Category: Philosophy – An Examined Life

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Imagination – Desire, Intent, Action

“Man, through his imaginal activity, literally ‘calls into existence the things that do not exist’. .”

– Neville Goddard

Using my imagination to call into existence what I desire appeals to my sense of autonomy. Neville Goddard inspires me to use my imagination to influence and mold my reality. I can do this consciously, or allow my thoughts to unfold mechanically. If I choose to live habitually – unconscious of different choices, different paths; I may very well have a fine life. Or a horrible one if I wallow in a half empty glass. Making use of my imagination consciously can bring to life astonishing creations.

“The world moves with motiveless necessity. By this is meant that it has no motive of its own, but is under the necessity of manifesting your concept, the arrangement of your mind and your mind is always arranged in the image of all you believe and consented to as true.”

“Health, wealth, beauty and genius are not created; they are only manifested by the arrangement of your mind – that is, by your concept of yourself (and your concept of yourself is all that you accept and consent to as true). What you consent to can only be discovered by an uncritical observation of your reactions to life. Your reactions reveal where you live psychologically; and where you live psychologically determines how you live in the outer visible world.”

My quest is to understand where I live psychologically and interrupt the habits that create an outer world that is anything less than desirable. Putting into practice Goddard’s teachings and techniques “consciously and deliberately” is fun, challenging and sometimes a rude awakening.

Fun, because I get to dwell on the things I want! Challenging, because I apparently want things that seem to be in direct opposition to each other. The rude awakening comes trying to reconcile my desires with what I believe to be true.

I want to be slim, trim and fit effortlessly — I believe I must eat right and exercise to reach my ideal. Why can’t I just eat a magic bean and *poof* my metabolism goes into hyper drive allowing me to sit on my ass and eat bon bons? Because I don’t believe in the magic metabolism bean. If you do – I’m jealous!

Goddard recommends we use the meditative state to envision the end result of what we desire.

“We must use our Imagination to achieve particular ends, even if the ends are all trivia.”

“Nothing stands between man and the fulfillment of his dream but facts: And facts are the creations of imagining. If man changes his imagining, he will change the facts.”

Meditation allows me to use my imagination to see things in my mind’s eye – things I believe CAN become true, even if they aren’t true in this moment. These imaginings are not magic beans. Goddard contends that “all transformation begins with an intense, burning desire to be transformed.” I must REALLY want to change from the inside out.

I must see myself doing / having that thing I want – feeling with “absolute fidelity” that I am that now. These desires earnestly lived in my imagination can manifest in my outer world.

Or; I can sit back and ride the wave of the life I was born into. Accept the cultural, societal and familial habits I grew up and grew old with. These customs and routines are comfortable; even the prickly and miserable practices. I know what to expect. Changing who I am can be scarier than simply riding the momentum of my life. But with imagination, desire and intent I can act and create magic.

“If the road which I have shown is very difficult, it yet can be discovered. And clearly it must be very hard if it is so rarely found. For how could it be that it is neglected by practically all, if salvation . . could be found without difficulty. But all excellent things are as difficult as they are rare.”

— Spinoza
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A Belief So Deep

Finding the roots of a fervently held belief isn’t easy. They’re stealthy. We’re fed values and opinions from the moment of our birth. Culture delivers norms and customs that drive our behaviors. If I parse a belief down can I find its origin? Is it so foundational other certainties are built on it? If I choose to modify a foundational belief, will my life fold like a house of cards?

These are questions that if examined deeply and honestly impact my self-concept, which my ego depends on for my identity.  But if I ignore them I could be just a collection of habits, repetitive acts, routines and duties.

Beliefs can be benign like: body weight goes up and down depending on how much I eat and how often I exercise. Personal experience, critical thinking and recognized health experts help establish evidence this belief relies on.

Some beliefs are trickier; like politics. Someone told me they belong to a particular political party because they’re fiscally conservative. They couldn’t easily substantiate their belief with accepted facts or personal experience, but were confident in their stance.

Faith can be a conviction that requires fealty not facts. The question I may want to ask myself; am I okay with the world reflected around me? That world has a direct correlation to what I believe. If I don’t like what I see, maybe a deep and honest look at things is warranted.

Reading the works of Neville Goddard has me reflecting on the concept I have of myself.

“. . we illuminate or darken our lives by the concepts we hold of ourselves.”

“Because life molds the outer world to reflect the inner arrangement of our minds, there is no way of bringing about the outer perfection we seek other than by the transformation of ourselves.”

“We can rely absolutely on the justice of this law to give us only that which is of the nature of ourselves.”

On an external level I know who I am. I understand many of my motivations, intentions and desires. Could I tell you where they came from? Perhaps. Maybe I could identify their origin, but unless I investigate how can I know if they’re true to me or a default product of my upbringing and environment?

Using the reflective mirror of my life allows me to scrutinize what I see, and if I don’t like it – dig deeper; determine what doesn’t serve me and consider making a change.

