Retraining Your Mind to Act and React with Peace & Joy

This activity has been extracted from p. 110 of You Have Chosen to Remember: A Journey from Perception to Knowledge, Peace of Mind and Joy by James Blanchard Cisneros.

Thought, Action, Faith, Gratitude

I have mentioned before that the world you see outside yourself is simply a reflection of the world that you have shaped and supported within. As the ego has trained your mind to react in a judgmental and stressful manner, so too can you retrain your mind to act and react with peace and joy. There are four steps to retraining your mind in order to obtain and experience peace and joy in every situation. They are:

Thought - Align yourself with God and clarify the goal

Action - Act with unconditional love

Faith - Trust that the moment is perfect

Gratitude - Give thanks, enjoy and rejoice
 

Thought - Align Yourself with God and Clarify the Goal

My friend, it is only at the thought level that you can exercise choice. Just as what you see comes from what you value, so does what you do come from what you think. My friend, you are in paradise, but if you choose to believe that you are in a dump, then that is where you'll find yourself. Where you stand is not nearly as important as where you think you stand. Where you think you stand unconsciously comes from where you want to be standing. Where you want to be standing, comes from where you believe you deserve to be standing. It is this belief; it is what you value that you will see. You could stand in the middle of heaven surrounded by angels, but if you consider yourself not worthy enough, you will never see it or them. Again, you could stand in the middle of heaven surrounded by angels, but if you believe you deserve hell, then that is what you will see. In the end, it is your choice to make.

If, through your perception, you are experiencing any type of negativity it is due to negative conditioning by the ego. The ego will always respond first in any given situation, because this is how you have been trained and taught. You have been taught that the ego's world is the real world, and thus you think like it, and think it normal and correct to behave this way. If instead of listening to the ego you align yourself with God first, you will gain clarification about what it is you want to accomplish, which will allow you to take control and handle any situation in a way that serves your highest good. I like to ask myself what Jesus would do in my place. What would Jesus' goal be in this situation? How would Jesus think, act and react? Again, I would like to remind you that Jesus is simply the example that I use because I feel a connection to Him. You can also use Him as an example, or you may equally and just as successfully use whichever "self-actualized being" you feel the most connected to.

Let me offer you three small but personal examples of how I worked on myself to undo the negative conditioning taught to me by the outside world and the ego in my life.
 

My Big Toe

I'm not sure what the record is in the Guinness Book of World Records for stubbing your toe, but there was a time during a two-month period when I had to be close to that record. Every time I stubbed my toe, I uttered an expletive, or at least thought an expletive. I had been taught by watching others react this way. It was the "normal and acceptable" way to react to such an incident. It was the way I had been unconsciously trained to react. My friends reacted this way, so I felt that it was fine. Yet, little by little, I became uncomfortable with such a reaction. One day, I decided that there must be a better, more positive way to react to such an incident.

I needed to clarify my goal: I want a more peaceful and positive way of reacting to the act of stubbing my toe. So I'm walking my dog Texas thinking about how I can react more peacefully in such an instance, and all of a sudden, within my head, I hear "Thank me!" It literally sounded like I had a small stereo installed in the middle of my brain. The echo of those words was so clear that I felt it touch every cell in my head. I turned to Texas, hoping he had heard it too. Just as I did, I tripped on a crack in the sidewalk, and to my amazement, the words that came out of me were not expletives, but "Thank you God!" "Wow," I thought to myself. "That's a real nice thing to say in response to such an event." I then decided that I would train myself to thank God every time I stubbed my toe, so little by little, I did just that. Before I knew it, I was thanking God for the times I tripped and almost fell. In every situation that I used to react with some kind of expletive, I retrained myself to simply thank God for the situation. Immediately, without thinking, I said, "Thank you God" every time I tripped or stubbed my toe, and I felt really good about it. Wouldn't you know that soon after I learned this, I stopped stubbing my toe and tripping. Now, whenever I trip or stub my toe (I'm glad to report that the incidents are now under the national average), I simply thank God, and this reaction feels natural, positive and peaceful.


