Creation

I personally do not believe in a god or gods or any other spiritual thing. I understand the intricate belief system which has built up around these themes as a way of explaining things that once we did not understand like human nature or the natural world, but having evolved and grown in intelligence and education, I think it is now safe to say that everything in the universe has a scientific explanation, even if we do not fully understand everything yet or have not discovered everything yet. The main problem with spiritual beliefs as I see it is that they are based on conjecture in the face of reality without any real, tangible evidence to support them.

I do not base my opinion on any bias toward any particular religious sect nor cultural group, nor do I base it on a whim or from a negative emotional stand-point. I have studied many of the world religions and spiritual belief systems and had many discussions with people who are convinced but all I can see is a projection of emotion, a representation of the human condition and base psychology taken out of context.

Many of the texts are childishly written, many of the leaders are zealots, out of touch with reality and many more are simply convinced they are right no matter what anyone says or discovers. There are people who believe and are genuinely nice people without any obvious emotional deficiency but they still cannot give me an argument that convinces me that any form of supernatural being exists.

I do believe in invisible forces and that they affect our lives both physically and in ways that we cannot easily explain but I believe these are energies, perfectly natural and simply a part of Creation as a whole. They are a by product of existence.

Advanced Meditation

There are several different methods of meditation and depending on what you believe spiritually or what you are trying to achieve will dictate which particular method is right for you. In this instance I will describe one advanced method that works for me and which will work whether you are spiritual or not or have a heightened sense of the natural world or not.

Creating a link to the natural world is very important for advanced meditation. The essence of meditation is communicating with the natural energies which surround us in order to bring balance to your inner being, it is not simply to relax. The main energies you need to be aware of are "Universal Energy" and "Natural Vibration".

Universal Energy is that which we cannot see or explain yet we know it is there. It comes from the universe and constantly bombards the planet and everything on it. In concentrated volume we could call this Creation, or God but we do not need to give it a title other than Universal Energy and think of it as a light which shines on us from above.

Natural Vibration is the energy which is produced from our planet's vibration and from the vibration of life on the planet. It is the vibration that surrounds us permanently wherever we go and no matter where we hide it will find us because it is the living force of the world.

How to access these energies:

1. Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the ground, preferably without shoes or socks.
2. Keep your back straight and your arms relaxed with the backs of your hands resting on top of your thighs.
3. Close your eyes and breathe.
4. Once relaxed, focus your thoughts on the light of the Universal Energy which you know is shining down on you. Open your mind to it and imagine it is pouring into your head.
5. Focus on the vibrational energy of the Earth and of the life on the Earth. Feel it flow into you through your feet.
6. Feel these energies merge into one at the centre of your body. Feel them grow inside you and feel the positive emotion they fill you with.
7. Now let go of your thoughts entirely and open yourself to whatever occurs around you or whatever visions appear in your mind.

Touched by the world I love

I went for a walk today, through the trees, in the snow, with the temperature well below zero. It was a lot of fun seeing the woods I am so used to seeing carpeted with Bracken and shaded with leaves, naked except for a white frosty overcoat on each twig of every tree and a blanket of snow on the ground broken only by the footfalls of the tiny animals who reside in these Birch woods - Rabbit; Fox; Pheasant; Partridge; Water fowl such as Greylag Geese, Muted swans, Grebes and Coots (Moorhens); Muntjak deer and Chinese water deer.

Hello I'm a Chinese Water Deer (Click here)

And I'm a Muntjak Deer, very common, get shot a lot. (Click here)

I walked with my feet crunching through the blanket of snow which lay not too thickly on the ground. I could hear the occasional call of a far off Crow or Magpie but otherwise things were so quiet that I was aware of my own noise.

I found my favourite spot in these woods. I had brought a flask with me filled with boiling water and I carried a bag with this, some herbal teabags and some fruit. I had also brought my folding chair which compacts nicely into a slimline bag to sling over my shoulder. I sat down and made a cup of peppermint tea.

Satisfying my cold blood with the hot drink, I nestled into my chair and looked at my surroundings. Amoung the far trees there was a low fog hugging the branches but for some distance it was a clear view and the sun was breaking through. When I looked up I could see a pale blue sky through white, glistening twigs overhead.

All around me was quiet so I closed my eyes and began to meditate. I focused on the blue sky above my head and imagined that I had a direct link to the universal energy of Creation. Under foot I could feel the ground and I thought about the vibration of the Earth. Around me I could feel the cold and breath the crispy air and I absorbed the beauty of the innocence of it. The air felt clean and woods felt reverent, spiritual almost.

I heard the chipping call of a Robin then heard the fast beat of bird's wings nearby. Slowly I opened my eyes and investigated these sounds. All around me, in the trees, flitting from twig to twig was a flock of Pied Wagtails; I had never seen so many together like this and certainly not so close to me that I could have touched them. I sat very still and watched, marvelling at the perfectly innocent instincts of the birds.

