Are You a ‘Responsibility’ Addict?
In light of some of the confusion and surface-level teachings going on about the “responsibility game” (as in how far you should take your need to be responsible for everything that you see, feel, and experience), let’s start by analyzing, and putting deeper meaning, around this belief:
“Most people have no idea what responsibility means… They are into blame. As they grow and become more aware, they begin to consider that they are responsible for what they say and do. Beyond that, as you become even more aware, you can begin to realize that you are responsible for what everyone says and does, simply because they are in your experience. If you create your own reality, then you created all you see, even the parts you don’t like.” ~ Joe Vitale, Zero Limits
The above quote is excerpted from Joe Vitale’s best-selling (of course, he has the process down!) book, Zero Limits, which is about the ancient Hawaiian art of Ho’oponopono. The basic premise is that you are responsible for absolutely everything you experience, whether within your control or seemingly beyond your control, simply for the fact that you are experiencing it.
In order to change it, you must clean yourself by sending out love, gratitude, and apologies to the Universe.
Now, apparently there have been some pretty awe-inspiring results come out of this seemingly strange practice. And yet, we keep meeting people who do and teach Ho’oponopono but still don’t take responsibility for their lives and everything that happens to them. They still act as victims if someone says or does something that they don’t like.
So the question is… are they extremely incongruent? Or do they just have a feeling, deep down, that we’re really NOT responsible for everything that occurs within our awareness? Or is it perhaps a combination of both?
And more importantly, where does the truth lie? Are we, in fact, responsible for everything we see, hear, smell, taste, feel and experience… whether it occurs in our own backyard, or halfway around the world?
====== Continued =======
This question has been floating around the spiritual circles, and hotly debated, for some time now.
Followers of the movie The Secret tend to believe what the movie tells them, which is that we “attract” or “create” everything in our lives.
In the movie, Bob Proctor says that everything in your life, you are attracting into your life. Mike Dooley says that Thoughts Become Things. Michael Beckwith says that creation is always happening. Joe Vitale says you’re like Michelangelo, and the David you’re shaping is you. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying that you create your own Universe as you go along. Quantum physicist Fred Alan Wolf says that the mind is shaping the very thing being perceived.
>> So they don’t really say “responsible”, they say “attract” and “create”. But that begs the question… is “attraction” and “creation” the same thing? And where does responsibility fit in?
I think that Fred Alan Wolf’s assessment that the mind shapes the very thing being perceived is spot on, because perception is so often taken as cold hard fact by most people. “You attacked me,” “You turned your back on me,” “You yelled at me,” “You cut me off on purpose,” and so forth are all perceptions of an event that took place, and/or perceptions of the intent of another person involved.
But often these perceptions are completely the opposite of what the other person intended… and intention is so much more powerful than perception when it comes to what reality is.
So our minds shape what we experience based on our perceptions… but those perceptions do not make reality, just what we perceive as reality (which we can call “our reality,” as in “we create our own reality,” but it may not have any impact whatsoever on anybody else… and is therefore not “true reality”).
If I send you a gift from the heart that I honestly think you’ll appreciate and enjoy, and you decide that there must be some hidden message in why I would pick that particular thing, what’s true? My intention of giving a gift from the heart? Or your perception of the hidden message that was “wrapped up” with the present?
I think it’s pretty clear that my intention is what’s true, and your perception, while it might seem true to you, is really not. Your perception shapes your reality, but no one else’s, unless you’re determined to tell everyone you know how terrible I was for giving you the gift. Then you’re influencing my reality, and all the other people’s reality too. But you haven’t changed true reality unless you can change everyone’s beliefs — including mine — about what happened.
But I don’t think that “perception” is the same as “creation”, and I don’t think that perception requires taking responsibility for what is… only for what our reactions are to it.
And in fact, despite the common habit of using both words interchangeably, I don’t think “attraction” is the same as “creation”, either.
When Joe says we’re like Michelangelo, sculpting our own Davids (ourselves) he is definitely saying that we “create” our reality. Now, we have nothing against Joe. He’s a great guy, and helped both Barry and myself get started in this industry. In fact, he’s partially responsible for us being together.
But now, after lots of investigation and study, we’re starting to question this premise.
We “attract” what’s in our lives, absolutely. That’s the Law of Attraction, and it’s not going to change. But “create” — as in the artistic sense of create? I’d have to say no, not by that definition of “creation”.
Think of it this way… you can attract another person to you. But you can’t create another person, unless that person is your offspring (and then you’re only co-creating with your partner)!
I’ve painted many paintings in my life. They start with a blank white canvas, and I can create absolutely anything I want on that surface. It might be a cartoonish animal, it might be a landscape, it might be a portrait of a person, or it might be totally abstract. There are no rules, and I can create whatever I choose.
In life, we can’t create whatever we choose. If you want your skin to be naturally darker, you can’t create that. If you want to be a natural blonde when you’re not, you can’t create that. If you want to use your own leg power to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, you can’t create that. If you want to run faster than a speeding bullet, or be more powerful than a locomotive, you can’t create that.
If you want to have four legs, or six arms, or three eyes, you can’t create that. If you want a unique pet, you can’t just create any Dr. Seuss-like character you can conceive… even if you believe it (sorry, Napoleon!)
Physics rule just as hard and fast as metaphysics, and you can’t bend the rules.
But you can absolutely attract anything that already exists on this planet… it was created by the Universe (The Creator, or a co-creation of the Universal consciousness, including you) but it’s attracted by you.
If you write a book, you created it. If you read a book that happened to come along into your life at the precise right time, and you just know it was a sign from the Universe… you still didn’t “create” it. You only “attracted” it.
Or, as I like to say: We don’t create, we facilitate.
If creation is the equivalent of an artist’s painting, then facilitating is the equivalent of making a collage out of pictures that you’ve cut out of magazines, photographs you’ve taken, keepsakes and mementos you’ve picked up, and various other odds and ends lying around.
In the corporate world, we facilitate a meeting — conceive it, put it together, make sure it happens and guide the way it unfolds. But nobody says we create a meeting, because you can’t create how others will be involved.
Facilitating is basically another way we can look at attracting, but it implies a more hands-on approach that I really like, and that inspires self-responsibility for what we experience.
Back to the example of attracting vs. creating other people… Barry and I were first “attracted” to each other 
in the classic metaphysical sense: the Law of Attraction at work. But Barry facilitated our first conversation by taking the initiative to email me.
Over a year later, we became “attracted” to each other in the physical sense: animal magnetism at work. But again, Barry facilitated that becoming more than just a mutual admiration. Yes, he was the one kick-starting that phase in our relationship too. But a couple of weeks later, when I also realized what I wanted, I helped in the facilitation process (by sending him an REO Speedwagon song, to begin with) and we ended up where we are now (another whole journey in itself).
Yes, you could say we “created” the relationship. But from a true something-out-of-nothing perspective of creation, we really “facilitated” it happening the way we had designed and envisioned, rather than creating it from scratch.
But back to one of my original questions: Are we absolutely responsible for everything we experience — whether it happens in our personal circle of influence, or halfway across the world?
Are you responsible for a tsunami because you watched it being covered on the TV news? Are you responsible for a co-worker being fired because you witnessed the boss axing him? Are you responsible for the price of gas because you filled up your car? Are you responsible for global warming because you commented on how nice the hot weather was last summer?
Various scenes in The Secret would imply yes. The principles of Ho’oponopono say absolutely, yes. Barry and I say no (sorry, Joe!)
As Barry put it to a very I’m-out-to-save-the-world-with-my-powers-of-light questionable teacher he met last week, who felt we were attacking her principles:
“When you attempt to take responsibility for everybody else’s actions and behavior, and presume that EVERYTHING (yes, EVERYTHING) is a projection from inside you, not only do you take away the very things the people you’re taking responsibility for need most (a real-world awareness of their own part in their experiences), you can end up taking the concept of oneness to narcissistic levels.” ~ Barry Goss
Now at this point, it’s important to make a clarification. When teachers talk about “you” creating your personal reality, or being responsible for what you personally experience, they are often talking about your Higher Self you, not what we’ll call your Lower Self you. They don’t usually make that distinction, which is why so much confusion abounds… but that’s what they really mean.
The Higher Self is you on a spiritual plane — the part of you that has all, knows all, and probably guides all in your life. The Lower Self is you on the physical plane — the part of you that experiences all, and is learning with each step along the way.
We could call it Mini Me (physical) and Maxi Me (spiritual); or as fellow metaphysical writer Stuart Davis says, the spiritual part is your Self and the physical part is your self. Get it? Upper case “Self” = Higher Self, and lower case “self” = Lower Self.
The point is, listening to teachers who say “we already have everything we need” or “we’re already whole” is misleading, because they mean the Higher Self, which of course is already whole! We don’t need anyone to tell us that, it’s obvious. But most of us aren’t 100% connected to what our Higher Self knows and wants at any given time.
So if you get raped or mugged and a teacher tells you you’re “responsible” for that, should you feel terrible about it? No, because if there is any responsibility in the equation, or if it was pre-planned for that event to happen, it was all your Higher Self’s doing. The Lower Self experiences it, and can choose how to react to it (such as acting like a victim, or taking a strong stance as a survivor or, even better, a thriver).
But obviously the Lower Self did not choose to experience that, even if the Higher Self did. The Lower Self is not fully responsible, even if the Lower Self attracted it.
How would the Lower Self “you” attract such a terrible thing? Either by thinking and feeling things like “nobody’s trustworthy,” “everyone’s out to get me,” “men are only after one thing from me,” etc… or by walking around like a victim with shoulders stooped, expecting the boogey man to jump out at any second. Criminals look for the victim attitude, and never attack someone who walks with confidence and a don’t-mess-with-me attitude.
Extending this argument to global events takes on a whole different level of suspended disbelief, however.
Can we say we’re responsible for that tsunami because we walked around like a victim? Or even that we’re responsible because we watched the weather report on TV and said out loud, “Wow, the environment is really getting out of whack lately!”
We don’t think so… what do you think?
Before you start thinking, “Well, all those people in The Secret say we’re responsible, what do Heather and Barry know?” and just quoting from other people’s work… we’d really like to have you engage in an intelligent discussion here instead.
What does your soul tell you? What are your gut reactions? How much of what you experience or witness do you truly feel you’re responsible for?
And when engaging in this discussion, keep in mind whether you’re referring to your Higher Self or Lower Self when you say “I”.
To get you thinking, here’s an excerpt from a recent article that Stuart Davis wrote.
The Self is absolute freedom. The self is relative delusion. The Secret is appealing to the relative self and pretending it’s the absolute Self.
The Secret crowns the Ego as God (I mean, YOU create Reality, isn’t that amazing? YOUR THOUGHTS are INFINITELY influential), then makes two disastrous leaps.
#1, Now that you know YOU create your own reality through the spiritual enterprise that is “thinking, feeling”, what do you, the Creator, want to create with your thoughts? Wealth. Money, power, influence, status, and the luxury afforded the elite who amass fortunes. The Secret will teach you how. Odd, isn’t it, that your self is so spiritual and powerful, but what it chooses to Attract with its Law is money, houses, lovers? Not the liberation of all sentient beings, not relief for every creature, not the cessation of that which is the Source of Suffering (clutching, desire, greed arising from the illusion that there is an “other”), but a refinement of the Source of Suffering. A manipulation of it. The Secret turns Desire and Clutching into a technology you can wield, AND it’s Spiritual! The cure is worse than the disease.
#2, Since YOU create your own Reality (Oprah went to pains to stress and emphasize this point, and had Rhonda explicitly confirm precisely that phrase “we create our own reality”) you are responsible as the Source of whatever arises in your Reality. Every thing in your experience, you created (merely using thoughts and feelings! Wow). Many of you reading this right now may be astonished to finally understand that you gave yourself cancer. You caused yourself to be raped, robbed, murdered, stricken with every malady in the canon of illness, beset with each kind of strife imaginable. The Holocaust? Just something Jews brought on themselves, as they each apparently created their own Reality. The Rape of Nanking? Bad Chinese, with their bad thoughts and feelings, simply created their own reality and thus caused the unspeakable murder of 350,000 innocent children, women, and men. Weird, the Reality people create for themselves, ain’t it?
Of course, it’s hard to overstate how cruel and insulting such a notion is. The impossibly sick premise that people in such situations create their own Reality is so obviously wrong, so self-evidently false to our basic intuition, that we can almost laugh it off. I mean, we could if Oprah — perhaps the most influential woman in the Western World — hadn’t gone to pains to repeatedly emphasize and confirm it with Rhonda Byrne to an audience of tens of millions. Tens of millions of people who literally oreint their lives according to these sorts of “discoveries”.
Hmmm… now where do YOU stand on the issue? What does your intuition tell you about what you’re responsible for?
We realize it’s a big leap of faith to go against Oprah, The Secret and Ho’oponopono. But Barry, Heather and Stuart strongly feel that those premises can be misleading at best, and dangerous at worst.
Yes, since we’re not one of the souped-up, status quo, stage-walking mentors you’re used to seeing and hearing all over the place, we realize that many people will wonder how we have the the right to challenge the somewhat conventional (or at least mass-distributed) spiritual wisdom that we’re responsible for all.
But hey, questioning and challenging is what we do here! It also defines what we are (or at least our Lower Selves).
We realize that some people will even get angry with us… but we’d like to say right up front, once again, that our reactions are what we can control and are responsible for.
Just remember my favorite Jack Canfield formula: E+R=O (Event + Reaction = Outcome) and take a curious look at your reaction to what you read here. Does it ring true? Does it ruffle your feathers? Does it make you want to embrace us, or lash out? Only you have control over that… we’re not responsible! 
But that’s good news, because taking self-responsibility for your habits, your reactions, and your roadblocks is one of the most empowering things you can do. It allows you to see your self-defeating behavior and patterns, and adjust accordingly so you facilitate a more desirable situation for yourself. We just don’t think you need to take self-responsibility for the earthquake in California.
We’re not approaching this from the position of uninformed non-spiritual people who just don’t get it. We’re approaching it from the stance of investigators who have been there, done that, dug deeply, and discarded what doesn’t jive.
Now, post your comments below and tell us what “you” (Higher or Lower Self) think!
Ready? Set? GO! – Leave a REPLY below….
