In the seventh principle, on the use of the sound meditation, I emphasized the importance of placing your attention not on the outcome and how it will show up in your life, but on the feelings that you are experiencing as you picture your desire manifesting. The eighth principle of spiritual manifesting has at its heart the experience of that feeling. The manner of how and when what is desired shows up is something that you must not try to control.
During the time I have taught this meditation I have often been asked questions like this one: “If I do this meditation as you suggest, can I really win the lottery?” My response to this question is, “How would you feel if you won the lottery?” The answers are something similar to “I would feel blessed, secure, ecstatic, content.” It is this feeling picture that is crucial for one to have in order to activate the eighth principle. It is an illusion that you must have some thing like a winning lottery ticket in order to feel blessed, secure, ecstatic or content.
Manifesting is not about making demands of God and the universe. Manifesting is a cooperative venture in which your intention is aligned with divine intelligence. That intelligence is in all things and in you simultaneously. You are not separate from that which you would like to manifest. It is you, you are it. There is only one power in the universe, and you are connected to that power. Demanding that God send your desire according to your timetable and design reinforces the incorrect idea of God as a separate energy.
Imagining an intelligence in the universe that is devoid of individual personality is a way of beginning to understand this eighth principle. This unusual and perhaps difficult concept will help to make the eighth principle more manageable.
INTELLIGENCE APART FROM INDIVIDUALITY
Most of us believe that the recognition of any other individual affirms a point at which our own individuality ceases and the other’s begins. This belief is part of our conditioning, and it imposes a great deal of limitation on us. Early on we learned that “I am not that other because I am myself.”
If this pattern were ascribed to the universal mind it would describe a God that at some point ceased and something else began. The description of universal would not apply because the God energy would not include all things. To be universal and to recognize anything as being outside itself would be to deny its very being. So, the nature of universal intelligence is an absence of individual personality.
The all-pervading spirit is an impersonal life force that gives rise to all that is manifested. The universal spirit permeates all space and all that is manifested and we all are a part of that. You are in an impersonal and intensely intelligent ocean of life that is all around, under and in everything, including you. Though you have been conditioned to believe that you are individual, you are actually a part of the grand universal nature that is infinite in its possibilities.
This undifferentiated intelligence responds to you when you recognize it. If you believe that the world runs by chance, or by your personal demands, then universal mind will present you with a hodgepodge of reactions without any recognizable order. However, when you cease believing that you are a separate personality with individual intelligence, you begin to have a new clarity.
From the perspective of an intelligence that is universal and undifferentiated, ask yourself what the relationship of this universal mind is to you. It cannot have “favorites” if it is the root and support for everything and everyone. Lacking individuality, it cannot be in conflict with your desires. Being universal, it cannot be simply shut off from you.
All these statements characterize this all-producing mind as responsive to you when you understand your relationship to it. This universal, all-pervading principle has nature in common with you. When you solve this riddle of the ego, you have a new wisdom regarding your ability to apply this eighth principle of manifestation.
You cannot exhaust the infinite, so your possession of it means that you have the ability to differentiate it as you desire. Your task is to bring the universal within your grasp by raising yourself to the level of that which is universal rather than bringing the universal down to a level of misperceived individuality that is separate from the universal. You need only to recognize it to attract it to yourself rather than asking it to recognize you and bring you to it. Having learned a different set of principles, all of this may sound a bit confusing. Yet it is crucially important for you to know this before moving along on the path of manifesting.
Recognize the universal as a part of all that you are, and that all that you are is undifferentiated from all that is. Keep repeating this new awareness. Then know that if you fail to recognize the universal as undifferentiated, it will present itself to you in exactly that fashion, as a mishmash of energy that you cannot grasp, as chaos rather than a cosmos, and as a system in which you are separated from all that you desire.
So, remove any and all demands from your desires, and shift to the inner, knowing that you are bringing the universal intelligence into your life, and that you will leave the how and when up to that intelligence, without judging, demanding or insisting upon your own personality’s prerequisites. Your knowing is enough. Then, cultivate the power of patient detachment from the outcome.
