi-faceted. There are many levels of consciousness beyond the conscious mind, and this is why it is difficult to maintain a positive focus on what you are trying to create. Putting out a constant positive signal to the cosmos is not as easy as it first appears. Even as you are deliberately imagining your Bliss, the deeper layers of the psyche may be putting out a stronger contradictory signal. The personality might have the romantic comedy channel on, while the psyche is busy playing horror movies.
Therefore, what you need to do is bring the psyche back into alignment with the intention of your conscious mind. And in turn, your personality has to be aligned with Spirit.
Finally, the right actions have to be taken, and at the right time.
At the time of my bum ride in New Zealand, I was full of doubt and fear. My vision was way ahead of what I was capable of manifesting. I took few actions towards creating what I imagined because I could not work out the right actions to take. The truth is there were no actions to get me to a destination that I was incapable of reaching. My ego was not aligned with the truth of Spirit.
For many alternative folks, the personality is pushing out the wanton lust of ego, dissociated from Spirit and the higher self, and all the while sitting in the goo of an emotionally damaged psyche. There’s not much chance of manifesting your Bliss in this situation.
The New Age of “love ‘n light”
My book Sage of Synchronicity is an attempt to bring a greater depth to the idea of the manifestation of Dreams, to understand that there are limits to what you can have and do, and that any old goal is not good enough. Your Spirit is calling you towards futures that fit for your soul. Your ego may be oblivious to this.
I want to emphasise that this chapter is not an attack on New Age thinking. The New Age movement is incredibly diverse, and I know many wonderful people who would probably happily class themselves as New Age. However there are limitations to “love ‘n light” New Ageism.
The collective Soul issues behind the Californian New Age movement can also be sensed intuitively. The issues centre upon the idea of narcissism, a sense of superiority to the rest of humanity, a focus upon surfaces (rather than depth), abuse of drugs, a tendency towards being ungrounded within the body, a belief in entitlement, blame of the system (generating lower levels of responsibility), and certain issues related to sexual expression.
In New Age thinking in general, there is tendency to focus on the “nicer” parts of the spiritual journey. Let’s swim with the dolphins, meditate with crystals and save the rainforests, but let’s not think too deep about what lies within. When we acknowledge only the nice parts of ourselves, the shadow does not get adequately acknowledged and integrated.
Some New Age thinking also makes no attempt to contextualise the individual’s journey within a greater dynamic. This is the narcissism aspect. Certain books and videos do not adequately explain that life moves beyond the needs of “me.” You can have whatever you want if you just believe it enough. This is a potentially spiritually regressive philosophy. It grants unmitigated power to the human ego, for it makes no distinction between the voice of Spirit and the desire of ego; including the lust for power, fame, riches, sexual gratification or whatever agenda the ego sets up.
If there is one thing that the recent financial crisis has shown us, it is that unbridled desire, free of consideration of the whole, is a recipe for delusion, and ultimately disaster. Whether it is within the New Age movement, in the financial sector, or society in general, narcissism and greed are the inevitable result of such a philosophy.
This statement is not meant to demonise the New Age movement. Reading the issues of any group or collective - charity groups, human rights groups, women’s rights groups, religious groups and so on - highlights the shadow, and this will always be “negative”. What the New Age does is bring in spiritual elements to very materialistic western societies. It is an important phase of human spiritual evolution. We do need to acknowledge its limitations, though, if for no other reason than that New Age naivety can trip us up on the road towards our Bliss.
There is a lesson here for all of us to learn, whether we consider ourselves to be on a spiritual quest or not. If we fail to “get it” the results will be disastrous. We have been perpetuating a mass delusion. We have been exposed. Will the collective ego listen, or continue on the path of self deception?
The prime directive of Spirit is towards the integration of self and soul. Becoming a star, getting a Porsche and pulling babes may not be part of the deal, sorry to say. Spirit wants you to experience divine love above all else, and for that to happen, you have to heal. You need to bring in the wounded child from the cold, and to do that you have to go into the land of the shadow. You have to get real.
Of Dreams and actions
Limiting beliefs tend to make themselves known with one overriding emotion: fear. Yet it is not fear that is the problem. It is the running away from fear. Unless you turn and face the fear, the Dream may falter.
The great thing about Dreaming, planning and then following through with concrete actions, is that it provides you with the opportunity to face the energy within your mind and soul. They bring you into a closer relationship with the Soul Template. The actions you take are intrinsically challenging, confronting, and best of all, potentially healing. That means liberating. So, in a sense, the universe is playing a little trick on us. We think we are reaching for the Dream, but we are really entering the shadow. If we bring the light with us (love and acceptance), the shadow begins to dissolve. This is our Bliss.
This is not to say that the Dream does not have value in itself. It absolutely does. But the greater goal of the universe is the integration of mind and Spirit; and that means the healing of the emotional energies that keep your mind locked in ego and away from the embrace of love. As you express your Bliss, you articulate the integration of mind and soul.
Your excitement is the sound of the cosmos calling you home.
From what I have written here in this chapter it should be obvious why I was unable to manifest my vision during that rather difficult time in New Zealand. My Dream was built upon a naïve understanding of manifestation. Manifestation and true Bliss are built upon the guidance of Spirit, with love as the central theme. They require that one develop an unshakable belief in oneself, grounded in an honest acceptance of one’s Soul Issues. From that guidance, honesty and self-belief, an appropriate vision can then be developed, and the right actions and timing will follow.
When your vision falls too far out of alignment with where you are really at, you go into delusion. An ego fall is inevitable. I was lucky. Spirit didn’t send the cement truck. It sent the pizza delivery car instead. Not long after begging the government for cash to kick start my life again, I took a job delivering pizzas. That was perfect for me for a few months. Strangely, I hadn’t ever sat down and tried to manifest myself as a 33-year-old pizza boy. Yet what I really needed to do was go back to basics. My soul had been reduced to a rather raw and vulnerable state, and I had become too introspective. I needed to get out into the real world with real people and do real stuff. Spirit doesn’t always give you what you want. Sometimes it just gives you what you really need.
We are now getting very close to the end of part one of Sage of Synchronicity, where I have outlined the foundations which are required to build a Sage life. Yet here is one last level of awareness that is required if your Sage is to emerge from behind your shadow. And it is the most challenging level of all.
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