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Chuck’s Place: Existential Encounter And Free Will

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The many shades of will…
-Illustration © 2023 Jan Ketchel

In 1966, Puerto Rican psychiatrist Efren Ramirez, my first therapist and mentor, captured the heart and imagination of New York City when he introduced his singularly unique treatment approach, based on existential principles, as a method to tackle the drug addiction problem ravaging the city.

The fabled success of his addiction treatment programs in Puerto Rico prompted Mayor John Lindsay to offer him carte blanche support to replicate this success in New York.  As a result, Therapeutic Community treatment programs (TCs) soon sprang up throughout the five boroughs of New York City.

Efren’s treatment approach, called The Concept, utilized existential encounter to awaken, within the addict, knowledge of the absolute power of their choices in determining their reality.

Rollo May, noted existential psychiatrist and author, pointed out that, for Ramirez, emphasis on diagnosis, etiology and prognosis actually obstructs and weakens the patient’s ability to gain full access to, and assume responsibility for, the central power of choice in determining the outcome of their lives. (Existential Psychology, 1969 edition)

The ability to assume full responsibility for one’s choices requires existential confrontation with one’s behaviors and attitudes, which brings to consciousness the choices one is already making, though largely at an unconscious level.

Through the enlightenment gained by one’s encounter with the feedback received from others, one becomes fully aware of how one blindly exercises one’s free will in one’s attitudes and behaviors. With this heightened awareness, one’s free will can be more judiciously exercised to the benefit of one’s life.

A generation before, from the heart of the holocaust, existential psychiatrist Victor Frankl observed and experienced that the single most important variable that determined whether one would survive or die in a death camp was the attitude one chose to assume while interned in the most terrifying, horrific and dehumanizing conditions imaginable.

The exercise of will to choose a positive attitude in the midst of a death camp could literally save one’s life. Furthermore, no one and nothing could take away an individual’s free exercise of imagination and will.

Carolyn Elliot, in her recent book, Existential Kink, takes one down the rabbit hole of one’s inner shadow to discover, own, and radically accept one’s unconscious yet willful collusion with the consciously rejected behaviors and habits active in the hidden recesses of one’s shadow.

Elliot stresses that “having is wanting” and that one must accept this in order to encourage one’s existential encounter with the many shades of will active in one’s being. This fuller acceptance of the polarities within the self frees the will to make choices that accommodate the wholeness of self.

The shamans of ancient Mexico sought to galvanize the will to be fully, mindfully present each day by shocking the ego with an existential encounter with death as an advisor.

Stating, each morning, “I am a being who is going to die” awakens the will to a heightened level of unified presence in each moment, as it chooses its attitudes and behaviors throughout the day. This intent of the will treats each moment with an equanimity that is fully prepared to seamlessly transition from this life in full consciousness as well.

Will is the creator of personal reality. Existential encounter with the fullness of self frees the will to responsibly exercise its power from the vantage point of total presence in the current moment. The intent of the will is then materialized through the suggestions one delivers to the subconscious mind.

The subconscious mind is the Mother of creation.
The subconscious mind stores the journey of the soul through all of its  history.
The subconscious mind has total control over the functioning, sensations  and health of the body.
The subconscious mind is the home of the instincts.
The subconscious mind has the knowhow and materials to manifest anything suggested to it.

As powerful as the subconscious is, it is still pure Yin. Yin is completely receptive, the feminine principle/anima, and capable of creating anything, but requires a suggestion to begin operations. Yang, her partner, the masculine principle/animus, is the Will.

Will is the active side of infinity, whose task it is to activate his partner’s creative process via suggestion. With their creative energies in sync, anything is possible. Every one of us is a combination of this divine couple and have the ability to both activate and create.

With consciousness raised through existential encounter, the will is freed to truly transcend the self-deceptive suggestions often made to the subconscious mind that keep one frozen in habitual disappointment.

Will, freed to suggest to the subconscious full healing of self and world, is indeed the necessary and adventurous order of our day.