Forgiveness

Another example of how I have untrained my ego-self and aligned myself more with my Godself is in forgiving people immediately. Whenever someone, even a friend said something mean to me, I immediately responded by saying or thinking something mean in return. I'm sure that you have joked with friends, only to cross the line where you teased them with a statement that made everyone laugh. Everyone laughed, including you and your friend, but deep inside you felt bad for having made your friend the butt of the joke, and you felt that he or she, deep inside, was hurt. There are even times when you're angry with someone, so you choose to hurt that person with words. You use an indirect statement that outwardly does not sound bad, but inwardly you know it has stung the person. You could use the excuse that this is how people interact with each other; you could say to yourself that this simply is the way things are. I have also used these excuses. However, there came a time in my life when saying something that could be interpreted as hurtful by another became painful for me. I teased a friend with a statement, and everyone laughed, including the person being teased, but deep within I could feel his pain, and his pain became my pain. I again had to go deep within to ask myself for a better and more peaceful way of co-existing with my brother. Once again I clarified the goal, which was how I wanted to react in those instances and what I wanted to say in response to such comments. My goal became to obtain peace in such circumstances and to extend it to all those around me.

At first, it was not easy to allow those cheap shots to go undefended, especially when I had a beautiful comeback. But interestingly enough, I felt much better for not defending myself against cheap shots and simply forgave my friends. Whenever I began to feel hurt, I simply forgave. I forgave and I was set free from the cheap shot. I forgave the insult and backhanded compliment, and became free from them. When an easy, cheap shot came to my mind, even when I thought it was funny, I simply kept it to myself, reminded myself that this was not who I wanted to be and released the thought. Although it might have been funny, I knew it would also bring pain. Inwardly, I felt very good about what I was doing. If a thought came to mind that I knew had the possibility of hurting someone, I simply corrected it in my mind before letting it out. Interestingly enough, people who took cheap shots at me in the name of humor began apologizing for their comments. If they did not apologize, I could look deep within them and feel their regret for expressing the comment. After hearing the comment, I would always inwardly and sometimes outwardly forgive the individual, and by doing so I was released from feeling the sting. It almost became part of the norm and people would look at us funny whenever one of my friends forgave another for making a humorous but mean-spirited comment. I must admit that I was quickly forgiven a couple of times for jabs I took at friends, and I must say my friends found that when they forgave me it was extremely funny. Now if you were ever to walk into a restaurant or bookstore and see a bunch of people sitting around a table, laughing and forgiving each other, don't be apprehensive-it's just us.
In the end, I was just as funny, though not at anyone's expense. My heart reminded me that humor, if expressed at someone else's expense, wasn't humor but hurtful. When I learned to follow my heart and align myself with God, not only was my humor more appreciated, but I also became more at peace with myself.


The 'God Bless You' Kid

Some time ago, I boarded a plane headed back to Miami. I was on the right side of the plane, in a three-seat row, seated in the window seat. A woman I did not know was sitting in the isle seat and there was no one sitting in the middle seat. Being in tourist class, and being 6'4" and 220 pounds, I was hoping that either a model from Elle magazine would sit next to me or that no one would sit in the middle seat. As soon as I silently expressed my hopes to God, a woman and her eight-year-old child dashed them. The mother told the young boy to sit in the middle and that she would sit a few rows back. Normally, I would have offered my seat to the mother and let her sit with her child. But two things stopped me from doing this: one, the mother really seemed to be relieved that she would have some time to herself, and two, the kid seemed to be a little hyper and complained about sitting by himself. I figured I could give the mom some rest and, at the same time, teach this brat a little courage and independence. Because I was doing two good deeds with one action, I figured that if the plane went down, I would definitely have a better chance of surviving than those people who had not done their good deed for the day! Plus, I was now sitting next to a child, which in and of itself, spiritually speaking, has to offer more protection.

