Conquering fear is how you win at everything, actually.   That’s because most forms of fear are irrational, limiting, self-defeating and anchor you where you are thus holding you back from where you want to be and who you want to be.

We need to keep healthy fear and kick all the rest to the curb.  More about that below.

Conquering Fear: A Mystical Inner Science for Reclaiming Personal Power

Fear is one of the most misunderstood forces in human experience. It is often treated as an enemy to be defeated or a weakness to be hidden. Yet from a deeper, more mystical perspective, fear is neither good nor bad. It is information—a signal arising within consciousness, waiting to be understood.

At ESP Lab, we explore fear not as a flaw in the human system, but as a doorway. When approached with awareness, fear becomes an invitation to reclaim personal power, sharpen inner perception, and move beyond limitation.

Conquering fear does not mean erasing it. It means learning how to stand steady in its presence and push past that veil if it’s in the way of what you want.

Fear as an Energy Pattern, Not a Truth

Fear does not originate in reality—it arises in interpretation. It is an energetic response to imagined futures, unresolved memories, and conditioned beliefs. The body reacts first, sending sensations of contraction, tension, or alertness. Only afterward does the mind attach meaning and story.

This is why fear feels so convincing and why conquering fear can be so challenging.

From a mystical perspective, fear is an energetic ripple in consciousness, not a command. When you identify with the ripple, fear grows. When you observe it, fear dissolves.

Awareness weakens fear because fear depends on unconscious participation.

The Hidden Cost of Unexamined Fear

When fear goes unexamined, it quietly shapes identity. People begin to define themselves by what they avoid rather than what they pursue. Over time, fear masquerades as logic, caution, or practicality.

It often sounds like:

• “This just isn’t the right time.”
• “I should wait until I feel ready.”
• “Getting promoted to senior management just isn’t realistic for me so I won’t bother.”
• ”She might laugh at me if I ask her out so I’ll play it safe and not even try.”

But fear that governs choices slowly contracts life. The cost is not immediate—it appears later as regret, stagnation, or a persistent sense that one’s potential remains untapped.  That’s why conquering fear isn’t a “should” it’s a MUST.

By the way – The last two on the above list are from my personal experiences.  I swung for the fences and joined the ranks of corporate America as a regional vice president (eastern region) AND divisional vice president (education, government, institutional sales) which opened the door to a lifestyle I previously believed was impossible for me.   The girl turned me down with an amusing look on her face. It was on the B44 city bus when I was in 11th grade.  A few short years later I was dating gorgeous goddesses who sometimes competed for me…. In retrospect Karen’s rejection with a smirk on that city bus led to bigger and better things as they so often do.

You can’t win ‘em all but you can’t win anything without conquering fear that may be holding you back from even trying.

Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most. – Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

Consciousness Is Larger Than Fear

One of the most powerful realizations in inner science is this: you are not your fear.

Fear arises within consciousness, but consciousness itself remains untouched. When this distinction is experienced—not merely understood intellectually—fear loses its authority.

In mystical traditions and modern consciousness research alike, the same insight appears again and again:

What you observe cannot control you.

By shifting from identification to observation, fear becomes something you experience, not something you are.  Your experience will help you in conquering fear.

Courage as Alignment, Not Force

Courage is often mistaken for forceful confidence. In truth, courage is alignment. It is the quiet decision to act from inner clarity rather than emotional contraction.

Continuous courage is continually conquering fear.

Courage does not require the absence of fear. It requires presence.

When action flows from inner alignment—values, intention, awareness—fear no longer dictates outcomes. It may still arise, but it no longer decides. You do.

You make things happen.

Do this often enough and you will never have any fear again except, perhaps,  healthy fear. Healthy fear is allowed.  More about that below.

Conquering Fear Crosses the Threshold of Expansion

Across mystical systems, fear consistently appears at points of transition. Before growth, before insight, before transformation—fear emerges.

This is not coincidence.

Fear marks the edge of the known. Beyond it lies expanded perception, resilience, and self-trust. When you meet fear consciously, it becomes a threshold rather than a barrier.

Practical Inner Practices for Conquering Fear

1. Name the Fear Without Story

Fear loses power when stripped of narrative. Name the sensation. Name the imagined outcome. Avoid dramatization. Precision dissolves exaggeration.

2. Return to the Observer

Shift attention from the fear to the awareness noticing it. This subtle redirection restores inner authority.

3. Act in Small Resonant Steps

Transformation occurs through integration, not force. Gentle, consistent action retrains both mind and nervous system.

4. Use Breath to Signal Safety

Slow breathing communicates safety to the body. A calm body allows higher perception to emerge.

Guided Visualization: Dissolving Fear Through Inner Light

Use this practice whenever fear feels overwhelming or if conquering fear seems impossible.

Begin by sitting comfortably. Close your eyes.

Take a slow breath in through the nose… and exhale gently through the mouth.

Bring your attention inward.

Now imagine fear as a shape or sensation within your body. Do not judge it. Simply notice where it resides.

Next, imagine a soft, luminous light above your head—calm, intelligent, steady. This light represents awareness itself.

With each breath, allow the light to slowly descend through the crown of your head, moving gently toward the area where fear is felt.

Do not force the light. Let it arrive naturally.

As the light meets the fear, notice what happens. You may sense warmth, expansion, or softening. Allow the fear to dissolve into the light, like mist in sunlight.

Remain here for several breaths.

Finally, affirm out loud in a voice of calm confidence:

“I am larger than fear. I move forward in awareness. I am free of fear. I am conquering fear. Fear has no power over me.  *I* am the power!”

When ready, gently open your eyes.