Your Partner in the Quest For
Living a Life Without Limits,
Filed under: Critical-Thinking, Manifestation
I like Jack Canfield’s quote. I am only responsible for what I do, and how I react to those things that happen to me.
I whole heartedly agree with you I thought that I must be the only one who had these thoughts
An interesting topic and a few interesting opinions expressed.
Jane Robert’s Seth material particularly the two books “The Nature of Personal Reality” and “The Individual and the Nature of Mass Events” goes into this topic extensively.
The material is channelled so that may create problems of credibility for some people but her books make a lot more sense than the Abraham-Hicks stuff. IMHO of course!
I feel better about your description. I never could get my head around the “I’m to blame for everythig routine” Not least if Iwould want to talk to anyone about it I couldnt make sense of it in my own mind enough to verbalise it. I know all about confusion before clarity and all that, yet it just didn’t sit right.
Keep up the good work!
Oh and on your point of being a “nobody” aren’t we all!!!
I believe in the law of combined mass consciousness attraction if you like. For example every individual has their own karma which they have created and continue to create and so do houselholds, suburbs, towns, cities and countries.
The karma experienced in this instance is the collective karma. For example 1000,000 meditating on peace actually created a reduction in crime, accidents etc at that time I was reading. Another thing I have pondered is a countries collective karma for example, Afghanistan, their number one export for some years has been opium poppies which is used to create heroin, which creates destruction and untold misery for the users and their family, friends, community. Then Afghanistan is destroyed in war. Is that this countries collective karma? Are they reaping what they sowed? Purely an example. So the answer to your question is yes and no but ultimately it’s not as simplistic as a yes no answer. However obviously if you can have all the people believe or act in a certain way that will attract or create a big result depending on what is being actioned.
I agree with your thinking.
This helps me understand what I have felt at a deeper level. I do agree with the idea that we create our own reality. And it does go deeper than the surface of reality as most folks see it or experience it. So, your definition of SELF and self really helped bring it home for me. It’s still the same concept as God decides and we live the experience. However, for me, it makes the living much more personal and intimate. And I don’t mean to say that we are all “God”, just using that as a point of reference.
Hi Sue, good thoughts about “mass consciousness” attracting.
I tackled that very idea, using the “Tree Reality” versus “Forest Reality” analogy in this video:
http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/lwl-tools-post-5/
Check it out… it may give you more food for thought.
Although I was at first impressed with The Secret, there were some fundamental statements in it that ‘just did not set well’ with me…also the ‘slickness’ of the presentation put me off a bit. I plucked out what made sense to me, thought about a few other things a while, but rather much rejected it as already common material packaged very cleverly.
I also thought it was too superficial.
How very refreshing to find others who think similarily
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Patricia,
I actually don’t have a problem with the slickness of the production of The Secret. I think it’s very impressively shot, and that appeals to a wider audience than another approach might, which is great for the fact that it introduced the seed of some important concepts to a wide variety of people.
What I do have a problem with is the way it skims information, and gives some incorrect impressions, rather than going as deeply as people need in order to really make a difference in their lives.
cheers
Heather
At last some common sense. Great thoughts Heather. There is no “secret” about the “problem of pain” as CS Lewis put it, and or suffering. Theologians have been debated this for eons. You know…if God is loving and kind why do we have so much pain and suffering in the world etc etc … So, the Secret takes God out of the equation and inserts the “universe” and us, and as you eloquently put it … the us is more complex that the law of attraction experts give credit to.
Perhaps they are so busy trying to attract things…cars, money that the spiritual side is not yet fully developed!! It does not deal with children either. Babies that get cancer are they too responsible? Or are their parents responsible for such suffering. Hogwash. Trying to fit quick and easy solutions to explain the problem of pain is in itself painful. Its like an instant lobotomy… unfortunately marketing gimmicks and slick advertising pail into insignificance when you view the 6 oclock news… am I responsible for those millions of starving African babies? Is God responsible?
Who would attract this obscenity in the first instance? Too cute, too commercial and insulting to our intelligence (of both our Higher or Lower selves)
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Christina,
“God” and “The Universe” are interchangeable, but “God” implies a personification… and we are all truly gods at the level of our Higher Selves, so “The Universe” is a less confusing concept. But while your Higher Self is loving to you, the Universe is not “loving” as people expect a manlike “God” to be… it delivers based on our vibrations, thoughts, feelings, etc. not because it “wants” something good for us. That’s how you can attract what you DON’T want by thinking about it.
When you are talking about babies attracting things, you seem to be talking about the child’s helpless little Lower Self. But that being, also, has an all-powerful Higher Self running the show… so if a baby passes away as an infant, who are we to say that the baby’s Higher Self did not have that planned? How do we know that the Higher Self didn’t want to come back just to experience a short lesson as a human, or even to help someone else (maybe the parents) learn something that they needed to learn… like how to let go and love another person, and they could only learn that lesson to the fullest by having a baby die?
Remember, the baby’s Lower Self passed on, but the Higher Self — our true essence, our true Self — is always alive and well, regardless of what happens to the Lower Self.
This is where spiritual rhetoric gets confusing… they talk about us “attracting” or “creating” situations like that, but neglect to say it’s the Higher Self that did the creating, and all for the greater good.
cheers
Heather
i don`t know, but I know that on my path to rediscover my self , i have attracted many books, many blogs, many oppinions, and among them-the two of you!! i don`t think that anything is coincidence, i came to believe that everything is for a purpose, and until you get it, it will keep comming back until there is no responce in you left for it, untill you surrender, until you get over yourself! i don`t know nothing and i don`t know how I think this things that I`m saying, but I know I`ll find out someday for sure, so there is no rush, just hope to get there sooner than later!
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Billie,
Yes, you will attract those types of things to help you along your journey.
I agree that we keep experiencing the same thing, or repeating patterns, until we learn the lesson that’s in that experience. I’m not sure what you mean by “get over yourself”, or whether that’s about you or us… but there’s certainly nothing wrong with exploring and looking for answers.
cheers
Heather
[Heather's COMMENT]: Hi Pastor Bola, I’m going to reply between each of your paragraphs since you have a lot of good food for thought here.
The truth is that I don’t know. If I was already completely at one with my Higher self then I could accept that Higher Self Created the experiences for Me as Lower Self to learn from. But that does not make any sense either from the point of view that lower self is infact an illusion and therefore does not exist anyway. So how can an illusion create anything?
[Heather's REPLY]: Well, that depends on your definition of “illusion”. Our Lower Self is our physical body… and I can certainly see, touch and smell my body, and other people’s bodies, so to me that fits the human definition of real, and certainly existing (not an illusion). To the Higher Self, of course, the Lower Self is an “illusion” of sorts, but there is obviously a reason for it to exist. If that reason is not to experience humanity and learn in a human form, then what else could it possibly be? And no, the article says that the Lower Self does not “create” in the big picture sense. It can create artwork, it can create a book, it can create an apple pie… but we don’t believe it “creates” in the sense of making people, environments, or big picture situations from scratch.
There is only one true I-Self. That is me the higherself; and I can see from that standpoint how I can create, facilitate or attract my reality, through my higher self thoughts and feelings. But if my higher self is all loving, why would it create any form of negative reality for me to experience?
[Heather's REPLY]: Your everyday thoughts and feelings come from your Lower Self, not your Higher Self. After all, why should the all-knowing part of you think something like, “I have too many bills to pay” or “she doesn’t like me”, or any other minutia that floats through our minds all day, every day? And if your Higher Self creates a “negative” experience (your Lower Self’s definition, which is by perception only) then it’s because you’re meant to learn something from it. So always look for the lesson in what you experience.
My problem with all this ‘PD talk’ is, who created or originated ‘evil’, the ‘ego’, negative experiences, sin, suffering, pain, karma, or whatever you choose to call these things, and why? Infact who created an illusionary ‘lower self’ and for what purpose? If my lower self is not real and is just an illusion, then why do I need it at all, never mind use it to ‘create’ or ‘attract’ anything?
[Heather's REPLY]: One school of thought is that WE (our Higher Selves in their true godlike form) created all that for the fun of it — like watching a horror movie or riding a scary roller coaster — and that we (the Lower Self this time) experiences that to learn something from it.
I am really beginning to wonder whetherb anybody really knows the whole truth of these questions. Be it Oprah. The panel of the Secret, the Dalai Lama, or any of the New Age Gurus. If we truly ‘knew’ and had all the answers, then are problems would cease to exist, including all the world one too. Until that happens, I will continue to allow myself to question even the most ‘enlightened’ teachers of our time.
[Heather's REPLY]: When we (Lower Self) have all the answers, it’s probably time to go back to the spiritual realm. Of course WE (Higher Self) truly do have all the answers. But part of our journey as humans is to uncover what we can, solve the puzzle (aren’t puzzles fun!) and engage fully in the human experience of life while we’re here.
Regards
Pastor Bola
I do believe with “mass consciousness” and I do believe any bad major event happening in the world is based on collective consciousness which is created from probably different kind of fear.
I beleive we create our own reality and everything in it except global events because it need more people to generate these kind of events. An Example, I create my own health, wealth, career in my reality and If part of that reality is hearing about war between two nations but That war is not affecting me directly but just I hear about it. It is a global reality I am witnessing without any direct Effect for my own reality…
I do recommend Gregg Braden books very much as a must read to explain all the Scientific Experiments been done on our Belief system and the Direct Effect which generate our reality. look him up on youtube.com as well.
Thanks for reading my comment.
I agree with you. There is no substitute for critical thinking. Bravo for bringing up the topic. It is too bad that this type of thinking is not being taught in schools. Questioning and looking at the answers, trusting our instincts and deciding if it makes sense to us! There is power in that.
I do think our thoughts are paramount, better to have positive self talk and thoughts to improve ourselves and situations rather than keep wondering how all this stuff we don’t want shows up, like bad economic times in the world…..I certainly don’t feel responsible for attracting this economic downturn.
I am now spending more time in meditation, for greater connection with my higher self . I feel the need to be more integrated spiritually. I have spent way too much time lately, visualizing and being in mind, often in the small self mind. I wish to get out of my way and let my Higher self manifest more.
Thank you for all you do for us and Season’s Greetings.
Gisela
I also believe that that we should take responsibility for our own actions and beliefs. Is that really THE TRUTH? Who really knows? We hang out with people who have the same beliefs and use social proof to think that we are right and they are wrong..
But I choose to believe that taking responsibilty is good simply because it empowers me and helps me deal with the crappy parts of life in a useful way.
I also have a hard time believing that I am responsible for everything in the universe. Did I personally create the galaxies just because I looked up into the sky and saw them? Or were they already there and my looking simply exposed their presence?
Perhaps beliefs are the telescopes that focus our perceptions, and at the same time limit our perceptions of other possible “realities”
I also choose to believe in a higher power because it brings me comfort and strength. If I am responsible for everything, then what is God’s role? Just to act like a waiter who takes my orders for money, and material stuff? Just to make my manifestations come to pass? Is that all that there really is to life? Just asking for more , more and more?
Isn’t this manifesting everything you want a wonderful story to feed consumerism and the engines of commerce, which are currently destroying our planet? If one believes in secret societies, then couldn’t it also be true that constantly doing all this navel gazing that we do, is a great opportunity for those secret societies to gain even more power?
I am not against consumerism or manifestation and still on the fence about secret societies. I have been on the same path as you for many years.
To say that one person is responsible for everything on the planet is really extreme. This raising of consciousness movement that we are in has taught us all many good things, but sometimes people take it too far..it’s like a runaway car with no brakes, and that can be dangerous.
Heather and Barry: I have recently heard speakers talking about how we each have an energy field around us, and that other people with stronger energy fields can inflence us and even overpower us. In order not to be affected by those stronger fields , we need to strengthen our own fields. Are you familiar with this thinking; if so, can you blog about it? This is at odds with the idea that one person is responsible for everything
Have been wanting to get this off my chest for a long time; thanks for listening. Irene
All great points!! I’m wondering if a”responsibility addict” is what we used to call a “rescuer/martyr”.. you know, those folks who find purpose and identity in taking care of others/saving the world etc. — it inflates the ego and is a great avoidance tactic to keep from taking the inward trek to discover ones personal intent, perceptions and ultimately the confrontation with the “shadow.” I used to be one of those folks, … there certainly was a time when the info from the Secret would have been all I needed to hear to prove to myself that I was on the right track. Too funny.
[ Barry's Reply ] –
Karolyn, I gotta say: of all the times I think I’d ever “nailed” my interpretation and answer to WHY people either run from or deny self-defeating behavior, none of what I said nutshells it so succinctly as what you said here.
You’re ab-so-lute-ly spot on with your comment above – we have certified Law of Attraction coaches and self-appointed spiritual teachers running loose with their own “internal baggage” ( as in the MAJOR crap that MUST be cleared before working with students / clients ) yet they repress it in FEAR of seeing something in themselves that doesn’t match up with the identity they super-glued to themselves ( i.e., coach, healer, therapist, etc. )
And, in regards to the latter one, here’s a pretty fun story about how most are more messed up than the very people they’re trying to help or cure:
http://www.randygage.com/artman/publish/article_90.shtml
Well Barry and Heather, so you’re stirring things up again. Dare I say good job for make people think a little more about this “reallity” or should i say “for shame” for adding a discord into the already abundant discord.
Oh yeah mass mind, collective histeria. collect leming rush to the edge.
Wait a minute is this the self or the Self writting or is it the I pushing both from behind just to see what will happen with this tiny mud ball.
i think that I is responsible for the whole mess and since i am a part of I then i am responsible for the whole mess that this sub particial of an atom is experiencing ast this time.
Responsiblity, we all have free will to do as we wish.we can take it or give it or duck it or share it and a bunch more. You can even do nothing.
By stirring the fires while holding on to someone else hand, is still stirring the fire.
I am by no means as well read as most of the responds here seem to be but I and i and self and Self now feel compelled to say that we and We are CO creators and CO attractors. I think that if we and WE will just stop our own little piece of space/time and take an unclouded look around we would see more clearly that by our very existance in this plane that we are affecting it. By our acting by our feelings by our inaction we do affect this world and beyond.
People it is now time to make a choice. Do you want to help direct the course of the future of this mud ball positively or negatively?????