The boy sat next to me, and immediately started talking. Of course the first thing he mentioned was that he gets sick on planes. "Just wonderful," I thought. So I psychologically started convincing him that the plane was safe by telling him that I fly this route all the time, that the ride was always smooth and that he would be perfectly fine on the flight. He seemed to be content with my past experiences and prediction so he then began to share his life story. Thank God he was only eight! In general, the kid seemed to be pretty cool. He would share some of his views about life with me, then would turn to the lady on the other side of him and share his views with her as well. He was a very considerate young man, I thought.

It must have been cold and flu season because there were many sneezes on the way to Miami. On average, I am not someone who notices or cares about people sneezing on the plane, but today I had the "God Bless You" missionary sitting next to me. Yes, every time someone sneezed, regardless of where in the plane he or she was sitting, the kid responded with the words "God Bless You." Now I'm not sure if the Green Berets trained this kid, or if he simply had bionic ears, for regardless of where a person was on the plane, if they sneezed, this boy could hear it! Not only that, but the farther he perceived an individual to be, the louder he would bless them. After the first few "God Bless You's" the people on the plane, regardless of their location, answered him with "thank you." This created a comfortable and friendly feeling on the plane.
 
The experience made me think back to the days when I was a kid and young adult, and I would also answer a sneeze with "God Bless You." Somewhere on my journey to adulthood, not only had I dropped the "God" from my response to someone sneezing, but many times after hearing a sneeze I wouldn't even reply with "bless you." This experience got me thinking about how beautiful that response was, and how great it would be for me to bring it back into my life, and the life of all sneezers. I silently promised myself that, regardless of whether or not I felt comfortable responding in such a manner, I would reintroduce it into my life. It was a beautiful response and I now knew that I wanted to use it in my life and share it with others.

The plane landed safely, and the kid who at first I perceived to be a brat, I now saw as a great being. I told him that I thought he was a great kid and that I really enjoyed my time with him. In the end, I was the one who learned a powerful lesson from him. I was richly blessed by his presence. I finally told him that I would miss him, but deep in my heart I knew that somewhere, sometime, on a future flight, I would again hear those precious words coming from a seat way in the back of the plane. The people on this future plane ride will smirk and some will laugh at this response to someone's sneeze. As for me, I gladly look forward to a reencounter with this great teacher.

These three small examples-stubbing my toe, forgiveness and the "God Bless You" kid - are provided to show you how I chose to put aside what the world taught me to be normal, and remembered what my heart said was true. In aligning myself with God, I made peace the basis of all my thoughts, actions and reactions.

Do you want peace? This is simply what you must ask yourself in every situation. The clarification of the goal comes at the beginning of every situation. If your goal is peace, you will experience peace.

Please remember that I'm not saying, in this or any part of this book, that my way is the way. I am simply providing you with a few examples of how I have found peace of mind and joy. You might need to experience something totally different and that is fine. Do whatever brings you peace and you will find peace. There is nothing else that needs to be said. If you do not know what brings you peace, then experiment and understand how what you think and say affects your emotional state.


Action - Act with Unconditional Love

You will know when you act with unconditional love because when you do, you will experience peace. Peace is the result of unconditional love. Unconditional love is its own reward.
 
We all make attempts at kindness and forgiveness. We have also at times been surprised at what little gratitude and outward praise we receive when we offer kindness and forgiveness. Sometimes, we might even become angry or sad at the lack of response to our gift or action. But is anger or sadness really the way we should react to such a beautiful offering? How do you feel when reacting in such a manner? I've already mentioned that there are two ways you can respond: one is with your ego-self, and the other is through your Godself. One has been taught to you by society, and one has been birthed in you by God. One has to be learned, and the other simply needs be remembered. One feels wrong and makes you feel heavy, sad and upset; the other feels right and makes you feel joyful and peaceful.