If you liked this exercise you should take a deep dive with Al Manning’s Light Course

Living Beyond Fear, From Inner Authority

Conquering fear is not a one-time event. It is a relationship with awareness. Each time you choose presence over panic, alignment over avoidance, and consciousness over conditioning, fear loosens its grip.

Our doubts are traitors
And makes us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt.

–Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, 1.4.85

For more tools and techniques on conquering fear check out what Tony Robbins has to say.

When Conquering Fear, Keep Healthy Fear

Healthy fear is fear that protects, informs, and sharpens awareness—without controlling your life.

It is fundamentally different from chronic anxiety, imagined fear, or conditioned fear.

Here’s a clear, grounded way to understand it.

What Healthy Fear Is

Healthy fear is a biological and intuitive signal that:

• Alerts you to real danger
• Improves focus and reaction time
• Encourages caution without paralysis
• Disappears once the threat is gone

It is situational, temporary, and proportional.

Examples:

• Stepping back from a cliff edge
• Avoiding a dangerous person or situation
• Slowing down when conditions are risky
• Trusting a strong gut warning without panic

Healthy fear says: “Pay attention.”

Unhealthy fear says: “Stop living.”  That’s our target in conquering fear.

What Healthy Fear Is NOT

Healthy fear is not:

• Persistent dread
• Catastrophic thinking
• Avoidance of growth or opportunity
• Fear based on imagined futures
• Fear tied to identity (“I’m just a fearful person”)

If fear lingers after the threat is gone, expands without evidence, or prevents action altogether, it is no longer healthy.

Healthy Fear vs. Unhealthy Fear (Quick Comparison)

The Role of Healthy Fear in Human Evolution

Healthy fear is ancient. It evolved to:

• Protect life
• Preserve energy
• Signal environmental danger

It activates the nervous system briefly, then releases it.

Modern problems arise because the same system is triggered by:

• Social judgment
• Financial uncertainty
• Emotional risk
• Past trauma
• Conditioned beliefs

The system fires—but the danger isn’t real or immediate.

Healthy Fear as an Inner Compass

From a consciousness and inner-science perspective, healthy fear often overlaps with intuition.

Key distinction:

• Healthy fear feels clear and calm, even if urgent
• Unhealthy fear feels noisy, emotional, and looping

Intuition warns once.

Anxiety repeats itself endlessly.

When fear comes with clarity and stillness, it’s often protective insight—not panic.

How to Tell If Fear Is Healthy (3 Questions)

Ask yourself:

1. Is there an immediate, real threat right now?
2. Does this fear call for a specific action or adjustment?
3. Does the fear subside once I address the situation?

If yes → likely healthy fear.

If no → you’re dealing with conditioned or imagined fear.

What Healthy Fear Sounds Like Internally

• “Slow down.”
• “Check this more carefully.”
• “Something here isn’t aligned.”
• “Pause and reassess.”

What it does not sound like:

• “Everything will go wrong.”
• “I can’t handle this.”
• “I must avoid this forever.”

Why Healthy Fear Matters

Without healthy fear:

• People take reckless risks
• Boundaries dissolve
• Intuition is ignored
• Safety signals are overridden

The goal is not fearlessness.

The goal is discernment so you can know if you should be conquering fear or embracing it.

Healthy fear works with awareness, not against it.

Integrating Healthy Fear (Practical Tip)

When fear arises:

1. Pause your reaction
2. Feel the sensation without story
3. Ask: “What is this asking me to notice?”
4. Take measured, conscious action

This keeps fear functional—not dominant.

Final Insight

Healthy fear is a guardian, not a jailer.

It protects life, sharpens perception, and then steps aside.

When fear stays too long, grows too loud, or begins deciding your future—it has crossed the line.

Learn to listen to fear without obeying it blindly.

That is wisdom.

Do what you fear most and you control fear. – Tom Hopkins

A Life Guided by Fear is Reactive.

A life guided by awareness is intentional.

At ESP Lab, we view conquering fear as something essential to realize your full potential. Fear is something to outgrow—through perception, practice, and inner mastery.

And winning. Lots and lots of victories. At ESP Lab winning is the name of the game.

When fear no longer governs your choices, what remains is clarity.

And clarity is power.

Become an ESP Lab member and start growing your personal power like you never have before.

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As topics go, contacting spirit guides is at or near the top of the list when it comes to spiritual growth, the occult, etc.  Al Manning assembled the ESP Lab spirit band and had spirit parties. Napoleon Hill conducted his own cabinet meetings with his imaginary council consisting of some of the greatest figures from the worlds of science, mathematics, business, politics, etc. including Henry Ford, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Carnegie, Aristotle, Socrates, Thomas Edison among many others.  As Mr. Hill put it, his cabinet meetings had as many as 50 attendees in his imaginary meetings. leading to himself acquiring/learning/discovering everything he needed and wanted. (See Think and Grow Rich, Chapter Fourteen “The Sixth Sense.)

MAN’S ONLY LIMITATION, within reason, LIES IN HIS DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF HIS IMAGINATION. – Napoleon Hill

The ESP Lab Spirit Guides Have a New Member

This is the perfect place and time to announce that Ozzy Osbourne has been inducted into The ESP Land Band.  I’ve been thinking about this for a while and it was codified unanimously at the inaugural meeting of ESP Lab’s Executive Advisory Board on October 21st, 2025.

Al Manning’s spirit guides, affectionately referred to as The ESP Lab Spirit Band, is far smaller than Mr.Hill’s council but runs along the same lines. The single best out of all Al Manning Books in introducing you to spirit guides is Helping Yourself with Real Spirit Contact.

Read both books and you will be startled by the polar-opposite writing styles in educating the reader on the exact same subject: The untapped and often overlooked power of the imagination.