THE POWER OF INFINITE PATIENCE
This provocative line is from A Course in Miracles: “Those who are certain of the outcome can afford to wait, and without anxiety.” This is the mainstay of infinite patience. The notion of certainty and patience go together. When you trust and know that you are connected to that universal, all-providing intelligence, then you simply allow yourself the virtue of patience. You place no time constraints on your manifestation and you go about the affairs of your life with an inner awareness that says, “I’ve got all the time that I need, and I am certain of the outcome, so I will allow it to show up as it will, in due time.”
The secret to being patient is in the certainty of the outcome. When that certainty is manifested in you in the form of trust and a knowing, you can then turn your thoughts away from the desired outcome. Without anger or anxiety, you are able to turn your attention to whatever it is that occupies your daily life schedule.
Your knowing and your infinite patience put you at ease. You have practiced all of the principles of spiritual manifestation, and then you have allowed the universe to handle the details. Your inner sense is that what you want to manifest is already here, and your inner attention is on the feeling of well-being that you are already blessed with what it is you seek. Consequently, there is no pressure for you to make it show up immediately.
This inner bliss is a function of the power of your infinite patience. Later on in A Course in Miracles we are reminded that “Patience is natural to the teacher of God. All he sees is certain outcome, at a time perhaps unknown to him as yet, but not in doubt.” I love this idea of having a certainty about the outcome and being unconcerned about the details.
When we become impatient, we literally devalue ourselves and our connection to the divine Holy Spirit. Impatience is a failure to trust in the universal intelligence, and it implies that we are separate from the all-providing spirit. Impatience implies that our ego is the boss of desire. This form of self-importance needs to be addressed.
When you are certain about the outcome, and unconcerned with the how and when, you have cultivated the power of infinite patience, and simultaneously you have detached yourself from the outcome. When this detachment takes place, you are able to go about your daily business of raising your children, doing your work or training, meditating and communing with God and just patiently observing. Patience is natural when you trust in the oneness of the universal intelligence.
One of the ways to develop patience is to contemplate how patient God has been with you. When you were in times of denial, or self-abuse, or self-absorption, or hatred, God was infinitely patient. God does not scold or punish you when you are off the sacred path, nor does God desert you. This is the same kind of patience that you want to develop.
Infinite patience is a sign of trust, and it calls upon infinite love to produce results in your life. When you let go of impatience, you are aligned with the God force, and all of the anxiety that tells you what is lacking and missing in your life is gone. Anxiety produces fear and self-pity and attaches you to time. When fear-based impatience takes over, you lose your infinite self and become once again subject to the ego, which has no patience with anything about infinitude.
The ego wants what it wants, and it wants it now. If it is not satisfied, it will convince you of what a rotten place this is and how you cannot trust anything but your differentiated self, even though that self has produced the feelings of lack all along. If you do satisfy the ego, a new list of demands will appear the next day. The anxiety level will increase as you complete these new demands. This continues as long as the ego is in charge of your life.
But when you recognize the connection between your infinite self and the God force, you will know that God has been patient with you no matter how long it took you to come around, regardless of how far you may have wandered and no matter how much you may have refused to listen.
Infinite patience produces almost immediate results in your life. You become free when you relax your insistence to have it now, and you increase your awareness that you actually do have it now, already, even though it may not have shown up as you would like it in your immediate surroundings. As an infinitely patient person you know that you are already where you want to be, that there are no accidents and that all that appears to be missing is nothing more than an illusion perpetrated by your ego.
With this awareness, impatience leaves, and you stop looking for results of your manifestation meditation. You turn your thoughts to the affairs of your life, knowing that you are not alone. Your patience allows you to remain in silent appreciation for all that is manifested in your life. This practice of patient detachment from outcome is a foreign concept to those of us who have been taught that goals, success symbols and the accumulation of merit badges are the ways to feel important and fit into our culture. You have achieved peace with your infinite patience, and peace is what enlightenment is all about.