The ego's goal is to separate you from your brother and sister. Regardless of the manifestation of the situation, if separation is its final outcome, the ego has reached its goal through you. As an example, in the act of giving, the ego has different levels of illusion that it uses in order to achieve its goal. All illusions, regardless of their manifestation, have as a final result separation and loss of peace. The ego will sell you one illusion after another in order to keep achieving its purpose through you. You see the ego's illusions as different manifestations with separate outcomes. Yet there is one outcome to truth, and one outcome to illusion. In any situation, it is the outcome that you value most that you will experience.

If illusions are by definition nothing, then different illusions can only be encountered through your attempt to separate nothingness into parts. Only the delusional mind can see different levels of nothingness as separate and real. You can stack up your hundreds and thousands of personal levels of illusions and still not come close to the height of an atom. Only a delusional mind can believe that it needs to fight through different levels of nothingness, with different levels of answers, to obtain peace. The ego supports the efforts of a delusional mind, for the ego is the father and creator of the delusional mind. And a creator will support his creations. Although there are countless levels of illusions that the ego supports, there are four main illusionary barriers that the average delusional mind passes through in order to find the truth about the subject of giving. I offer these four, not only because they are the ones I personally had to pass through, but also because I have seen many of my friends and family members experience them. They are:

• If you give, you lose

• If you give, you must get something of equal or greater physical value in return

• If you give, you must at least get something of mental value in return

• If you give, all situations must be judged as separate and given separate consideration with regard to getting something or anything in return.

Let's discuss these points one by one. First, at the height of its control, the ego would have you believe that to give is to lose. It tries to convince you that if you give, you will also lose something and there is no way to get it back. If you lose something, then you become less than you were before, or you will have less than you had before. You have fewer things, thus you are a lesser person. The world teaches that when you give something away, you lose it, and if you don't get anything in return, you are less complete, less whole. The world also teaches that, when you lose something, you must become upset. So it is not a stretch to say that the world teaches you that becoming upset is a normal and proper reaction to giving something away and not getting anything in return. Yet, we know that being upset is not the natural reaction of a child of God, because a natural reaction of the child of God is to be at peace. Therefore, there must be another way of looking at the beautiful offering of giving.

Second, if the ego cannot make you believe any longer that to give is to lose, it tries to make you view the giving of anything as a trade. If you still choose to give, the ego will let you know that you must, at the very least, get something of equal value in return. Therefore, in the ego's calculation, although you have lost something, you have also gained something and you come out equal. Of course, the ego will then make you analyze whether you came out on top or not in the trade. If you come out ahead, the ego will congratulate you and allow you to do it again, as long as you always come out on top. If, in the ego's estimation, you come out on the bottom of the trade, it tells you "told you so" and that you should have never given in the first place. It encourages you not to make the same mistake again. However, if you continue to play the trade game, it will have you make sure you come out on top in your next trade. Here, the ego makes a mental list of who you can "beat" in such tradeoffs. You continue to play with those you can beat; those you can't beat are either erased from your list or put at the very bottom.

Third, the ego understands that you will no longer believe that to give is to lose. It also understands that you will not see giving as a physical tradeoff. So it allows you to give without the tradeoff, meaning you don't really need to get anything physical in return. But it makes sure that at least you get a thank you from the receiver. If you don't get a thank you, it makes you upset at the receiver's inconsideration. Out of your beautiful offering, what you get in return is anger at your brother's inconsideration. The ego laughs when you turn your back, for it knows that it still has control of you. It still has control because, in the end, it made something ugly out of something beautiful, and it separated you from your brother or sister. In the end, it wins by separating you from your brother or sister.