Heal the self, heal the world,
Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Being Of Two Minds

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Objective and Subjective Minds…
-Illustration © 2023 Jan Ketchel

The science of hypnotism has provided us with utilitarian knowledge of the distinctions between, and synergistic possibilities of, our bicameral mind.

The objective mind is the rational mind of everyday life, essentially the ego. The salient feature of the ego is its ability to exercise free will. Despite all the advice of others, its own prior experiences, or strong instinctive warnings, the ego can change course in a heartbeat and simply do what it wants. Regardless of consequence, the objective mind is free to make its own decisions.

The subjective mind is the subconscious mind. In contrast to the objective mind, the subjective mind can only operate via suggestion. A famous example of its operations would be the medically intuitive readings of Edgar Cayce. Cayce would put himself into trance to gain access to his subjective mind and then a trusted associate would present him with the name of a person seeking treatment, asking what treatment would heal them.

Cayce would then channel an elaborate reading of medical treatments required to heal the patient. In his waking, objective mind state Cayce had no medical training or knowledge, yet his subjective mind could tap into the relevant vast knowledge stored in the etheric layer of the akashic records.

The subjective mind is the mind that links to the collective unconscious,  has access to all evolutionary history, including past lives, and can remote view in many dimensions. The subjective mind is the home of imagination and creativity. When we  doze off, we enter the subjective mind, where the objective mind-thoughts we’d just mulled over instantly generate into full-blown stories, replete with characters and images.

The subjective mind is the energy body proper that is propelled by thought in the form of suggestion. In a dream, we are fully in the subjective mind. If however, in the dream, the objective mind suddenly comes online and we become lucid and state the suggestion, “Fly, now!” Then off we go!

The objective mind and the subjective mind constantly work together. The things the objective mind says to itself are what the subjective mind generates in the body. If we tell ourselves that we are a failure, the subjective mind will generate that story and mood, even changing body chemistry to generate a depression!

As I have pointed out many times, the placebo effect of spontaneous cure from fatal disease is the result of the objective mind suggesting to the subjective mind that it has ingested the cure. The miracle worker subjective mind then refashions the physical body to be totally cured.

Of course, cure reversals can be just as rapid if the objective mind suddenly changes its belief or suggestion, such as: “Oh, it was just a placebo!” This tells the subjective mind to reverse course. Objective mind beliefs are powerful suggestions to the subjective mind.

For duration, the objective mind must either work hard, consciously, to overcome its blocking beliefs, or actually choose to incessantly state beliefs that it doesn’t fully believe yet, but knows will impact the subjective mind, regardless of belief.

A concentrated focus on overcoming blocking beliefs can lead us into recovering the fullness of ourselves, that which was previously lost in the shadow dimension of our being, as well as lead us to the High Spirit center of our Soul.

This contact with, and consolidation of, our total personality—our fuller individuation—can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the objective mind’s power of suggestion to the subconscious.

However, incessant repetition of suggestion, regardless of belief, will also impress itself upon the workings and creations of the subjective mind. Obviously, the fuller the individuation of self, the greater will be the duration of sought after changes, no matter which technique is used.

However, in spite of concerted effort, some changes may not hold, as influences from one’s deeper karmic intent in this life may require further experience with one’s current uncomfortable challenge.

Judge Hatch, who died in physical form, channeled the suggestion, from his soul body in the astral plane, to Elsa Barker in 1913 (Letters From the Afterlife), saying that humans, still in physical form, should strongly intend to fully optimize their objective minds after leaving physical life, to greatly enhance their experience in the afterlife.

He observed many souls in the afterlife and discovered that their preference for the subjective mind, the dreaming/creative mind, helped them to realize their unrealized, unlived dreams from their prior life in human form.

As wonderful as this dreamy, creative fulfillment is, he also observed how much further one could explore in their new plane of existence if they had full access to their volitionally suggestive, objective minds. So, he also suggested that we intend to remember our identity, the fullness of our life just lived, and maintain an active presence of our objective mind in our next chapter, in infinity.