What follows is a guide for living with the seeming paradox of attempting to manifest something into your life, and at the same time not being attached to when and how it shows up.
A STEP-BY-STEP PLAN FOR PUTTING PATIENT DETACHMENT INTO YOUR MANIFESTATION PRACTICE
- Understand the essence of what you desire. What you desire is not necessarily in the realm of things. If you want to manifest money, for example, notice if your attention is centered on the dollars or on the experience and feeling of financial security. Ask yourself what you want this money for. Put your attention on the joyous experiences that you associate with what you are desiring rather than focusing on a new automobile or a new boss or a different partner. The experience is the essence of your desire.
The essence is always located where you experience your feelings. By putting your attention on the inner feelings, you shift from being gratified by externals to the experience of gratification. The essence of your desire is a feeling of well-being and joy and an alignment with the universal spirit. Then you will see many things showing up in your life that will lead you to the inner-directed path. They may have nothing to do with what you originally thought you wanted or needed.
You may feel that you truly want to manifest more income and a promotion, but if you find the essence of this desire, it may revolve around more security and a sense of well-being. Detach yourself from the in-the-world promotion and increase in pay. Instead, put your manifesting energy around the very essence of your wanting to feel more secure and less stressed. You will probably begin to see things arriving in your life and reducing your anxiety. Again, they may seem to have very little to do with what you originally thought you wanted.
- Banish the doubt and enter into the realm of certainty. Remove all doubts concerning your ability to manifest the essence of your desires. Review what you have read up until this point and remind yourself, whenever any doubt creeps in, that you and the universal intelligence are one and the same, and that this universal intelligence is in all things. You know this and you know that you can connect to this energy in a way that will fulfill the essence of your desires. I recommend that you review the second principle in this book, and the entire chapter titled “Banish the Doubt” in Your Sacred Self, if you want to reinforce this idea.
When you have removed the doubt about your ability to manifest, it will be easy to detach yourself from the outcome and all of the details. Your trust in yourself and in the divine energy of the universe is all that you will need.
- Leave your expectations and go about your business. Once you have put your aaah meditation out into the universe through the opening of the third eye, simply forget about it and get on with the business of your daily life. Do not keep looking for reasons to disbelieve your ability to attract to yourself what you desire.
Practice the patience that God has always displayed toward you during your tumultuous times. You will find comfort in the silent inner knowing and in your relationship to God.
Maintain your daily work and play regime with a new sense of peace, originating in your inner knowing about what is manifesting for you. Remain completely detached from the inclination to measure and calculate what is and is not showing up for you.
In fact, it may take some time after your desires have manifested for you to even be aware that they are here! There may be a time when you notice that it has already begun to happen and you realize that you did not see it right away because you had let go and let God handle it for you. This is an indication that you have been able to master this principle of patient detachment from outcome.
- Maintain privacy about your desires. As was stated earlier, sharing your manifestation efforts decreases the energy and deflects that energy into the ego’s need to gain approval. You want the energy of your manifestation to be direct and as pure as possible. Furthermore, you want to avoid dissipating the energy that you are projecting by preventing it from becoming involved with any ego needs.
When you are patiently detached, you have also detached yourself from any need to gain approval for your efforts. Of course, you may wish ultimately to share the results of your spiritual manifesting, but while you are incubating this divine experience with God, make every effort to keep it a private affair. A need to share it at this stage is an indication that you are focused on outcome and are attached to the results.
- Be aware of the cues that your desires are manifesting. Keep in mind that the way things will show up in your life is not necessarily related to what your rational brain has indicated. Things may begin popping into your life that were never there before, and which may surprise you as you notice them more and more frequently.
You will also begin to notice more of a connection between your thoughts and the object of those thoughts materializing in your life. Things that you used to label coincidences will become more and more evident as you practice these principles of manifesting. You will see people showing up to help you after you have thought about these needed helpers. You will find objects appearing that were in your mind, and which you have forgotten about, but now are showing up more and more.