Fourth, the ego understands that, for the most part, it cannot control your thoughts, actions, or reactions. But this does not stop it from attacking on all three levels on a case-by-case basis, looking for weaknesses in your thought system. The individual at this stage knows that giving is its own reward. The individual gets satisfaction in the thought and act of giving and does not need anything physical or mental in return from the receiver. At this stage, the individual receives as he gives, and need not ever hear from the receiver to be gladdened, because he understands that all receivers, regardless of outward manifestations of gratitude, are grateful for the intention and action.

Would God not be thankful for any offering, regardless how small it is? Would God not be thankful and proud of one of His children offering a gift, or even a kind word to another of His children? Would He not acknowledge the purity of your thought, the kindness of your action? So what does it matter if another person outwardly thinks of your gift as worthy, or does not even acknowledge it? For the truth is, and this I believe with all my heart, that in the receiver's mind there is a part of him or her that joins with God in thanking you. There is a part in your brother or sister that joins with God in saluting your action. There is a part in every single person, regardless of how hard they've tried to hide or forget it, where God resides, and this part blesses every gift you offer.
Every gift you offer a brother or sister is given and received by God. Thus, what you give away, you keep. And in the end only what you give away do you ever truly keep. No gift is ever lost; no gift is ever left thankless. And know that I thank you, because every gift you offer to your brother or sister, you offer to me.


Faith - Trust that the Moment is Perfect

Increasing your faith is a part of the process of changing your world from the inside out, changing your attitudes and perceptions and changing your life. So what happens when you have a problem, you know the solution to your problem, you execute the solution, but nothing within you changes? Let me give you an example. I was in a group once where a woman (let's call her Jane) was involved in a custody battle with her husband (let's call him...Tarzan) and his lawyer for visitation rights to their fifteen-year-old child. Jane shared her story by describing Tarzan as passive aggressive, and his lawyer as a bitch. Jane explained how this was draining her and asked how she could see her situation differently. Many people gave very good and spiritual advice, explaining to her that what she was seeing in another was simply a projection of who she believed herself to be. They tried to explain to her that what she was experiencing was really an illusion; they told her that she needed to forgive and pray for her husband and his lawyer. Jane explained that she understood what people were saying. She said that she agreed with them, and that she had tried many of those suggestions, but she still could not find peace. She had the answer, she made an effort to execute the solution, but she still could not find peace.

Before I continue, let me say this: my friend, you bless this world by allowing your brother or sister to experience the illusions he or she still sees as real. Imagine, if you will, Jane walking in a garbage dump. Jane knows she is walking in a dump, she can smell it and feel the instability beneath her feet, but she still chooses to walk in it. Jane feels unstable and insecure, so she asks her friends to help her and they tell her that she is walking in a dump. Jane agrees with them. They show her the way she can walk to get outside the dump. Her friends even remind her of a beautiful park just outside the dump. Jane believes that what they are saying is true and it feels right to her. Jane follows her friend's advice and walks on the path her friends tell her leads out of the dump. Jane can see the park in the distance. She understands that she has a choice. After many, many circles around the dump she finally makes the choice to follow the path and walks out. She finds herself outside the dump, yet she cannot stop thinking of the dump. Although she now walks in a beautiful flower-filled park, she can't stop thinking of the dump. Just the thought of the dump brings back the smells, and although she sees herself walking on firm ground, she feels unstable and insecure. Jane looks back and can't see the dump anymore, but she imagines the many people still walking in circles in it and she cannot understand why she still feels a part of the dump even though she has physically left it. She has done the right thing and she knows she made the right decision. She feels proud of having made the choice to leave the dump; however, like flies in the dump, those thoughts and feelings of insecurity and instability still surround her.

Jane believes she knows her highest will. She listened and did what she knew was right and what would bring her peace. Yet, somehow she believes that she needs to add something to her highest will to make it complete, and because of this she lacks trust. For Jane, and all of us, a lack of trust will never be a consequence of doing our highest will. Your highest will or His will is perfection and perfection needs nothing added to it. As long as you believe that something needs to be added to perfection, you will not find rest or peace, because you will be on a continuous search for something that does not exist. My friend, not even if you choose to transplant a rhino's tusk onto a horse will you ever get a unicorn. Do what brings you peace; do what you believe to be right, and then trust. It is truly that simple.

