Great Quote by Eckhart Tolle. Thank you sir

"The realm of consciousness
is much vaster than thought can grasp. When you no longer believe everything you think, you step out of thought and see clearly that the thinker is not who you are."
-Eckhart Tolle

Healthy probiotics show promise for replacing overused antibiotics in farm animals

Sunday, November 24, 2013 by: PF Louis
Tags: healthy probiotics, farm animals, overused antibiotics


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/043034_healthy_probiotics_farm_animals_overused_antibiotics.html#ixzz2lg5RpEaS

(NaturalNews) It's well known that antibiotics are used heavily on factory farm animals. Their close quarters in CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) are breeding farms for pathogenic bacteria and parasites. In order to curb infectious diseases among farm animals, antibiotics are used widely. So widely that 70% to 80% of all antibiotic use goes into farm animals through feed and injections.

But this trend is slowly changing, perhaps too slowly. It has started in Japan and the EU already, and a few American farmers are picking up on the practice of using natural protections against infectious disease with their confined animals. Of course, maybe someday enormous lots of confined animals for slaughter or mass producing dairy and eggs will become outmoded, maybe, hopefully.

The problem as it is currently

Most factory farmers' main concern probably isn't food safety. Bacterial, fungal and parasite infestation ihibits livestock growth, making the livestock's meat less marketable. Big dairy farmers use antibiotics to keep cows' udders from getting so infected that they can't keep producing milk. But those infections come from hormones, such as rBGH (thanks Monsanto), to increase milking yields and over-machine-milking itself.

The whole business of factory farms, with farm animals being fed GMO corn and soy mash, is animal cruelty that comes back to haunt human consumers with degraded health. And mainstream medicine's concern is the curse of increased pathogenic resistance to antibiotics.

There are two avenues of human overuse of antibiotics leading to antibiotics resistance:

Primary: Where, every time you get the sniffles or any infection, physicians prescribe antibiotics. During a hospital stay, you may even have 24/7 IV antibiotics and leave with oral prescriptions for weeks or months.

Secondary: Where the factory farm products you eat bring the animals' antibiotics into your system. It's like second hand cigarette smoke, but it's edibles instead.

Frankly, until natural antibiotics such as colloidal silver and others are recognized and used, and until mainstream medical practitioners advocate probiotic use during and after antibiotic runs, who needs Big Pharma's toxic antibiotics? Here's how bad they can get (http://www.naturalnews.com).

Farm animal antibiotic solutions

In 2006, the EU had banned using antibiotics in feed to fatten and beef up livestock. So farmers were forced into other options, such as prebiotics and probiotics to help create a high enough gut probiotic population that would discourage pathogenic bacteria and parasites from flourishing.

Zinc was also added with its positively charged molecules (cations) that would draw away negatively charged pathogens.

Earlier in 2013, a team of German scientists found that piglets fed probiotic Enterococcus faecium showed reduced numbers of extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) strains in their intestinal mucosa.

Previous probiotic studies on piglets could only determine that ExPEC-caused diseases were thwarted but didn't determine any difference in their gut microbial composition.

This more recent study determined that ExPEC strains and their disease-causing genes were greatly lessened with E. faecium. The recent study also determined that there are E. coli strains which are beneficial, and those strains were not disturbed by E. faecium, even as it destroyed pathogenic E. coli.

A couple of farmers in Pennsylvania, USA, got bold and used a diluted oregano oil feed mixture made in the Netherlands. It had been tested against a Bayer antibiotic feed product in Europe and outperformed it without side effects.

Oregano oil is a strong natural antimicrobial, antifungal and antiparasite. The first farmer used it on his chickens. A neighboring pig farmer was so impressed with the chicken farmer's results that he tried it on his weaning piglets.

Both farmers noticed that their animals were less dehydrated, livelier and healthier with the Dutch oregano oil feed. Hopefully, this will catch on more.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.eurekalert.org

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.univagro-iasi.ro

http://science.naturalnews.com

http://science.naturalnews.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/043034_healthy_probiotics_farm_animals_overused_antibiotics.html#ixzz2lg5OpoPk

Flu shot propaganda in full swing for holiday season; flu shots still contain mercury

I would like to know why the FLU Vaccines contain Mercury?  