Yes or No, inaction is still an action.
The Secret and other movies do only touch the tiny part of the greater whole, but these movies were not made for those already on the path they are made to maybe help awaken those who are still asleep. Maybe it has been given to YOU to help rouse those who are still asleep.
What good does it serve to shake those who are already walking down the path. Maybe to strengthen them or to push them off the cliff, just to see what will happen???
Barry, Heather you have a powerful voice here…….
Thank You Both for this opportunity to spout off. I know that a lot of it may seem a little incoherent but I hope that there are those out there who may glean a little out of the kaos that i have created and learn to attract a little more peace into this world………….
[Heather's REPLY]:
No problem, Jerry… we love giving you the opportunity.
As for The Secret… yes, of course it was made for those not already on the path. But at the same time, is it responsible media creation to make something that just gives a taste of a principle, and leaves the viewer floundering as to how to actually make use of it in their own lives? (That’s the lives of the Lower Self, of course)
For some things, especially things we do actually create (like a producer making a movie), we do need to take responsibility. I think it might have served more people better if it had some more usable tools rather than just a bunch of nice sound bites. But then again, that gives us an opportunity to pick up the pieces and fill in the gaps here, right?
cheers
Heather
Has anyone bothered to read David Cameron’s, “A Happy Pocket Full of Money” or Adrian Cooper’s, “Our Ultimate Reality…”
Just Curious, it seems there are some closed minds here… I thought Journalists were supposed to be ‘Objective’?
Within my own bouts of inner turmoil I’ve found it interesting and comforting (thus less stressful) when I could find information that actually makes sense – that’s when our own personal reality comes into “being” and healing takes place – physically or mentally…
“The only thing greater than knowledge is Imagination” thank you Einstein…
So, when something in your gut tells you there’s more to what there is than you think you already know (thus far) – doesn’t that inspire you to look deeper? There are no absolutes.
And, if everything (seen and unseen) is composed of Energy, doesn’t that allow for alternate realities…
How do you absolutely know for sure that your five senses tell you all there is? I believe our purpose here is to experience this plane – and, if it’s not too far out there for acceptance – we chose this experience before we became physical.
What flaws or “contrasts” could we experience while existing in the realm of pure energy (or light)?
We are Spiritual beings having a physical experience and that is all there is to it…
“I knew you before you were born…”, Jesus Christ.
[Heather's REPLY]:
I beg to differ, Robert… I see a lot of OPEN minds here, including ours.
Not sure who you think is supposed to be an objective journalist. I used to be one, but we’re metaphysical investigators here. Nonetheless, we remain objective during the research process before drawing conclusions based off evidence intermingled with critical thinking, gut reaction, intuition, meditation, and communication with the Higher Self. We call it as we see it… and in all honesty, if you want to talk about journalism, that really is journalism in its purest form.
And yes, we’ve read those books, and both gentlemen are good friends of Barry’s, and we’ve JVed with both of them on numerous occasions. That doesn’t mean we think their word is law, any more than they think ours is.
Nobody’s arguing with your Einstein quote. Nobody’s saying not to listen to your gut. Nobody’s looking for information that doesn’t make sense. Nobody said we’re not spiritual beings having a physical experience (au contraire, mon ami). And we certainly didn’t say that we don’t choose to come here for the experience before we become physical… so I’m not sure who you’re arguing with here, or which article you read for that matter (maybe you want to read it again).
Everything IS made of energy, yes. So does that mean there are alternate realities, as you ask? Maybe… and what does that tell us about the topic at hand, whether we’re responsible for everything we see and experience?
Is light not able to formulate into contrasts that we perceive? Well, since light contains ALL colors, then why not? Obviously it does or we would not have the Law of Polarity (every up has a down, every back has a front, every positive has a negative, in total balance in the Universe)… also called the Law of Duality.
But again… what does that tell us about what we’re responsible for or not?
It’s great that you’ve got some things to say, and that you consider your mind to be open, but we were really hoping for some discussion on the topic and the questions asked.
Looking forward to it,
Heather
Through my study of the LOA over the last year and a half I have come to understand how powerful we are as individuals. I absolutely believe that we create and are
responsible for our own realities. I believe in the power of collective or mass consciousness having an influence on global events as well. Neale Donald Walsch author of “Converstions with God” addresses this topic of why “bad things” happen in this world and why it is all part of a grander plan. It made a lot of sense to me.
I believe we need to search to find our own answers to the question of how responsible we are for what goes on in the world around us and what rings true for us is what we should take as our own truth. And the higher powers love that! The teachings of the LOA seems very clear to me on this one particular point which has become like a north star for me in determining whether I should even spend my energy dwelling on an issue. How does it make me feel? Does it evoke feelings of fear or love. Really every choice we make can only come from either fear or love. If something touches our lives that is sad or bad, it doesn’t do any good to react to it with fear or any other negative emotion. We should find a way to look at it that evokes feelings of love and in that way we can turn every situation into something good and by doing so we ARE taking total control and creating life the way we want it. This creates Good feelings and Good feelings draw in more Good feelings When we feel good we are listening to our higher Selves and we become co-creators with God, or the Universe or whatever name makes you happiest.
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Tamara,
You make some good points about personal responsibility, and how to determine what to do and how to do it in our day-to-day lives.
But there must be a Universal truth as to what we’re responsible for in the grand scheme of things, and how it all really works, beyond what feels good for us to think about.
Either you are personally responsible for 9/11 because you watched the coverage on TV, or you are not. Right? Even if you say it happened because of collective consciousness, you either helped create it or you didn’t (and was that “you” your Higher Self — the spiritual… or your Lower Self — the physical?)
You’re saying if you feel responsible, you are, and if you don’t, you’re not. And I know some people don’t get a kick out of questioning and seeking like we do. But we’re looking for the deeper truth, and in some ways, don’t you think it seems like a cop-out — or even a desire to avoid the truth — to say “you’re only responsible if you feel you are”?
Anyway, that’s how it feels to me.
cheers
Heather
Sometime back I remember reading about the “butterfly effect” which I understand means a bunch of butterflys whipping their wings in one part of the globe can cause a tornado to happen in another part of the world. Seems to me a few nets ought to be employed…not for the butterflies either.
Another thing I don’t understand is the notion of LOA and the abundant univerise with the growing clamor for “renewable” energy.
Another thing I question or ask is if humans are responsible for today’s global warming was humans also responsible for the Earth’s warming periods before modern technology. If that is the case then modern technology should be applauded as they are many more people alive today. That is, it took a lot less people caused global warming then.
But that has been a part of my current lesson; Duality.
I also find it intersting that the same areas of your brain “light up” doing critical thinking or experiencing pain.
I agree completely with the Self/self and a lot of the points you make. However, if you have cancer or any other illness, you (both you’s) gave it to yourself. Now I would never say that to a person that was sick that wasn’t ready to hear it because it would be misunderstood but the facts are these:
Our higher self orchestrates everything that happens in our lives to facilitate one thing: evolution. If small you needs to be sick to get to the next step, big you will facilitate it.
In regards to you giving your self cancer: all illnesses begin in the outer layers of our aura and are created and affected by our thought forms. If there is an illness that is growing in our outer layers and we are able to shift thoughts and patterns we can avoid having it filter down into the physical level. If, however, we continue to reinforce those thought forms they will, eventually, work their way down to the physical level and create disease. Of course there are other layers to it but holographically, this is one way of understanding how illness is created.
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Mark,
You’re probably right about illness… especially since they say that the right attitude is the number one requirement for overcoming it (so if we can so easily eradicate it, surely we can just as easily create it, or at least facilitate it). I have also witnessed people give themselves lesser illness by saying things like, “I think I’m coming down with something,” or “I get two colds every winter,” or even as I used to say, “I have a perpetual cold all winter” (and of course I therefore did).
The cancer part was from the guest quote by Stuart, and I chose not to edit his article within the quoted part.
cheers
Heather
This is another one of your posts that really, really resonated with me. I appreciate all the comments and responses, Heather.
Thank you!
Some great repliess here which seem to support the contentionof one time personal development guru Werner Erhard that there is often more power in the questions we ask than in the answers or responses we get.
On one level we are all responsible for everything that happens in our lives. It doesn’t mean we created it deliberately or with intention but our level of consciousness drew the situation to us. It doesn’t let the other party off the hook however.
For example the consciousness of victims of any holocaust ( America’s Indians, persecution of Europe’s Jews during WW2, the Rwandan genocide , the Kosovo War) drew the instigators/perpetrators to them but the latter carried out the holocaust. Germans drove the trains, ran the concentration camps etc.
If we aren’t creating what we want or desire or worse creating what we don’t want we are victims of our consciousness. A good example is women who continually attract men and relationships into their lives where the men abuse them. An idle thought on the part of a woman who hears about a case of a woman being abused eg on the tv news won’t suddenly bring an abusive male into her orbit. But a woman whose experience (perhaps from being around an abusive father) is such that her thoughts and feelings, which create beliefs and expectations, that men are abusive will create the situations that validate her beliefs. A self fulfilling prophecy if you will.
Some beliefs are so ingrained at an unconscious level that in some ways we can go on auto pilot filtering out evidence to the contrary. Using the example of the abused woman again it is more than likely that any instances of where men aren’t abusive towards their partners won’t have any validity for her.
Until that person can bring those beliefs to the surface and begin examining them she can’t change them or at least see the link between her beliefs and what she experiences.
We are both collectively and individually responsible
at the sametime. ” Morally and physically ”
The ultimate responsibility is too yourself.
We are not responsible for everything that happens in our reality, and I don’t think we’re meant to be. A plate moves on the bottom of the ocean creating a tsunami and I have something to do with that? Don’t think so.
Life happens. A person driving a car is not in the now, and while his mind is wandering all over the place loses control and run over and kill a child. I have part in this?
I agree with Adrian Cooper’s “principle of expression” rather than law of attraction. “It implies, as the words suggests, that instead of “attracting” something that somehow exists outside of us, we are rather Expressing our wishes, needs and desires from something that is
already a part of, and within our current level of Conscious
awareness.”
We should only be concerned with what we can express, through our thoughts, feelings, emotions and vibrations, in our own lives, and through that help others.
We should be careful with The Secret. It was the best marketing plan I have ever seen and made it’s participants millions. Funny how so many “teachers” focus on “attracting” money. The Secret is nothing new. It is wisdom that was taught by Buddha, Krishna, Jesus and other masters thousands of years ago, just packaged and phrased differently.
What The Secret did do is expose a serious need in people and the failure of organised religion to deliver. And, boy, are we cashing in! Humankind is also out of touch with Source, Creator, Universe and it does not matter how you argue, there is a original “Source and Creator” of it all and although we are part of it we can never “be it” fully.
I am also of the opinion that we are trying to understand and get to grips with things here that humankind is not ready to understand. We can only speculate. If somebody did not die and went through the whole spiritual experience and came back here to tell us exactly how the whole thing is put together, we are only speculating, are we not?
Congrtaulations guys on this article. The Secret, and as you mention Joe Vitalel, opened peoples eyes on a mass basis to taking personal responsibility, and I guess that part of the attraction was that it led us to believe that we were all powerful, rather than helpless. So it played a very useful part in this respect. But Joe Vitale himself said “become your own Guru”. Dr Robert Anthony said ” I have no idea if what I am teaching is true, all I know is it works for me.”
So both on some level advocate personal responsibility.
I like so many I would imagine gulped in all that was offered to me in the early stages of discovery. The more I heard, the more I realised that everyones truth is true for them – their beliefs shaped their reality, and were not necessarily “The Truth”.
Over time I “attracted” information that enabled me to form my own truths or beliefs. One of the truths being that yes we can attract what we want into our lives, we can facilitate, we can conceive but that is not the same as creating. As Greg Braden says we are like threads in a blanket, not separate from everyone else, so we alone do not create, we may influence, or play a part, but the collective consciousness also plays a part -
Everyone’s beliefs are shaped by their experience, and we are all at different belief levels, so what is true for one could not be the only truth for another -
Thank you, Heather. This lifts a great burden from our collective minds.
It is the first time I read such an answer to our popular beliefs, that always irked me a bit. Now I can put 2 and 2 together, but I have to see, what the sum will be.
Vera
The sculpture “David” is already INSIDE the marble block stone!
Also, a person’s life IS already in the Universe (if you believe it is infinite in time and space)…
Your spirit picks up (or, maybe, attracts) a specific life (YOU), because it can do that (your spirit is a part of God, so a part of infinite power has infinite power).
So it’s all a question of your spirit really WANTING a specific life – and that live may not be the life your mind thinks it is the life you want…
So, your mind must learn to accept and submit…!
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Aledd,
Yes, David is already in the stone… but it takes Michelangelo to release him (“create” him) by removing “everything that doesn’t look like David,” as the saying goes.
You with the same rock would end up with a different creation, and I a different one from both of yours. So when we are truly “creating”, we ARE completely responsible for the end result, or at least jointly responsible with our co-creators (in this case, perhaps the rock could be considered a co-creator).
So by that token, you’re saying our Higher Self (spirit) is responsible for choosing our Lower Self’s (physical) life. OK, agreed.
But we’re posing the question… where does responsibility lie after that?
cheers
Heather
I read the secret and it really helped clarify beliefs I previously held
I think the idea that we are responsible for the interactions we have is a little scary for some
I read once that we should get into the state of mind of initiating things rather than reacting to things.
That thought also has been really useful in my path to understanding
Heather,
I love the thought provoking dialogue! My journey through all of this has brought me to gather the information from a variety of sources and compile it into my own set of beliefs.
I do believe that our personal responsibility lies within our choice in how to respond to what the Universe or collective unconscious presents to us.
Every moment of every day presents us with a zillion tiny choices. To quote Richard Bach “With every choice you risk the life you would have had, with every decision you lose it.”
I read ”Are You a ‘Responsibility’ Addict?” on your blog today, and it aligns precisely with my own views, that I’ve written about on our site trans4mind.com. The primary confusion is who are we: mundane persons or one with God? There’s a wide gulf between self and Self, or ego and Higher Self, the working man or the hermit in a cave… the different consciousness levels we are capable of perceiving life from. This is rarely taken into account by new age writers, who speak primarily of the (directly connected with God) Higher Self view – a view exterior from the space-time continuum we live in as humans. “We create our reality” is true from the God view, where there is no separation between individuals; it’s an abstract philosophical truth. However we experience our reality from the human view – it’s very concrete – and how we experience it, how we respond (creatively or reactively) and interpret and feel and act personally is our responsibility, no one else’s. We create our life, that’s for sure. Human’s are immensely creative in the playing field of life, that we came here to experience, and to learn from that experience. But not by waving a magic wand. That’s an after-life dimension.