If you were expecting something else on the subject of Spirit Guides, I won’t disappoint you…

Understanding Spirit Guides: Connecting With the Invisible Helpers of Your Soul

In every culture and across countless spiritual traditions, there exists the belief that we are not alone. Beyond the visible world, many say there are benevolent beings—Spirit Guides—who walk with us through life, offering wisdom, comfort, and subtle nudges toward our highest potential. Whether you call them guardian angels, ancestors, or higher beings, spirit guides represent an intimate connection between the material and spiritual dimensions of existence.

What Are Spirit Guides?

Spirit guides are spiritual entities that assist, protect, and guide human beings on their life journey. They are said to exist on higher vibrational planes and communicate with us in nonphysical ways—through intuition, dreams, synchronicities, or signs in daily life. Unlike religious deities or worshipped gods, spirit guides do not demand devotion or ritual sacrifice; their purpose is to support and empower your soul’s growth.

Different spiritual traditions describe these helpers in different ways:

• In Native American spirituality, guides may appear as animal spirits—totems that embody certain traits or lessons.
• In Western esotericism, they might be seen as ascended masters or guardian spirits.
• In Eastern philosophies, they can take the form of enlightened ancestors or bodhisattvas aiding those on the path of awakening.

No matter the name or image, the essence is the same: they are compassionate beings who want to see you evolve and thrive.

Types of Spirit Guides

While everyone’s spiritual team is unique, spirit guides generally fall into a few broad categories:

1. Guardian Guides

These are your closest allies—beings who have been with you since birth (and possibly across lifetimes). Their main role is protection and direction. Guardian guides may intervene in moments of danger or crisis, helping you avoid harm or make crucial life decisions. You can think of them as your lifelong spiritual companions.

2. Ancestral Guides

These guides are spirits of your lineage—family members or ancestors who have passed on but remain connected through the bonds of blood and spirit. They may guide you through challenges your family has faced for generations, helping you heal ancestral patterns and reclaim inherited wisdom.

3. Teacher Guides

Teacher guides often step in when you’re ready to learn something new—spiritually or intellectually. They can be ascended masters, enlightened beings, or simply wise souls dedicated to teaching specific lessons. Their guidance is often subtle, appearing as insights, inspiration, or sudden clarity about complex issues.

4. Animal Spirit Guides

Also known as power animals or totem spirits, these guides appear in the form of animals whose characteristics hold symbolic meaning for your journey. For instance, a wolf may represent intuition and loyalty, while an eagle symbolizes higher vision and spiritual awareness.

5. Interdimensional or Cosmic Guides

These beings are associated with higher realms—sometimes perceived as angels, star beings, or energies from other dimensions. Their presence can bring advanced insight, deep peace, and heightened awareness of the interconnectedness of all existence.

How Spirit Guides Communicate

Spirit guides rarely appear as voices in your head or full-bodied apparitions (though some sensitive individuals may perceive them that way). More often, they communicate through intuition, patterns, and symbols. Recognizing their messages requires awareness, openness, and trust in subtle perception.

Here are some common ways spirit guides communicate:

• Intuitive nudges: A quiet inner knowing or sudden feeling that you should take or avoid a certain path.
• Dreams: Many guides use the dream state to bypass the rational mind, sending messages through imagery and emotion.
• Synchronicities: Meaningful coincidences that seem too perfectly timed to be random—these often mark your guide’s influence.
• Signs and symbols: Feathers, repeating numbers (like 11:11), songs, or phrases that appear at significant moments.
• Inner dialogue: Sometimes you might sense a “conversation” with a loving, wise voice that feels distinct from your own thoughts.

The more you acknowledge these signs, the more frequently they appear. It’s as if your guides respond to your attention by strengthening their signal.

Connecting With Your Spirit Guides

Establishing a conscious connection with your spirit guides doesn’t require elaborate rituals. What matters most is intention, receptivity, and consistency. Here are some practices to help you open that channel:

1. Meditation and Quiet Reflection

Silence is the language of spirit. Regular meditation allows your mind to settle so subtle guidance can surface. Before you begin, set an intention such as, “I open myself to loving guidance from my spirit team.” Then, simply listen.

2. Journaling

Automatic or intuitive writing can be a powerful way to communicate with guides. Write a question at the top of a page—something like “What do I need to know today?”—then allow your hand to move freely. You may be surprised by the gentle, wise tone that flows through.

3. Dream Work

Keep a dream journal by your bed. Upon waking, jot down any dreams, symbols, or emotions. Over time, patterns emerge that reveal your guides’ messages. You can even ask before sleeping: “Spirit guides, please send me a dream that helps me understand my next step.”

4. Creating Sacred Space

Light a candle, burn incense, or place crystals on an altar—whatever feels sacred to you. This simple act signals your openness to the spiritual realm and helps you tune your energy to higher frequencies.

5. Trusting Intuition

The most vital step is trust. Doubt blocks spiritual communication, while trust amplifies it. As you practice listening to your intuition, you’ll begin distinguishing your guides’ voice from ordinary thought.

The Purpose of Spirit Guidance

Spirit guides don’t make your life perfect or erase challenges; rather, they help you find meaning and strength within them. Their guidance often aims to:

• Expand your awareness beyond fear and limitation
• Encourage compassion and forgiveness
• Support you in fulfilling your soul’s purpose
• Remind you that you are never truly alone

They may not always give you what you want, but they always lead you toward what your soul needs. Sometimes, their guidance feels like a whisper in your heart saying, “Trust the process.” Other times, it manifests as a door closing—redirecting you toward a better opportunity.

When you begin to see life through this lens, even obstacles become messages in disguise.

Signs You’re in Alignment With Your Guides

When your connection to your guides strengthens, you may notice certain shifts:

• You feel a deeper sense of peace and trust, even amid uncertainty.
• Synchronicities become frequent and meaningful.
• Decisions feel clearer, as if guided by an unseen hand.
• You begin attracting people and experiences that align with your growth.