Sunday, November 24, 2013 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: flu shots, mercury, propaganda


Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/043040_flu_shots_mercury_propaganda.html#ixzz2lg59QFdf

(NaturalNews) It must be the winter holiday season, because the push to poison Americans with flu shots is once again in full force.

And, as usual, they are being sold as the ultimate public health and public safety tool, even though predicting which strain of flu is going to hit this year is a bit like guessing Powerball numbers.

But no matter. The call has gone out far and wide: "Get your flu shot now! Protect yourself! Hurry - time's-a-wastin'!"

Cue the fearmongering

As reported by Newsday on Nov. 14, under the headline, "Be Thankful and Get a Flu Shot Now":

Thanksgiving is a week from Thursday, so you might want to put getting a flu shot at the top of your to-do list if you plan to be with family and friends for the holiday. For those who haven't gotten the vaccine yet, it's even more crucial if you expect to be mingling with a crowd of sneezing, coughing shoppers at the malls, hunting for bargains on Black Friday.

None of this, of course, comes without the required fearmongering, from no less than "official" government sources:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults 65 and older get a flu shot each year because seniors are at the greatest risk of serious complications if they get the virus. Since it takes about 10 days to build up immunity after receiving a flu shot, getting vaccinated now should protect you through the entire holiday season.

They are even making it easier than ever to get the poisonous flu shot. You no longer have to go to your doctor's office or the county clinic; you can visit any number of retailers with pharmacies like Walgreen's, RiteAid and Target for your shot.

And, of course, if you happen to have a cash flow problem, well, the government's got a solution for that, too:

Flu shots are covered by Medicare and many private health insurance plans. In most cases, you will have little to no out-of-pocket costs. Still, call the site first to make sure it has the vaccine available and ask whether your insurance will be accepted.

What is not being told to the general public is this: Flu vaccines still contain mercury, which is a neurotoxin.

Now, the "medical establishment" and the government have pooh-poohed this fact, brushing it off as a wild conspiracy theory. But in truth, study after study has shown that even the trace amounts of mercury-containing thimerosal, which is found in flu shots, can be harmful.

'Mercury is known to cause serious harm'

In 2011, the Coalition for Mercury-free Drugs published details of a Brazilian study that confirmed what earlier studies had shown:

Yet another peer-reviewed, scientific study proving the connection between the mercury in medicine and human illnesses has just been released. The latest study is the sixth one published in recent months. This report specifically examines the harm inflicted on developing fetuses and children by Thimerosal, a mercury-based compound routinely used as a preservative in flu shots.

The study's author, Dr. Jose Dorea, reviewed the published science which demonstrates that infant exposure to the amount of thimerosal in vaccines is toxic to human brain cells.

"Mercury is known to cause serious harm, especially to fetuses and children because of their smaller size," said Rev. Lisa Sykes, President of CoMeD and mother of a mercury-poisoned child. "Why remove Thimerosal from pediatric vaccines only to inject it into pregnant women and children with recommended flu shots? They removed Thimerosal from other vaccines, so it should also be removed from flu shots."

Sources:

http://www.newsday.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.prnewswire.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/043040_flu_shots_mercury_propaganda.html#ixzz2lg4xz9EO

True GMO Science and Dangers You’ll Never Hear About from the Media

November 25, 2013 | By WakingTimes | Reply

Paul Fassa, Natural Society
Waking Times

The mainstream media (MSM) usually lamely refers to GMO issues as an undecided debate or controversy, depicting anti-GMO people as “emotional” and “unreasonable” while claiming genetic engineering is more “scientific”. But the only “science” the MSM is exposed to are press releases from the bio-tech industry. The fact is, numerous studies point to GMO dangers, and hundreds of scientists are beginning to publicly speak out against GMOs at large.

GMO Dangers

In the notorious French study conducted by Gilles-Eric Séralini on approved GMO corn and Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate, used for GMO Roundup ready seeds, rats fed GMOs had developed dramatic cancerous tumors.