My friend, listen carefully, for I have experienced this on many occasions. You will be lifted as high as you choose to go. You will choose to go as high as you believe you deserve and have the right to go. You will go as high as you trust Him to take you. No one else will make that decision for you. You will be taken by the hand and lifted toward God and only you will stop this process. You may create a gate, paint a wall, or simply believe yourself not worthy enough, but only you can block your connection to Him. If you actually had faith in your connection to Him, you would never need to worry about a gate. As the river flows into the sea, so too do you naturally flow to God. You need do nothing but simply allow. It is only your choice to hold onto a branch of the riverbank that will delay your conscious unity with Him.

As your trust in Him lifts and unites you with Him, your faith in His plan and in His will, will bring you absolute peace. I have said many times before that His will and your highest will are one in the same. Trust this, and you will find peace. If you fail to trust this, you can do all the right things for the right reasons and stand in the most beautiful of places on this planet and you will not find peace. My friend, peace is your natural inheritance, but it is only when you choose to accept your inheritance that you allow yourself to receive, experience and enjoy it.

You truly have only two choices: illusion and truth. You can either try to add to perfection, or you can experience perfection. The only thing that Jane lacked was trust. Jane did all the right things, said all the right words, but in the end she did not have full faith in what she was doing. She was looking to add to perfection instead of simply experiencing it. If you are looking to add to perfection, you will not find rest. You will not find rest from continuously looking for something that does not exist.

If your brothers or sisters want to add, or believe they have to add to perfection, then let them. They must look outside themselves to find they are missing nothing. And they will find nothing real, because nothing real is missing. They will find a lot of illusions and make them real, only to find out later that they were illusions and nothing else. They will not find rest, for they will never find what they are searching for. They will search until they realize that what they were looking for does not exist. My friend, it is exhausting to try to be who you are not. Once you recognize this, you will look no more and finally find rest.

The most difficult step in obtaining peace lies not in remembering truth, but in faithfully executing its principles. Peace of mind lies not only in the execution of the principles, but also in your absolute faith in them. One of the main methods of obtaining peace of mind is your ability to forgive. If you know that peace of mind is given to you when you choose to forgive, and you want peace badly enough, you will forgive. But, and this is a big but, if you do not have absolute faith that what you are doing is the right thing and that it will bring you peace, you will not find ultimate peace. Ultimate peace of mind comes when you can forgive someone and have absolute knowledge that it is God's and your highest will to do so.


Gratitude-Give Thanks, Enjoy and Rejoice

What if any and every moment you experience anger, frustration and stress could be reinterpreted through understanding, forgiveness and love? Would you not be grateful for such a shift in your perceptions?

Remember in the Godself's view, there is no experience or expression other than that of love or a call for love, a call for assistance. Thus if in any moment you perceive that your brother doing is something that is causing you anger, frustration and stress, then understand that not only is he asking for assistance, but that you yourself are asking for assistance. Yes, you have unconsciously asked your brother to help you bring forth to your conscious mind those areas in your life where you still perceive that reactions and expressions of frustration, anger, and stress are correct and proper responses to God's creation.
 
Where the ego-self has trained you to act and react with frustration, anger and stress, the Godself is trying to remind you of the true gift that your brother is offering. Remember that every moment that the ego-self defines with frustration, anger and stress, that same moment is seen by the Godself as a gift to be grateful for. The gift is allowing you to consciously bring up the blocks to your awareness of love's presence. The blocks must be brought to the surface, seen, experienced and understood before they are dismantled, and that is what your brother is offering you. Once the blocks to your awareness of love's presence are dismantled, all that is left is the awareness of love's presence in every moment. Would you not be grateful to your brother or sister for this offering? Would you not be grateful to them once and for all for assisting you in dismantling the blocks of frustration, anger and stress and showing you the moment as it truly is? Is not the replacement of anger, frustration and stress with love a wondrous gift? Would gratitude not be the proper response to such a gift?

