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Chuck’s Place: The Good & Bad Of Habit

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-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

From a biological point of view, a habit is a well-connected cluster of brain cells (neurons) that form a circuit that, when turned on, directs the body and mind to automatically behave in a certain way. Many habits are inherited through the arrangement of genes in our DNA, and many are formed epigenetically, as we learn new things post-birth.

A distinguishing characteristic of a habit is that it operates outside of consciousness. Our body is frequently prompted to perform habits while the attention of our conscious mind is far away, in thought. Think about driving and suddenly noticing that you have arrived at your destination with little memory of the journey.

Habits are housed in the subconscious mind, which pairs the suggestions it receives through sensory triggers with its storehouse of habitual responses. The subconscious largely runs all the systems of our body independently of our awareness.

Habits are the building blocks of our identity. When we awaken from our night sea journey of sleep, we are quickly swept away from dreamland and placed into the familiar story of who  we are in waking life. Thoughts of our upcoming day become the triggers of our mental habits that tell us who we are.

“What is the time? Oh, I always wake up late, I never give myself enough time (depressed feeling). I won’t have time to eat (sad). I’ll grab a coffee at the gas station because, of course, I didn’t fill up yesterday because I was lazy, as usual (defeated). Oh! I have that meeting today; I hate presenting (anxiety). I feel so judged by my peers, especially by her, Miss Perfect (failure). I hate this job, but I’m stuck (not good enough)…”

We think about 60,000 thoughts a day, 90% of which are habitual. This string of thought-triggers, that begins upon awakening, becomes a nonstop internal dialogue that solidifies our sense of who we are, providing us with our familiar identity. Whether we like ourselves or not, we find comfort in the secure grounding and dependability of our habitual definition and feeling of self.

The good news, from a neurological point of view, is neuroplasticity, the capacity of the brain to establish new neural networks, and consequently, new habits. New thoughts can be consciously chosen, which, when repetitively stated and imbued with imagination and emotion, provoke the subconscious to manifest a new identity and a new physical reality.  (See link below.)

The brain treats our thoughts as actual reality. When we imagine something in our minds, the brain creates new circuits of neurons and chemical reactions that build new physical structures and emotions in the body, in accordance with the model we mentally create. When the mind rehearses its desired future, the brain builds the structures to make it physically happen.

The challenge to suggesting new thoughts to the subconscious, as Dr. Joe Dispenza points out, is that we must allow ourselves to be uncomfortable with change. Our attachment to the comfort of our familiar, known, habitual self generates defenses to protect its prior habitually-established neurocircuitry.

Subjectively, this is experienced as doubt and lack of faith in the ability to truly transform the self, mentally and physically. The tendency is to continue to place emphasis on the known, reinforcing the hegemony of the old circuitry. As Christ pointed out, without faith there are no miracles. He was not talking about faith in him but faith in the ability of the self to truly transform. That’s the suggestion necessary to get the attention of the subconscious.

The nuts and bolts of transformation is rote practice, continued over time. Say something enough times with passion, while imagining it, and it will come to pass. That’s exactly how the inner dialogue already works: we become what we think. If we take conscious control of directing our thoughts, we change our brain and we change who we are.

The challenge is both perseverance and a willingness to live in the discomfort of a fluid rather than a fixed identity. To grow, in its fullest potentiality, is to arrive at the perspective of all that is, better known as, the ultimate experience of cosmic oneness.

At the gross motor level of the physical body, the shamans of ancient Mexico used not-doings to break the fixation of habitual behavior, awakening consciousness to be able to choose new behaviors. A not-doing might be to change your bedtime every night or to wear mismatched socks during the day. Spontaneous decisions, like breaking into singing and dancing or choosing a different turn while driving, disrupt habit and awaken consciousness.

Life in Earth School paradoxically requires us to establish a uniformity of identity through a habitual self to feel safe and grounded, yet it also insists that we constantly break old habits of self in order to grow.

Life in Graduate Earth School asks us to wake up and be the rising sun each morning, like the phoenix burning off the habitual self of just yesterday, as we journey further into the adventure and discomfort of the unknown in a new day.

Nothing can ever stay the same. Habits are all temporary perches from which to observe and discover infinity. Enjoy them, learn from them, but don’t get too attached, as more of infinity awaits!

Not Doing,
Chuck

Sharing a good meditation to support a changing self, created by Dr. Joe Dispenza. I suggest listening to it in its entirety, many times, for the fullest experience.
You are the Placebo-Guided Meditation

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Establish A New Major Premise Of Being

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Any day is a good day to start anew…
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

The subconscious totally accepts and manifests the beliefs of the conscious mind. If we believe we are a good person, the subconscious manifests that belief in the positive emotions we feel toward ourselves and the kinds of people and positive opportunities that are drawn to us in daily life.