I'm a Pied Wagtail (Click here)

Find out about me (Click here)

The Robins danced and I'm sure I saw a tree creeper, they were all so close to me as though I were just one of the gang. The moment lasted for about 10 minutes then as if nothing had ever happened, they were gone and I sat in silence once more.

I could scare believe the event which had taken place. Never, in all my years as a gardener or a naturalist have I ever been witness to this behaviour from birds. Now, it may just be that I was in the right place at the right time but you have to see how I was meditating while this began, focusing entirely on natural, universal, living energy which I think of as Creation.

Was this Creation's way of communicating with me, giving me a sign that he felt me and wanted me to know?

I like to believe it was but regardless of this, I shall carry the memory of this day all of my life.

A hunting we will go

Hey son, stop ice fishing and come over here.

I took my boy hunting today for fox and deer. He decided he wanted to try ice fishing since the lake was frozen so we found a good stick (his choice) and made an attempt. It did prove difficult for him however so he gave up and shouted so he could hear his echo instead.

Hello...hello...hello...hello

Daddy...daddy...daddy...daddy

"Now that's enough of that." said I.

"Yes, that is enough of that." said the boy.

"You sound like an echo!" I cried.

"I know!" he exclaimed.

"Lets go hunting deer." I said.

We soon found tracks.

We followed them closely. 

They led us into the woods through the bracken which lay underfoot in the snow.

We thought we found a den.

But we reckon this is just a shelter, probably bird cover for pheasants.

But then the boy had a notion we should follow a certain path. Trusting his instincts I followed him. He wanted to go and look at a fallen tree so off we went. As we approached the tree, an oak tree, blown over in the wind long ago, we noticed a lot of bracken wrapped around the stump. Then, suddenly a deer, Muntjak by the look of it, jumped out from behind the stump and leapt into a bounding run. It ran in an arc to our left, too fast for my camera. The boy and I watched excitedly as it ran to safety.

"Come on," I said eagerly,"let's go and see if its house is there."

"WOW," we both gasped, "a real deer den."

Then afterwards, once the excitement had died down, we edged away so as not to disturb too much of the ground round about the deer's range and I followed the boy once again to the frozen lake for a spot of echo shouting and some ice fishing.

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)

Neuro Linguistic Programming - N.L.P. - is a fancy sounding title for a psychological technique which was developed in the U.S.A. in the 1950s.

What does it do?
I'm glad you asked.

Consider that your mind is a super computer. It's energy source is your body which generates electricity and circulates certain chemicals which are used to translate and communicate data input and output. Your computer brain needs your body to be in perfect health for it to function properly and continue to function for as long as possible. So here we see that there is a definite and necessary link between your mind and your body.

Part of the N.L.P. technique is called "Anchoring". There are exercises where you can create positive mental states which can then be "Anchored" physically to a body part so every time you touch that body part your mind will automatically release the positive state and make you feel better. This is good for beating phobias and addictions as well as confidence building. This is just one example of your mind and body working in unity.

N.L.P. connects mind a body to produce satisfying, positive emotional balance.

How does it work?
Your questions are getting better.

Think about the enigma of the internet. Think about all the information that is on the internet. Trillions of websites, pages, blogs, images etc etc etc. Now answer me this, where is it all stored?
Now think about all the information that is in your brain or as we shall now introduce, your Conscious Mind. That is the part of your mind that you are aware of.

Now consider how big your mind has to be in order to store and process this information.

Immeasurable right?

Well that immeasurable part is called your Sub-Conscious Mind.

N.L.P. considers that your conscious mind is just a fraction of the size of your sub conscious mind yet it is your sub conscious mind where you do all your thinking and processing. Therefore in order to "produce satisfying, positive emotional balance." we need to access your sub conscious mind.

There are various ways in which we do this.

• Mind Mapping
• Time Line Manipulation
• Symbolic Tracing/Journeying
• Meta Positioning
• Emotional Response Analysis
• 12 Mind States
• Mind Set Identification.

And many, many more exercises which when used will open up your sub conscious to allow you to start identifying with it better and using it to your advantage in your day to day life.

So N.L.P. works by accessing your Sub-Conscious Mind to allow better communication and processing between mind and body.

How does N.L.P. benefit me?
I was wondering when you were going to ask that.

N.L.P. splits the mind into 3 parts.
The Conscious Mind
The Sub-Conscious Mind
The Higher Mind


It also identifies 3 different mind types which all of us are one of.
Kinesthetic - tactile, physical, easy visualisation
Sensory - feelings, emotions, no real visualisation
Auditory - colours, sounds, symbolism

What this means is that whoever you are, your mind can be identified in type and then further split into three sections to work on your beliefs and perceptions of life.

