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so that our true Self can bring us what we really want. It is the choice for free Will to step back from our everyday thoughts into the 'flow' of our true Self so the life we create is reflective of out true, loving nature rather the doubts, fears and contradictions of our everyday 'thinking' mind.Attentive Defencelessness is allowing all of life to support us. It is about getting real and accepting responsibility for what we moment to moment create in our lives, and learning from it. It is the way we see and heal the underlying erroneous thoughts that hold us back.In choosing to step back from our thoughts and judgments, and resting in the feeling of our own Presence trusting This to nourish us and guide us, is to put all three of these principles to work for us. For want of a term we can call it Self Trust. Stepping back in trust and allowing ourselves to be carried by our True Self is the most restful, enjoyable and powerful thing we can do in this life. The results of doing this consistently are beyond what words can adequately describe so I won't even attempt to go there. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 10 The takeaway - 4 steps to FlowHarry Potter is one boy in a long line of mythical heroes who have reminded the human race that we are so much more than we think we are, so much more powerful than we seem to know. Jesus said that we would someday do even greater works than He; should we not take Him at His word? And should not someday be today? ......Marianne Williamson.Here's a great line taken from the first comment I received when I first mentioned this book on my weblog. "Are you proposing to show us how to drop into flow? to be more our Selves? Personally, that's why I'd buy the book - I don't want to read how great it is, how it's changed other peoples lives, etc. I want to know of techniques that will let me be in that state more often and less accidentally."What a challenge! Hopefully weve seen that being in a state of flow is not a doing but a letting go of 'what it is we do that blocks the natural flow of our Self'. Nevertheless, in an attempt to address this request heres the back-of-a-napkin takeaway:4 steps to Flow: - get real, get clear, step back, enjoy1. Get Real Recognise cause and effect as it really is. We are cause. Recognise that everything starts with a thought and the world we see reflects our thoughts and beliefs, not the other way around. Accept responsibility. We are in control. In stepping back and watching our limited thoughts, beliefs and our self concept that spawns them, we recognise that who I thought I was cannot be true, that who I am in this Presence that is to doing the watching. Remember how easy this was to do? This is the choice for Free Will. From this non-resisted 'place of rest', happiness,
understanding, the flow state, creativity and perfect intuition are able to flow naturally - simply as attributes of who we Are Acknowledge the power of our choice (intent). There's little use trying to still the mind or overcome fear in order to get into flow, but thankfully we don't have to. The only way to get rid of darkness is to turn on a light. The Truth within us dispels our illusions just as one candle will light a cave that has been dark for thousands of years. It is our true Self that knows the way into our conscious awareness - effort and 'reasoning' play no part in this - the ego simply cannot go beyond itself. We need only call upon it and trust it to be so. And to experience we need but step back, relax and feel the warmth of the Love that envelopes us as we recognise our Self in this space.2. Get ClearOnce we realise that our one real choice is between either being led around by our everyday thoughts (ego) or stepping back and letting our true Self flow and run this show of ours, the question is, 'which one?'. Attention follows desire, and so rather than struggle with our ambivalence, apathy or confusion the key is simply to take a few moments whenever needed to get clear by asking this question. We need to direct this question to the heart (what we really want) rather than the head (what we think we want) because the ego will never sign its own death warrant.Our Self 's only agenda is to express itself, to shine true, and so we cannot experience it if we try to either control it or impose our own goals. It is in letting go of our attachment to our own agenda and preferred outcomes that allow our Self to flow. In whatever situation we are in we need ask ourselves, 'Why am I doing this?'. - Is it to experience my true Self or for some other reason? Am I willing to let go of control and what I think I want, so my true Self can bring me what I really want? Or, put another way: Right here, right now, do I choose to express my ego or my real Self. Whatever we do and wherever we are, the choice is always between expressing Love or some form of fear, and whichever we choose the outcome has to reflect this choice.Would I rather be right or be happy? This is the choice. So which is it to be? Why not take a moment to ask our true Self give us clarity? It's hard to image how incredible a day we have when we are willing to let go of control and allow our true Self to come out and play.3. Step BackRecognise that we need do nothing. It is in stepping back and getting out of our own way - trusting and allowing our attention to rest our intent to let our true Self shine true, that allows the miracle
to happen. Remember, anticipation plays no part at all as it's our true Self that knows exactly what we need in each and every moment. If we need a thought, a word or just a tranquil open mind then that will be It's gift.4. Relax and enjoy letting our true Self express itself.Just rest and receive; and enjoy the process. Not only because it the most enjoyable experience imaginable but because it is the most helpful thing we can do. Remember when we looked at attention and how what we focus on expands? Allowing ourselves to saviour these Flow experiences and all the joy that comes our way as we start to apply these principles, is what perpetuates the whole process. This is the basic decision we make to be happy.And that's it.If it sounds a bit long winded and 'processy' don't worry. Once you start to use this and experience the power and joy of your Self, trust will build and this choice will take only an instant. Soon enough you'll wonder why you'd ever want to choose not to be in Flow.A word of caution: You might find that to start with you'll experience extreme resistance to accepting and using the principles described here. This is just the ego kicking off in protest. One way to overcome this is to deal with it on its own terms by asking a perfectly rational question. You could ask yourself, "Instead of trusting my beliefs, my doubts, my reasoning or anything I have read or told, would it not make more sense to just test this out and see whether or not it works for me? What have I to loose by trying?"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 11 Overview of this Little book of FlowThe happiness that is genuinely satisfying is accompanied by the fullest exercise of our faculties and the fullest realization of the world in which we live. ......Bertrand RussellThere is a huge historical inertia to continue with the way things are now, to perpetuate the human condition, to maintain the illusion of separateness. One of the ways our ego maintains the status quo is to take simple truths and make them complex, turning them into yet another mental concept. So, in the interest of keeping things simple and having an overview of this little book for those who dont have the inclination to read the whole thing, this a review of concepts in a few short paragraphs:Flow experiencesFor most of us this 'Flow' state has occurred while when we are doing something we really enjoy. This is because it's while doing something we enjoy that we our minds relax enough to let our true Self have a seat at the table. The natural reaction of anyone - sportsman, scientist, musician - when they loose their 'flow' is to practice harder, to try to get back in flow - but this invariable makes things worse and get deeper in the rut. Paradoxically it's when they give up trying and just go hit a few balls or strum a few chords for the fun of it,