Carlos Castaneda lamented the impact of negative conditioning upon the vulnerable psyche of the child, who absorbs, without any available means to fend off, the words and beliefs of its caretakers. According to the shamans of ancient Mexico, these internalized elemental beliefs are assembled and fixated at a point of consciousness, aptly called the assemblage point, that orients our perception and interpretation of ourselves in both inner and outer reality.

Internalizing the theme of being bad in childhood can pervasively fixate our assemblage point upon this belief, such that it serves as our basic premise of self throughout all of life.

The fixation of the assemblage point is so rigid that shamans have for centuries used psychedelics to allow their habitual fixation of the assemblage point to be temporarily suspended, freeing up their ability to journey deeper into their human potential.

This form of soul exploration, or retrieval, is not without its risks, as the shattering of ego consciousness by a psychedelic can lead to difficulty in fully returning to the consciousness of everyday life, or hamper the integration of  knowledge gained in heightened awareness with ordinary reality.

Carlos Castaneda recommended alternative methods of exploration that allow the grounding and reasoning abilities of the ego to support deeper exploration and positive integration, enabling one to establish a new, positive position of the assemblage point.

Intentional autosuggestion provides a powerful interaction with the creative powers of the subconscious mind that can greatly enhance the realization of our innate potential. By consciously establishing a new basic premise as a suggestion to the subconscious mind, we can fundamentally shift our experience of self and world.

Though the subconscious does not engage in rational thinking, it powerfully accepts a basic premise presented to it by the conscious reasoning mind as fact, and rationally goes about demonstrating the truth of that premise in its manifestations based upon it. The premise is the seed planted in the fertile soil of the subconscious.

The action, or law of attraction, exercised by the subconscious, is to draw to it from the soil the vital nutrients needed for it to grow into physical beingness, as solid proof of the validity of the major premise planted in its soil. This fertile soil is the divine energy and infinite intelligence the subconscious attracts as it fashions, in physical form, the intent of consciousness.

Thus, if your new major premise states that “by day and by night the infinite intelligence of my subconscious mind guides, directs and prospers me spiritually, mentally, physically and materially,” abundant change, in accordance with this suggestion, will begin to materialize in your life.

Notice that this intention does not try to engage, overturn, or argue with a negative habitual premise, such as, “I am bad and unworthy.” Any such thought activity places attention upon the older habitual position of the assemblage point, which draws the subconscious back to that fixation, and, hence, to that old state of being.

To the contrary, recitation of this new basic premise causes the soul, through the attractive power of the subconscious, to pave new neuropathways in the brain, releasing hormones and neurotransmitters that generate the emotions and sense of self intended by the autosuggestion.

This divine intelligence also draws people, circumstances and opportunities into our life that further its manifestation in the material reality of life. We begin to notice these changes in mood and energy level, as well as in events that occur in the physical self, in career and social life. As we take notice of these changes, our faith in the power of the subconscious deepens, which in turn intensifies the realization of the autosuggestion on all levels of being.

Though we may occasionally (or often!) find ourselves suddenly shifting to an older habitual position of the assemblage point, the trick is to not engage it but to quickly state our new basic premise. The word truly does become the flesh.

Remember, we arrived at our early basic premise of self through the constant repetition of words spoken to us. To shift to a new basic premise of self, we must constantly saturate ourselves with the words of our new basic premise.

As always, no attachment to the outcome. Only the subconscious mind knows how to truly attract what is needed. Just keep reminding it of your new basic premise. State it, let go, and let the magic materialize.

By day and by night, prosperity,
Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: It’s All In What You Emphasize

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The nagual shaman, don Juan Matus, explained to his apprentice, Carlos Castaneda, that yes, the solid object reality we live in is indeed real, but, it is energy first. Our thoughts, which are interpretations of energy, manifest our physical reality.

What we manifest is real, but the broader truth is that all manifested realities are but an interpretation of infinite energy. Like the Hindu image of the cosmic ocean, the wave is but the manifested surface that appears, and then disappears, back into its underlying cosmic oneness.

From the Thoth Tarot deck of Aliester Crowley

Aleister Crowley, in discussing the Three of Swords, in his Thoth tarot deck, states that the extreme sorrow of this card can be likened to the Buddha’s initial stage of enlightenment when he encountered the pure potential of unmanifested reality: no forms, no reason.