Seralini’s two year trial was trashed by the biotech industry sycophants as unscientific, and the MSM accepted that trash without question. Those so called journalists never bothered to check the facts. The rats Seralini used were the same types used by Monsanto for their study to gain approval for their GMO corn.

But the Monsanto “approved” report was based on a three month study. Even without disclosing adverse effects, which is common with studies from industry funded research. The Monsanto trial was obviously too short.

Seralini’s was more appropriate for long term effects, and he added low glyphosate doses measured as equivalent to byproduct consumption of Monsato’s GMO corn. I don’t think Monsanto even included an animal testing for glyphosate.

The good news is Seralini’s study has been validated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Did that get covered by MSM or lamestream media? They probably don’t even know about it, and if they do, they won’t report on it. But here it is for you perusal.

Non-GMO Foods here

But even before this controversy, scientists who know genes and microbiology, but weren’t bought and funded by Monsanto and their ilk, were expressing grave concerns about the promoter gene used for GMO products.

An Academic Whistle Blower Reveals GMO Promoter Gene Issues

In November 2009, The Organic & Non-GMO Report (online) interviewed Agro-ecologist Don Lotter, Ph.D, about his paper, “The Genetic Engineering of Food and the Failure of Science”, published in the 2009 edition of the International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food.

Despite knowing how this paper might affect his career as a university researcher and professor, Lotter revealed more than the flawed scientific background of bio-technology arrogance. He also revealed a smoking gun that would ruin our health.

Lotter stated:

“The promoter gene used in genetically engineered crops, the cauliflower mosaic virus, is a powerful promoter of inter-species gene exchange. Scientists thought it would be denatured in our digestive system, but it’s not. It has been shown to promote the transfer of transgenes from GM foods to the bacteria within our digestive system, which are responsible for 80% of our immune system function. ” (Emphasis added)

Lotter added there are even worse concerns about this promoter gene, the cauliflower mosaic virus or CaMV-35S. The CaMV-35S used for plant genetic engineering is cited by most independent scientists as a source of viral recombination as well as a gene silencer and DNA disruptor.

In other words, it could spread viral disease and genetic havoc “horizontally” across plant, animal, and human life while simultaneously suppressing our immune systems. Other independent scientists have corroborated Don Lotter’s assessment of CaMV-35S promoter gene dangers.

There are numerous other studies available showcasing the negative effects and dangers of GMOs. You can’t rely on the words coming from the MSM or Big Ag.

Additional Sources:

i-sis.org.uk

Natural-Law-Party.org.uk

75 Benefits of Meditation for an Inspired Life

November 6, 2013 | By WakingTimes | 1 Reply

Amanda Froelich, Guest
Waking Times

How many times have you heard ‘meditation is good for you!’, yet you resist the actual act of sitting in silence because the mind is too great a foe to face? You’re not alone if the word ‘meditation’ strikes more fear than chords of peace, but by changing the way you think about it, perhaps it will become easier to devote at least 5 minutes per day towards contemplative reflection.

Whatever your religion, spiritual beliefs, or hectic schedule looks like, there is always time to nurture yourself a bit; this is exactly what meditation is, and the following benefits prove it!

Instead of dreading the ‘quiet time’, look forward to all the amazing benefits you can receive just by choosing to be good to yourself while letting the busy world fade away…

Psychological Benefits

1. Builds self-confidence
2. Increases Serotonin levels
3. Resolves phobias and fears
4. Helps control own thoughts
5. Helps with focus and concentration
6. Increases creativity
7. Increased brain wave coherence
8. Improves learning ability and memory
9. Increased feelings of vitality and rejuvenation
10. Increased emotional stability
11. Improves relationships
12. Mind ages at a slower rate
13. Develops Intuition
14. Improves relations at home & work
15. Able to see the larger picture in a given situation
16. Develop will power
17. Develops emotional maturity
18. Grows a stable, more balanced personality
19. Greater tolerance
20. Gives composure to act in a considered & constructive way
21. Need less sleep to recover from sleep deprivation
22. Decreased tendency to worry
23. Helps make more accurate judgments
24. Decrease in restless thinking
25. Require less time to fall asleep, beneficial for insomnia

