Help Me to Change the World—The Fifth Agreement

An Interview with don Miguel Ruiz and don Jose Ruiz

While doing my research in writing my book on the consequences that belief systems have on our world today, it didn’t take me long to see that most everything we “believe” to be true is in fact nothing more than half-truths at best and superstitions generated from things that may or may not have happened as far back as the Iron Age. The only way I can see that we will have a sustainable and durable future is to bring religion, politics, and human understanding into the 21st century through open dialogue, honesty, and integrity … however, this takes courage, the courage to doubt and ask questions of people and organizations that have traditionally placed themselves beyond questioning.

To ask the right questions we will need some guidelines, something simple, nothing complicated. These guidelines are portrayed eloquently in the new book The Fifth Agreement which is a continuing story of the Toltec wisdom found in the original Four Agreements. We strive to avoid pain thereby living in our drama created by agreements we’ve made with ourselves. The Toltec answer is to replace those agreements with new ones that can lead us to peace and contentment. I can see a movement on the horizon that is insisting that traditional ideas and beliefs find the middle ground beyond their polarized and rigid views. And even though they may come kicking and screaming, in the end it will be the only way to create a new world vision that is sustainable. To even imagine that the whole world could somehow be coerced into believing the way you do is to be living in the grandest of delusions, although that’s exactly how most of our nations and religions behave. This delusion shows itself in many of our leaders today, and I for one am questioning their authority and their mental stability when making major decisions that affect my life.

Many of us have watched the unfolding of world event, the financial and environmental collapse, an unending war, the world's diminishing food and freshwater supply, the fishing out of our oceans, the devastation of virgin forests; the list goes on. While we still have much to be grateful for, we need to start doubting and not believing everything that we are told. We live in the information age, so investigate, be informed about the products you buy, the news you hear, the politicians' rhetoric, and every single person who’s telling you what you should do and believe and promising you a reward somewhere down the road or in the next life.

We were given minds that have the power to go beyond “needing to pretend we know things that are, in fact, unknowable.” This is our world—we all live and breathe the same air, have dreams for better lives for our children, and are walking around on this fragile planet with the unalienable rights of every human being to pursue happiness and live out our lives in peace. It says in our Declaration of Independence that governments are regulated and given their power by the people, but we’ve been asleep at the wheel. Today, the people who have the power are special-interest groups, lobbyists, and now we seem to have a nutritional-industrial complex telling us what “nutrition” is and isn’t, all in the name of protecting the interests of the pharmaceutical companies.

So it boils down to this: If you blindly accept another person’s idea of what is true, it’s like expecting to be nourished when someone tells you of a great meal he had; you can be nourished only by what you eat and you can benefit only from knowing through direct experience.

Rahasya Poe, Lotus Guide

Lotus Guide: It seems to me that to be skeptical should be a process of asking, and sometimes demanding, validation for what we have traditionally accepted as true, usually through indoctrination at an early age. But what I've noticed is the tendency for people who have maintained a system of skepticism over a period of time to unknowingly slip into "being a skeptic," at which point their skepticism has become a position they take against everything. How do you maintain balance while being skeptical?

A: Yes, it’s true that skepticism can go in two directions. One way is to pretend to be skeptical because you think you’re too smart to be gullible. “Look at how intelligent I am. I don’t believe in anything.” This isn’t skepticism. To be skeptical is not to believe everything you hear, and you don’t believe because it’s not the truth, that’s all. The way to be skeptical is just to be aware that the entire humanity believes in lies. All humans distort the truth because we are dreaming, and our dream is not the absolute truth. It’s a relative truth—it’s just a point of view.

Then how do you “maintain balance while being skeptical?” The answer is awareness and respect. When you’re aware that every human distorts the truth, you use the power of doubt to discern what is true and what is not true. People will come to you and tell you their personal story. They will tell you their point of view, what they believe is truth. But you don’t have to judge if it’s truth or if it’s not truth. You don’t have any judgment, but you do have respect. Respect is so important. All of us have the right to believe whatever we want to believe; we have the right to say whatever we have to say, but if you don’t learn to listen, you will never understand what other people are saying.

When you learn to listen, you show respect for the way people express themselves; you show respect for their opinions, for their point of view. You know that whatever they say is distorted by their beliefs. You know that what they’re telling you is nothing but a story. But you also know when their words come from truth, and you know because you can feel it. By listening to the intent behind words, you will understand the real message.