“A thought is harmless unless we believe it.  It’s not our thoughts, but our attachment to our thoughts that causes suffering.  Attaching to a thought means believing that it’s true, without inquiring.  A belief is a thought that we’ve been attaching to.” – Byron Katie

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I Am That – In the Mirror of My Life

When I look around, what do I see?  I see precisely what’s inside me.  These things, people, places, all reflect my thoughts and beliefs.  If I see it, it’s me – I am that. Before I retired one of my co-workers annoyed the hell out of me.  Something about him rubbed me the wrong way.  One day I had an epiphany – I am Bob!  I am the annoying guy!  For 30 years I’ve advocated what I call the mirror concept – this is what it means.  I am what’s reflected back at me from my environment.  I am Bob. Owning this can feel like swallowing a giant pill.  Who willingly admits they ARE what they find hideous – or even mildly irritating?  Some things are just too up close and personal.  Must I be responsible?  Yes.  I must.  Esther Hicks tells me that things wouldn’t show up if there’s nothing in my vibration drawing it there. When I acknowledged Bob as Me, my judgments eased.  I cut him slack; treated him differently.  Over time he reacted to me differently.  Our relationship changed when I changed. Change starts with awareness, and with an open mind acceptance may follow.  Awareness and acceptance can change the world.
“Belief:  When you believe something, you have made it true for you. Thought:  What you do comes from what you think. Perception:  Everything you perceive is a witness to the thought system you want to be true.”

Perception is a mirror, not a fact.
And what I look on is my state
of mind, reflected outward.”

Gifts from A Course In Miracles F. Vaughan, R. Walsh

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Hello – It’s Been Awhile

Two years ago, I put Living the Emerson Rule on hiatus; my philosophical optimism was running on empty. How could I promote a hopeful point of view when I was angry, indignant and depressed after two years of a political environment that repelled me?

It was time for me to practice my beliefs and find my way to serenity and contentment. When an opportunity came up to go to work and apply my business skills to a worthwhile endeavor with exceptional people, I jumped on it. The familiar routine after unstructured days of retirement helped me focus on things other than the chaos playing out daily in the media.

Distraction, even for a good cause, only carried me so far. I’d turned down the fire but was still simmering with discontent. Luckily, I had a good counselor to talk with. She also pointed me to the works of Esther Hicks. This set me on a path to a spiritual homecoming. I immersed myself in the world of Abraham, reading multiple books, more than once, and attended one of Esther’s seminars. Putting into practice many of Abraham’s processes, I climbed the emotional scale. I rose from grief and depression to happier more joyful emotions. One step at a time, I find contentment regularly.

When the consulting work reached its end, I continued to reinforce my renewed convictions with more confidence. The isolation of the pandemic inspired me to reestablish journaling and meditation routines that encouraged reflection and introspection.
Time-out is wrapping up and I’m ready to reboot; to remind myself and share with others why Living the Emerson Rule is important.

Since it’s been a minute, here are a few links to consider:

“We cannot become what we want to be by remaining what we are.”

– Max DePree
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Tell Me a Tale – Spin Me a Yarn

We’re born into a story.  A story of culture and heritage – of country, shaped by region, city, neighborhood – fixed by family, gender, race and class.  We believe this story as truth.  Until one day … maybe, we can imagine something different.

When John Lennon and Yoko Ono released “Imagine” I was 12.  Their call for me was set inside my story.  Could I imagine no heaven?  No nation – no possessions?  No I couldn’t, not then.

Reading Yuval Noah Harari’s Homo Dues; A Brief History of Tomorrow is opening my mind to a potential that John Lennon saw 47 years ago.  It’s uncomfortable, unnerving and exciting.

Let me step outside my story, my comfort zone; see reality from a different vantage point.  Change my perspective; make an actual paradigm shift.

Could I try on for size the possibility that there’s no heaven, no hell and purgatory just doesn’t exist?  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.  My sins won’t be punished; my sacrifices unrewarded.  No being born again.  All that exists is today.  If this is true – what changes?  Do I choose differently?

Considering I’ve depended on Karma – with a CAPITAL K to take care of some of the most egregious shit-heads of the world a new story is a huge ask for me.

Harari cleverly outlines psychological and scientific aspects of our “experiencing self” and “narrating self” – how our self-told stories shape what and how we feel.  He says that it’s “much easier to live with the fantasy because the fantasy gives meaning to suffering.”

Byron Katie’s approach – doing “The Work” to accept life as it meets me, helps move me off a story that’s grinding me down.  Make Inquiries.  Ask – The Four Questions and Turnaround:

  1. “Is it true?
  2. Can you absolutely know that it’s true?
  3. How do you react; what happens when you believe that thought?
  4. Who would you be without the thought?

… Turn it around, and find three genuine examples of how the turnaround is true in your life.”

This is how Byron Katie helped me “Let Go of the Big Mad”

It’s all a story.

I’m tellin’ ya – we gotta . . . TELL BETTER STORIES!!!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

NYC exhibit

[Pi:] “So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?” – Yann Martel, The Life of Pi