Physiological Benefits

26. It lowers oxygen consumption rate
27. Decreases respiratory rate
28. Increases blood flow and slows the heart
29. Increases exercise tolerance
30. Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation
31. Good for people with high blood pressure
32. Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate
33. Enhances the immune system
34. Helps in chronic diseases such as arthritis, allergies, etc…
35. Helps in post-operative healing
36. Decreases muscle tension
37. Reduces pre-menstrual symptoms
38. Reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress
39. Drop in cholesterol levels, lowering risk of cardiovascular disease
40. Helps with weight loss
41. Higher skin resistance
42. Improved flow of air to lungs, resulting in easier breathing
43. Higher levels of DHEAS (Dehydroepiandrosterone)
44. Cure headaches and migraines
45. More inclined to sports, activities
46. Harmonize your endocrine system
47. Reduced need for medical care
48. Greater orderliness of brain functioning
49. Relaxes the nervous system
50. Heals infertility (the stress of infertility can interfere with the release of hormones that regulate ovulation)

Spiritual Benefits

51. Helps keep things in perspective
52. Provides peace of mind
53. Helps you discover your purpose
54. Increased compassion
55. Growing wisdom
56. Increases self-actualization
57. Deeper understanding of yourself and others
58. Brings body, mind, and spirit into harmony
59. Helps learn forgiveness
60. Changes attitude towards life
61. Helps one live in the present
62. Creates a widening, deepening capacity for love
63. Increases the synchronicity in life
64. Allows the experience of ‘One-ness’
65. Attain enlightenment
66. Increases acceptance of oneself
67. Discovery of the power and consciousness beyond the ego
68. Deeper level of spiritual relaxation
69. Creates a deeper relationship with God
70. Greater inner-directedness
71. Allows the inner sense of “Assurance” and “Knowledge”
72. Reduces pattern of judgment
73. Allows one to ‘let go’
74. Opens one to limit-less belief
75. Shifts one to being happier with simplicity, nature, and the self

If these benefits inspire you, consider printing the various gifts meditation offers and leave it in a place you’re likely to see every day for further inspiration. The art of meditation is not only free, it requires no equipment, is not time consuming (15-20 minutes per day), and has no negative side effects.

The only individual you are around your entire existence is yourself, so why not begin to gain a better relationship with the beautiful existence you are and reap the physical benefits! Meditation allows one to break away from the limited thinking of human existence and experience your true potential, so consider starting today!

About the Author

Amanda Froelich is a staff writer for TrueActivist.com, where this article was originally featured.

Sources:

Peer Reviewed Scientific Journals of Meditation Benefits

Meditation Research

Levels of Consciousness

October 4, 2013 | By WakingTimes | 5 Replies

Steve Pavlina, Guest
Waking Times

In the book Power vs. Force by David R. Hawkins, there’s a hierarchy of levels of human consciousness. It’s an interesting paradigm. If you read the book, it’s also fairly easy to figure out where you fall on this hierarchy based on your current life situation.

From low to high, the levels of consciousness are: shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger, pride, courage, neutrality, willingness, acceptance, reason, love, joy, peace, enlightenment.

While we can pop in and out of different levels at various times, usually there’s a predominant “normal” state for us. If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’re at least at the level of courage because if you were at a lower level, you’d likely have no conscious interest in personal growth.

I’ll go over these levels in order, mostly focusing on the ones between courage and reason, since that’s the range where you’re most likely to land. The labels are Hawkins’. The descriptions of each level are based onHawkins’ descriptions but blended with my own thoughts. Hawkins defines this as a logarithmic scale, so there are far fewer people at the higher levels than at the lower ones. An increase from one level to another will result in enormous change in your life.

Shame – Just a step above death. You’re probably contemplating suicide at this level. Either that or you’re a serial killer. Think of this as self-directed hatred.

Guilt – A step above shame, but you still may be having thoughts of suicide. You think of yourself as a sinner, unable to forgive yourself for past transgressions.