Despite the bliss of this pure clarity, there is the necessary sorrow of releasing attachment to the familiar. Here, one is challenged to surrender to a  consciousness greater than one’s current manifestation.

It all begins in the mind. Outer reflects inner. It’s all in what one chooses to emphasize. Negative thought is certainly an option; it’s just as real an option as a positive thought—divinity includes everything.

Everything is possible, but the paradox is that to realize this truth we must be willing to let go of our cherished beliefs, which are fixations of energy that block the natural flow of energy needed to manifest desired change. The struggle is indeed one of submitting to enlightened sorrow, the necessary crossroad that accompanies moving beyond the familiar habitual self.

Take for instance a desired physical change in the body. One may state a healing intent of change but is constantly assaulted by the feedback of sensory evidence that contradicts one’s stated suggestion to their subconscious mind. This sensory feedback loop becomes its own internal dialogue that presents a more powerful counter-intention to the subconscious mind.

The technology of change, through the use of autosuggestion, insists that one emphasize repeatedly that their desired change is already accomplished. The seed has been planted in the divine substance of the subconscious mind and its full manifestation cannot be stopped, despite the presence of a solid sensory artifact, rooted in a prior interpretation of energy.

I suggest resting the body so that the subconscious mind, relieved of its physical oversight responsibilities, might clearly receive its new directive and move toward manifestation. With presence and passion, repeat the stated intention. Be bold, no hesitation, thy will is done.

At other times, be willing to suffer those moments of fear and sorrow when one glimpses the real possibility of letting go of the cherished limited self. Yes, you are chosen; you have chosen to emphasize the red pill: the life-changing, often painful truth beyond the current fixation of solid energy.

From the Thoth Tarot deck of Aliester Crowley

Of course, when the gig is up, the gig is up. In another card of Crowley’s Thoth tarot deck, the Three of Cups, we find the near perfect realization of the manifested intent of abundance. The presence of pomegranate seeds in the cups, though symbolic of abundance, also recall Persephone’s required stay in the underworld for six months of the year with her husband Pluto, god of the dead.

We cannot escape the expiration date located in the small print of every manifestation. Life insists upon growth, which always requires the letting go of the known.

This recalls the Buddha’s suggestion that life is suffering. Everything that we attach to ultimately limits our growth. But that sorrow can be sweet when we embrace love for all in this adventure of forever. One always has the choice to emphasize love and let it fully manifest.

With love,
Chuck

Chuck's Blog

Chuck’s Place: Watch My Words

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Carrying a lot of extra words around?
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

Thought is the first cause of manifestation. Words are the currency of thought. The words we use create our realities.

Take for example the use of the word my. It’s quite typical for people to refer to a physical condition, such as a migraine headache or cancer as my headache or my cancer when discussing their status.

Though logically it makes sense to refer to a condition one is grappling with as my ________,  on a subtle level the use of this possessive adjective grants the condition full citizenship in the physical body. Every time we use the word my we suggest to the subconscious mind that the condition being identified exists in and is a part of me.

Of course, a diagnosis, deemed essential for proper treatment, requires a distinctive name, but once we put the word my in front of it, we plant it as a seed in the fertile soil of the creative substance in the subconscious mind, the very substance that creates and manifests life.

Inadvertently, through the use of the word my, we may be sending suggestions to the subconscious mind that substantiate the very condition we are seeking to eliminate. From an internal family system perspective, the word my can generate an entity that is entitled, because of its my-ness, to be part of one’s internal family. We might then actually feel powerless to insist that it leave us.

An alternative, which bypasses this conundrum, would be to acknowledge the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment one is working with without claiming personal ownership of it through the use of the word my. For example, one might speak in this manner: “Sometimes I experience headaches that have been diagnosed as migraines. This is the treatment I’m involved with to eliminate the issue.”

Another common misuse of the word my is in the oft-stated phrase, my triggers. The phrase my trigger grants a trigger legitimate entity status and permanent residence in one’s personality. Triggers should actually be treated as transient experiences that reveal the existence of root issues that need to be processed.

The processing of a trigger means to fully neutralize its negative effect upon one’s life. When we say, my trigger, we send the message to the subconscious mind that this is a powerful and permanent condition that must be avoided at all costs. This also results in the expectation that other people take responsibility to both know and avoid provoking these hidden bombs that we house but seek to avoid.

The antidote is to assume responsibility when triggered. Often this requires one to retreat, release activated emotional energy, and then process the root issue that has come to the surface. Triggers should be thanked for their guidance as we track the true culprit of our discontent.