Anyway, I wanted to congratulate you for taking a brave stand on what is real, and to ask you: can I include your article in a February edition of our mag, Cultivate Life?
hmmm, interesting thoughts Heather. Motherhood and Fatherhood seems to have been a catalyst for a very deep philosophical dialogue going on in your family right now.
Very early in your article you bring up the word “should” which is a very interesting word and one I tend to remove from my vocabularly in honour of my free will to think and feel as I choose to. I see life is about learning to enjoy life, feel happy, love ourselves and others as much as we can. It is a choice of how we desire to play this game of life. When I see the word “should” my ears prick up… and go hhmmmm…
That is my perspective, nothing more, nothing less
Now one thing I actually do challenge is your actual view that tends to be biased as to what it a true reality and what is not. The example about the gift card I just take as both realites are very real to each person. Regardless of your intent the other version for the other person is true for them and as such for me that is every bit as true a reality as your own view. It is all relative.
Just because your intent may be well coming from a loving place does not make that the reality for the other person. It is your reality and that is their own. I think it is sad that they would view their reality that way but it is still a true reality for them every bit as much as your loving intent is a true reality from your perception. What is real, is there really absolutes, is their different degrees of realiness ?
It is also an interesting view about the “I” definition.
That is the most interesting thing for us all to ask I guess
I’ve got no definitive answer. It is one of the great mysteries of life.
I have not read through the whole article but to the stage I am I felt like sharing those thoughts so far. I’ll probably add more later but your discussion reminded me of a great little video covering some of this topic that I think is interesting viewing at the very least and probably gets to the heart of why this type of conversation was created by I, we, you and us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESGiFDMSi8U
…
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Shaun,
Thank you for the thoughtful comment.
I agree that “should” is not a word we “should” use in many cases! LOL. We like to talk about not “shoulding on” other people, or “shoulding on” ourselves (“You shouldn’t do that,” “You should go back to school,” “I should call my mother more,” or whatever).
And yet when we at LWL use the word “should” in an open-ended question or concept, like in the phrase “how far you should take your need to be responsible for everything that you see, feel, and experience,” there’s an implied part missing. It “should” be understood that “should” refers to “if you want to live a Life Without Limits.”
Because certainly we don’t need to ever make ourselves feel like we’re not whole, or not a good person, or stress ourselves out or create conflict because we’re not doing something we think we “should” do, or we’re doing something we think we “should not” do. And that goes triple for judging other people about what they “should” or “should not” do.
However, if we want to learn, grow and develop, then there will be things that we know we “should” do (or “should not” do) and we’ll be absolutely right. I feel I should eat healthier and exercise more. Why? Because I used to do that and felt much better overall. Now as a new mother spending a lot of time nurturing a new being, I push my own needs to the back burner, eat whatever’s handy to grab, and only get a chance to work out once a week sometimes instead of once a day as I used to.
Saying I “should” eat better and exercise more is not putting limitations on myself, it’s knowing that I can serve myself, my family, and even the LWL community better by being healthier, because I’ve been there and I know.
Anyhow, interesting take on the gift example… because I strongly feel that if someone says, “You only gave me this because you think I need to _________ more,” when that thought wasn’t even an inkling in my mind, that they are misinterpreting my intent and the true nature of the situation, rather than being “right” in their own reality.
If that were the case, then if a man innocently asked a woman in the grocery store “Excuse me, do you know where the eggs are?” and she jumped to the conclusion that, “He’s trying to assault me,” then she would be right in her own reality. All of a sudden this normal guy becomes a “rapist” or a “mugger” because she judges him so.
But that gives none of us the right to be openly personable and engage with people because there’s the chance they’ll misinterpret it, despite our best intentions… and in that case, I think there needs to be responsibility on the part of the person misjudging to look at their own patterns and why they’d come up with such a crazy, limiting belief like that.
Yes, the person delivering the seemingly innocent comment could also take responsibility for their communication style, and look at why it might be misinterpreted, but the more irrational person judging him would definitely have more inner work to do, IMHO.
cheers
Heather
I believe in the concept of responsible freedom.
so here’s a perspective,…….Ultimately, we are from scource energy, (Abraham – Hicks)- spiritual beings having a human exprerience, or “occassional human experience” as Deepak Chopra puts it. (Spiritual being in material form:the physical form) and we return to scource when our bodies die…..
It could be argued I guess that the earth is a spiritual energy or scource energy vibration in material form as well…..is the earth going to die as well? It might if we don’t take more responsibility for it!
…..and Dr Joeseph Murphy says that all evil is caused from people not taking reponsibility , or not knowing how to take reponsibilty for their own subconscious,….. ie: their own emotions and ultimately their own ability to create; their “will power plus a sense of creativity coming from love”
So we could start by teaching how to take responsibility for our minds in public school. I’m talking the way the mind ; the conscious and the sub-conscious mind works, individually and in harmony or as one unit.
Chopra also has a mantra and a viewpoint where he suggests “try to imagine that the world is in you. Where the core of your being is the “Ultimate Reality”. It is the “root and ground of the universe”.The basis of all that exists…. some maybe “radical ideas”….however, it all “facilitates” the maturity process…..
The new “information age” that we all experience or live in predicates the notion of the Maturity concept. I’t out-dated the good person/bad person theory.
If we are not repsonsible, how do we mature as an indiviual…….a group…community……a province or state……..a country….a world population?????
Responsibility to me implies a “maturing process”!
That to me certainly suggests that we are responsible for everything…..all of our experience. Who knows, …. Maybe it’s the true criteria for our reaching a point in “our human experience” of fullest or most advanced maturity.
I would suggest if don’t take responsilbilty for everything, our level of humanity will never reach it’s full potential ie:the sort of alruistic idea of everyone living in love and harmony like John lennon’s song “Imagine”
…..so, I for one am in favour of being responsible for our lives and experiences for the following reasons:
1) It would help eliminate evil (which obviously can only do good)
2)We could communicate as individuals and collectively on a much more responsible level;……ie: more leaders instead of followers, enjoy a mass increase or constructive , productive energy to raise the vibration and therefor level of perception of of humanity……
3)Mother earth would not suffer quite so much
4)Wildlife would not be victimized, not to mention people!…… falling prey to irresponsible acts of irresponsible people……..(destructive people)
5) There would be much less ego driven people……a good thing in itself…..hello????
Shall I go on?
In my view, there’s not enough emphasis on , or examples set, of taking responsibilty for your life and everthings that happens to you………it leads to self-discipline,caring,loving one another, purposeful living,living constructive ,productive lives ……all kinds of good living principles to live the abundant life….because one takes care of nutures oneself first…….
….it’s what christianity is all about; setting the right example for your family or loved ones…..hello????
……..the good that can and does come out of being totally responsible far outweighs the bad or downside of it, I beleive…..it’s a no-brainer……
Peter H.
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada
Ok, I read on.. .thought it was really interesting the debate around the movie ‘The Secret” and the reactions it causes in people.
It got me thinking of an article I put together back in July 2007.
I titled it
“Expansion, Expression and the Path of Least Resistance”
I copy and paste it here:
“Any of us folk that have a serious interest in personal development of self and others could not have helped but attract seeing “The Secret” of the last year into our expierence.
If we have this belief there is a Universal consciousness or life force flowing through all nature and you are a curious being like myself about the concept of collective consciouness of humanity, then why this happens now must be a reflection of what we are attracting collectively. Maybe? Personally, I think so.
When I say we, I mean not just us humans, but the unseen consciousness that flows through us all beyond our physical aspect. The Universe it seems is constantly expanding and seeking out ways of expressing that expansion. You only have to look at nature and contempate a bit to appreciate this.
The increase in awareness that we are co-creators of our reality has risen to much larger numbers than before around the world. “The Secret” has been a big reason for that, as it has leveraged big video production expertise that is every bit as slick as a blockbuster movie or big tv production the hypnotised masses usually absorb freely out of habit. It is like Universal conciousness was seeking to express these Universal principles and human consciouness was ready for this on a much larger scale than ever before.
But the how of the Universe expressing is always it’s own magical mystery tour. Just in the last few years it is so much more noticeable how conversations of people are more readily about topics like “Law of Attraction” and thoughts create our reality.
These principles are not new in themsevles but the expansion of people readily interested to discuss them has noticably exploded all over the internet, print mediums, mainstream tv and movie theaters. There is certainly an expanision happening in expression.
The Universe has been seeking out paths of least resistance to bring it to mass awareness and it seems we collectively attracted to us as the human flow of consciosness in this time of humanity. If the Universe was seeking out a path or vehicle of least resistance to achieving this, look how marvellously it achieved this.
It chose a lady named Rhonda Byrne to be the path. Do you think it was an accident that there was this lady having a time in her life she was in a very open mind and heart space and she was the catalyst for it all coming into being?
She had the expertise and connections to bring these ideas in an attractive way to the masses. But she only just learnt of them. Interesting hey! An accident? I don’t think so. The Universe knows exactly what it is doing.
Energy flows to express in a path of least resistance. We see this often.You see this with water and electricity in nature and here is a wonderful example of it with human consciousness and expression. Rhonda was the right lady at the right time and with the right vision and resonance for the Universe to use her energy life force flow.
So I’m increasingly asking myself what expansions am I ready for in my own life and can I allow myself to be open to being a path of least resistance for wonderful expierences to flow into my reality.
So what is your dream for your life and are you/we ready to be a path of least resistance for wealth, happiness, love and joy? “
Sorry for not getting in on this sooner. I was busy creating my reality. :>) I finished a story that I plan on submitting to a magazine. Procrastination is my worst enemy, so I’m taking the ‘inspired action,’ instead of continuing to sit on my duff.
Barry and Heather, I couldn’t agree with you more. This was a real wow, yeah. I get it!!
When we want to attract something in our lives, before we can forgive the mass, we must first ‘learn’ to forgive ourselves. By that I mean, unless we can ‘clear out the old’ belief systems, and sink our teeth into the ‘now,’ it would be difficult at best to create a new reality.
The old belief system must be ‘let go of’ to make way for the new. This was obvious with my ‘partial success’ of my second book. Since there was still ‘old junk’ in my closet, I was not as effective at ‘launching something new’ while questioning my subconscious as to whether or not this product would be good enough to make the grade.
As a ‘co-creator’ success is out there if people truly want it. The question to ask, however, is what does success really mean to each person. It’s not always the money, the cars or the multi-million dollar mansions.
For me, it is ‘great to know’ that others are successful in this area, (I would love this also) but is that something that ‘I’ truly want. Until a person actually decides what they really want, without have all of it congested in a smart package, then I’ve found that only bits and pieces will appear. This is what happened to me, and why I made my previous comments regarding other issues.
As far as getting sick, and ‘why bad things happen to good people,’ I would very much have to agree with Bob Doyle on that issue. Whether or not the illness is in a new baby, or a person of ‘some years’ I don’t believe there is a ‘timer’ on it, and it’s certainly not all genetics, or is it? What did the parents of these individuals believe?
According to what I’ve understood from Bob, is that we have been put, or have in many cases ‘put ourselves’ in vibrational resonance with it. For this I’ll explain my own interpretation.
During the various day and nighttime hours, people are inundated with commercials for new drugs, new diseases, new forms of cancers, flu viruses, and the list just continues. (i.e. “Talk to your doctor about Advair” or whatever drug it happens to be). There are also radio personalities who ‘inject’ their ‘doctor advice’ from medical professionals, hospitals advertising ‘sickness and dis-ease’ on the radio and television as a ‘constant’ these days.
Their money to pay for this commercial time keeps the stations going; however, when this information is spewed out to the masses of people who are listening, I believe that it breaks down their resistance a little at a time because they are continuously reminded that ‘these dis-eases DO exist.’ So what the commercial is saying is BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE.
Whether people realize this or not it IS in fact, the greatest facilitator of the dis-ease manifestation process.
In truth media, in ‘truth’ research, it is a ‘given’ that all dis-eases are ‘man made.’ This facilitates the business of making money, gives credence, importance and all knowing authority to doctors, hospitals, testing centers, and the drug companies for their existence.
In the meantime, the information and subliminal messages that are passed along to the consumers are being held in their ‘unconscious’ minds. At times, the thoughts come to the surface, and with each new symptom, the mind finds a possibility that THIS symptom is related to THAT dis-ease. Then, when another symptom occurs, this makes a person wonder if or not they could be getting this dis-ease. They wonder, they worry, they fear and they ‘feel threatened.’
You may ask ‘how would she know just by listening to Bob Doyle.’ That would be because, as they say, ‘Been there, Done that’ and there is a ‘self-healing’ process to go through. This is why I believe that we put ourselves in a position of co-creating dis-ease within our own bodies, by matching the vibrational resonance on that plane. Then ‘BINGO’…all the symptoms simultaneously appear, and people find themselves in the doctors office waiting for test results. They question if (or not) that NEW WONDER DRUG will work to ‘cure them.’ Drugs DO NOT CURE ANYTHING. They only treat the symptoms. (Knowledge I gleaned from my days as a CMA, working for a total of 8 doctors during that career, which I gave up. I couldn’t stand it anymore). Most distressing job in my world.
Cancer, for instance, is something that is ‘eating a person’ or ‘eating at a person.’ So think about meditative practice that will get to the bottom of the deep psychological issues that each person has. TRAUMA
But then a person will ask, what about my baby? My baby isn’t capable of co-creating cancer. This is true, but guess what? I’ll bet when mom was carrying that baby, she had the ‘cancer knowledge’ and was ‘inundated’ by or with talking about cancer, reading about cancer, and all the treatments or treatment facilities, other friends, acquaintances, or family members, who suffered from it and so forth.
Remember, even in breast milk is every single nutrient that mom eats, including ‘gas’ from vegetables. Mom also carries past traumas, whether large or small, significant or somewhat insignificant, they are still there. Every trauma, unless treated and released prior to the pregnancy, is held in what I refer to as a ‘staging area’ or behind what some Asian cultures refer to as the ’52 doors’ that hold the information at the back of our minds.