Apathy – Feeling hopeless or victimized. The state of learned helplessness. Many homeless people are stuck here.

Grief – A state of perpetual sadness and loss. You might drop down here after losing a loved one. Depression. Still higher than apathy, since you’re beginning to escape the numbness.

Fear – Seeing the world as dangerous and unsafe. Paranoia. Usually you’ll need help to rise above this level, or you’ll remain trapped for a long time, such as in an abusive relationship.

Desire – Not to be confused with setting and achieving goals, this is the level of addiction, craving, and lust — for money, approval, power, fame, etc. Consumerism. Materialism. This is the level of smoking and drinking and doing drugs.

Anger – the level of frustration, often from not having your desires met at the lower level. This level can spur you to action at higher levels, or it can keep you stuck in hatred. In an abusive relationship, you’ll often see an anger person coupled with a fear person.

Pride – The first level where you start to feel good, but it’s a false feeling. It’s dependent on external circumstances (money, prestige, etc), so it’s vulnerable. Pride can lead to nationalism, racism, and religious wars. Think Nazis. A state of irrational denial and defensiveness. Religious fundamentalism is also stuck at this level. You become so closely enmeshed in your beliefs that you see an attack on your beliefs as an attack on you.

Courage – The first level of true strength. I’ve made a previous post about this level:Courage is the Gateway. This is where you start to see life as challenging and exciting instead of overwhelming. You begin to have an inkling of interest in personal growth, although at this level you’ll probably call it something else like skill-building, career advancement, education, etc. You start to see your future as an improvement upon your past, rather than a continuation of the same.

Neutrality – This level is epitomized by the phrase, “live and let live.” It’s flexible, relaxed, and unattached. Whatever happens, you roll with the punches. You don’t have anything to prove. You feel safe and get along well with other people. A lot of self-employed people are at this level. A very comfortable place. The level of complacency and laziness. You’re taking care of your needs, but you don’t push yourself too hard.

Willingness – Now that you’re basically safe and comfortable, you start using your energy more effectively. Just getting by isn’t good enough anymore. You begin caring about doing a good job — perhaps even your best. You think about time management and productivity and getting organized, things that weren’t so important to you at the level of neutrality. Think of this level as the development of willpower and self-discipline. These people are the “troopers” of society; they get things done well and don’t complain much. If you’re in school, then you’re a really good student; you take your studies seriously and put in the time to do a good job. This is the point where your consciousness becomes more organized and disciplined.

Acceptance – Now a powerful shift happens, and you awaken to the possibilities of living proactively. At the level of willingness you’ve become competent, and now you want to put your abilities to good use. This is the level of setting and achieving goals. I don’t like the label “acceptance” that Hawkins uses here, but it basically means that you begin accepting responsibility for your role in the world. If something isn’t right about your life (your career, your health, your relationship), you define your desired outcome and change it. You start to see the big picture of your life more clearly. This level drives many people to switch careers, start a new business, or change their diets.

Reason – At this level you transcend the emotional aspects of the lower levels and begin to think clearly and rationally. Hawkins defines this as the level of medicine and science. The way I see it, when you reach this level, you become capable of using your reasoning abilities to their fullest extent. You now have the discipline and the proactivity to fully exploit your natural abilities. You’ve reached the point where you say, “Wow. I can do all this stuff, and I know I must put it to good use. So what’s the best use of my talents?” You take a look around the world and start making meaningful contributions. At the very high end, this is the level of Einstein and Freud. It’s probably obvious that most people never reach this level in their entire lives.

Love – I don’t like Hawkins’ label “love” here because this isn’t the emotion of love. It’s unconditional love, a permanent understanding of your connectedness with all that exists. Think compassion. At the level of reason, you live in service to your head. But that eventually becomes a dead end where you fall into the trap of over-intellectualizing. You see that you need a bigger context than just thinking for its own sake. At the level of love, you now place your head and all your other talents and abilities in service to your heart (not your emotions, but your greater sense of right and wrong — your conscience). I see this as the level of awakening to your true purpose. Your motives at this level are pure and uncorrupted by the desires of the ego. This is the level of lifetime service to humanity. Think Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Dr. Albert Schweitzer. At this level you also begin to be guided by a force greater than yourself. It’s a feeling of letting go. Your intuition becomes extremely strong. Hawkins claims this level is reached only by 1 in 250 people during their entire lifetimes.