These are affirmations that your spirit team is near, co-creating your path in harmony with divine timing.

Walking With Your Guides

To work with spirit guides is to remember that life is not a solo journey. Whether or not you perceive them directly, their presence can be felt in the quiet moments of courage, in sudden inspiration, and in the mysterious coincidences that shape your path.

You don’t need to be a psychic or mystic to communicate with them—just open-hearted and sincere. Over time, their messages will become as natural as breathing, guiding you with love through every twist and turn of existence.

When you begin to trust that unseen guidance, life itself transforms into a sacred dialogue—a collaboration between your human will and the eternal wisdom of spirit.

Your guides are already with you. All you need to do is listen.

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Breathing is one of the most important of all of the functions of the body because so many other systems depend upon it. The survival rule of 3 says a person can survive 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, but only 3 minutes without air. Humans are the only species on Earth that can control their breath. Multiple studies have shown that breathing correctly can improve your health, prevent diseases, prolong your life, and other benefits.

Children and those of indigenous groups (unless they have developed the bad habits of modern society) tend to breathe correctly. Most contemporary adults have shallow, rapid breathing habits which inhibit their health and well-being.

Breathing is the most important influencer of HRV (Heart Rate Variability) which is one of the best indicators of overall health. In addition, there are several rhythmical or controlled breathing exercises that not only can improve our health and prevent disease but can quiet our mind and even aid our spiritual growth.

NOSTRIL VS. MOUTH-BREATHING
Most adults breathe through their mouth instead of their nose, and it is no coincidence that it has been reported that at least 90% of all disease enters the body through the mouth. The human respiratory system is much more complex than most people realize. For example, the nose has 3 primary functions: to restrict the amount of air we breathe in, to filter that air, and to warm that air. Using mouth breathing we breathe too much air which causes oxidation of body cells among other problems. In addition, there is nothing between the mouth and lungs to filter the dust, dirt, and other impurities and germs in the air which leaves the entire respiratory system unprotected. Our nostrils are filled with warm mucous membranes to warm the inhaled air so that it does not damage the throat or lungs.

TAKE ACTION NOW
I teach Soma breathing exercises/workshops/classes. For more information about how breathing can improve your health, prevent disease, quiet your mind, enable spiritual growth, and references supporting the above claims, contact Michael Manning at mgm00056@earthlink.net or go to coachmichaelmanning.com/Soma.html

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Let’s turn to the LOVE-ly GREEN LIGHT

of Growth, Healing, Peace, Prosperity and Good Health as we accept the fresh new good fortune of the ELECTRIC GREEN FIRE!! Let us BE ONE with the GREEN shimmering energy. Let’s PLAY and HAVE FUN with our beautiful friends, the nature spirits (they are real you know)– leprechauns, gnomes, elves, sprites & gronkydoddles– as we experience– with laughter and JOY– this LIVING LOVING LIGHT of NATURE. Feel ONENESS with Nature and all GREEN living things… (This LIGHT is celebrated with the elves and nature spirits & ENERGY Transforming Personalities of PAN, OSIRIS, HIAWATHA, the “GREEN MAN,” Cernunnos, GOB & OSTARA). “SHIMMER GREEN” with a positive GROWTH ORIENTED TRANSFORMATION as we experience WHOLENESS, WELLNESS, PROTECTION, LOVE, PEACE, RENEWAL with NEW LIFE– With the Power of the Green Light. Let’s make this our 3rd or “extra” LIGHT attunement period for each day of Spring 2022, and let us KNOW that we are uplifted, helped and healed by participating. To play with us, just find a relatively peaceful place in which to relax and focus your complete attention on THE INFINITE SOURCE OF ALL… or simply God if the term is OK with you. Let your “imagination” fill in any blanks. KNOW that there is always a response from the Infinite. Feel it as a shaft of White Light beaming down on you ever so lovingly. Bask in the Light and let it do a super cleansing job on your aura. Then when you feel ready, invite the Light to turn to Its BRILLIANT EMERALD GREEN color… and continue: “I feel the SHIMMERING GREEN Light flooding my aura and being with its LOVE & super cleansing, healing, growth, and strength; with spirituality, effectiveness, clarity, fun, and enthusiasm, attraction, freedom, relaxation, sensuality, perspective, healing powers; psychic, spiritual and material plane growth, with laughter and extra, EXTRA FUN and LOVE… It burns, loves and laughs away, purifies and/or completely annihilates anything in or near me that is blocking my ability to manifest wonderful progress in all aspects of my life. I accept good CHEER & good HEALTH, with celebration, charisma and success!!  I am filled to the happy loving overflowing point now, so I gladly share my good by directing the energy to flow out to all of us!

The post Green Light Meditation appeared first on ESP Lab.

LIVING LOVING LIGHT of NATURE. Let us TUNE INTO the Green Garments of the Earth Mother!

      Feel ONENESS with Nature and all GREEN living things… (This LIGHT is celebrated on the rey of the elves and nature spirits & ENERGY Transforming

Personalities of PAN, OSIRIS, HIAWATHA, EZMARELDA, GOB & OSTARA). “SHIMMER GREEN” with a positive GROWTH ORIENTED TRANSFORMATION…             as we experience WHOLENESS, WELLNESS, PEACE, PROTECTION, PROSPERITY, RENEWAL with NEW GROWTH– With the Power of the Green Light. Let’s make this our 3rd or “extra” LIGHT attunement period for each day of SPRING 2021, and KNOW that YOU will be uplifted, helped and healed by participating. To play with us, just find a relatively peaceful place in which to relax and focus your complete attention on THE INFINITE SOURCE OF ALL… or simply God if the term is OK with you. Let your “imagination” fill in any blanks. KNOW that there is always a response from the Infinite. Feel it as a shaft of White Light beaming down on you ever so lovingly. Bask in the Light and let it do a super cleansing job on your aura.