LG: The more I dismantle some of the beliefs I've been told since I was a child, the greater the mystery of life becomes. This statement sounds profound and engaging; however, the reality is that it brings to the surface many of the fears I have suppressed with my beliefs, such as my mortality. If this particular fear surfaces too early in a person's spiritual growth, it is almost assured they will revert back to their earlier belief system to find comfort even though they know, at least at some level, they are pretending to know something that is, in fact, unknowable. How can we prepare for this moment that will surely arise—some call it the "dark night of the soul"?

A: In every moment, you make the choice of where you put your attention, and where you put your attention is what you’re going to experience. If you take responsibility for your choices, if you learn to take control of the attention, you prepare yourself for almost anything. You can begin by choosing to keep your attention in the present moment. When your attention is in the moment, you are not afraid of what the future will bring.

Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that can happen to me?” To die? We are all going to die, and there’s nothing we can do. We can enjoy the ride, or resist it and suffer. Resistance, however, is futile. We are programmed to die; we are programmed to be what we are, and we can only be whatever we are. But inside the virtual reality of our mind, we can go against life—against our own programming, and that’s how we create a whole world of resistance. The struggling is just the resistance, and resistance creates suffering.

When you surrender to life, everything changes just like magic. You surrender to that force that is coming through your body, through your mind, and it’s a whole new way to see life. It’s a way of being. It’s being life. You are happy wherever you are, whatever you do. Even when you create problems, you enjoy life because you are free, and it’s the freedom that comes when you’re not attached to a particular outcome. You completely surrender, knowing that everything is just the way it is. And because you accept everything as it is, you no longer worry about anything. You know that everything that has happened was meant to happen; you know that you’re doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. Then life becomes exciting because there’s no more fear.

LG: It's been my experience that when people say to have faith in what they're telling you that it's nothing more than a license to believe something that lacks evidence. Is there a time and a place for something called faith and what is your definition of it when used correctly?

A: Faith is a force that comes from deep inside us; it’s the power of creation that all humans have, and it doesn’t have anything to do with religion. Faith is the result of an agreement. When you agree to believe in something 100 percent without a doubt, you invest your faith. If you have no doubt about what you believe, then for you it is truth, even though it may really be a lie.

You can put your faith in scientific theories, in religions, in all sorts of opinions, but this is not real faith. Faith in yourself is the real faith. Real faith is to trust yourself unconditionally, because you know what you really are. What you really are is a force; you are life. When you have faith in yourself, you respect yourself. You completely accept your body, your emotions, your life, your story. You live your life in love, and you are not afraid to express your love, to say “I love you” to others. And in that moment when you love yourself unconditionally, you only put your faith in agreements that support life, that add to your joy, to your happiness, to your freedom.

LG: I know this may be a tough question, but being a skeptic as the Fifth Agreement tells me to be, I must ask it. You say that by making The Five Agreements your way of life that you will be living in your personal dream of heaven. Is this not where all religious believers live, and like them, you have no evidence. So my question is, how do you know you're not falling into the area of wishful thinking?

A. Heaven refers to the way we perceive reality; it’s a point of view, a state of mind, and so is hell. We don’t have to die to go to heaven or hell. Heaven is all around us, just as hell is all around us. Whoever believes in truth, lives in heaven. Whoever believes in lies, sooner or later lives in hell. When we are educated to be a member of society, we learn so many lies. Our belief system creates millions of little barriers to the truth, and we inadvertently create our own hell.

A personal dream of heaven means a life lived in truth, love, and respect for everything in existence, beginning with yourself. With truth, love, and respect, everything changes. You no longer feel the need to defend your opinions—to be right and to make others wrong. You accept everything in existence just the way it is, not the way you want it to be. When you decide to love and respect yourself completely, when you learn to love and respect everybody else, then you no longer judge yourself or anybody else.

When you give meaning and importance to everything you learned in life, your attention is dispersed on many things at once. When you take away the meaning from everything, you are in communion, and you become the only living being that exists. There’s no difference between you and any star in the sky or you and any rock in the desert. Everything in existence is part of the only living being in existence. When you experience this truth, even for a moment, the structure of your belief system disappears, and you are in that wonderful dream of heaven.

In the dream of heaven, you become aware that you are life—not just as a concept, but as an action, as complete awareness. No wishful thinking is involved; in fact, there’s no thought at all. Now you can see with the eyes of truth, and this is a completely different point of view. You see yourself not just from the point of view of a human, but from the point of view of a force. You no longer see everything outside of you as if it’s separate from you. You feel the totality of yourself in everything. You feel yourself as the only living being that exists, and you don’t just feel it; you know it.