Joy – A state of pervasive, unshakable happiness. Eckhart Tolle describes this state inThe Power of Now. The level of saints and advanced spiritual teachers. Just being around people at this level makes you feel incredible. At this level life is fully guided by synchronicity and intuition. There’s no more need to set goals and make detailed plans — the expansion of your consciousness allows you to operate at a much higher level. A near-death experience can temporarily bump you to this level.

Peace – Total transcendence. Hawkins claims this level is reached only by one person in 10 million.

Enlightenment – The highest level of human consciousness, where humanity blends with divinity. Extremely rare. The level of Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus. Even just thinking about people at this level can raise your consciousness.

I think you’ll find this model worthy of reflection. Not only people but also objects, events, and whole societies can be ranked at these levels. Within your own life, you’ll see that some parts of your life are at different levels than others, but you should be able to identify your current overall level. You might be at the level of neutrality overall but still be addicted to smoking (level of desire). The lower levels you find within yourself will serve as a drag that holds the rest of you back. But you’ll also find higher levels in your life. You may be at the level of acceptance and read a book at the level of reason and feel really inspired. Think about the strongest influences in your life right now. Which ones raise your consciousness? Which ones lower it?

One thing I like about these levels of consciousness is that I can trace back over my own life and see how I’ve been moving through them. I remember being stuck at the level of guilt for a long time – as a child I was indoctrinated into a belief system where I was a helpless sinner, being judged according to the standards of someone at the level of love or higher. From there I graduated to the state of apathy, feeling numb to the whole thing. By high school I had reached the level of pride — I was a straight-A student, captain of the Academic Decathlon team, showered with accolades and awards, but I became dependent on them. I hit the level of Courage in my late teens, but the courage was very unfocused, and I overdid it and got myself into all sorts of trouble. I then spent about a year in neutrality and moved through willingness and acceptance during my 20s with a lot of conscious effort. At present I’m at the level of reason and getting closer and closer to completing the leap to love. I experience the state of love more and more often, and it’s guiding many of my decisions already, but it hasn’t yet stuck as my natural state. I’ve also experienced the state of joy for days at a time, but never with any permanence yet. That state is a pervasive feeling of natural euphoria, as if I’m exploding on the inside with positive energy. It literally forces me to smile. I’ve been in that state for most of this morning, probably because I haven’t eaten anything yet today (I find it easier to hit that state of consciousness when I eat lightly or not at all).

We’ll naturally fluctuate between multiple states throughout the course of any given week, so you’ll probably see a range of 3-4 levels where you spend most of your time. One way to figure out your “natural” state is to think about how you perform under pressure. If you squeeze an orange, you get orange juice because that’s what’s inside. What comes out of you when you get squeezed by external events? Do you become paranoid and shut down (fear)? Do you start yelling at people (anger)? Do you become defensive (pride)? What happens to me under pressure is that I become hyper-analytical, but recently I just had a pressure situation where I handled it mostly by intuition, which was a big change for me. This tells me I’m getting close to the unconditional love state because in that state, intuition can be effectively accessed even under pressure.

Everything in your environment will have an effect on your level of consciousness. TV. Movies. Books. Web sites. People. Places. Objects. Food. If you’re at the level of reason, watching TV news (which is predominantly at the levels of fear and desire) will temporarily lower your consciousness. If you’re at the level of guilt, TV news will actually raise it up.

Progressing from one level to the next requires an enormous amount of energy. I wrote about this previously when discussing quantum leaps. Without conscious effort or the help of others, you’ll likely just stay at your current level until some outside force comes into your life.

Notice the natural progression of levels, and consider what happens when you try to short-cut the process. If you try to reach the level of reason before mastering self-discipline (willingness) and goal-setting (acceptance), you’ll be too disorganized and unfocused to use your mind to its full extent. If you try to push yourself to the level of love before you’ve mastered reason, you’ll suffer from gullibility and may end up in a cult.

