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Serving a community of private individuals and professionals
who have the desire to cultivate a life of clarity, compassion,
and creativity. Your feedback is encouraged. Please contact
us at seishindo@seishindo.org.
1. Starting Line
In one of previous issues I explored the process of self
hypnosis. Please read it if you want to learn more about Self
Hypnosis as a fascinating way to foster a better relationship
with yourself: Volume 1, No. 4. "Self
Hypnosis".
In my way of thinking, one of the main purposes of self hypnosis
is to melt the thinking mind, so that a person's full intelligence
can emerge. I think that in this regard self hypnosis and
meditation are similar. My practice of meditation leads me
to understand that when meditating I melt my thinking mind,
and enter into a new relationship with myself and the world
around me. In my understanding, the purpose of self hypnosis
or meditation is not to change a behavior or to change one's
self via one's practice, but rather to come into a deeper
relationship with one's core self. The "truth" of what you
want to understand is found in the realization of who you
truly are.
Our quest for self knowledge and truth requires that we answer
this question: "What is this thing I call "my self?" As you
slowly come to realize the answer to this paradox you concurrently
come to an intuitive understanding of life and your place
within the world. In your process of self discovery you might
find that you change your behaviors and your way of being
in the world. Such changes are not a response to fixing something
that has been wrong, rather, such changes occur as a natural
by-product of your shifting awareness and sensitivity. Nothing
is "wrong" so nothing needs to be changed. In a healthy system
the process of change takes place quite naturally. In an unhealthy
system change is somehow blocked.
Like a ball of honey melting in a warm cup of tea, melt the
mass of your thinking mind, and your current understanding
of "problems". This is the process that both self hypnosis
and meditation help us to fulfill.
2. Example of Embodied Spirit
I recently heard from a friend, about a business man that
has created a highly successful business with hundreds of
retail outlets. At first I thought my friend was going to be
telling me about the "how to" of business success, but
instead his story took quite a different path. What follows
is my stylized version of an inspiring story.
The man in my story started out his business career by
inheriting a large and successful family business, but he
ran that business into the ground in a few years time and
eventually went bankrupt. After his bankruptcy he said,
"Even though my business had failed, I did not feel like I
had failed. I still had confidence in myself. I still knew
that I could do something good. I didn't try to figure out
all the details of what I had done right or wrong, I didn't
try to understand whether I was a good business man or a bad
business man. I just continued to believe in myself, and the
vision that I had."
After his bankruptcy he searched around and managed to
borrow some money for a new business. In a reasonably short
amount of time he ran this business into bankruptcy as well.
Afterwards he said, "Even more so now, I still had
confidence in myself. I had seen some flashes of brilliance,
and I knew that I could do something good. Once again, I
didn't focus on right or wrong, good or bad. I focused on
what had worked and I concentrated on how I could borrow
more money with the hope of finally fulfilling my dream."
So, the gentleman manages to borrow more money, and starts
another business, and of course this business also goes
bankrupt, or I wouldn't be telling this story! After his
third bankruptcy he said "At this point I finally got my
initial taste of victory. I knew I was getting closer to
getting it right." What a fantastic spirit this guy has! He
has huge confidence in the face of big time short term
failure.
Back out on the streets he went, and this time he only
managed to borrow a rather small sum of money. Not being
able to start a "real" business with such a limited amount
of cash, he rented a small pick-up truck. With little money
to spend he shopped around in various wholesale markets and
wound up deciding to only buy things that he could sell
cheaply with no seeming connection to the various products,
except that they were inexpensive and of reasonable quality.
He loaded his goods into the back of his pick-up truck and
parked on a busy street where he hawked his wares to the
passersby, and the launch of a new retail phenomenon had
begun. Over time he parleyed the success he had with his one
pick-up truck, into a chain of highly successful stores.
When asked to what he attributed his success, he replied "Believing
in myself, and not picking apart all of my pluses and minuses."
He said, "Right from the beginning I knew that I could be
successful. When I failed the first time I suddenly had a
lot of free time on my hands since I no longer had a business
to run. I figured that I basically had two choices in regard
to what to do with my time. 1.
Do a lot of thinking about what went wrong and try to correct
my many mistakes in the future. Or, 2.
Take the time to relax and gain a new perspective on life,
while keeping my dream alive in my heart. I of course chose
the latter. From a relaxed state I was able to understand
things that I was not able to understand when I was running
around trying to be successful. I knew that dissecting what
I had done right and what I had done wrong would eat up a
lot of time and energy, and most likely not give me the formula
for success. I knew that the formula for success was already
inside of me, and that my job was to find a way to allow this
formula to be expressed. I didn't try to understand what to
do, I tried to get myself to the point where I was already
doing what I needed to do."
To me this story offers a great deal of inspiration.
Continuing to believe in myself regardless of the challenges
to be faced, is a gift that I have often struggled to give
myself. It is wonderful to be presented with such a fine
example to learn from. The faith this man has in himself can
be a gift to all of us. And at the same time I can't help
but chuckle when thinking what a business consultant might
say about this man's method for conducting business.
This story also reminds me of an article I read in a
business magazine a number of years ago. The story told of
the careers of a number of highly successful business
people, all of whom had "failed" at least three or four
times along the way. Each person in their own words said the
following "I could not be the success I am today, had it not
been for all of my previous failures!"