     Then when you feel ready, invite the Light to turn to Its BRILLIANT EMERALD GREEN color… and continue: “I feel the SHIMMERING GREEN Light flooding my aura and being with its LOVE & super cleansing, healing, growth, and strength; with spirituality, effectiveness, clarity, fun, and enthusiasm, attraction, freedom, relaxation, sensuality, perspective, healing powers; psychic, spiritual and material plane growth, with laughter, humor, joy, ectoplasm and extra, EXTRA FUN and LOVE… It burns, loves and laughs away, purifies and/or completely annihilates anything in or near me that is blocking my ability to manifest wonderful progress in all areas of my life. I accept good CHEER & good HEALTH, with celebration, charisma and success!!

     I am filled to the happy loving overflowing point now, so I gladly share my good by directing the energy to flow out to today’s Special Night Light Members……….,   and on through their personal experiences to my ESP Lab, and all of us. I feel thanks with a wonderful surge of fresh power as the circuit is completed and the GREAT energy flows back to me.

Thanks for the privilege of sharing the LIGHT!

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LESSON 1: THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF MEDITATION

Very often people ask me, “What does meditation mean?” Rather than be dogmatic and give you a pat answer, we’ll spend the next 11 weeks working on various techniques of meditation. As always we’ll have a set of “homework” exercises for each week which may or may not seem to have anything to do with the immediate subject matter. But if you’ll work with It regularly you’ll soon find that you have built something special of your own.

DICTIONARY DEFINITION

The dictionary defines meditation as: To plan in the mind: intend. To fix the mind upon; think about continuously: contemplate. Or to engage in continuous and contemplative thought; study; any subject or idea; cogitate. Enough of that. At least we get the idea that thinking is in there somewhere don’t we?

One of the first things I want to say is, you do think, and therefore you can’t say, “I don’t know how to meditate”. Your every though is itself a form of meditation. What we seek in this course is to organize the process. First there’s a basic formal meditation where you say, “I am meditating now”. Then there’s informal meditation all the rest of the day. We don’t want to lose sight of the fact that if you spend 15 minutes in positive meditation but go around all clogged up with resentment and anxiety the rest of the day, you’re not going to do much good. The basics of positive thinking apply here as well as everywhere else. It’s only when you’re keeping yourself in a comfortable, relaxed, happy state anyway, that you can turn to formal meditation and expect to accomplish something with it. So I’d like to rearrange things a little bit and give a definition of our own.

OUR WORKING DEFINITION OF MEDITATION

My working definition would be something like: disciplined application of mind, emotion and body to accomplish a specific spiritual, psychic or material purpose.

The first question usually asked is: “Why should I bother? What good is It?” One of the first purposes of meditation should be to learn more about you. What really makes you tick? It’s amazing how little we know about ourselves. Science has spent centuries trying to understand just what the human organism is — and they have a long, long way to go. In another sense as far as you personally are concerned, at least you have the raw material closer at hand. You have your own set of reactions and thoughts and the ability to see their outcome. There are all sorts of possibilities of learning about you. Certainly the next step is to develop a better control of the energies that are you. I think of the human organism as more of a set of energy fields than anything else, so if we learn to control our energy fields, we’ll be more effective in anything we try to do.

Another one of the key reasons for any form of meditation is to recognize the parts of your being that would fall above “mind” on the spiritual evolutionary scale. If we try to work just as a mind controlling a set of emotions (or an astral body) and thus wind up with just a material manifestation, we’ve left out the computer  programmer. The mind by itself is an excellent computer but it is no better than your “programmer” (which should be your own high self, but by default is usually your opinions and beliefs) makes it. Then finally the idea is to work for cooperation between your high self and its tools of mental, astral and physical bodies. Thus you become a comfortable, effective being able to function at any of the levels — or I should: say at all of the levels simultaneously.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS AND HOW TO CONTROL IT

If you study the Huna you’ll find a concept of the “low self which comes very close to translating as the astral body, the emotional part of you. It can he harnessed and used when you understand it. The Huna says that in order to get to the high self you have to go through the low self. The “going through” is perhaps a misconception however. When you learn to get the low self so completely relaxed and under happy control that it gets out of the way, then communication with the high self can come through and we manifestation that you don’t like, you’ll know what button to Push as the high self to run through the system and change it. When you don’t get good results you know that you’ve been trying to solve the problem on a material level. So you back up couple of levels and have it all roped and hog-tied.

Let’s talk about the actual creative process. What do you do in order to get a manifestation? I’m In basic metaphysics here. Let’s understand the creative process as: first you have an idea that is approved by your high self. Then it is contemplated lovingly by your mind which generates a hook up to the emotional or astral level arid also sets up any Spirit help that you need. When this is done your desire rapidly pops into physical manifestation.

SELECTION OF YOUR TARGET DESIRE

Next comes: What are we going to work for? And we’re normal so we’re working for all the normal things that people want, aren’t we? For healing, love, prosperity fulfillment. But also for that extra something that makes it all worth while.  So often you find people getting into meta physics for the first time, and they go through this thing  call the honeymoon period — you can do no wrong, things really start falling into place. Then all of a Sudden your mind has had a chance to reconsider and decides: “Oh, it couldn’t be that easy.” All manner of doubt creeps in. And as you’re picking yourself up off the floor, you try to get a better working handle on it. The better handle comes as you seek some form of spiritual growth with it. The soundest, most powerful approach works on the basic theory that striving for balanced Spiritual growth will produce a fall-out of all the goodies that you want on the material level. And this gives you a way to enjoy what you get. This is the way we get around the occult truism “the fruits of success turn to ashes In your mouth”, Consider the first million dollars: now you have it. But if that’s ail you were working for, you’re just as miserable inside as you ever were. On the other hand if the million piled up as part of something else that you’re doing, “It’s nice, but this time it doesn’t own you” then you have the comfort to enjoy It. This needs to be emphasized in all of the work we’re doing: getting comfortable with people and things because you’re growing the Spiritual balance that understands.