Going up even one level can be extremely hard; most people don’t do so in their entire lives. A change in just one level can radically alter everything in your life. This is why people below the level of courage aren’t likely to progress without external help. Courage is required to work on this consciously; it comes down to repeatedly betting your whole reality for the chance to become more conscious and aware. But whenever you reach that next level, you realize clearly that it was a good bet. For example, when you hit the level of courage, all your past fears and false pride seem silly to you now. When you reach the level of acceptance (setting and achieving goals), you look back on the level of willingness and see you were like a mouse running on a treadmill — you were a good runner, but you didn’t pick a direction.

I think the most important work we can do as human beings is to raise our individual level of consciousness. When we do this, we spread higher levels of consciousness to everyone around us. Imagine what an incredible world this would be if we could at least get everyone to the level of acceptance. According to Hawkins 85% of the people on earth live below the level of courage.

When you temporarily experience the higher levels, you can see where you must go next. You have one of those moments of clarity where you understand that things have to change. But when you sink into the lower levels, that memory becomes clouded.

We have to keep consciously taking ourselves back to the sources that can help us complete the next leap. Each step requires different solutions. I recall when making the shift from neutrality to willingness, I listened to time management tapes almost every day. I immersed myself in sources created by people at the level of willingness until I eventually shifted. But a book on time management will be of little use to someone who’s at the level of pride; they’ll reject the very notion with a lot of defensiveness. And time management is meaningless to someone at the level of peace. But you can’t hit the higher levels if you haven’t mastered the basics first. Jesus was a carpenter. Gandhi was a lawyer. Buddha was a prince. We all have to start somewhere.

Look at this hierarchy with an open mind and see if it leads you to new insights that may help you take the next leap in your own life. No levels are any more right or wrong than others. Try not to get your ego wrapped up in the idea of being at any particular level, unless you’re currently at the level of pride of course.

This article originally appeared at StevePavlina.com.

This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.

The 3 Stages of Awakening, by Richard Harvey

November 23, 2013 | By WakingTimes | Reply

Richard Harvey, Therapy & Spirituality
Waking Times

Editor’s Note: Richard Harvey. psychotherapist, author and spiritual teacher, answers questions about the threefold model of human awakening.

You speak of a threefold model of human awakening through deepening levels of awareness. The first level is what we usually think of as personal therapy, the second is a personal transformation that leads to authenticity, and the third is the realization of the true Self. Could you clearly summarize the relationship between personal therapy, personal authenticity and Self-Realization? 

Deep inner change leads to personal transformation and spiritual awakening. It begins with personal therapy. Personal therapy may be an end in itself or a prelude for the life of authenticity, genuine relationship and engagement with others and the world. Personal therapy is connected to spiritual growth through this middle stage, which I call the transformation into authenticity.

Personal therapy can be completed. In the process of inner work there is a point where you feel a sense of completion or personal wholeness. This is the condition of embracing your so-called shadow side, which comprises all that you have denied or repressed, and stored in your deep unconscious. When you live with an acceptance of the shadow alongside your acceptance of your conscious self, you have embraced your whole self. This sense of completion is like a journey around the self. You have realized the wholeness of your personality and found the edges of your egoic limits.

So, beyond the usual parameters of personal therapy, a permanent transformation may come about, which is the flowering of inner work. This is the authentic self. Personal authenticity prepares the way for awakening by connecting us to the source of life or consciousness.

So, to summarize, in personal therapy you begin with the practice of awareness which leads to self-discovery and change, where you reach the edges of the personality, the conditioning from your early life and your small sense of self.

In the second stage you can choose to cross a psychological threshold – it is a kind of death, but it is also the birth of the psyche or soul into the world and it represents an irreversible transformation of the self into authenticity.

In the third stage the true Self awakens, but it has always been here in consciousness as a reflection of the Absolute and you journey past the world of duality, the opposites, and division and separation in which the individual personality is dissolved. This is human awakening. It’s like waking up into a place you have been asleep in or unaware of or oblivious to. This is why the journey of personal and spiritual growth, when you see it through, brings you to a place of great joy, a mood of tremendous elation.