This same guidance applies to all of us currently in human form. We are witnessing the impact of incessant suggestions from political leaders seriously manifesting in many citizens, as they take these suggestions as their marching orders.

To maintain and exercise our objective mind amidst these intense storms of suggestion, secures our freedom of will to choose our own suggestions to our subjective mind, now and going forward.

The best guidance is to practice conscious self-hypnosis, where our objective mind responsibly directs wise and positive growth-oriented suggestions to our subjective mind. This will deliver us to our greater individual fulfillment, as well as our entire world to its greater good.

Bicamerally yours,
Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Talk To Your Avatar

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You are loved…
-Illustration © 2022 Jan Ketchel

Theoretical physicist Tom Campbell likened the relationship between mind and body to that of a video game where mind is the gamer with the controller and the body is its chosen avatar on the screen. This analogy accomplishes two points: 1) Mind exists beyond the brain of the physical body and 2) Mind, at some level, is completely in control of its physical body.

In spiritual terms, mind is Soul, that which exists in its own energy body and lives on after the death of the physical body. The Soul is ever-present  and interactive with its physical avatar yet lives simultaneously in transpersonal dimensions beyond the physical world.

The Soul contains what we identify in psychology as psyche, which includes the ego as the center of the conscious personality, the subconscious mind, which houses the programs that essentially run the physical body, and the unconscious, which includes personal and collective dimensions.

The physical body is so linked to the operations of the subconscious mind  that the two have been identified as synonymous. One need only observe the physical materialization of hypnotic suggestion by a subject in trance to see how powerfully the subconscious controls the body.

Of course, the precise manipulations of a surgeon will greatly shift the movement of the physical body, as will pharmaceutical interventions that alter chemical balance and affect healing of a disease. But, at the most subtle energetic level, where thought meets matter, the subconscious can completely transform the condition of its avatar, the physical body.

This is completely evident in the placebo effect. If we believe a sugar pill will cure us, it will. Belief is a strong suggestion presented to the subconscious mind that produces the expected change. Discovery of this positive effect having been caused by a placebo will often cancel the suggestion to the subconscious and reverses its miraculous effect.

Belief systems restrict the subconscious to stick to pathways that conform to their rules. For this reason, though I am driven to learn and experience, I personally try desperately to avoid any system that insists on its set of facts as the one and only unchanging reality. Infinity is, as I experience it, an endless adventure into ever-deepening paradigm shifts. Best to follow the shaman’s dictum, Suspend Judgment, when approaching any new learning.

Nonetheless, we can operate within the state of our present knowledge, as long as we understand that our facts will ultimately be washed away by future discoveries. Nothing is sacred; nothing is permanent. Hence, we can talk to our avatar and see what happens.

When we do some form of progressive relaxation, we suggest to each body part that it release and let go. As we deepen this practice, we will notice the body lighten to a state of pure energetic relaxation. If we visualize our hands being penetrated by the sun, we will experience our hands getting warmer. In both cases, our suggestions and imagination instruct the subconscious to change the condition in the body.

If we state a healing intent to the body with calm but enduring perseverance, the subconscious may eventually be persuaded to enact the called for change. Again, suspend judgment. Limiting beliefs may impact the flow of our intent, but don’t argue with them; simply let them go. Simply persevere, without attachment to the outcome.

Talk to your avatar in a state of loving kindness. This magnificent vehicle we are granted for our physical lifetime should be loved and cherished. Be accepting of the state of the body, at all times, even if great changes are desired. The subconscious has programs that can compensate for, and override, errant programs. Instruct it with love and clear intent.

Loving the Avatar,
Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Honing Conscious Suggestion

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Locking down & opening up…
– Illustration © 2022 Jan Ketchel

I place my awareness on my calf muscle.  “My left calf muscle is warm,” I state. I notice that a faint warming sensation appears in my left calf muscle.