I believe when that information has held it vibrational level long enough, it metastasizes into something other than what it was. Meaning, a past trauma eating away at mom’s sub-conscious, is transferred to the child and has become a recipe for dis-ease.
Our conscious minds are not always on the same wavelength, as the higher consciousness. If the conscious is being fed ‘false information’ on a continuous basis, it passes it on. Depending on the person’s emotional state of mind, it could metastasize into just about anything.
As far as healing…yes…been there, done that. It took me 13 years to figure out how to get rid of a cardiac arrhythmia that drove me up a wall, kept me in the hospital a lot with medications that did damage to my liver that created ‘harm’ to me, instead of ‘good.’
I was determined to find a cure, not a cover up that didn’t last and only made things worse. A Chiropractor got me off of all my medications, (my shelves were FULL) and he put me on regular treatment. It worked. Why? Because my issue was in reality not a physical heart problem, but created from an old impact injury to my spine. I had no clue as to how bad this injury actually was, but it caused me to lose 2″ of height and compressed the nerves in my spine that surround the heart, causing an electrical disturbance in the rhythm. And in getting regular adjustments, the entire problem is a thing of the past.
So, belief that ‘sickness’ is a given, creates sickness without real facts. The cardiologist had me believing I had an arrhythmic heart and that I just had to face it and take the medication to suppress the symptoms. I went against his wishes, and after all those years followed my own heart and feelings from within. My ‘higher self’ knew that going to a natural healer was better than damaging my liver any further.
This is only my story. However, I find cancer unacceptable, I do NOT listen to TV or Radio commercials regarding symptoms, dis-eases, hospitals or treatments. For myself, it took many years to realize that IF WE BELIEVE THESE THINGS ARE TRUE, if we listen to them on a continuous basis and let them stay planted in anywhere in our minds, it’s like creating a garden. The ‘seed’ has been planted, and just as any other seed on this planet, or in this universe, it will grow without strain or assistance. A SEED is a SEED and it does its own thing, and when it is ‘fed’ by continuous reminders as it’s fertilizer, it grows BIG.
I believe that the vibrational resonance will feed every seed planted, whether it is natural or unnatural, it grows. A seed is a particle, and that particle goes out on a wave, and gets bigger, and bigger and by the time it returns, it’s a full grown plant.
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Lea,
Wow! A lot of great stuff here!
Here’s my take on the baby issue. You say:
“But then a person will ask, what about my baby? My baby isn’t capable of co-creating cancer. This is true, but guess what? I’ll bet when mom was carrying that baby, she had the ‘cancer knowledge’ and was ‘inundated’ by or with talking about cancer, reading about cancer, and all the treatments or treatment facilities, other friends, acquaintances, or family members, who suffered from it and so forth.”
That’s possible, but my feeling is that it’s not the “baby” (Lower Self, physical being) creating anything, or the Lower Selves of their parents, it’s the Higher Self (not a “baby” but a very old soul), and the reason it happens is because the Higher Self WANTED to experience that illness in human form and came here with that intention, knowing it would be a short life… OR because the Higher Self is helping somebody else learn something that THEIR Higher Self wanted them to experience (I’ve said it before in these comments, but it might be that the parents needed to learn a new level of love and nurturing, and having a child pass on was the best way for them to learn that).
It’s all good, because the Higher Self of the baby will continue on, and may come back again right away, even perhaps as another child for the same parents.
cheers
Heather
Thanks for the great article, and the discussion it has provoked. The common sense of your points is really resonating with me. Of course we are not responsible for everything that happens within our reality. That’s just not possible. I fully believe that we do attract both positives and negatives into our lives, and that we can become conscious enough to attract more positives. But we cannot control or create every single part of everything we experience and witness in our lives.
We have no control over what other people inside and outside our lives are attracting to themselves. Often their positive and negative results affect us profoundly…even though we did not ‘create’ or attract the reality we’re experiencing.
If my co-worker has attracted a promotion that I really wanted, that affects me…but I wouldn’t necessarily say I attracted being passed up for the promotion.
If that 911 hijacker has attracted a successful murder-suicide plan, that disaster becomes part of my reality though I had nothing to do with it.
If my house won’t sell because deep down my wife loves it and is attracting staying there, even though we have agreed it’s the right decision to move, the law of attraction giving her what she really wants is affecting my reality.
The blanket statement that we create our own realities is just too misleading.
Heather and Barry,
Thought provoking you two are as always. First some words on Ho’oponopono. I have used some of the practices of Ho’oponopono for years and they have worked for me. I read Zero Limits and have attended a seminar with Dr Len personally. The “I love you” is said to your inner child or subconscious mind, while the “thank you” is said to your superconsciousness (higher self). He says that those two take care of the “i’m sorry” and isn’t necessary.
Are we responsible for what our ancestors did as stated in Ho’oponopono precepts? Maybe. While it seems farfected, I don’t dismiss it outright as you two seemed to have done. While I do question new (to me) ideas, I try on the ones that feel familiar and wear them for awhile. I keep what works. If I read a book I may find a couple of nuggets that I keep and put the rest away for a later time when they might then be of use to me.
There are many practices, ideas, and ways of becoming aware of who we are out there. While they work for those that propose or market them, they may not work for me. When I took some early seminars the teachers would present the ideas in many different ways, so that everyone present, using where they are consciously, could get it. There are many practices, because each of us sees the world through our own preceptions. We just need to sift through them and pick what works for our own journey in the moment.
Quantum physics tells us that everything is energy, and that there is a field of enery that may be the “thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its origninal state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe” as Wallace Wattles calls it. We also now know that our thoughts affect that field and we, including our bodies, are an aspect of it. From a holographic view, the part and whole are the same. Therefore, we are the field and it is us and we are connected through it.
I do not look at my body and my higher/lower selves as separate as many in this discussion seem to say. It is all one thing energetically. There is an intelligence breathing, living my body that leaves when the body is laid down. The body then decays back into the form energetically from whence it came. A cycle is complete.
That said, I must play a part in the workings of the Universe perhaps in the tiniest most subtle way, but it is there nonetheless. There is a deeper meaning to many of the precepts, ideas, principles that you have put forth in the past couple of months. I suggest we look beyond the surface, the appearence, and probe their depth of meaning.
Yours in Love and Peace, Art
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Art,
I’ve heard from others before who don’t view the Higher Self (spiritual, all-knowing godlike being) and Lower Self (physical, learning, limited being) as separate, but I don’t get it. Of course we’re two parts of ONE whole during this lifetime, but the Higher Self continues on for eternity while the Lower Self is born, lives, loves, experiences joy and sadness, and dies… then comes back for another life with another Lower Self.
If it’s all the same thing, then we as humans would know all and not have to go through the process of learning, growing and developing. You would not be reading this blog because you already have all the answers… and you wouldn’t say “maybe” Ho’oponopono works, because you’d know without a doubt.
You could have anything you wanted with the snap of a finger, blink of an eye, or wiggle of the nose because you are godlike, infinite and totally abundant.
And yet you talk about the body being laid down and decaying, so how exactly is it the same thing as the spirit that lives on? Perhaps you could explain what you mean more. To me it seems like you’re saying the same thing with different semantics, but since you said you disagree with the others here, I’m interested in where you see the rift.
thanks
Heather
Wow! What a great conversation. Thank you for opening the door.
My understanding is that consciousness plays the biggest role. I just finished reading
The Biology of Belief, by Bruce Lipton. His research into quantum biology fascinated me. There is a mind-body connection that plays a much bigger role than has been believed. One piece he explored was the conscious vs. unconscious mind. Several of your readers’ comments have referenced the collective unconscious to explain cause. We all have old patterns, beliefs that come from the sense we’ve made out of our earliest life experiences (and perhaps a from a collective unconscious as well). These act as survival patterns unless/until we become conscious that they are operating and make a different choice from our higher Self about what is true for us. I’m finding that the more aware I become that these beliefs are playing, the quicker I can shift to a higher state of consciousness and follow a belief aligned with my natural Brilliance. I use “Hoponopono” to transmute these old patterns into Love.
All of us are at different levels of consciousness and what is true for us in one moment, may not be in the next. We are so much more that we understand and are responsible for our creations, both conscious and unconscious. Thus the challenge and opportunity to grow, to become more aware of how it all works.
Where does the truth lie? Good question! I have been reading metaphysical books for 28 years. All authors are putting forth their ideas based on where they are in their journey. Responsibility addict? perhaps…
In my opinion, Love is why we are here. 30 years ago my darling baby boy died at 7 months. He was perfect. Was never sick a day in his life until that day. Try to make sense of this as a young mother. In those few short months I was filled with love. When he passed I learned about sorrow and acceptance of “it is what it is”.
We are all doing the best we can from where we are each and every one of us.
I admire you and those that strive to analyze it all. We will move forward in what ever way it goes. Thanks to the many that wish to explore in sincerity for the greater good of all mankind in which ever way they choose. It helps us all.
Heather, thank you for the post. The more I read about your viewpoints, the more I seem to be aligned with them. I appreciate how you help me question my feelings about these subjects.
My belief, at the moment, is that I am responsible for my reactions and actions. When somebody or something shows up in my life that is less than what I envisioned, I ask myself what have I learned from this and what part of it is mine.
Please keep doing your thought provoking work.
The whole process is one of Co-Creation. I does not exist without you.
Co-Creation invokes responsibility at a universal level. It suggests that each one of us can and does influence everything that exists. At the same time, everything that exists creates and influences who we are. In this context we are not victims, nor gods. Everything is creating everything and ultimately one thing is creating itself.
Heather…this is ALL so very good! What a GREAT way to get answers.
It ‘sort of reminds me’ of bible scripture, in the fact that when beginning to understand what the past says regarding man’s/woman’s future, we are spiritual babies, and so we are, of course fed milk. (It’s easier for spiritual babies to digest. i.e. understanding). However, once we began learning ‘in depth knowledge’ of what and who we are, we are now ready for the ‘meat’ portion. (Because we’ve grown out of the milk and need the more substantial to continue).
In other words, we’re finally getting to the more complex areas, and picking up our understanding from various sources, and putting it all together.
Since the creator is ‘energy’ and our source, his energetic existence is, in reality pure potentiality. Formed from first thought, into existence.
Back in the late 80′s I read a book titled “Thoughts Have Wings.” This to me read something like “As a Man Thinketh.” Not the exact words, but the ‘thought’ was basically the same.
I didn’t see the bigger picture back then, because of my Christian upbringing. However, when I met someone who opened my mind to more possibilities, I started ‘thinking’ on my own. It opened a few new vistas for me, but it wasn’t enough to really get me going. It was like running an engine on 3 cylinders and not the 6 that were intended for this vehicle. Which is why I brought up the milk/meat issue.
It feel as though this is now where we are at, and I believe that everyone wants to be on the same page. I suppose that just depends on where a person is, on that learning tree. It make me want to keep digging. I’m a research person at heart, who’s looking to put my accumulated knowledge into full practice.
Wow! I never thought of the possibility of any ‘returning individual’ wanting to experience disease. For my issue there were this fact in immediate family history:
* Father – Trauma- His father left the family when my dad was only 12 years old. My grandmother didn’t speak good English; was left alone and the kids had to quit school and go to work.
Later in my dad’s life came ‘stress’ then ‘high blood pressure’ then real illness with a heart condition. However, neither his father or his grandfather nor anyone else in his family ever had these issues.
Dad also had Angina…heart pain. This then reminds me of ‘internal trauma.’ His father left, he had a broken heart, his mother’s heart was broken, his pain basically derived internal trauma, and from not completing his early teens in a normal way one would from the love, caring and nurturing of both parents and a happy childhood.
A sickness pulled from the ether by unhappy thoughts, excessive pressure in knowing there were only three children, (two boys and a girl) who had to take on the responsibility of caring for the mother, the home, the food and the total responsibility of manhood ‘before the fact.’
Placement of blame: He blamed his father for hurting his mother and the three of them, and that his father inflicted pain on the family. Therefore my dad ‘being in vibrational resonance with pain’ that involved the heart.
All of this so makes for great comparisons, because each dis-ease carries different symptoms, yet many of the same symptoms come with other dis-eases. Which tells me that they are of the same origin, affecting each person differently.
So, his pain metamorphosed (sp) from pressure on him to have to go to work at 12 years old, infliction of stress (high blood pressure), (angina), heart pain from past reflection of the issue that was never resolved, and blaming his father, metamorphosed as the response of his ‘fatal aneurysm,’ which was repaired, but was only a patch, and the condition could never be healed, and finally Liver failure, via OVER medication that was processed, was substituted for the truth, which was never considered.
All in all, it sort of makes me wonder why some people cannot face a truth, deal with it, then thank for the lesson and just let it go; possibly knowing they can do things differently for the greater good. But, physical lives only last so long, and I believe that people who have a tendency reject the truth, come back living that reality until they get it right.
Wow!…the creative source…packed full of complex energy that we’re only beginning to unravel. Weeeeeeee! This IS fun! And the most interesting place to sort it out. :>)
Let’s see, how can I make this clearer? If you will reread the part of my post about quantum physics, you will notice that since everything is energy and holographic, that our bodies fit into the mix energetically. Our bodies are only vibrating at lower frequencies, thus existing as ‘physical’. There is ‘something’ that keeps the body alive and creates (facilitates) the thoughts emanating from it’s brain, or maybe more correctly through its brain.
That ‘something’ is our Higher Selves. Why don’t we know all that it knows? Because we have conviently “forgotten” who we are; at least that is one premise. We then move through life “remembering” pieces of the ‘puzzle’ as time goes by. Maybe it is a game we as the HS have constructed so that we can experience what we know, find out even more about ourSelves and complete some project we came here to finish.
Metaphorically, let’s say I lived in a cave and knew everything there was to know as a Higher Self being. I got tired of it and decided to venture into a new ‘world’ of form and see how I could experience some of this “knowing”. But in order to make it really interesting, I give myself ‘amnesia’ of sorts about who I am, and craft myself a ‘body’ to join the others. I walk out of the cave and into a city where I am welcomed as a new ‘human’. Since I don’t know about how a human lives experientially, I am taught by those who have already had human experiences.