But first you have to unlearn all the self-limiting agreements that make you suffer in life, and there are Five Agreements that help you to do this: If you are impeccable with your word, if you don’t take anything personally, if you don’t make assumptions, if you always do your best, and if you are skeptical while listening, there won’t be any more conflict in your head; there will be peace. Instead of being your adversary, the voices in your head will become your ally, and instead of guiding your life into drama, they will help you to keep the peace. Then the mind becomes a powerful tool of the spirit; it becomes a powerful ally. The result is a completely different dream: your personal heaven.

What follows is from THE FIVE AGREEMENTS

by DON MIGUEL RUIZ and DON JOSE RUIZ

BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD

Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY

Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

BE SKEPTICAL, BUT LEARN TO LISTEN

Don’t believe yourself or anybody else. Use the power of doubt to question everything you hear: Is it really the truth? Listen to the intent behind the words, and you will understand the real message.

DON MIGUEL RUIZ

For nearly three decades, don Miguel Ruiz has shared his unique blend of ancient wisdom and modern-day awareness through lectures, workshops, and journeys to sacred sites around the world. Sales of his books have soared to more than 7 million copies in the United States alone, and they have been translated into more than 30 languages worldwide. www.miguelruiz.com

DON JOSE RUIZ

In the tradition of his ancestors, don Jose Ruiz has dedicated his life to sharing the teachings of the ancient Toltec. For the past seven years, he has been lecturing and leading classes across the United States and at sacred sites around the world.

This is my web page for my book which is almost finished

To Believe or Not to Believe:

The Social & Neurological Consequences of Belief Systems

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire

Dedicated to my children, Cindy and Jason, and my grandson Jason, and my stepson Siddhartha and all the other future generations of children who are going to look back at our generation and the legacy we are leaving them and may ask,

“What did you do to help make the world a safer and better place to live?”

WARNING: This book may change your world view!

Preface

We turn toward the truth under the same heliotropic laws as a flower turns towards the sun,

and for the same reason…connection with the source of energy. Rahasya Poe

The Purpose of This Book

Something I’ve noticed over the years about devout religious believers, or people who have strong ideologies such as Stalinism, Maoism, fascism, or extreme right republicans (we haven’t created an “ism” for them yet, we usually wait until they create a holocaust or catastrophic event) is that they seem to all share this short sightedness that borders on mental illness at times as far as how they see themselves and their relationship and responsibilities in and to the world. They seem to live in their own reality and it inevitably comes crashing down around them, and us, at some point. There have been times while talking with them that it became clear that there were some terms, concepts, and views they simply would not, or more specifically, “could not” understand.

If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt,

as far as possible, all things.

Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650)

This is what we need to take a look at; why is it that people with strong beliefs look and act like they are out of touch with the very reality that surrounds them and that the rest of us can easily see? And why is it that some of us believe and others don’t? And why is it that believers are so against questioning their beliefs; it seems to us non-believers they would want to question their beliefs and come up with some evidence for their validity. Of course we know why they don’t want to question their beliefs and we will be dealing with this in my book.

A Short Letter from the Author

Since I review books and interview best selling authors for my magazine I know there’s an abundance of positive information out there to help us change our lives by changing our thoughts. The idea is built around “what we focus on is what we create in our lives.” This is all very true but I have noticed over the years, as I’m sure you have, that all the positive affirmations and good intentions in the world simply don’t change some people’s lives. (For your convenience I have included a list of wonderful authors that offer this type of information.)

The reason for this, as it turns out, is quite definable in terms of our conscious awareness and our unconscious tapes that play in the background. These tapes are almost always tied to our beliefs of our selves and the world we live in. If you don’t put light on those limiting unconscious beliefs your conscious mind doesn’t stand a chance since your conscious mind occupies around 5 percent of your mental power to make decisions and your unconscious occupies the other 95 percent.

It’s beyond question that the whole of our worldview and the basis of our civilization rest in our beliefs. Our beliefs of our existence, who God is, and how we got here motivates most of our decisions in the world today. So my question is this, “What if our beliefs are wrong?” Doesn’t this possibility warrant at least some attention? What if the writers of our Holy Books weren’t inspired by God, but inspired by nationalism and racial ambitions and agendas?

What we must do is go past the separate beliefs that we hold as individuals and nations; we must look at the cognitive process of “believing” and consider the possibility that we are evolving beyond the need to “pretend we know something.”