Someone will mention a particular movie or song or some other apparently irrelevant item, and you will hear it over and over, or the out-of-print movie you had mentioned wanting to see will arrive in your video store that very same day. Be aware of what you have been thinking about in relationship to what you want to manifest. These are cues that will begin to pop up in a multitude of delightful and unexpected ways.
All of these synchronistic events and happenings are the result of beginning to live in a heightened state of awareness. You are consciously making contact with the universal source of all energy that has been below your conscious level before, but is now beginning to appear above the surface. Pay close attention to the cues as they surface, and gently tell yourself, “It’s working. I can see the results and I know that they are due to my using these principles and my meditation practices. I’ll continue privately to do what I am doing.”
- Act immediately on the cues that arrive by acknowledging them. When you acknowledge the early signs of arrival of what you wish to manifest, you are giving your inner energy a positive charge and recognizing the divine universal intelligence. This recognition is essential to the continuation of this manifesting process.
When you see it starting to show up, give silent thanks and say to yourself, “I see the results of my connecting to the universal source. I notice the presence of that particular person who offered to help me, and I know he or she was sent to me by God. I give thanks, and I will make every attempt to use this manifestation for the good of humanity rather than for my own ego gratification.”
- Don’t think of your manifestation as a special favor. The universal intelligence that we call God is not an individual personality and it will not dispense special favors to you or anyone else. To see manifestation as a favor is to begin the process of bargaining with God and believing in your separateness from all other living beings. The process of manifesting is a spiritual practice in that it is your recognition that you and the divine source of all energy are one and the same.
This oneness has no judgments about anyone being more entitled to abundance than anyone else. It is everywhere and in all things, and it shows up when you, as a localized particle of that divine source, recognize your connection and are open to it working in your life.
While gratitude is such an important part of this consciousness that it represents the ninth and final principle of spiritual manifesting, it is not appreciation for a special favor. The ego thrives on making you special and distinct from others and, therefore, more deserving of its multitude of demands. The ego would love you to think of these manifestations as special favors, because in doing so, you would reinforce your separation from that source.
Your desires manifest because you are in perfect alignment with your source of creation, and because you are not placing any limitations on what can come into your life. Ignore your ego’s efforts to make you think that you are receiving God’s richest blessings in the form of having your desires materialize because you are special.
Instead, be thankful and use these blessings in the service of others and in deep gratitude for your own spiritual essence. Your identification is no longer exclusively with the physical body, and your infinite soul is recognized as your true essence. It is this recognition that is responsible for your manifestation results, not that you have been singled out. Remember again, the universal intelligence called God cannot possibly be singled out, since it is everywhere in everything.
- View any and all obstacles as lessons, not indications of failure. Keep in mind that you are practicing patience and detachment from outcome. When anything appears to be an obstacle, do not use that material fact to deny the existence of the universal energy that is your essence.
Once again, this is the work of the ego, which wants you to believe that it, rather than God, is in charge. If the ego can convince you that this stuff is all nonsense, and that these obstacles are proof positive that God is ignoring you, then you will be back in its influence.
Everything that shows up in your life is supposed to. This includes the falls in your life, which provide you with the energy to propel yourself to a higher state of awareness.
Manifesting is a higher state of awareness than merely feeling as if you are being pushed around by the whims of the environment and a boss who is in charge of everything. Each obstacle, however difficult, however imposing, is a test for you to keep your faith and stay with the inner knowing that has banished all doubt.
When things do not appear to be materializing the way you had planned, remind yourself that you are infinitely patient and unattached to any particular schedule. Most of the blessings in your life, and in mine, too, were preceded by some falls that we were not sure we could manage when they happened. But you did, and I did, and I know in my heart that all spiritual advances are generally preceded by a fall of some kind. I tend to view those falls with gratitude rather than dismay.