We have identified that the Sub-conscious is vast and the real processing plant for the brain, we can also further identify that there is a Higher Mind (spiritual beliefs, the unknown, the possible) which may have a strong influence over our judgements. The result of both of these parts of the mind is the Conscious Mind, what comes out, the way you consciously react to life (events and circumstances).

So because we can identify your mind in this way, it means we can communicate with it or as is the case in N.L.P., teach you how to communicate with it so you can access your most positive resources.

If you can access all the parts of your mind in a way which you understand then you will find all the answers to all your problems because believe it or not, you already know everything, it's just that your Conscious Mind is so full of problems and issues that it clouds everything else and stops you accessing it. N.L.P. removes the clouds, lets you see through and visually and physically communicate with your inner mind to bring forward your most powerful, positive, influential thoughts.

This allows to tackle:

• Self confidence
• Low self esteem
• Phobias
• Addictions
• Physical ailments
• Trauma
• Emotional imbalance
• Poor memory
• Learning difficulties
• Control issues
• Anger management
• Stress management

N.L.P. can also allow you to simply enjoy accessing your inner mind through symbolic journeying and can be used to improve meditation techniques. 

Simply put, N.L.P. is a self belief system of mind management which teaches you how to take full control of your individual reality in order to bring positive change to your life.

Personal Strategy Plan -step 1

1. Identify the issues
2. Investigate the options
3. Take three positive steps
4. Learn to let go
5. Forgive

Identifying the issues:

So you have realised there are things wrong with your life and you want to change in a positive direction.

Well the good news is that your brain is designed only to process positively so as soon as we can find an anchor point for you you will be on your way.

The first thing is to write down your issues on some paper. Here are some examples.

• My relationship broke up 
• My career path hit a stand still
• My finances are in a mess
• My house needs a lot of work doing to it
• I want to quit smoking

These are five example issues to give you an idea of what I am looking for.

Take these one at a time, then add "Result" and "Cause".

• My relationship broke up - Result: I feel free but worried I may get old and be alone - Cause: I feel that nobody has ever truly loved me, I am unlovable.
• My career path hit a stand still - Result - I am frustrated and angry - Cause: I am not very good at articulating my thoughts and fear confrontation with superiors.
• My finances are in a mess - Result: I have debts I cannot pay and struggle with bills - Cause: I find it difficult to get my head around the paperwork and the figures, I feel lost and out of control.
• My house needs a lot of work doing to it - Result: I am living in a mess - Cause: Finding time and money to do the work is difficult.
• I want to quit smoking - Result: I will feel better in company and save money - Cause: I worry a lot and smoking eases my anxiety.

Now you know what your issues are, what causes them and how they make you feel, we can now deal with them one at a time. Move to Step 2.

Identify the options

You have established what your problems are and the affect they are having on you, now you need to investigate your options of how to resolve them.

Let's follow the example I have laid out:

1. My relationship has broken up and I feel unlovable and lonely.

Options

• Stew in self pity and get depressed, possibly turn to an addiction such as alcohol.
• Disregard possibilities of finding love and decide to live in solitude.
• Brush yourself off and start afresh.

Only ever give yourself three options, groups of three are good and make sense to our minds.

The obvious answer here is to Brush yourself off... so the question becomes,

• Do you have the emotional strength and coping mechanisms to overcome your current state?

The first thing you need to do in any negative situation is learn to relax.

Next: Find your centre

I'm ok You're ok

There is a branch of psychology called Transactional Analysis (TA) which looks at "Life Positions".

It is through examining Life Positions that we can tell what type of personality a person may have. The events of your life teach you how to perceive the world and the people in it. If you have had good experiences you will see the world as good and will say:

"I'm ok and you're ok too" meaning that there are never any real problems, nobody is to blame for things we just need to get to a resolve and move on.

But if you have bad experiences then you are likely to perform from one of the following Life Positions:

"I'm ok but you're not ok" which is to say, whenever things go wrong it is usually someone else's fault, I am usually right in everything and if the world listened to the way I would do things then it would be a better place all round.

"I'm not ok but you're ok" which is to say, whenever things go wrong I am usually to blame, why am I always so silly? When will I ever learn? I wish I were a better person then everything would be alright.

"I'm not ok and you're not ok either" which is to say, things go wrong all the time, life is just too difficult and I can't cope, everything I do turns to crap and the world is crap to live in anyway, I'd be better of ending it all.

Which one of these (and I know it will be one of them, it has to be) best describes your view of life?

I'm ok and your ok. = adult, copes, happy, successful, overcomes problems easily.


I'm ok but you're not ok = bully, aggressive, pushy, bossy, arrogant, difficulty overcoming problems.


I'm not ok but you're ok = victim, passive aggressive, shy, self effacing, justified, hates change.


I'm not ok and you're not either = fanatic, zealot, suicidal, hates change, cannot overcome difficulties.

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