This is expressed in the idea of rapture, ecstasy or bliss – or satchitananda in the Hindu tradition. After all you have been through, all the tests and ordeals, all the suffering and trials, the struggle, confusion and angst, the end of the road is finally realizing that there is no journey to the present moment: no way or path is necessary to where we already are! Your whole dualistic way of thinking prescribed your experience for you: it was never really like that at all!

So, first we discover ourselves, then we transform into authenticity and, finally, we awaken?

The order of awakening is awareness, transformation, and realization. Today we are having a hard time meeting the first of these – awareness. Because it seems increasingly hard in a relatively superficial, increasingly amoral, fickle and speed-driven culture to recognize, honor or even value such things as these. After all they are essentially invisible and practicing them doesn’t necessarily give you status in a materialistic world where prestige, acquisition and conformity are prized so highly.

But when we awaken aren’t we simply conforming too, albeit to another set of values? 

No. Awakening is the full flowering of the self. Transcendence is expressed in individual form; even the ego is surrendered in service to the All. The way it is done is impersonal, but the expression is intensely personal.

What are the roles of fear and desire?
The twin states of fear and desire dominate human existence. When we succumb to them they limit our potential for growth and discovery. To guide us beyond both is the role of the psycho-spiritual therapist.

Fear is founded on our self-contraction, on our projection of a death-dealing force outside ourselves. Desire is rooted in our belief in lack, that something outside ourselves is required to make us whole and complete. Developing courage, resilience and applying ourselves to true ‘unfolding’, we see through the lies of fear and desire and grow into our true potential and beyond our exclusive identity with our self.

Would you say something about self-identity and the troubled state of the world today, because it seems to me that the two are somehow connected?

Essentially we do not know who we are. Thoughts, fantasy and unreality form a false self. We do not know how to act in relationship to one another and to the world. When being is not connected with doing, others become merely screens for our projections of inner states; thoughts, feelings, judgments and reactions. The condition of the world is a broader projection canvas that we create in our own image by projecting and manifesting our fears and anger. We feel disconnected from the source of life; educated by parents, teachers, politicians and other authority figures to not see, speak or honor deep truth and matters of soul and spirit. Love, compassion, wisdom,enlightenment become misunderstood, misrepresented or simply avoided altogether.

Today, in the affluent West, our concerns are many and diverse. We are obsessed and distracted by fantasies of happiness and fulfillment, anxious about physical and mental health, illness and aging. We dream about money and wealth, loving relationships and how to be better human beings. We desire and long for the house, home and lifestyle we want. We are ambitious and seek our self worth in our work and careers. We are confused about how to deal with strong emotions like depression, anxiety, anger and grief. We wrestle with inner conflicts and many suffer from a sense of meaninglessness or lack of purpose. Others are troubled at their lack of creativity and passion. Some struggle with personal development and spiritual hunger.

And how should we deal with this surfeit of hardships and difficulties? 

We need to truly relate to ourselves, others and the world with clarity, compassion and wisdom, by centering in our heart and seeking a new way of being, doing, working and relating, and by illuminating our inner world through the practices of awareness and wise reflection.

But how can we do this? How do we attain these levels of inner and outer practices?

We can attain all this through taking ourselves seriously and embarking on the inner journey to wholeness and by realizing our true nature through inner work.

And inner work is the practice of therapy and spiritual growth?

Yes.

About the Author

Richard Harvey is a psychotherapist, author and spiritual teacher. He is the founder-director of Therapy and Spirituality, a personal and spiritual growth center situated in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain. His background is in Humanistic and Transpersonal psychologies, Taoism and Zen. He is trained in western psychology and eastern meditative methods, psycho-spiritual psychotherapy and bodywork. The author of The Flight of Consciousness and several other books and articles focused on realizing our true selves, his innovative approach to human development, The Three Stages of Awakening, is discussed in his latest book, Human Awakening.

Email: richard@therapyandspirituality.com
Website: http://www.therapyandspirituality.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Therapy-and-Spirituality/138888839521420