This scenario continues until I begin remembering why I came to this new ‘world’ due to secret nudges I implanted in my mind before leaving the cave. I stay as long as I had planned and finish what I set out to do. Then I disappear from the city by leaving the ‘body’ there, and arrive back at the cave.
Boy what a neat adventure that was and I experienced so much about what I know. Through that experience I know have learned things about mySelf I didn’t understand before. The ‘physical’ experience really opened my awareness to what was there all along, but it took that experiential ‘trip’ to see it clearly.
Mike Dooley has a neat story called “Lost In Space” that you might want to read if you haven’t, or reread if you have. It is a metaphorical story about we came here.
Even though you claim that the higher self would know everything and if came here as itself wouldn’t need to learn. The way I see it is that the aspect of the Field, God, whatever name we give the unnamable, that my higher self is, is just that Field experiencing Itself in new way and chose to ‘learn’ a particular way It expresses by incarnating again and again. Thus each incarnation builds on the previous. Why else then would we continue to reincarnate?
Words often fail when we attempt to explain the unexplainable. I hope this post helps you see where I am coming from a little better. Like a recent post said, I don’t know what I don’t know. I just put together pieces as I become aware of them and attempt to make some sense out of what falls into place.
Love and Peace, Art
[Heather's REPLY]:
Umm… yeah, so again… you’re saying the same thing I, and many of the other commenters, are already saying.
I still don’t see your bone of contention, or why you’re arguing that you have a different point of view.
You SAID earlier that you see the Higher Self and Lower Self as one thing, not able to be separated from each other… and yet what you’re EXPLAINING is that the Higher Self chooses to come here in the Lower Self’s body to experience things, and then gets reincarnated, which is exactly what I’ve already said.
Heather
No it is NOT exactly what you have said. You maintain that they are separate (in consciousness), the lower not able to know anything about its higher aspect going through life just experiencing what there is to experience that its higher self has all planned for it.
I am saying that the higher self is running the show through the intuitive sense that the so-called lower self gets from time to time and more often as it (lower self) gets clearer about who it really is (the higher self expereincing itself).
I have also said over and over how difficult it is to put such deep ideas into words and I have used your description (higher/lower self) to get the point across.
I am not going to argue about this. Arguing is something that I have let go of over the years. If you don’t get my point, so be it. It is no big deal to me. I was just trying to clarify what I said earlier because you asked. Reread the posts and sit with it. Maybe something will come to you. If not, well, it won’t.
Love you both, Art
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Art,
Not sure where you got the idea that this is what I’m saying…
You said: “You maintain that they are separate (in consciousness), the lower not able to know anything about its higher aspect going through life just experiencing what there is to experience that its higher self has all planned for it.”
No, I never suggested or “maintain” anything of the sort.
You went on: “I am saying that the higher self is running the show through the intuitive sense that the so-called lower self gets from time to time and more often as it (lower self) gets clearer about who it really is (the higher self expereincing itself).”
And that is exactly what I’ve been saying too… along with others here.
I don’t need to let your comments “sit with me”, as I agree, and have always been agreeing, exactly with what you’re saying. Look at some of the other replies I’ve left people and you’ll see that we’re saying the same thing. It’s VERY interesting that you keep looking for something to argue, and then say you’re not going to argue. Hmmm.
Honestly, if I thought the Lower Self could not know anything about it’s higher aspect, WHY would we even be exploring these issues??? I would be deciding, “Well, there’s nothing for me to know here,” and not be touching it at all.
The separation is that the Higher Self knows all already. The Lower Self does not start off knowing all, and needs to learn, grow and develop while it’s here in order to get back to even close to what the Higher Self already knows. And it does that partially by chanelling and communing with the Higher Self through meditation, intuition and so on… they are different parts of our whole (one is spiritual and one is physical) and as such can communicate between the two.
You are saying there is no separation in one breath, and yet talking about the Lower Self SLOWLY discovering the Higher Self in another breath. I am simply saying that IS the separation… the fact that the Lower Self has to slowly discover the truth about the Higher Self means that there is some separation, namely that the Lower Self lives one life only while the Higher Self continues on in infinity.
And you are saying the same thing. That’s not an argument, it’s just pointing out where we agree (not that there’s anything wrong with disagreement or debate, but it just doesn’t exist in what I’m saying, and your only disagreement with me is that you THINK you’re saying something different than what I’m saying, but you’re not). WHEW!
Heather
Howdy to All
This is my second post to this run away discussion moment.
I can’t believe the massive reaction that I have had to this discussion. ME, MYSELF AND I have been having a continuous debate with trying to come up with a way of presenting what we have experienced to this group but my concept and all attempts at putting it into words of any kind always falls short of the true magnitude of the real truth.
It’s like trying to explain 5 dimensions to a 2 demensioal being.
I believe that in what ever degree you choose to believe, we are responsible for everything that is happening in the universe. Just because you can not conceive of what is happening behind you does not mean that there is in fact something happening behind you.
We each on this journey reach plateaus at which understand as much as we will let ourselves understand, then we start another journey and find another plateau and so it goes on and on. Is there an end to understanding??
To some it would seem that others a stopped on this journey and to others it would seem that others have fallen off or given up or can’t reach the next step.
Try thinking non spacially.
We say we are three dim but we still only go three dime
with our thinking. People have told us that we also can conceive time which is fourth dime but we still think in two direction for time. When you’re in space direction gains a new meaning. Distance gains a new meaning.
When you go into inner space far enough you might realize the true enormity of being here now.
That gives a whole new meaning to responsiblity for what “I” do.
Right -wrong, good evil, left right, up-down and dozens of other words are all part of this world we say we are living in. but Who is really questioning or not questioning.
Does it really matter??? i think so.
I would like to put forth the idea that we are all just like tuning forks. Each with our own particular frequency.
As long as we do have a frequency and exist,we affect everything around us all the time until we stop vibrating if that is a possibility. we come across other frequencies that are compatible and not compatible, some we merge with and some we repel, if this is all possible does that show we are responsible for affecting everything around us. maybe or maybe not.
A wholely inadequate explaination, but maybe it will help some take another step………
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Jerry,
Glad this got you so engaged.
When people usually talk about the tuning forks, it’s in relation to things that have the SAME frequency affecting each other. A C tuning fork makes another C tuning fork vibrate, the same way a prosperity consciousness resonates with money and brings us more of that. A C tuning fork does not, however, resonate with a B flat tuning fork, or even repel it. There’s no effect at all.
So I’m not sure that analogy means that we influence EVERYTHING around us… just things on the same frequency. That’s why I presented the idea that we are responsible for attracting or facilitating some things we experience (those things that have been resonating with our tuning fork vibration), but not others (things that happen on a global scale, for instance, would need to be responding to a collective vibration from many tuning forks, so at best we would be “co-responsible”).
Thoughts?
Heather
That;s getting closer to what i was aluding to, so take it to another level.
If you strike a note on a piano, then you strike a cord, then two. Whether it’s one note or a cord the body of teh piano still vibrates, maybe not the C note that we struck first but non the less a vibration. the same example with the “tuning fork”. if we activate the tuning fork on a rock, is there no affect on the rock??? We do not perceive the rock vibrating at C, but the rock is still affected, though it may not be a C to us, there still may be the possibility of that rock to at some time in the future to produce the C note.
This is ofcourse the most simple of examples. Nor do i inb anyway really mean we are so simple as a tuning fork.
Did you know that there is a greater infinity of fractions between the number 0 and the number on the the infinite of numbers past one??? How is that possible?? Isn’t infinity just infinity??? What about frequencies??? How many frequencies are there??? How many can we hear??
If we can’t hear them, then do they really exist???
Radio comes to us in frequencies and often one frequency carries many other frequencies. The more frequencies you put into one room the stranger the affects upon that room and the other frequencies. Many things happen not only to the room but outside the room as well. not to mention the things in the room.
If i’m a C fork and You are B fork and i am struck but you are not, will there be no affect at all upon the B fork??? There is an affect. The B fork can not vibrate C but it does vibrate..
We are not forks. We are much more dynamic. We are not note or cords. We each are more close to synphonies with many variables and still learning what we are truely capable of with each new note learned.
Still simple.
What if i were a seeker climbing the mountain of knowledge and just as i am finding that everything was quite clean adn the as i look up at the pinacle isee that the top of the mountain is conected to the top/of another mountain going the other direction. What would you do???
Is it not interesting how people want to be right at any cost.
I said this not that; you said that, I meant that, you didn’t say that…etc…you’re wrong, I’m right..
It’s endless…people all over the world want to be right, they even are willing to go to war to be right about something.
Peace
Franco
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hmmm… WOW! Is it not interesting how you PERCEIVE people to be saying “you’re wrong, I’m right” when not a SINGLE person has said that? NOBODY!
Now THIS seems to be an instance of somebody creating their own reality… you’ve created one where people are fighting here, and claiming to be right, whereas most of us see an intelligent open-minded discussion going on. Now, just like my example about the gift, the question is: does your perception mean it’s REALITY to you… or does the intent of the others here trump your perception with the TRUE reality of thought-provoking discussion?
Some people think that any kind of critical thinking or engagement in conversation means one party needs to be “right”. I wonder if that’s what’s going on with you too?
Barry’s email that he sent out to you (and the other subscribers) pretty much summed up the gist and vibe of what’s going on here, and it has nothing to do with anyone needing to be right. In case you missed it, here’s an excerpt again:
“We’re here to PROVOKE THOUGHT !
We haven’t got all the answers. Some we do, however. Yet,
it’s never “lock, stock ‘n’ barrel” for us WITHOUT some
responsible research and critical-thinking FIRST.
As Jim Rohn put it:
“You’ve got to argue, you’ve got to debate. Here’s what
happens to a good idea when it’s debated: it grows, it
refines. Sometimes it even becomes spectacular.”
cheers
Heather
This article and all of the responses to it that i have read, is really thought provoking.
There is a lot of food for thought.
Hi Heather,
Thanks for the beautiful insights, however I am still asking one question. There are people talking about morphogenetic field, which says that one person’s thoughts affect another person’s thinking since we are all connected at this level, which is actually the quantum level. Wouldn’t violence in one person affect the others and wouldn’t it impact even the environment. People are also talking about “critical mass” i.e. if a specific number of people learn something, others would also learn it, which may mean that if a specific number of people take responsibility for anything like maintaining peace, protecting environment etc, others too would develop this attitude. In this light isn’t everyone’s thought and feelings contributing to this large pool from where the reality is being manifested for all to experience and to that degree shouldn’t one feel responsible. Self blame is not what I am suggesting, but since we are all aiming at creating a beautiful world, shouldn’t it help to act from a position of taking responsibility at each individual’s level so that we finally manifest it collectively. Would really love to know your thoughts on this.
Love
Pratishtha
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Pratishtha,
I do feel that we “co-create”, on some level, as part of the collective universal conscious on a global scale.
But the question at hand is, are we 100% responsible?
With 6 billion people (consciousnesses) in the world, we each contribute a very small fraction to that whole. So my feeling is that we can only be marginally responsible for the state of the world, and I’m not sure if that marginal responsibility comes from “us” in the sense of “you Pratishtha, me Heather” — our Lower Selves — or if the collective consciousness is on a spiritual level, which would mean our Higher Selves instead (and Lower Selves can not really feel responsible for anything the Higher Self does, because the Higher Self pulls our puppet strings in many ways… or at least steers our ship).
That’s my take on it.
cheers
Heather
I appreciate you setting up this discussion and I am happy to contribute with my thoughts.
I believe in the law of attraction and the distinction you make between creating and attracting is quite clear to me, however, even a painter will not paint from scratch because the images depicted on the canvas have a starting point which is based on the artist’s perception of what we call reality. Each one of us has her/his own points of view, but that doesn’t mean that physical laws can be overridden. However, we can’t deny that we keep discovering laws in the physical plane that we are able to manipulate to our own advantage, or detriment.
Reality depends largely on our collective perception of the world, and we make progress to the extent that we realize our own power.
Global warming IS our responsibility because we are quite simply re-emitting all the carbon that was formed during the carboniferous era into the atmosphere, and reverting that fatal trend is within our power, we have the technology to do it. Unfortunately there are too many powerful people that refuse to see the implications of greed and keep holding on to the status quo and refuse to make changes that are perfectly available to us, such as manufacturing and using electric cars, and the problem will continue to grow until we make cleaning up our act a priority. And I think we are slowly moving in that direction.
And yes, I believe we are responsible, but responsibility doesn’t mean that we have to beat up on ourselves about what is. We are responsible of making the very best of what we have with the means availalbe to us. It is very much like raising a child; we, as parents are not creators of our children, they come to this world to develop their own experience; as parents we are responsible for providing food, shelter, and education. Wouldn’t that mean that wealthy parents are better parents? I personnaly don’t think so, the important thing is to give your best, do your best and provide the best guidance you can with the means that are available to you at the time and to be sensitive and sensible enough to accept that we are also learning from our children. Being present in the moment is the key to love and to life.
I believe that wars and atrocities are happening because of our unwillingness to connect to the present moment, we defend far off ideals instead of cherishing life. Our present state of mind is the result of our conditioning to see ourselves as separate from the rest; this blinds us to the wonder of life and sets us up for committing the most horrible crimes.
My perception is that YES we are responsible, BUT the only way to make this world a better place is to have more and more people realizing their own power. In other words we can help but we can’t solve every problem and we should absolutely not feel guilty about that or about anything else, we just have to do the best we can. We live in a continuum of perceptions of individuals that converge into the world that we have right now. We can make it a better place, but we still have to work on our awareness as a collective race; we can’t forget that we are all co-creators.
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Tatiana,
Some interesting thoughts here like I’d like to reply to.
You said: “even a painter will not paint from scratch because the images depicted on the canvas have a starting point which is based on the artist’s perception of what we call reality.”
But what if the painting is abstract, or even completely non-representational? That would have nothing to do with our perception of reality, because it’s completely from the mind (imagination).
You also say: “Global warming IS our responsibility because we are quite simply re-emitting all the carbon that was formed during the carboniferous era into the atmosphere, and reverting that fatal trend is within our power, we have the technology to do it. ”
And that may be true, or at least PART of the cause of global warming (apparently humans only cause a small proportion of what’s happening). But the question was… are we responsible, and 100% responsible at that, simply by having it in our awareness as doctrines like Ho’oponopono teach?