How do you overcome fear?, Traditionally you ask: What’s the worst that can happen? Okay. That’s fine. I’m still alive, and if I’m not alive then that might be all the nicer. Now that I understand the worst that can happen, we’ve eliminated the anxiety, so we can work for something better. Of course our, acceptance is only suppositional, designed to get rid of the anxiety. Then we can dive back in, play it cool, and win! With this technique and the power of the meditation work we are presenting you should find it easy lo eliminate the aches and pains that the body generates and also the more serious diseases. When you build a really deep inner Serenity, you can watch all of these negative things start falling away. I haven’t worked it out yet, but a new technique was presented to me the other night in meditation, It looked for all the world like a coffin, and the idea Is to put your patient into a situation of absolute peace. If you can gel yourself into that perfect peace and then bring in the healing energy — the wildest physical things can be eliminated. The main thing here is to learn to relax and let — the peace and healing energy will do the rest,

YOUR FIRST HOMEWORK EXERCISE

Let’s talk about our first week’s homework. This is just as easy or hard an exercise as you make it. We ask for ten or fifteen minutes a day spent in studying you. The first exercise us to think back to the last lime your emotions exploded out of control. Now I’m not necessarily saying that you lost your temper, but where things got so wild that you were up-tight and your adrenaline flow got you all charged up. You’re can’t control my temper.”

Fred: “So many people have temper tantrums and don’t know how to stop”. We’re not asking you to stop right now, we’re just asking you to understand the mechanism.  I’ll admit that there have been times in the past when I picked up an ashtray and flung it out a window. Just take this week to really understanding the process.

There are other times when a person doesn’t dare lose control. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to stifle you and turn you off but you want to really understand that process as a first step to control. While writing my first book, I got stuck very close to one of the wildest tempers you’ll ever see. (It was a wonderful experience all the way through that book. Two weeks before I’d start a new chapter I’d meet right in my own down to earth life, what Spirit intended to be put in that chapter, and get a real good practical review of, “Do you really believe what you think you do”). This was a gal who loved to throw things at you. Now, with somebody like that either you start using paper plates or keep out of their way. This was the way it was with her — half the time you had to duck the flying dishes, but the rest WAS beautiful! Study the process — you’ll notice so many people will say, “I lost my temper. I really had nothing to do with it. it happened so fast that I Just blew.” But even then there is that moment of decision. What happens there is that the psychological pressure builds up: “This is unfair. It’s annoying. It’s blah, blah… and I should be mad. So I’m mad!” Whether it’s a quick process or one that went on over a period of time, all of a sudden there is that point of decision. When you get there you still have a chance to harness the energy and work it out In some other way. What ! did with this Gal is kind of a classic. I told her: Instead of throwing things, put your hands on your hips, lean back and give out the loudest “cock-a-doodle-doo” that you can with real feeling. And she did — and she’d even do it out loud in the business world. It was a riot, but it worked beautifully because first, it got rid of the negative emotion. She had the outburst and in the process made herself feel Just a little bit silly, and so her perspective changed. Now she can cope with the stupid problem.

Right now we’re trying to understand the process and learn alternative positive outlets for the powerful emotional energies. When you’ve built up that pressure of emotion something has to happen, doesn’t it? But for each of us there’s some special way to use it constructively. These ways may be quite different for each person. But we want to get that extra degree of understanding — have you really paid that much attention to yourself lately?

Student: “You can apply a familiar label like UFO. Everybody thinks of UFO AS flying saucer but in this case you could call UFO Unfair Oppression, or flying dishes and we know that flying saucers are far out, and therefore couldn’t we think of the flying dishes as being far out, too?”

THE EMOTIONAL IMBALANCE OF BEING CIVILIZED

Emotional outbursts happen because we’re still using the animal part of our natures that was designed to live in the Jungles or under other very hostile conditions. We brought our set of Jungle fight or flight mechanisms with us but civilization changed our sense of values. So now when somebody calls up and breaks a date it has the some effect on the body as seeing a ferocious lion ready to attack you. It’s translated as a complete threat to your very survival! As we learn to understand the  processes, we can begin the restructuring of our value system’s inputs to the emotional triggers and so make you more comfortable. And this is still the key: what makes you comfortable? If it helps to throw an ashtray — throw it! But we hope to learn more positive outlets as we go — and also to “lengthen your fuse a little bit.

As we go farther in this course we will cover the key points of most of the classic Yoga, but In terms of the here and now, and how they fit our “modem” problems. We will be careful that we don’t get faked Into useless or unnatural practices in the guise of becoming holy or something. As we really learn to understand ourselves and what makes us tick, you’ll recognize that all parts of you need expression.

If something really gets you too up-tight, then that’s not a good way to go. Still, if you understand yourself, in any short run situation it’s not so much “what are all these beautiful principles back there?” it’s, “What can | do in the here and now to get my perspective back and float on way above the upset.