So forgive your brother or sister for what you think they have done to you. Forgive the moment for your interpretation of it. Your forgiveness is in truth a way of saying thank you for your brother or sister's participation in your remembering process. Thus, instead of using judgment as a response to your brother or sister's action, understand and remember what your brother or sister is truly offering, and forgive and thank him or her for it.

If you were awake, you would be thankful for each and every moment. Gratitude is the knowledge that God's will is being done. My friend, if you can take any of the ego's efforts and, instead of judging or cursing them, offer gratitude for them, the shift you will feel and experience will be not only noticeable, but life changing. It will be life changing for if you can see one of the ego's efforts as an illusion that you can simply forgive, it will open the flood gates to the knowledge that you can treat all the ego's illusions the same. My brother and sister, imagine for a moment how your life would change if what you once cursed and judged you now forgive and bless. How would this change your life? Would gratitude not be your response to such a change?

Try shifting your perception from a thought system based on lack and scarcity to a thought system based on kindness, abundance and gratitude. What do you have to lose? You have tried it the ego's way and have been rewarded with judgment, sorrow, regret, animosity, hostility and pain. Know that God is in you as well as in your brother and sister. Know that the part of you and your brother and sister that is God recognizes, acknowledges, salutes and blesses even the smallest gifts or the slightest kind word you offer. Believe me when I say that even the most Lilliputian of efforts to be kind and loving to your brother and sister is honored by God.

Continue to work on re-training your mind, for as your mind begins to heal, the world itself will begin to heal. There will be days when you experience life through the ego. There will still be days when you allow the ego to tell you what is right. On those days you will experience judgment, stress and pain. But now there will also be days when you will simply listen to your Godself. These days you will experience love, peace of mind and joy. Do not judge yourself for listening to the ego, but simply stop when you experience judgment, stress or pain and ask yourself if this is truly what you desire. Regardless of what kind of day you are choosing to experience, offer gratitude for it, for it is bringing you into closer alignment with your Godself. As author Dan Millman writes in his book, "No Ordinary Moments:"

¹⁰Life has cycles. Whatever goes up, comes down, and what falls can rise again. Progress can be slow: We remember, then we forget, then we remember; we take two steps forward, then one step back. No matter how enlightened we become, we still face the realities of daily life.

A lesson on enlightenment may be learned from the following anecdote:

A young man had spent five arduous years searching for truth. One day, as he walked up into the foothills of a great mountain range, he saw an old man approach from above, walking down the path carrying a heavy sack on his back. He sensed that this old man had been to the mountaintop; he had finally found one of the wise-ones who could answer his heart's deepest questions.

"Please, Sir" he asked. "Tell me the meaning of enlightenment."

The old man smiled, and stopped. Then, fixing his gaze on the youth, he slowly swung the heavy burden off his back, laid the sack down and stood up straight.

"Ah, I understand," the young man replied. "But, Sir, what comes after enlightenment?"

The old man took a deep breath, then swung the heavy sack over his shoulders and continued on his way.

Socrates (character in the story) once told me, "A flash of enlightenment offers a preview of coming attractions, but when it fades, you will see more clearly what separates you from that state-your compulsive habits, outmoded beliefs, false associations and other mental structures." Just when our lives are starting to get better, we may feel like things are getting worse because for the first time we see clearly what needs to be done.

"After illumination," Socrates continued, "difficulties continue to arise; what changes is your relationship to them. You see more and resist less. You gain the capacity to turn your problems into lessons and your lessons into wisdom."
 

Read more Spiritual / Self Development Activities which cultivate the concepts in the book 'You Have Chosen to Remember' - including Forgiveness, Embodying Your Godself, Developing Peace of Mind, and more.

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