If we have to DO something (like re-emitting carbon) in order to cause the situation, and we PERSONALLY have an alternative or solution to that, then my feeling is that would be our personal responsibility. If it’s a collective human-made mess (this is our Lower Selves, the physical us, of course) and we contributed to that, we’re only partially responsible, not 100%… and whether or not we personally have the solution is a different story (I don’t think I, Heather, personally have the technology or means to fix that).
And finally, you said: “Reality depends largely on our collective perception of the world, and we make progress to the extent that we realize our own power.”
But is that really true? If we all PERCEIVE collectively that US elections are completely democratic, and the President is elected based on the votes of the people, doe that make that perception “Reality”? Or do we need to look at the TRUE reality of how a President ends up in office?
What about if we all PERCEIVE that doctors are objectively recommending treatments, but behind the scenes they’re being paid by the pharmaceutical companies to push certain drugs? Then is our perception reality, or what’s going on that we don’t know about?
Personally, I feel that perception is a very weak part of the equation because it’s, by definition, reliant on subjective views of things… and we all know that subjectively, we all have different values, ideals and views of the world. So by a perception stance, we have 6 billion “realities” in this world, not just one.
I agree that perception shapes what a person believes, and hence the reality they EXPERIENCE (or think they do)… but I don’t think perception creates fact. Intention, and how it’s carried out, does.
cheers
Heather
Thanks for being a catalyst for this great discussion Heather.
You made me laugh how many times you used “should” in the reply to my comments
It was interesting to observe the comments by the man that he felt he was seeing lots of people arguing in way that says one view is right and another is wrong. That is not what I observe going on either.
You keep using this phrase “TRUE reality”.
Maybe you can define clearly what you mean by that because I’ve read your views of the gift example and the concept of a TRUE reality I feel is the sticking point of what your preceptions of reality are.
Great discussion going on. Thanks again for creating it.
I feel responsible 100% for my personal reality and although I do not feel responsible for everything that goes on in the collective world I do take the view it is a *reflection* of some aspect of me for on some level and much of it is unconscious. The things that might trigger us emotionally are the ones to take a real good look at and deal with in our life.
I’m also loving how this discussion has evolved to look at the distinction between *attraction* and *creating*
As manifestors it is something to take a look at to become more artful and conscious in our manifesting.
Take care all and thanks for contributing to a wonderful disccussion here. The diversity of views and opinions is cool to read through.
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Shaun,
Some people feel that our perceptions make our reality. I don’t think they do… I think they only represent our perception of the truth, and nothing more.
If a child perceives that there is a Santa Claus — a fat jolly man in a red suit who flies around on a sleigh pulled by magic reindeer and comes down his chimney to leave toys in his stocking — does that make it so?
If I know that I was the one who bought the presents and put them in his stocking, because I was directly and 100% responsible for that… does his perception of reality hold any water in the grand scheme of things? Obviously for him, he thinks it’s true, but I believe the big picture is important.
The child’s perceived reality is one thing, but “True reality” is what truly happened… which was me putting toys in his stocking.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t be truth seekers here… what’s the point if everyone’s perception makes “reality”?
cheers
Heather
sorry, I meant to type perceptions and see I typed preceptions.
I’m 100% responsible for my typos.
None of you readers are responsible for the typos I manifest. But it is a reflection of some aspect of you being neglectful on some level of being and you did attract it to your computer screen…..lol
G’day Heather,
We have differing perceptions in this discussion and the great mystery and wonder of reality will always intrigue our curious human minds.
I guess I could explain it this way.
The truth as I see it is we are having an expierence
What we experience from moment to moment is our reality. I do not have a definition for true reality. For me there is none. There is a nature of reality, yes. But a true reality has no meaning to me.
There is experience based on beliefs. These beliefs cause us to have perceptions. A familar one of a child experiecne of Santa at Christmas time or the extremely unfamilar such a the noble pize winning scientiest depicted in the story of the movie called “A Beautiful Mind”
A child believing in Santa has the perception of gifts under christmas tree as having been delivered by Santa.
Therefore because for that child that is what they experience, it *is reality* to that child.
Once the child belief changes there future experience of Christmas is different. Their reality has changed. However their orginal experience does not change when their reality was there was a Santa in their world.
They can change the meaning of that past experience though, but not the experience at the time it occurred.
You’ve got some interesting phrases Heather such as “holds water in the grand scheme of things”
What is this grand scheme of things to you ?
What is this true reality to you ?
You’ve identified yourself as a truth seeker and looking for a point for *making reality* as you put it.
The truth as I see it is we create our reality to have experiences. We *make believe* to have an experience….and those beliefs can change for different experiences
I know many people call themselves seekers of truth, higher truths etc. I’ve never felt any attraction to that way of being in the world. I guess I see myself as an explorer, as distinct from a truth seeker and my *perception* as an explorer makes sense to my head and heart. I guess you could say I believe we are spiritual beings having a human expierence because we can
I feel what we observe *as* our reality is an illusion. There is no true reality so to speak. There is a collective consensus of beliefs that forms the illusion of a collective reality that we experience as our waking world we share with 6 billion other souls but even within this collective reality there are things we consider to be more real or less real but even those categories are based on belief sysytems. Reality to me is not absolute.
I read this quote recently and felt it as one of the most interesting quotes I ever read.
“What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning”
Werner Heinsenberg, Ph.D. 1901-1976
Take care all and happy manifestiing
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Shaun,
Yes, we definitely have a different view on this point… I thought I explained it, but since you asked again “What is this true reality to you?” I’ll try it again.
I feel very strongly that what I call “True Reality” is what really happened, regardless of the perceptions of the people involved. Perceptions, as I’ve said before, are the weak link in what people experience… the intention is much more important, because everybody has a different perception and sometimes those perceptions can be WAY off.
If my child believes Santa put the toys under the tree, that may be “his” reality, or his perception of reality, but that doesn’t mean it happened. There are three sides to the reality coin… his perception of it, my perception of it, and the truth (which may mesh up with one or both perceptions, but may be completely different too).
If a person thinks he can leap over tall buildings with a single bound — and believes so with all his heart — that doesn’t make it true.
If the American people believe that astronauts walked on the moon, that doesn’t make it true. There’s evidence to say they did, and evidence to say they did not… but there IS a truth to what REALLY happened, and our perception one way or another does not influence that truth.
This is what you asked me about: “What is this grand scheme of things to you?” This is it, the “big picture” or “forest reality” as compared to our “small picture” or “tree reality” — the personal reality we experience that may not mesh up with the big picture truth. Barry talked about it in his last video on this blog, too.
I once had a co-worker call me to a meeting and say, “I guess you know why I want to talk to you.” I had no clue, however. She had a perception that I did not like her, and had all sorts of evidence that she perceived backed that up… except that none of the evidence was true, and it didn’t mesh at all with my intention. For instance, I used to edit a staff newsletter that I sent to the bosses each week to let them know what was happening in the field. If I wrote “In Western Ontario, the buying patterns are this… but in Eastern Ontario, they’re more concerned with this…” based off both of our experiences that week, she felt that I was saying she was wrong. None of the other co-workers felt that; they knew it was an indication of geographically-related buying trends. But to her it was personal, which just was not true.
Just like there’s a commenter on this blog who thought people were saying “You’re wrong, I’m right” in this discussion. He perceived that, but that does not make it true.
Similarly, just because someone does not BELIEVE in a universal law, that does not mean it’s not true.
If I don’t BELIEVE in the Law of Gravity, I don’t float around without touching the ground. If I don’t BELIEVE in the Law of Attraction, I may make up evidence of how it doesn’t work (like “Well, if it worked I would be rich”) without realizing that me not being rich is an indication of how it DOES work. But either way, my perception or belief does not affect whether it’s true or not.
So, no matter how many quotes you present, you can’t convince me that there is no true reality, but only reality based on individual perceptions, and that every perception or belief makes the truth.
Sorry, Shaun… I love your involvement here, but I’m just not going for that!
cheers
Heather
Interesting topic and discussion going on here. IMHO, the answer to your question regarding responsibility is dependent upon the perspective from which it is viewed. If I am attending a class and the room I am in collapses, am I responsible for the collapse? No, however I chose to take responsibility for my safety when I chose to attend the class. Seems to me that most people who board an aircraft are aware that there is a possibility that that plane could crash land yet assume the responsibility for their own lives when they board it anyway. Life is what happens usually when you are on your way to do something else!
Seems to me, in the greater Consciousness, we all chose to come here to experience life on this planet and in so choosing, automatically took responsibility for whatever was going to be experienced via the choices you made after you got here.
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi George,
Yes, all very true… but the question goes beyond that.
If you’re watching the NEWS and see that a classroom collapsed in Japan, but you’re in the US, does that make you responsible for it because you became aware of it?
Some teachers say yes, and that’s a big part of the discussion here.
cheers
Heather
Hi Heather,
Hey, I think your 3 sided coin reality model *works*.
I just think there is a lot more than 3…lol
It would be fun playing poker with you
I was not trying to convince you to buy a 4 sided coin
Truth can be stranger than fiction.
I feel intent is most important aswell in human relations.
I like the intent of this discussion as too many people do feel responsible for things that do them or no one else any good in their respective lives.
It is one thing to be aware of things going on in our collective world. The outer world is a reflection of what is going on in our inner world. If something in our outer world upsets us you deal with the root cause which is the inner world. Our own inner world is something we have complete control over and it is each our own responsibility how we take care of our inner world.
take great care there
Heather:
IMHO, the “teachers” who would profess such nonsense are not worth their “spiritual salt” and should have their “spiritual vision” examined! Many years ago I had many questions which led me to interview lots of people who were supposed to be “spiritual”. The bottom line turned out to be that nobody knew for sure but had strong opinions only. That was not good enough for me and I HAD to KNOW for myself FIRST HAND-preferably by direct experience. I dedicated my life to that end, to find out the truth of what is for myself. Learning in the process how to spiritually travel, I chose to go straight to the Heart of the Godhead, the Source of All Knowledge. My passion to know culminated in full Cosmic Consciousness and entrance to the Heart of the One Itself. Cool huh? That sojourn is absolutely the most ultimate journey any human can experience. It doesn’t get any better than that! Learned very much with that and learning continues 20 years after the fact! So my ultimate answer to your question is simply this: don’t settle for someone’s opinion, go within and experience it directly, then you will KNOW!
After Sarah Palin’s church burned down the other day in a reported arson attempt, she did this:
“Palin told an assistant pastor she was sorry if the fire was connected to the “undeserved negative attention” the church has received since she became the vice presidential candidate..”
She feels some responsibility there…even though it’s an indirect result if proved to be the case.
Hi Heather,
Thanks for your reply. I also read your replies to others. I understand that our perceptions are only OUR perceptions creating our subjective reality i.e. our experience of reality and not the reality as it is. I also agree that we are only marginally responsible for the state of the world. However, you said that you are not sure if this marginal responsibility comes from our lower selves or the higher self(collective consciousness on a spiritual level.) The point that you are making is that we can’t be responsible for the state of the world at a larger level. There are realities that we cannot control with our conscious thinking or even with our unconscious thinking, for ex, our perceptions are not causing Tsunami or the terrorist attacks. We as individuals have done nothing to cause these realities. This is a sound logic. However, scientists and mystics today are talking about a different reality and according to them every thought is an electromagnetic impulse having an electromagnetic field and whatever each consciousness(soul) thinks, especially at an unconscious level, which is far more powerful than the conscious(lower self), gets stored in the core of earth. Therefore, if the frequency of the thought vibration is of lower level i.e. a fearful thought or revengeful thought, it too will get stored in earth’s core and impact its magnetic field. The earth’s magnetic field being badly impacted is what is causing Tsunami and not one individual watching television and commenting about the environment, however if that individual has got any fearful thoughts in his consciousness, then he is certainly playing a role by contributing into the magnetic field of the earth. It does not mean that this particular individual (his lower self) should blame himself for anything or that he ought to be punished by nature but certainly if this person becomes conscious of the fears that are stored in his unconscious mind and experiences them, and experiences the pain that his fearful thoughts are causing him, he will contribute in healing the earth and if a specific number of individuals start doing this, we’ll never witness a Tsunami again. I feel that no individual is to be blamed for the state of the world today but we as a human race are collectively responsible for the mess, however to sort this mess the key lies with the individual. If each individual takes up the responsibility of changing his/her thoughts, both conscious and unconscious and transforms the way he/she thinks, feels, and acts, the world will be a different experience. After all reality is as it is because of some of the dominating perceptions of a large number of people. The world is run by the popular perceptions of a majority and hence our reality. When a large population holds on to a belief, they act from it and create a larger reality. If the majority is not happy with the choices they are making they need to check their perceptions and THEY means each individual because at a larger level everyone counts and has a role to play. I feel that our higher self is our indweller or the inner voice that can always make us conscious of our unconscious and help us choose better thoughts and feelings so that we create a better reality.
If the majority believes in revenge we will witness more violence and terror but if the majority believes in forgiveness we will enter into an altogether different reality. I feel that the time has come for this idea to become popular that every individual counts because it is the reverse attitude of not taking responsibility and unconsciously supporting things that we actually do not like is what has caused the world to suffer through the terrorist attacks and environmental degradation.
I can best sum up by saying that collectively every individual counts. That is how
I feel about it, if there is any other angle to it, I would certainly like to look at it.
Love
Pratishtha
Hi Heather,
Thank you so much for your response, I agree with you that we are not personally responsible for everything going on around us, but we are responsible of how we respond to it. I still think that perceptions are a very strong component of our reality, look at the middle ages; the generalized perception, at least in Europe was that the world was flat and that whatever was not stated in the Bible could not be real, and so it was for the people living in that context. Fewer people in those days lived to even have one day free of worry; hunger and abject misery were prevalent, and people died of perfectly preventable diseases. 2 out of every 10 births ended up with the death of the mother or the child, and thus there were so many orphans and so much misery in the world simply because people did not realize that they could avoid so many deaths by simply washing their hands, doctors at that time were like butchers and because they could not “see” the bacteria, they never considered that the cause of infection was something they could not see or perceive. Now we know better and we have solved many problems in the realm of health. As for medical science these days, I think it is really bad in the US because money is perceived to be more valuable than human life; that is why the pharmaceutical and insurance industry have such a big say in our policies. Personally, I think access to adequate health care should be a universal right. That is my perception and if enough of us think that way, the situation can change for the better. That’s not to say that mistakes will cease to occur, people continue to die due to perfectly preventable causes due to human mistakes, but at least the abuse of the health care industry would diminish and it would lead to an improvement.