What if your child was hit by a drunk driver? Would you be concerned with what kind of car it was? No, you would want to know who was driving and what mental condition they were in at the time. Was it an unforeseeable accident or were they drunk? It’s in this light that we must start viewing what’s going on in the world today. It doesn’t really matter what religion is taking today’s stage of absurd and insane actions, what matters is the common denominator that has fueled these conflicts for millennia—which are beliefs. At the root of most of the world’s insanity you will find people who are drunk with a belief in an invisible god that they read or heard about from a book that was written or inspired by the same invisible God.

The purpose of this book is not to simply give you something else to believe in, it’s to put light on the many absurd and limiting beliefs that have been handed down to us by the world we live in; our parents, religions, governments, teachers, philosophies, ideologies, and the list goes on. Without relinquishing our attachment to these deep seated beliefs we will never move forward and most definitely will move backwards. But this will never happen until we start looking at the mental cognitive process of our need to believe at all. Later I will define “believing” as it will be used in this book.

When talking about absurd beliefs it is difficult not to come across a little harsh at times but this will be somewhat lessened by the fact that I’m not actually attempting to prove or disprove anything in this book, just a little rational thought usually accomplishes that. The intent of this book is to show the necessary and inevitable “mental disconnect” involved in supporting beliefs that have no empirical evidence and indeed, goes against all known science and experience, and even common sense most of the time. For instance, neither I nor you have ever witnesses a virgin birth as taken literally in the Bible. No one has ever seen a winged horse as the one Mohamed is supposed to be returning on. And I know that I have never heard a booming voice declaring he was God coming from a burning bush.

Obviously this list could go on almost indefinitely of the absurd beliefs we hold to be true and sacred and are not allowed to even question within our religions. Of course we always see the absurdity in other religious and political beliefs. But let’s put aside whether or not they are true and focus on the cognitive process of “believing.” What is this seemingly insatiable desire of pretending we know something that we have no way of knowing; and actually the only thing we do know is that we have no way of knowing; that’s why we say it’s based on faith. This sounds like the reasoning of a madman in an insane asylum.

I ask you to at least entertain the possibility that this is a left over cognitive function of a primitive mind. The reason I say this is because this idea of believing dates back to our earliest times in antiquity, and the only thing we have to counteract this is our strict adherence to the scientific process of inquiry, validation, and education.

This isn’t to say that intelligent people do not believe in religious myths; there are numerous religious leaders who are very intelligent and it’s to them that this book could be very helpful if they read it. If you are one of their “flock” then by definition you have already handed over your right to think for yourself and are being led by a leader or a sacred scripture. If you happen to fall into this category then you might find it interesting that there are many religious leaders waking up to what we will be addressing and I have interviewed some of them for this book. So if you don’t want to be “left behind ” keep reading, sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun.

The truth be known, I probably would not be writing this book except for the fact that I don’t see anyone addressing some of these issues and I see us heading for a collision course with some self fulfilling Apocalyptic prophecy if we continue unabated on this course. I would much rather write something that would put me in the mainstream of the movement I see happening and feel very much a part of on this planet, which could be identified as a spiritual movement towards peace, love, and oneness.

Whether or not we are approaching a point in our evolution called planetary awakening, or even massive individual awakenings is not clear; what is clear is that we need to change the direction we are headed. One thing I am concerned with is some of the details, like the fact that there are literally hundreds of millions of people on the planet that believe that the sooner we devastate and destroy our environment the sooner a savior, theirs by odd coincidence, will come back and whisk them all off to paradise.

In olden days when our technology consisted of a sharp spear and implements of torture all we rational people needed to do was keep quiet and stay out of the way. But things have changed now that we live in the atomic age; you can not duck or jump out of the way of an atomic bomb. We no longer have the luxury or option of waiting a thousand years as we did during the Dark Ages. We must, all of us, speak out even if it firmly puts us on the fringe of a small percentage of the population of this planet. We must also keep in mind that in today’s world it only takes one person to kill a million people, and there are people waiting in line for the opportunity to do so. This is a first on our planet so it requires urgent attention.

Any rational person knows that we may be sitting on the only inhabitable planet in our known universe. If we continue on this course we will most assuredly destroy any chance we have of living on it. This affects all of us and our children. I have been told by well-meaning spiritual people and friends that looking at these problems is being negative. I will agree that it’s negative, but it’s not the “looking” that’s negative; it’s what we are looking at that’s negative. If I shine a light into the darkness and it lights up an ugly mess, we can’t blame the light. What I have found is the only way to transform negativity is to put conscious light on it. Nothing generates conscious light faster than self reflection and focusing that awareness on negativity without any judgment. Negativity in itself has no power to transform or to see itself which can be evidenced in any number of scenarios in our world today. The only way to change the things that we’ll be looking at is by putting conscious light on them; this is how the insanity has gone on for so long, we have been intimidated into submission and afraid to even bring it up. Those days are gone as far as I’m concerned.

