Express, Repress, Or Let Go

We all have these computer programs that live inside us called feelings. Despite fooling ourselves into thinking we are in control, for many - the programs run us.

Without getting too deep metaphysically - feelings are mostly the programs we have created to keep our ego safe. Our ego is our false sense that we are separate from the Universe. Our ego sets up these programs and whispers to you that you are going to die if you wipe them out. The ego only lies.

You are an infinite being already one with the Universe. To realize that at each level of consciousness, the first step is to clear away the emotional clutter. There are many techniques for doing so, I recommend a couple of them.

First, get your hands on Hale Dwoskin's book The Sedona Method and, if you can, take a live course. This little book outlines the simplest method I have ever found to merge more fully into your beingness. This should be required reading for every human being on the planet.

I also suggest the work of Byron Katie, namely her book Loving What Is. This is a powerful method to discover what you are resisting and let it go.

Laughing and meditating are two of the best informal ways to dissolve emotional programs. Laughing is a very primal way to let go of stored emotional energy. Even though it is an outward expression of emotion, it helps the energy to move and not to stick. Have you ever been in an argument with someone and you both just start laughing? What happens to the anger when the laughter clears? Ever experience an infant laughing?

Meditation (see the exercise I described yesterday) calms the stormy waters of your mind and allows you to touch your God-self.

Since emotions contain a lot of energy, and energy never disappears, there are only three things you can do with your emotional programs. Express them. Repress them. Let them go.

We can express our emotions in many ways - crying, punching out our neighbor, having a heart attack. The problem with this is that you are actually reinforcing the core pattern. You feel a little better but the program that created this emotion is still there.

Most of repress a lot of stuff. Repressing emotions is like trying to push a beach-ball under water. It's always going to pop up somewhere, and probably where you don't expect it. Repression, or resistance, actually strengthens our programs because the energy builds. Think of a pressure cooker about to blow.

Letting go is the best possible option. Letting go transforms the emotion into it's component energy and releases it into the world and into our energy system. People who are good at releasing have endless energy because they aren't constantly exerting themselves trying to repress. Lester Levinson, founder of the Sedona Method, could go for days on end without sleeping - even into his 80s.

I can't tell you just how important it is to learn to release, by whatever method you choose. And, when that ego comes popping up telling you you're going to die, know that you are an infinite part of the Universe.

A Powerful Meditation Technique

Here is a very simple, yet extremely powerful meditation technique that can help you get in touch with your God-self. Do this for 3-10 minutes each day.

1. Sit yourself in a quiet environment with your back straight and your eyes open but relaxed. You may use a focal point in front of you, but you should just gaze instead of staring. The feeling is quiet relaxation.
   
2. Gently expand your awareness to encompass your peripheral vision. Without moving your eyes or straining, simply become aware of everything you can now see in front of you, above you, below you, and to each side.
3. Allow the sounds, sights, feelings, and smells simply to pass by. You are now an impartial observer.
4. Bring your awareness to your breath. Without changing your breathing pattern, merely observe your breath naturally flowing in and out.
5. On each inhale, silently repeat the word "I".
6. On each exhale, silently repeat the word "Am".

That's it. This simple exercise, practiced for 3-10 minutes daily will speed you towards the awareness of the enlightenment you already are.

Intention is Everything

We create our universe, you and I. Whether conscious or unconscious, our thoughts become things. Everything that is would not exist to us without our thinking about it. It's a powerful idea, and one of the most important tenets of metaphysics.

My personal practice of metaphysics revolves around becoming more conscious of the way I create the universe, and do so with more alignment between my conscious and unconscious.

Ester Hicks, in her Abraham books, puts forth a wonderful practice she has called segment Intending. This is, having a set intention for just about everything you do. Notice I did not say "goal". An intention is more resolute than a goal.

So you might wake up and set the intention that you are going to have a day where you feel great and learn something new. Then, before you brush your teeth, you set the intention that you are going to have a healthy mouth. And keep setting intentions throughout your day.

A couple of important things happen then:

1. Instead of living robotically, you begin to wake up and live life more consciously.
2. You actually start to shape your experiences to be what you want.
3. You realize that you and God are inseparable partners in the creation of the universe

Life is the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy. Have you ever known someone who, during cold season, constantly says - "I just know I'm going to get sick"? What happens? They get sick. I once drank water that turned out to make over 300 people seriously ill and had no ill effect. I simply told myself - I have things to do and I will stay healthy. I BELIEVED it too.

I can tell you that I have used the metaphysical power of intention to buy the exact house I wanted (when it wasn't on the market yet). When my wife and I wanted to have kids I told her exactly when and where we would conceive and that we would have twin daughters - it happened. I have manufactured the life I want perfectly, and so can you.

First, set an intention. Then, you must believe to the depths of your soul that what you intend is already true. Lastly, let go and let god. Don't try to manage how your intention comes to fruition. God does not need to be micromanaged, and frankly - we'd mess it all up. You do not need or even want to control the process of manifesting your intention.

Merging The Sacred Feminine and Masculine

No other recent work of fiction has caused such controversy as Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. One of the underlying currents of the book was a focus on the sacred feminine. If nothing else, this book has brought thought and discussion about this important topic.

Carl Jung wrote about the anima and the animus. The anima is the hidden feminine aspect within men. The animus is the hidden masculine within women. Many modern Jungian scholars believe that we all have the anima and animus despite our physical gender.

One of Jung's most important ideas was integration. We need to recognize and integrate the parts of us we repress to become whole physically, mentally and spiritually. We need to get in touch with those parts of us that society tells us we should hide. For men, this sometimes means getting in touch with our feminine side. Traditionally, men and women in all societies fall under enormous pressure to conform to ideals for their biological gender.

What are the repercussions of failure to integrate? My favorite quote by Jung is - "that which we resist persists." The shadow parts of us are there, and we can push them down with all our conscious and unconscious might. However, it's like trying to push a beach-ball under water - it will pop up somewhere, and usually not where we expect.

One extreme example of this is gay bashing. Studies have shown that most homophobes actually become significantly aroused when viewing scenes of homosexual love. The bashers are actually projecting the feelings they are trying so hard to repress onto others, and then acting out violently.

Men who try to fully repress their feminine side become mysogynistic. Those who victimize others have the greatest sense of inferiority. Racism is about fear and inferiority.

Spiritual wholeness starts by recognizing and welcoming your feelings. This doesn't mean we act out on every feeling. I may want to run the driver off the road who is driving too slow, but I know that would be a bad idea. Instead I should recognize that I am feeling angry and simply allow the anger to be there.

In Hale Dwoskin's book The Sedona Method (which I highly recommend), he says that one of the ways of releasing unwanted emotions are simply to welcome them. When you stop resisting, they stop persisting. And you become free.

From a metaphysical standpoint, integration is allowing. Allowing things to be as they are without pushing against them or trying to control them. It's paradoxical, but the more you try to control things, the less in control you will be. Allow your feminine and your masculine.