And those of us who perceive that pills are not always the answer and that they cause more problems than they solve, have access to better ways to take care of our health, simply because we have a broader perspective.
I don’t know enough about Ho’oponono to know what level of responsibility it proposes, but I do think that we are all better off because we are starting to realize that we are not powerless by standers. As for the painter, I do think that imagination has a starting point as well, imagination is simply stretching reality. The painter’s interpretation is unique, but it is still an interpretation of a thing, feeling, emotion or all of those combined. Nothing comes out of the blue.
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Tatiana,
Yes, exactly… people used to think the world was flat. That was their perception… but even though they believed it, that didn’t make it true.
That’s why I say perception is the weak link. I don’t care what people perceive and believe… if it’s bogus, it’s still bogus, no matter how many people swear it’s true!
And when people say something came “out of the blue” that means it was inspired by the “other side” (the spiritual realm). It’s from our Higher Self, or the Universal consciousness filtered through our Higher Self… and yes, it exists, I’ve experienced it! Things that didn’t come from “my” (Lower Self) imagination, but from “my” (Higher Self) Creative Source.
Heather
GREAT ARTICLE – kind of agree with both views; however, I think many of our so called “creations” are so remote from our personal sphere of influence that it is pointless to blame ourselves for everything that happens. The flip side, of course, is taking no responsibility either. I guess that the key here is “appropriate responsibility” And, of course, there is always the trick of being “clear” enough to perceive when the information that we are receiving is indeed actually “accurate.”
Great website. Great resource. Thank you so much for your
insights! All the best
I believe in taking full responsibility for our OWN thoughts, actions, reactions and emotions, if everybody was to do that then we wouldn’t feel like we have to take responsibility for each others.
By doing this, each individual learns the lessons taught by taking full responsibility.
Hi Heather and Barry. I love your passion. I’ve been there…the passion about these matters. Well, I mean, I’m still passionate about all of this, but in how we see the knowledge base of the subject matter being distributed and taught and how people ‘choose’ to absorb the available pool of knowledge in this arena.
I feel that “The Secret” is a good introduction to the metaphysical way of looking at this, and the movie; “What the Bleep Do WE Know?” is a good intro to both the metaphysical and the new quantum physics understandings with focus on the quantum views.
But, this is all they really are, introductions. After the intros, people who are inclined to, continue with their newfound education of the subject and the application of it to their lives.
I’m a “teacher” of this subject matter in my circle of influence, at my place of work, circle of friends and family, and the like, and hope to become a publisher and expand my teaching ability to extend to “the masses”, too, someday (read that as “plan to become…”).
I do have a following, and these are good, grounded people. As with all people living in this collective reality, here, they (we) all have unique problems (read as “challenges”), but hold the positive outlook that we can change our circumstances…with knowledge and action.
One of the first principles I like to make people aware of is one found in the Bible and in the secular world’s US Department of Labor Statistics. That is, most people are headed down the wrong path and that those numbers are not likely to change much, and that few are those finding the “higher path” (the path leading to everlasting life, to paraphrase the Bible; and the path to financial independence, according to the secular statistics).
The difference I want to make clear to those I work to help, is what you are also focusing on here, personal responsibility.
Responsibility to first acknowledge that each of us CAN change the future we carve out before ourselves, and the responsibility that it takes the kind of commitment that means changing the way one thinks and spends time (read “uses time”). That it takes the commitment to dedicate ones self to changing deep underlying beliefs and habits, the ones that exist below our surface of consciousness that guide us through the time we “spend”.
It takes the act of “making ourselves over”, which is by no means a small task for most. It takes the knowledge that some people already have some of the needed qualities and beliefs, and use them, but finding the other things that need changing or ‘tweaking’ in order to make the life we would ultimately choose to live, while also understanding that most of us have complete remodels to attend to.
THEN, it takes the ongoing commitment, after acknowledging all of the above, to choose the life we want (another very difficult task for most…was for me), to begin to study and implement, and mostly, to continue, continue, continue.
Jim Rohn says it really is easy to change and have the life we want, problem is, it’s easier NOT to.
So, until one changes their habits of study, belief and action, it takes constant attendance to the commitment to change by making the conscious decisions that NEED to be made to stay on track.
After some time of doing this, it becomes habit, and actually becomes enjoyable if it had not been before.
Then, I like people to know (from my own experiences) that for most, we have a certain “momentum” going in our lives that needs to be redirected in order to begin experiencing the changes we envision for ourselves. Momentum, another principle, in my way of understanding, that crosses the realms of Newtonian Physics and Quantum Physics, when applied to our beliefs, lives and experiences. Once again, a few can make rapid changes, most will see gradual changes, (of those that stick with the program, as it were).
At any rate, I feel I see the pool of information as mostly good, even with “The Secret” and those onstage teachers and gurus who are reaping huge financial rewards through their followers by presenting “their part” of the “Big Picture”. I feel that I see the “Big Picture” very well, with it becoming clearer and clearer week by week, month by month, and so on, to the point that I feel I can help others come to better their lives by understanding that we do all “create” our own realities through the belief systems we incorporate into our lives and the actions that we follow according to those beliefs…and inherent intuitions (another large part of this huge system).
Studying the writing of so may others (with the needed due discernment) from many directions (i.e.; from “The Secret”; to the Abraham/Hicks teachings; to Greg Braden’s observations, to Dr. David Hawkins practices; and many others), I have come to understand that this energetic field we live in can be used as a great and wonderful ‘tool’, and that all of humanity has equal access to it regardless of religious belief (this is part of what makes us all “connected”), and this system, undeniably created by “a greater intelligence” is mechanical in nature, thus making it available to all. It’s just learning how to use it, live with it, love it and love each other, not necessarily in that order.
Bottom line for now is, it’s big, it can seem complicated, and it takes dedication and commitment to follow, for most. I feel it should become “a way of life”, which can take on a wide variety of appearances while meeting the requirements of this “mechanical system” to get it to work for us/with us.
Oh, and it takes goodness. This system does not work properly for mal-intent. Gratitude, love, giving, and like elements, all that require action.
Hope this makes sense to you and whoever reads through all of this, and will look for your outlook reply to this posting. Really, this only (almost) scratches the surface, as I’m sure you are aware.
Wow how great is this dialogue! We are evolving as a world, never before could we speak to others miles away, not even knowing them personally. So – I think to myself – we are growing nearer to universal consciousness = we are beginning and only beginning to understand that our higher selves are part of the universe, we are discussing on only a part understood concept using a brain which does not have access to some of the wonderful workings of the spirit. If we are all spiritually connected then we must have some influence on the experiences of others if it is alligned with the higher good (which would include what we consider bad too) If buying a beefburger has an effect on the rainforrest and therefore on global warming, then yes we have a part to play in the sunami. We have to be responsible for every action every word every thought that we allow to manifest from our consciousness. I have been however a little disturbed by some contrubutors using the word ‘blame’ – I think that the concept of responsibility could be clarified and that people should not automatically associate it with ‘blame’ ISNT IT FANTASTIC BEING AWARE OF ONES JOURNEY. soooo EXCITING!!!!
[...] Originally Posted by coachmike The difficulty for each of us is accepting 100% responsibility for everything we experience. Mike, that’s only a major difficulty when people actually believe they need to live up to such a completely inaccurate, Utopian goal. If each of us we’re living 100% of the time in our own physical box ( er, some of us figuratively are anyways ), then, YES, we SHOULD be 100% responsible for what WE experience…yet, we mingle with people, we co-create with others. Learn more at Are You A Responsibility Addict ? [...]
[...] is the way to honestly find what rings true for you. For more, check out the conversation here: Are You a
[...] Originally Posted by MaryK ….Negative thoughts/actions/words from others are a reflection of some part of ourselves…. Mary, while it may seem disgracefully absurd to pick-holes in such a beautiful ( seemingly ) metaphysical axiom, the truth is that it’s been way over-due for a MAJOR tune-up. When you attempt to take responsibility for everybody else
At the risk of being accused of having no humility, please allow me to quote from my book, “How To Take No For An Answer And Still Succeed.”
“The only thing you can truly control is your mind. How you act, react and the decisions that you make are always your choice
“You have total control of your thoughts, actions, reactions and attitude. To further prove your level of control, you may give it up any time you wish.”
http://www.HowToTakeNo.com
So, responsibility, making your own reality? We have total responsibility or our actions and reactions. Every move we make is either reactive or proactive.
Manipulation happens when we are motivated to react in a certain way without thinking about it.
Those who allow themselves to be hypnotized by their own weaknesses, prejudices or fears can be awakened by the stunning realization of their lack of consciousness.
“The Secret” is motivating, but it’s not complete with an action plan. We can remove those areas that don’t fit us and follow the concept of personal action/reaction/responsibility without creating, as Barry & Heather write, extra arms or legs.
Tom Justin
[Heather's REPLY]:
Hi Tom,
I remember discussing your book when I interviewed you several years ago, and I love some of your simple techniques for dealing with the creation of our own reality — or, as we like to call it, our “tree reality”.
But of course, you’re still not talking about creating our “forest reality” — the big picture things that happen on a global (or Universal) scale.
As for The Secret, you’re certainly not the first person to say that it’s incomplete because there’s no “action plan”, and we actually created http://MastersOfTheSecret.com in 2006/2007 to fill that void (for people who watched but were still unable to change their lives).
But whatever can be said about The Secret’s strengths and weaknesses, I do have to disagree with the common assertion that “it doesn’t tell you to take action,” as so many people say.
First of all, “action” is not PART of the Law of Attraction, per se. It’s something that you need to do AFTER the LOA has done its job. And The Secret never claimed to be about anything more than simply the LOA.
Secondly, several teachers in The Secret (Joe Vitale and Jack Canfield come to mind immediately) did say point-blank that you do have to take action (or specifically, “inspired action”) if you want to complete the process of manifesting what you’re attracting.
So for people who wanted an “action plan” laid out in the movie, and aren’t able to take action without one, they’re likely the same people who believe that “manifestation” means snapping your fingers and creating things out of thin air.
But they’re probably NOT members of our community, who for the most part are pretty sophisticated and knowledgeable, even if they might have trouble manifesting certain things (and our aim is to give them the tools and techniques to do so).
cheers
Heather
the article and all of the comments were very interesting.It is said that”it is not what is said or done but how we react to what is said or done. The movie “The Secret “, and now a sequel also the movie “you can heal your life” and Try it on everything” For along time I have had the thought,Awake Thou That Sleepth And Know thy self” A age of enlightment searching for answers.Higher Self or self or conscience or sub conscience or Ego or inner child gives much food for thought .Jesus said,”He new us before we were in the womb.” Therefore we were somewhere and are searching to get back there is a thought that I have.Also have read that we chose our parents.It is said “That God has a perfect plan for our lives and when we accept this and follow guidance we have an abundance life.” Lord I thank you for the abundance that is mine. When I have unconditional love for myself and others.Do not judge or critisize myself and others. And am able to think for myself I say yes to life and yes I am responsible for my thoughts ,words and actions. I do believe that you can heal your life It is said” that your subconscious does not know that you are talking about someone else when you mention to someone else “did you hear that so & so has cancer”, so be careful of what you say, read or hear or see.
As we gain awareness and knowledge we will change the way we think, act and talk. It is a wonderful time to be alive their is so much that we can learn.I am thankful that their are mentors to help us on our path.Also that their is a guidance within us that leads us to various web sites.May I share something amusing? I heard about the book “Think And Grow Rich” I am 78 years young and on a fixed income so I could not buy it I wanted it so badly that I was led to where on here I could get it free. Others would say you manifested it, the Bible states” in philippians that my God shall supply my need.If you were to ask me where on here I could not tell you ,I wanted to share with my son but at a loss to find it again.Anyway in this book it tells you that the answer to the LOA is in every chapter but if you are not ready for it you will not understand or learn it .Maybe it is at the Library. So many are searching and they get where they do not believe in the LOA if they only knew that it does work but perhaps they are not ready for it. Aperson wins the Lottery and ends up worse off they were not capable of handling it.You can not want an abundance of riches just for yourself you need to serve and benefit others.God Bless all of you and Be Well.
I think “You create everything you experience” can be a backdoor method of the mind trying to gain control over this order-within-apparent-chaos situation we call Life.
I appreciate the differences between Attracting and Creating.
Thank you for making the distinctions between Self and self in the discussions of the Laws…those distinctions make sense!
I agree with what you wrote for the most part.
I do take it one step further than you. I recently went through a change of bosses after my department was decimated. The people who were cut from my department were, by and large, very negative people. My new boss is very negative and only numbers oriented. Even though I work at a college, she would prefer that there were no people involved.
I asked myself, out loud, “Why is it that I attract such negative people.” I did not make these people negative. I did not create the decimation of my department, though I did not take steps to prevent it.
I believe that if I take “responsibility” for negativity around me, I might do something to change it. If I consider myself a victim of negative people, I will never change.
I probably agree with you more than I don’t. What I call being responsible, you may call “facilitating”. I can accept that.
As far as the tsunami – I can ask, “What have I done to help people get out of poverty and have strong houses?” Or I could ask, “What have I done to help Indonesia become a prosperous country that could have had a tsunami warning system? Or have I only bought clothing from their sweatshops without caring about the Indonesian economy?”
Am I at fault? No. Can I learn something from it to improve, even if it had nothing to do with me? Yes.
AT LAST I got to read your article, there is definately a problem with your XHtml. Have you tried verifying it through W3? It could just be A theme problem though… Just thought I would warn you from one webmaster to another because I would hate to lose my traffic if I had an issue and didn’t notice.
Wonderful post – I was thinking about a similar article which I will probably still take a shot at, but from a slightly different angle. Thanks for sharing this with your readers…Obviously a lot of others appreciate it too!