My Challenge to Religious Believers

It is my sincere wish that you read this book with all the intellectual honesty you can bring forth and begin to think for yourself. This can only be accomplished by looking honestly at some of the things we believe and asking the tough questions that, for some reason, most believers don’t ask, like:

“Why do I believe what I believe and what gives me the authority and right to impose those beliefs on others even if it risks the very planet that we all inhabit?”

This is a challenge to you to answer this question honestly without escaping into age old mental gymnastics to avoid answering, which most of us are quite tired of hearing.

Using faith alone as a reason to believe something absurd can easily be identified and disqualified by any believer when looking at another belief system, but we always fail to use the same guidelines on our own beliefs. We will be looking at some very uncomfortable ideas and beliefs that we have held on to for far too long. Observe the fact that our three dominate world religions had their birth in the Iron Age when the people who started them had no scientific understanding of the universe or even the world in which they lived.

So come with me on a journey in which we will consider all human beings as sacred and spiritual. I might add that I have just alienated myself with most of the atheists of the world but I see them as the necessary knee jerk response to religious fundamentalism. Somewhere in the middle of all this there is a path that will lead us all to a deep experiential understanding of our reality. But we must let go of our beliefs and even the need to have a belief at all. We must learn to live in the mystery called existence and be content with figuring out this puzzle, one piece at a time and stop pretending we know things we do not.

Interview with Gary Zukav and Linda Francis

Resisting Change

Let's face it, we are living in accelerated times in which most of us simply do not understand the complexities in which we find ourselves. Not only as individuals, but society and the planet itself are going through transformations of energy unlike anything in recorded history. We are finding ourselves in unknown territorym making it manditory that we re-create our worldview and our relationship to each other, and that included the relationship we have with ourselves.

Rahasya Poe, Lotus Guide

Lotus Guide: When you say, "Change is not stressful. Resistance to change creates stress," are you saying that all change is good? And if not, is there a way to not resist without feeling like you are giving up and being a victim?

Gary Zukov: There's a lot in that question.

Linda Francis: Yes, great question.

GZ: What I would say is that every personality has frightened parts and loving parts. And by the frightened parts of the personality I mean those parts that are angry, jealous, resentful, vengeful, that feel superior, that feel inferior, that need to please, that need to dominate, and so on. And every personality has loving parts as well, and by loving, I mean those parts of the personality that are grateful, and patient, and kind, and caring, and content, and when change happens, and it always happens, the frightened parts of the personality are those that resist, and that resistance takes the form of all those things that I've just mentioned, anger, jealousy, resentment, superiority, all of which are stressful experiences.

So when you encounter stress, or any of these emotions that are painful, you can use them as an indication that the frightened part of your personality is active. And that's good to know, because when you act on a frightened part of your personality it creates painful consequences. And the absence of stress, the joyful appreciation and acceptance of something, you can use as an indicator of the loving part of your personality being active.

LG: Linda, in today's world, with all of the change going on, it seems like a lot of women I talk to that start getting in touch with the oneness, with their power, also get in touch with a lot of residue from centuries of suppression and pain from the collective feminine nature on this planet. How do you, as a woman, heal that? Within yourself? Eckhart Tolle calls it the "pain body." How do you process that in such a way that it heals?

LF: Something happened a couple of days ago that I can refer to. I felt that someone had done something that was very hurtful to another person. And what I noticed was that I felt a lot of pain and I had a reaction to it. What I always know if I have a reaction to something is that there is some work I need to do inside myself to change what is going on in me, rather than trying to change the other person, or judge the other person. What I do is I allow myself to feel my reaction fully without a judgment and without getting angry at someone else. I know that it is my work to do if I'm having a reaction. It's one thing to see something that's unjust and do what you can to change it. It's another thing to see something that's unjust and try and then get angry about it and judgmental about it. That's a reaction, and it comes from frightened parts of my personality. In this way I can continue to send love to the world and be love in the world.