My knowing about my ability to manifest the essence of my desires is so strong that I can maintain my patience and detachment from how the details show up, even in the face of what might look like insurmountable odds. Remember, there is no timetable when you have infinite patience. There is no failure when you are detached from how it shows up. It works. Know it, and let the universe handle all of the details.
- Release all judgment from your manifestation practice. The universal law is not a dual energy. It does not operate on the same dualism that works here on the earth plane. It does not discriminate or work on a good/bad, right/wrong basis. There is just one energy that permeates all things, and everything is a part of that power. By its very nature, the universal law is in balance, therefore whatever you desire must also be in harmony with the recognition of this divine universal source from which all things receive their life energy.
This requires you to be willing to suspend your inclination to judge that which shows up in your life as right or wrong, good or bad, attractive or unattractive and so on. Your judgments halt the flow of universal energy into your life and put you at odds with that divine power. It is not that you will be punished, it is that your recognition will alter the natural flow of that energy into your life.
Your ability to manifest depends in large part on your own willingness to leave behind the collective unconscious—the collective judgments that make up the totality of human beliefs. The numerous judgments of world belief patterns that you are attached to inhibit your ability to manifest the desires of your heart. Detaching from these beliefs is one of the greatest challenges of your life.
You have to leave this collective unconsciousness by suspending your judgments and all of those beliefs that the collective consciousness holds, and step unflinchingly into the world of the unknown. You will probably experience a sense of loss and perhaps a feeling of loneliness as you make this step out of judgment. The reward is that you will begin to expand your own perceptions and to accept that what others believe are their perceptions. They are not necessarily the facts as you know them. What the collective consciousness believes to be the limits to their abilities you will know as a misperception.
You will not need to be in conflict with this consciousness because you will have stepped into a higher vibration wherein there are no limits. The physical earth plane has its limits. You, however, are now a resident in the universal intelligence that is responsible for the existence of that physical earth plane. Make this leap by leaving behind all judgments and by becoming totally accepting of all that arrives from that unlimited supply of energy.
It could be a business card that you find while walking on the beach, or it could take the form of a book or a tape recording, or a message that was intended for another but is in your mailbox. These can all be cues. Send away all judgments about how anything arrives in your life and refuse to assume the collective judgments that permeate the beliefs of most of the people you encounter. Harness this universal intelligence by noticing it manifesting regularly, which is, essentially, in every single event in your life.
As you notice what arrives and disappears, try to do it without judgment and with a feeling of total acceptance, leaving your thoughts out of the picture completely. Your mind will want to play the judgment game. Remember, here you are feeling as if what you want to manifest is already in your life. Your mind will not agree with you, and you must learn to suspend your judgments. You might say to yourself, “I am wealthy and happy,” and your mind counters with, “You are not.” Thus, you have a clash of opposing energies: your desire versus your mind, with all of its judgments and negativity.
This clash is your warning that you are not going to enter the kingdom of manifestation. You do not get to become a manifester until you have thoroughly discarded the negativity that you have inherited from the collective unconscious. You have to enter a new dimension. This is not accomplished by leaving the earth plane, it is an inward journey.
In that inner world, anything that you can imagine is actually a part of you right now. Your proclamation of being wealthy and happy, if taken to that inner nonjudgmental world, will lead you to feel wealthy and happy. This, in turn, will lead you to begin acting in new ways. You will begin to create a new concrete reality of wealth and happiness within yourself as you generate a positive attitude toward all that you encounter. No judgments, simply maintaining an inner feeling of having already manifested whatever it is you desire.
Remember, the universal law is neutral and everywhere, and is unconcerned about whether you receive your heart’s desire. Therefore, you must take to the path of manifestation with enthusiasm and a total absence of judgment. You are going to collect that which is already here and belonging to you, with no doubt and only a fierce private determination to receive what you are now totally aligned with in your inner world of nonjudgmental energy. This law does not discriminate. It receives your energy and delivers whatever you put into it. You must trust in this energy and be totally free of judgment about the method and timing of the delivery.