THE RUBBER BALL TECHNIQUE

The rubber ball technique is one of my pets for handling the big blows. Say something really gets your goat — and you feel like the world’s coming to an end (Like your lover and your business manager ran off together with all your money, or something like that). What do you do? You’re already knocked for a loop, so it’s too late to reach for perspective — Just make yourself Into a little psychic rubber ball. If you get good at this the upset will last only a few minutes, you can hit absolutely dead bottom — but it’s solid down there and ail the energy of the fall ts there to bounce you right back up. Then as you’re on the upward bounce, It’s easy to reach out and grab something comfortable to hold on to while you climb back up out bounce, It’s easy to reach out and grab something comfortable to hold on to while you climb back up out of the mess. Too often we accept a set of limiting ideas — particularly as you experiment with metaphysics or some of the occult mechanisms that state rigidly, “You must not ever do this..” That’s terrible because there are special situations where a normal “no no” may be the best thing In the world for you.

Again it’s the comfortable, open minded approach to understanding YOU that we seek. And anything that gives you a better insight of how you tick will help to solve more problems. Yes, we all seek the touch of the Infinite, some form of the mystic experience. Without that, life is fla no matter how many material goodies you have. But even the mystic experience Is not an end in itself. Your own continued growth and upliftment will always be your best gift to the world. The more you understand YOU, the more you see the weaknesses. So we accept them as a temporary fact and pledge: Now I’m going to try to outgrow them.

Student: “Isn’t it easier to understand another’s weaknesses and accept them?”

It’s always easier to accept weakness in, or ask help for, somebody else because you don’t run into the hang-up of unworthiness. You just assume that the other person is worthy. Let’s learn to give ourselves the same consideration. Then your progress is assured.

PROFESSOR REINHARDT’S COMMENTS

One may say this beginning seems elementary and basic, but It is the foundation and groundwork for
all of the super structure that will come later. Don’t be one who makes the mistake of slopping over the beginning and thus later wonder why all the beautiful things that are talked about and done by others do not seem to happen to you. As you work with the basics you will find the spontaneous results that our instrument would characterize as the little carrots hanging before the rabbit to encourage more work and effort. If you think that the homework for this week is too elementary we would challenge you to spend one night on it anyway to be sure that you do understand that particular concept. And then to spend the other nights contemplating other facets of your emotional beingness. We must understand our emotional nature before we can progress to the mind. We so often feel that we are thinking and  controlling, but indeed we are being programmed by our emotions instead of by our high self. If we can reach this understanding, we will have the tool to build of life whatever it is that you choose.

The post Practical Techniques for Meditation appeared first on ESP Lab.

The following meditation exercise is an excellent introduction to meditation techniques.

• Sit comfortably.
• Close your eyes.
• Do not attempt to control your breath in any way. Just breathe naturally.
• Focus your attention on the breath. Observe how your body moves with each breath. Pay attention to the movement of your body as you breathe, especially your chest, rib cage, shoulders, and belly, as you inhale and exhale. Whenever your mind wanders, gently return your attention back to your breath.

Start out doing this meditation for two to three minutes. After you are comfortable doing it, try extending it for longer periods of time.

Read more about meditation from Michael Manning.

The post How to meditate: Simple meditation for beginners appeared first on ESP Lab.

This kind of thinking has no benefit and does not help you get the results you want. Do not ruin your meditation with these ideas. Meditation is not about getting rid of your thoughts. What meditation is about is becoming familiar with your thoughts, and then establishing a healthy relationship with them. This distinction cannot be overemphasized. Thoughts are not a problem. Thinking is exactly what the mind does. Thoughts will always be part of your mind, just as waves are part of the ocean. You might slow thoughts down or stop them temporarily, but you will never be able to force thoughts out of your mind forever. Attempting to do this will only cause you to be miserable.

Thoughts only become a problem if we feed them with our attention, or let them distract us from the richness of the present moment. It is natural for thoughts to pop up in our mind, and unnatural to let them occupy our mind. Thoughts have a strong tendency to string together – one thought leads to the next thought, then the next one, often with no gaps between them. This is a runaway mind and mindless. Instead of indulging or suppressing thoughts and emotions, the point is to view them with acceptance and openness.

Thoughts are like chatter. In meditation, do not listen to them. Let them chat away, and do not pay any attention to them.

Meditation should be oriented towards making friends with our thoughts, and not with making them our enemy. If we feel that thoughts are bad, they become the enemy and our mind becomes a battleground. We end up fighting with ourselves in a war that we will always lose. The mind has an endless supply of thoughts to send to the front lines of consciousness, and you will never keep them out or beat them away. The point is to love your mind, just the way it is, and not try to defeat it.

I sometimes have insomnia, and it used to drive me crazy. I would wake up in the middle of the night and do everything I could to force myself back to sleep. My attempting to get rid of my thoughts only made it worse. The more I tried, the more they seemed to multiply and make me even more stressed. Finally one night I tried something new. I replaced my fighting attitude with an accepting and loving one. Instead of fighting with my thoughts I began embracing them. I starting using a mantra: “love your mind, love your mind.” It worked! I gradually relaxed and dropped back into sleep. Being kind to your thoughts, and to yourself, also works with meditation.

The best way to understand the heart of meditation is to relate to your thoughts the same way a caring parent relates to their children. Thoughts are the children of your mind. Relate to them with unconditional love. Our thoughts, like our kids, manifest in countless ways. They can be nice in one moment and nasty a moment later. If we embrace them all just as they are, we will remove a great deal of unnecessary stress – in meditation and in life.

We can handle our children’s behaviors because we love and accept our children and we care about their welfare. We know the tantrum won’t last, the pouting spell will evaporate, and the rebellious attitude is temporary. We realize that there is more to their behavior than meets the eye. We love them unconditionally because they are a natural part of us. We do not get swept up in their actions. We look deeper into their goodness, and let the outbursts dissolve on their own. Unless you are emotionally or mentally disturbed, you don’t consider killing your kids or locking them away. If you love them, you have figured out how to relate to them.