My thinking mind remains passive; it simply observes. My subconscious mind, however, takes my suggestion as its command and orchestrates the body activity needed to create the sensation of warmth in my calf muscle.

My conscious mind has no clue as to how to create warmth in my calf muscle. Active thinking is limited to abstract thought and reason. In contrast, my subconscious mind holds the keys to the kingdom and can manifest, in some material form, any suggestion presented to it.

For instance, if I actively think the thought, “I can’t hula hoop,” my hips will rigidify and the hoop will hit the floor. In this case, the negative  suggestion to the subconscious is manifested by the body.

Of course, one might protest, quite accurately, that without practice one will be unable to successfully hula hoop. This is true, but once the ability has been achieved, through diligent practice, a trial performance will most likely fail if one negatively thinks, “I can’t do it.”

What we tell ourselves is what we become. What we listen to we become. If I incessantly listen to negative thoughts broadcast from a television station, I will become a negative person. In this case, the thoughts and beliefs I hear expressed become the command to my subconscious mind to generate the emotional body state that creates the negativity of anger, vigilance, and discontent.

Beliefs are highly insulated thoughts. Thus, if we state a suggestion that opposes an ingrained belief we confuse the subconscious mind with opposing commands. In this case, the more exercised and repeated belief is likely the suggestion the subconscious will follow.

For instance, if one holds a deep belief that they are inadequate, the command to the subconscious that “I am competent” may actually manifest as self-doubt and defeat, felt as anxiety and depression. In this case, it is best to acknowledge the underlying belief and perhaps first process experiences that have contributed to that belief, in an effort to neutralize it.

Bob Monroe suggested using an imaginary heavily-lidded box to place one’s negative beliefs in before giving a new suggestion to the subconscious, to allow for an unfettered experiment of exploration. This is akin to a scientist that may not believe something is possible but suspends judgment and submits to legitimate experimental conditions to see what happens.

Thus, for example, one might not believe they can experience their energy body. By placing their doubting mind in their imaginary storage locker, they are free to suggest to the subconscious that they experience the vibratory state connected to their energy body. In this case, with doubt suspended, one becomes open to a new possibility.

So what is the subconscious mind? The subconscious is the mind that used to completely direct the human animal, prior to the birth of human consciousness. When the subconscious ruled, it responded to the world instinctively. All stimuli to the senses evoked evolutionary programs that were automatically selected to respond to a need or challenge. No thinking was involved, simply stimulus and preprogrammed response.

Animals, for instance, know instinctively how to give birth. With the birth of consciousness, humans lost this connection to immediate, direct knowledge, as they added doctors to the birthing experience to attempt to improve on nature’s instinctive programs.

Though our connection to the subconscious is less direct than in the animal world, we are nonetheless afforded the opportunity to volitionally suggest directly to the subconscious in a way not possible for other animals. This is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is, we can manifest a world that functions more efficiently than our evolutionary programming. The curse is that we can manifest a world based on narcissism, which is unsustainable. This, in fact, is the crossroads that we, and our world, currently find ourselves at.

If one aligns one’s suggestions with the truth of one’s heart, one is sure to manifest a world that cares for all beings and is deeply sustainable.

Process limiting beliefs, or put them in the box, while you experiment with the subconscious mind. This is where one might truly experience a world where all things are possible.

Suggesting love,

Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: Animal Magnetism & Human Bondage

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Seek freedom from the web of human bondage…
– Photo by Jan Ketchel

Jan, in a recent communication with  Jeanne, received this essential download: “You and Chuck have learned things about the relationship between the mind and the body that I had not learned while still in human form. I focused more on healing from without and not on the importance of thought and belief within. Had I known that then, my outcome may have been very different. Now, I do know that.”

This blog is dedicated to passing on what we have learned, that those seeking such guidance might profoundly change their lives and the direction of the world.