LG: This is where we go beyond believing and enter into an inner knowingness that we are all part of one being. If it wasn't for the fact that it is so deceptively simple, you could just say, "Be present, and be conscious." Because that's what it seems to boil down to-we lose our presence and we lose our consciousness in the moment through reaction instead of taking action.

GZ: I would add one more thing to being present and conscious and that's to be responsible.

There is something else when it comes to judging something we see as just or unjust. We don't know enough to judge. For example, we see one person abusing another. We don't know what is coming to conclusion in that action or what is being balanced. We don't know if the abuser and the abused are perhaps exchanging roles that they played in another time and in another place. So we can't judge what we see. If we judge what we see, we create negative karma for ourselves. This doesn't mean that we don't protect the one who's being abused or support the one who's being oppressed, but if we judge it, then we contribute what would create painful karma for ourselves.

LG: What do you mean when you say "living courageously in difficult times"?

GZ: Well, to create authentic power requires courage. If you are someone who's angry, before you respond, that's the time to stop, and put your attention inside your body, put your attention on each of your chakras. For example, your heart area, your throat area, your solar plexus area, and allow yourself to feel the physical sensations that you're feeling. And if the threatened part of your personality is active, those sensations will be very painful. Beneath anger is physical pain. Painful physical sensations in your body, and if you want to heal this frightened part of your personality, it's necessary to experience those painful, physical sensations. That's how you challenge a frightened part of your personality. And as you challenge it that way again and again and again and again, it begins to lose its grip over you, its power over you, and as its power over you diminishes, eventually it disintegrates, and that's how you create authentic power. That requires courage. It doesn't require courage to be angry or jealous or vengeful. It requires courage to feel the painful physical sensations underneath those emotions, and challenge them. Challenge that frightened part of your personality by not acting on them. That's one way it requires courage to live in the world. It requires courage to become aware, emotionally aware, the courage to make responsible choices.

LG: In your workshop that you and Linda give, what is it called?

LF: Well, the workshop that we're giving in Grass Valley is called "Making Your Life Count." That's Friday night. And then the weekend, actually the daylong workshop that we're giving, is called "Authentic Power in Action." The workshop is an experiential gathering that will give tools and guidelines to support them in creating authentic power.

It doesn't matter what tradition you come from, it doesn't matter how much you've been doing your work, it's always good to get these basic tools and guidelines to support you in deepening your own spiritual growth.

GZ: It doesn't matter where you start, it doesn't matter what orientation you have. If you're open, if you want to become aware and present and responsible, this workshop will help you. It will provide you practical, grounded, useful, accessible tools to apply to your everyday experiences so that you can use them to grow spiritually; creating authentic power is using all the experiences of your life to grow spiritually.

See the ad for details about their workshop in Grass Valley on September 11 and 12. For more information visit: www.zukav.com.

Shifting Toward Wholeness

By Jim Self

We are in the midst a grand awakening, a shift. The duality of black and white, us and them, good and bad, male and female is changing. The dividing lines are becoming less distinct. We are moving from separation and extremes to a way of life that allows for many greater possibilities, connected community, and well-being. We are remembering how to live in our fifth-dimensional consciousness while we walk in this third-dimensional world.

You stand here right now for a specific reason. You are contributing to this expanding shift of consciousness. You have a task to accomplish that adds to All That Is.

You are a significant player in this unfolding game and now is the time to step up and be the leader you came here to be. First, however, you must clear away false beliefs that keep you from your task. Many of these beliefs came from well-intentioned grown-ups along your way. These truths never aligned with who you are and have kept you stuck in the 3D game of limitation and fear.

Freeing yourself of limitations and returning passion to your task can be as simple as building awareness. Simply becoming aware of the situation you are in is 96 percent of making any change. Have a present-time curiosity about your habits and thoughts without doing anything about them. The next 3 percent of making that change is to laugh at what you just discovered. No self-judgment, just amusement. The final 1 percent toward succeeding is to do something different ... something very easy. That 1 percent might be a smile, complimenting a stranger, or otherwise contributing to the well-being of another. Allow this new possibility to become the next step on your path.

As you build awareness, laugh at yourself and make slight movements toward new habits; the inner dualities and extremes will fall away. From this new perspective you will make new, clear, intentional choices to anchor the greater, wiser, higher part of yourself into your daily life. You can merge with the soul and operate from a place of ease, confidence, and grace.

A shift is occurring—a grand movement toward a life of integrity and well-being. The transition between where we are and where we are going may be bumpy and challenging but also very exciting. Regardless of whether we embrace the changes or resist them, we are moving forward to a way of being that is closer to who we truly are.