The same thing is true with your mind. A good analogy is that meditation is a form of inner re-parenting. Accept your thoughts without indulging or spanking them. Get to know them, love them, and never try to get rid of them. If you are ever in doubt about what to do, in meditation or life, default into love and acceptance.

The post Meditation 102 – Meditation Is Not About Getting Rid of Thoughts appeared first on ESP Lab.

Meditation has been practiced since antiquity in many varied religious and secular traditions and beliefs. Since the nineteenth century, it has spread from its origins to other cultures where it is now commonly practiced in private and business life.

In the Buddhist tradition, the word “meditation” is equivalent to a word such as “sports” in the United States. In other words it is a family of self-regulation practices that focus on training attention and awareness in order to bring mental processes under greater voluntary control and thereby promotes general mental well-being and/or specific capacities such as calmness, clarity, and concentration.

Benefits of meditation

Meditation is sometimes used with the aim of reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and pain, and increasing peace, perception, self-concept, and well-being. Meditation is being researched to discover its potential health (psychological, physical, neurological, and cardiovascular) and other effects.

Studies have already documented the following short-term benefits of meditation to the nervous system: lower blood pressure, improved blood circulation, lower heart rate, less perspiration, slower respiratory rate, lower anxiety, less stress, lower blood cortisol levels, increased feelings of well-being, and deeper relaxation.

Researchers are now exploring whether a consistent meditation practice yields long-term benefits, and noting positive effects on brain and immune function among meditators. However, it is important to remember that the purpose of meditation is not to realize benefits. An Eastern philosopher would say that the goal of meditation is no goal. It’s simply to be present. In the West we often do guided meditations that do have a goal.

Buddhist philosophy believes the ultimate benefit of meditation is the liberation of the mind from all attachment to anything it cannot control, such as external circumstances or strong internal emotions. The liberated or “enlightened” practitioner no longer needlessly follows desires or clings to attachments or experiences, but instead maintains a calm mind and sense of inner harmony.

Meditation also helps you heal from emotional trauma, helps you grow in your relationships, and even unlocks your intuitive and creative side.

Forms of meditation

Western philosophers often think of meditation in two broad categories: concentrative (or focused) and mindfulness (or open monitoring).

Concentrative meditation

Concentrative meditation consists of focusing on a single point. This could involve following the breath, repeating a single word or mantra, staring at a candle flame, listening to a repetitive gong, or counting beads on a mala.

During this form of meditation, each time you notice your mind wandering you simply refocus your attention on the chosen object. Rather than tracking random thoughts, you simply let them go. This process also improves your ability to concentrate.

Mindfulness meditation

The idea of mindfulness meditation is for the practitioner to observe his/her thoughts as they drift through the mind. The intention is to not judge them or even get involved with them at all, and to simply be aware of each wandering thought chain as they arise. Typically one will set aside a specific time for mindfulness meditation and will use one of several methods. These methods include a body scan or just letting thoughts arise and leave, or being aware of what s/he is doing, such as being very aware of the taste of food while eating, or the feel of the ground under the feet while walking.

Using mindfulness meditation one can notice how their thoughts and feelings tend to move in particular patterns. Over time the practitioner becomes more aware of the tendency to quickly judge any given experience as good or bad, right or wrong, pleasant or unpleasant. Continued practice develops inner balance.

Other meditation techniques

Some meditation schools teach a practice that is a combination of concentration and mindfulness.

There are numerous other meditation techniques. For instance there is a daily meditation practice among Buddhist monks where the practitioner focuses directly on the cultivation of compassion. This entails envisioning an event she or he believes is “negative” and reframing it as a “positive” event by transforming it through compassion.

There are moving meditation techniques for times when the practitioner is walking, exercising, or doing something like tai chi, qigong or even washing dishes.

There are techniques where the practitioner lies down (often used for integration).

Some yoga movements focus on thoughts ceasing. The idea of these methods is on not experiencing any thought activity at all. The practitioner is supposed to be fully aware and alert but not have any thoughts whatsoever. This is different from the concentrative methods discussed above where the practitioner has thoughts but does not judge them and is detached from them.

Other typologies include Chakra meditation, guided meditation, and transcendental meditation.

Common practice timings

Many meditation techniques recommend meditating at least twenty minutes two times every day, usually shortly after getting up in the morning and shortly before going to bed at night. Some experienced meditators will practice for two hours at a time. For those who are just starting to meditate, the usual suggestion is 5-10 minutes two times every day and then building up gradually.

Physical postures and techniques

Positions such as the full-lotus, half-lotus, Seiza, Burmese, and kneeling positions are popular in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. Other postures such as sitting, supine (lying), or standing are popular in the West. Meditation is also sometimes done while walking or while doing a simple task mindfully.

Most groups recommend you do not lie down to meditate, especially initially, as many people fall asleep when trying to meditate lying down. Some groups recommend you learn while sitting, and then as you make progress, try standing and walking to fully embody it, and afterwards lying down to integrate it.

How to meditate: Simple meditation for beginners

Each meditation practice typically requires a different mental skill. It is often extremely difficult for a beginner to sit for hours and think of nothing or to have an “empty mind.” In general, the easiest way to begin meditating is by focusing on the breath (see concentration meditation above).

The following meditation exercise is an excellent introduction to meditation techniques.

• Sit comfortably.
• Close your eyes.
• Do not attempt to control your breath in any way. Just breathe naturally.
• Focus your attention on the breath. Observe how your body moves with each breath. Pay attention to the movement of your body as you breathe, especially your chest, rib cage, shoulders, and belly, as you inhale and exhale. Whenever your mind wanders, gently return your attention back to your breath.

Start out doing this meditation for two to three minutes. After you are comfortable doing it, try extending it for longer periods of time.

The post Meditation appeared first on ESP Lab.