Animal magnetism is a term coined by Franz Mesmer to explain the mental influence exerted upon a body to shape it and attract to it the object of its intent. Animal has its root in the word anima, which implies a soul body that breathes, thus a sentient being that has life. Animal, then, designates a living, breathing physical body.

Magnetism is an energetic force that influences the structure and organization of a body through the power of what it attracts to it.  That power emanates from the mind. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word became flesh,” begins John’s gospel. The mind produces the Word, which attracts to it the matter that creates the flesh it inhabits.

We become what we think. Our thoughts and beliefs are the primary suggestions delivered to the subconscious mind, the part of the soul body where the blueprint of mental suggestion is transformed into physical reality.

The shamans of ancient Mexico called this meeting place of mind and matter the assemblage point, where energy is molded into specific forms. Thus, the human form is a solid physical configuration of energy, an energetic alternative, among others, for human beings.

Don Juan Matus called human beings Magical Beings, due to their innate ability to exist simultaneously as both physical beings and energetic beings. Unfortunately, most human beings have forgotten and lost access to their energetic potential. They only know themselves as beings frozen in their ways, creatures of habit. As Carlos Castaneda put it, “Our wings have been clipped.”

This loss of freedom is human bondage. Human represents our classification as people in a physical body. Bondage has its root in bond, which means to confine, to dwell in a fixed state. Human bondage is thus a fixed confinement of our energetic potential into a solid physical mold, with limited awareness of options beyond its current fixation. Fixation represents the beliefs we attach to, which become molded into how we know ourselves and the world we live in.

What maintains this fixation of the assemblage point, in its generation of our rigid selves and the physical world we know, is the power of intent. Intent is energetically comprised of our thoughts and beliefs, the words we tell ourselves that become the automatic internal dialogue that suggests constantly to the subconscious the very definitions of what we are and how we are to manifest.

I am and become what I believe. The words I use to know and describe myself are the instructions delivered to the subconscious to fashion my existence. Typically, those instructions come from unchecked default programs unconsciously transmitted through genetics, instincts, and the humanly nuanced archetypes of the collective unconscious. Nobody has to think to breathe, the subconscious automatically runs that program.

Other programs are derived from suggestions internalized through socialization and the course of human development. Jeanne realized that from the first moment she received her cancer diagnosis, she believed she was going to die. Despite her heroic cancer journey, as detailed in The Book of Us*, she never fully overturned this strong suggestion to her subconscious mind. As mentioned in the opening paragraph of this blog, she has since learned the vital importance of reprograming and reshaping our ingrained beliefs if we are to change our lives.

Though extreme in her dogma, Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, suggested that human beings cannot be ill, as a physical body is merely an illusion. Like the shamans of ancient Mexico, she encouraged people to return to their energetic essence.

To apply animal magnetism to the state of our human bondage is to assume conscious control of our intent. The materialistic dominance of our consensus reality is what gives rise to our sense of helplessness in the face of our current planetary apocalypse. This condition is aptly diagnosed by the title of a book that Jung wrote long ago: Modern Man in Search of a Soul.

To retrieve the Soul one needn’t take a hallucinatory shamanic journey. To retrieve the Soul one need merely take back the power of the mind, which is held in the prison of limiting materialistic beliefs. “Yes!”  Don Juan Matus emphasized to Carlos Castaneda, “We are solid physical beings, but we are energetic beings first.”

Physical reality exists. Modern medicine can offer a cure. But beyond our human form is the mind of the Soul, whose energetic intent, expressed in words and beliefs, can work miracles. This is the power of placebo, and the power of thousands of faith healings at Lourdes.

As mothers often say to their children, “Use your words!” In a state of true faith—a hypothesis without prejudice—use your words to suggest to the subconscious that which you would become. Use your animal magnetism to overcome human bondage. See what happens!

INTENT,

Chuck

*A new version of The Book of Us, on the 20th anniversary of Jeanne’s entry into the afterlife, is scheduled for release in December 2021.