Saying thank you is a powerful way to gain the support and influence of the subconscious mind. Triggers are actually present associations to established habits that the subconscious activates, as per the instructions it receives from established beliefs and suggestions.

By thanking the subconscious for the trigger that enables us to root out its cause, we warmly engage our inner partner, the subconscious mind, in the task of reclaiming our defensive energy and releasing entities we have created to avoid uncomfortable issues.

Thank the subconscious often for its tireless efforts to create the self we ask it to be. For best results, may that intended self reflect the truth of the heart.

Thank you,
Chuck

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Chuck’s Place: The Law Of Mind

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Thought creates reality…
-Artwork © 2024 Jan Ketchel

Carlos Castaneda was emphatic that human beings are magical beings. His greatest lament was how the power of negative suggestion veiled our awareness of our true power of creation. The irony is that we cluelessly exercise and partake in this divine power every day to generate a limited, disgruntled sense of self.

What Carlos recognized as magical is the human power of mind to intend  and physically manifest as a creator. The human species truly is the Chosen One,  endowed with a divine ability to freely create.

The laws of nature rule the subconscious minds of all beings in nature. Only the human mind can override nature’s instinctual promptings and create what it wants. Whether we are aware of it or not, the suggestions we deliver, or allow to be delivered, to our subconscious minds, create the life we are in.

What distinguishes the human mind is its conscious capacity to think, and with that, its ability to choose. The human mind has this added layer of a conscious mind that has a controlling influence upon the subconscious mind, the mind that it shares with all of nature.

Animals follow fixed patterns. I knew a master hunter who stopped hunting because the fixed regularity of paths that deer travelled gave hunters a ridiculously unfair advantage. I observe how deer around our house continuously munch on the same trees and plants, despite the fact that lush vegetation is available but a few feet from their established routine.

The conscious mind is a mind that can observe, reason, and change direction. The subconscious mind is the mind of creation. These two minds are symbiotically bound to each other. The conscious mind is charged with providing responsible leadership to the subconscious mind, which fulfills, without judgment, its suggestions.

Human infants are born with subconscious instincts intact but with a blank-slate conscious mind. The conscious mind builds an identity over time, largely based upon outside influences. For instance, an infant that sleeps through the night without disturbing its parents might be hailed as a ‘good baby.’ This feedback of goodness for non-disturbing behavior may then become a major conditioning factor in the child’s personality.

The conscious personality is filled to the brim with such internalized foundational beliefs about itself that become self-fulfilling prophecies. The beliefs are suggestions to the subconscious mind, which then builds a physical, mental, and emotional definition of itself that fulfills the conscious mind’s thoughts about itself.

Understand that the subconscious is not a thinking mind; it does not judge the quality or truthfulness of the suggestions it is compelled to fulfill. The subconscious is solely a creator, who has the divine ability to transmute thought into physical being. It accepts all suggestions impressed upon it with equanimity. It is the responsibility of the conscious mind to determine what is truth and to suggest right action.

The process of freeing the conscious mind from its attachment to false and negative beliefs is fundamental to desired change. Many technologies provide tools to accomplish this.  Ancient shamanic practices employ the shaman to cut the cord to internalized outside influences. Psychedelics burst through the shallow province of the conscious mind to introduce other worlds of possibility. Inner parts work utilizes active imagination and communication with inner parts to  loosen the hold of their defenses and limiting beliefs.

The oldest and simplest technique is borrowed from the first one employed to shape our personalities, from birth onward: rote memorization. The phrases that were used, often laced with emotion, to tell us we were good or bad, worthy or unworthy, capable or incapable, lovable or unlovable—whether they had merit or not—shaped our concept of self.

Those same messages of childhood, true or not, have often been transmuted into our core identity, as experienced in habitual modes of thinking, feeling, and believing.

We can approach embodying a new identity in stages. If, for instance, one has no faith in the power of their subconscious to heal, they can repeatedly state, several times a day: “I have faith in the power of my subconscious to heal me.” This suggestion affords the subconscious the directive to assemble experiences that will enable one to embody the feeling of faith.

Once this suggestion is manifested, one can voice a new suggestion to direct the healing capacity of the subconscious to a specific mental or physical concern, with full confidence that the subconscious mind is being directly and successfully impressed.

Suggestions should be stated rotely and repeatedly. Bring presence and enthusiasm to each repetition but, most importantly, keep stating your intentions incessantly throughout the day and before sleep.

Take a cue from the internal dialogue that never shuts up! Let your new, positive, healing suggestions become your new inner dialogue.

Just do it!
Chuck