Your mind will attempt to use logic, but manifestation is not logical. Your mind will try to employ negativity by insisting that you are too old, too stupid or too undeserving; that you never win anything; that you have wished for things in the past and been disappointed and there is no reason for you to expect things to change now. This is the attachment of the mind and the ego to results and past history. It is thinking by using a logical set of beliefs that you have adopted from the collective tribal consciousness and that you have been conditioned to accept ever since you arrived on this physical plane. When you receive this kind of advice from your mind, acknowledge it, thank it for its input, but then say to yourself, “I refuse to accept any energy that contradicts the unlimited power that is within me, and I am moving on with my manifestation.”
The universal law is far more magnanimous than the mind. Remember, it is unlimited, without boundaries and omnipresent. It exists in a dimension vaster than the mind. This is why the mind cannot even comprehend the universal source of energy. Your mind thinks that it is the end all of experience and awareness, and you are using that very same mind to affirm or deny what exists beyond it. A huge paradox indeed.
But you can begin to trust in what your mind desires by going beyond the mind. Meditation and intuitive feelings are two ways to supersede the mind. The emphasis is on detaching from the collective unconscious beliefs, refusing to judge and patiently allowing the universal source to deliver what you are now totally aligned with in your inner world.
- Learn to relax in peace and knowing. Detaching from the outcome means avoiding the process of rushing and pushing through life. Think of that acorn that has been planted in the ground and is on its way to manifesting an oak tree. Imagine digging up the acorn after three weeks to see how it is doing, and to see if there is anything that you might do to hurry the process along so as to fit your schedule. Obviously, the acorn and the oak would perish as a result of your efforts to rush the process.
The universal intelligence works at its own perfect pace. It will deliver when you are in alignment with the nine principles detailed in this book. The delivery is guaranteed by the absence of doubt that you cultivate, and total trust in the presence of this energy in all things, including that which you are going to attract into your life. The way to patient detachment is to relax, trust, do not push.
The inclination to push and force is your cue that your mind is still doubting and demanding an outcome. Your ability to trust your feelings and to let these feelings, rather than your ego, be the driver in your life is the key to manifesting your heart’s desire.
- Use affirmations to keep the energy flowing and to detach from the outcome. The most useful affirmation that I can provide for you in this regard is really quite simple: “I am infinite and universal and I trust in the divine power of the universe, which is also within me.” Keep this always available in your consciousness and use it to keep the universal energy flowing into your life. By stating this kind of affirmation daily, you let go of your mind’s natural impatience and attachment to results, and you allow the source to flow, unimpeded, into your life.
See your day going well in your own inner chamber of energy and know that the right people will appear to assist you in your manifestation. Be open to your energy and see yourself evolving happily and easily through each experience of the day.
This affirmation, when used in the morning, allows you to go to your center and acknowledge your infinite beauty and your perfect place in all things that are a part of this day. This affirmation will shield you from the negativity that you will be exposed to from the collective unconscious and the beliefs that are no longer a part of your inner world.
This concludes the eighth principle for spiritual manifestation. It revolves around transcending your mind and the collective mind that has been with you since your conception. It asks you to be patient when your mind will demand results, and it asks you to let go of your mind’s preoccupation with those results and to trust in something your mind cannot see and your body cannot fathom with its limited perceptual means known as the senses. It asks you to let your innermost feelings become the guides in your life, and to trust those guides. It asks, most significantly, that you allow yourself to know and see the infinite white light of the living spirit surrounding and protecting you, and providing for you all that your own inner spirit, as a piece of that infinite universal spirit, can imagine.
Once you perfect that infinite patience you will demonstrate your trust in something other than your own limited body/mind, and you will peacefully allow your desires to manifest in their own good way, in their own good time.
The ninth and final principle of spiritual manifestation involves the need to be eternally grateful, generous and in the service of others.