Do you have some "failures" in your life that hold the
seeds of future success? I am guessing that we all do.
3. Dynamics of Embodied Spirit
Several issues ago I presented ten
principles of self hypnosis. These principles can act
as a lens through which we can focus our understanding of
self hypnosis.
The tenth principle is: (With a slight rewrite from before):
It is the thinking mind that discerns
"right and wrong" "good or bad" "perfect and imperfect", that
creates your problems. The idea in self hypnosis is to experience
the mind that comes prior to thinking. To experience the mind
that does not understand the answers to what is right and
wrong. The goal is not to understand what to do. The goal
is to already be doing it. There is no problem to be solved.
Only be in the moment.
This principle relates to the melting of the thinking mind.
The world is much too complex and fertile to be fully
understood and adapted to by use of the rational mind alone.
The more time you spend focusing on trying to find THE right
answer or correct method, the less open you will tend to be
to sensing the wisdom that is ALREADY present and available
in your somatic self. When your rational mind doesn't know
the answer to a question or a situation that needs solving,
accept this current reality while staying open to the
likelihood that your somatic mind DOES contain some
important wisdom concerning the task at hand. Give your
thinking mind a rest, so that the intuitive somatic
mind/unconscious mind can come to the forefront. When the
somatic mind is used more fully, our fundamental perception
of self and the world changes, and our awareness and our
ability to be solution oriented increases. When we enter
into such a state, the intelligence of the entire system
will create the changes that are necessary for our health
and well being, as well as for our business success. Easier
said than done perhaps, but well worth the effort.
In reading about world renowned stock traders, venture
capitalists, and futurists, I have found that they
consistently make the same basic statement in regard to how
they work: "With a good deal of background and experience
one can predict long term trends of the future, but it is
impossible to predict what will occur tomorrow. When it is
all said and done, there is way too much information to sort
through prior to making a decision, and much of the
information that you do receive is contradictory in nature.
In the long run you are only left with your intuitive sense
of what to do and not do. Correct action or theory is not
based on an absolute. My decisions come from a hunch. An
intuitive sense of what has been, what is, and what will
be." I believe that practicing self hypnosis can help us to
come to an intuitive understanding of where we are and who
we are. Realizing that the goal of our practice is not meant
to be the "correct evaluation" of who we are, but rather a
heartfelt sense of self that would only be lessened by
evaluation. When we realize the nature of our true self,
everything winds up being just as it should be. Not too hot
and not too cold. Not too large and not too small. But
rather just as Goldilocks proclaimed in a pleased voice,
"This one is juussst right!"
Self hypnosis is meant to give you a sense of "just right."
4. Prelude to Practicing
In this issue, as I do from time to time, I want to "set
the stage" for you prior to your beginning the today's practice:
A) The "practice" that follows
is NOT meant to get specific results in regard to behavioral
changes. This is very important to note. You are being asked
to pay attention to what is going on in the moment, rather
than trying to change yourself or something that you are not
satisfied with. If generative change does happen to occur
it will take place only as a by-product of high quality communication
with your somatic self.
B) The breathing that you
are asked to do at the end of each step is very important.
If you find yourself rushing through the breathing or not
taking three FULL breaths as asked, then you will likely feel
that you did not learn much of interest in doing this practice.
If you find yourself wanting to ignore or rush through the
breathing, then indeed you are learning something very important
about yourself: That in some instances you will do well to
SLOW DOWN your system in order to achieve the results you
desire. This can be a very important learning. Shallow breathing
tends to lead to a feeling of anxiety and a sense of incompetence,
much more so than your perceived abilities or lack thereof.
C) This practice is meant
to be learned from OVER TIME, and each person will learn something
unique and different, depending on the thoughts, feelings,
and life experiences, that one begins their practice with.
If you are new to this kind of work you might find this practice
a puzzling way to go about doing things, but this practice
has been helpful to many people. Please give it a wholehearted
try!
5. Practice
Please click the link to find the full description of the
"Melting
The Thinking Mind" Practice.
6. Links
www.stephengilligan.com
Stephen Gilligan is a long time mentor, as well as being a
friend and colleague. Stephen was a core student of the world
renowned hypnotherapist, the late Dr. Milton Erickson, and
he is the founder of Self Relations therapy. Stephen's work
is of the highest quality, and you can benefit greatly by
reading his books and taking one of his many trainings.
Stephen has a special training this summer that is excellent
for people who would like to learn more about hypnosis and
Self Relations therapy. I will be assisting Stephen during
his summer program known as "Trance
Camp", as well as doing one two day workshop of my
own.
To find out more about Stephen's special summer program, go
to: www.stephengilligan.com
and then click on the section entitled "Upcoming
Events".
If you would like to find out more about my two day workshop
during Trance Camp please read the program description: "Structure,
Movement and Flow".
7. Copyright
Unless otherwise attributed, all material for the newsletter "Pure Heart,
Simple Mind"(tm) is written and edited by Charlie Badenhop ©. All rights reserved.
You may reprint, copy, or distribute "Pure Heart, Simple Mind” (tm) provided you: a. Receive our written permission (which is likely). b. Attach the above copyright notice to our material. c. Do not sell our material to others. d. Keep the content of our material intact without any editing whatsoever.
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