that magically the flow and the muse 'mysteriously' return. There's nothing strange or complex about this. It's just that in a relaxed state of mind who we really Are can shine through the fog of judgements, thoughts and beliefs that normally fill our mind.The ones we think of as true geniuses and masters in their field are simply the ones that have learnt how to relax and get out of our own way. This is not something that is available to a select few through accident of birth or good fortune. It is available to each and every one of us, whenever we want it and in whatever circumstance we find ourselves. It is an attrinute who we Are, and so it is instantly recognized and known once we let go of who we think we are. This takes no effort whatsoever.Those incredible joyful, transcendent, 'flow' moments where we just know we can accomplish anything and the world is our oyster, always occur when we let slip the normal control our mind tries to maintain over our world, allowing us to relax into the feeling of our own Beingness. Sometimes it's in a situation, perhaps during a business presentation or a sporting event, when we realize that there's absolutely nothing more we can do and so we decide we might as well just trust and enjoy the moment; for some it's in our youth or amongst friends or loved ones where we feel safe enough to let our mask slip and simple Be, for some it's when we are suddenly shocked into stillness by a fortuitous 'accident' or act of nature, and for others its on the point of death of the physical body when we let go of the struggle for life and suddenly become aware, often for the first time, of our own radiant Presence.The good news is that these seemingly chance events are simply glimpses into our own, every present, true nature and the only thing that hides it from our awareness is our everyday thinking mind that judges everything, and fights to maintain control over our world. If we accidentally or deliberately let our minds surrender control over 'our world' just for one instant, who we really Are becomes instantly recognizable. Strange as it may seem, most of us spend our lives not knowing who we really Are and many would rather die than let our masks slip and have a moment of self recognition, to let Truth shine true.Denial of responsibilityMost of us who have been fortunate to experience these incredible joyful, transcendent 'flow' moments tend to get a little delusional. We use an amazing piece of mind trickery to convince ourselves that this didn't come from us. We dismiss the possibility that it is simply our own true nature shining through in those moments when we relaxed and let our mind fall still, by associating the experience with the activity or person we were with. We con ourselves into dismissing the fact that it is us that 'feels' this way.This delusion causes most of us spend
our lives pursuing those activities, those things and those people that we think will bring back these wonderful moments where we felt truly alive, invulnerable and omnipotent. This very seeking then prevents us from every relaxing enough to experience an instant of self-recognition that would show us how backwards our thinking is. Once we recognize that the source of Love is within us then it's a small step to letting it return to our conscious awareness where it can shine upon and transform everything in our lives. This is where our power, our happiness, our safety and our knowing lie.The myth of the need for effortOne of the big misunderstandings about mastery and genius in anything is that it takes effort. True, we believe it does; but beliefs tend toward self fulfilling prophecies. What I am suggesting here is that it takes no effort at all. In fact it takes the opposite of effort. It's a letting go of all effort, a willingness to relinquish control and allow all things to be exactly as they are, that allows our mind to fall still and create the space to simple Be. And in the state of simply being aware of our own Presence, our genius and natural 'flow' show up and shine through as a unavoidable aspect of who we Are. The only thing that's required to learn and master anything is a clear mind - a relaxed, open, trusting awareness of what Is - a felt sense of our own Presence.In whatever we attempt, concentration and discipline will take us so far, but only because that is our intent. But using concentration, disciple or any other form of effort to wrestle success is a sorry and feeble substitute for the effortless, joyous and often miraculous performance that's ours for the asking when we allow ourselves to get out of our own way and trust the power of our intent to let our own incredible true nature carry the day.When we do anything with a clear mind, learning and mastery occur spontaneously. It's a state of 'feeling' not thinking. It's thought that creates the doubts and fears, that blocks our natural ability to learn and accomplish. Happiness happens of its own accord in the space between our thoughts, and we always do our best when we are happy. It has got absolutely nothing to do with anything that we do, but it has everything to do with what we don't do. Create a little 'white-space' between our thoughts for our true Self to play and the magic happens. The forgotten power of our mindsThe pervasive thought system of the world is the ego - a thought system built on a belief in a 'me' that is separate from, and therefore has limited influence over, the world it sees outside itself. Such is the power of our mind that because this is what we think, this is what appears to be true in the world the mind perceives. It appears that we are a physical entity separate from everyone and everything around us, and
therefore it seems as though 'stuff happens' in our life that is beyond our control. This thought system, or ego, hides and avoids the recognition of what science is now pointing to that mind is the one creative force.In this illusory, 'separate' world there appears to be many choices but in fact there is only one real one. The choice is always between continuing to follow the dictates of this everyday limited mind - the one that seems to tell us what to think, and uses judgment as a substitute for awareness in order to maintain the illusion of separation and powerlessness; or, to turn our attention to who we really Are and let this live our life. By changing the cause, the source of our thought, our whole life changes. This is the choice to follow our own free Will, and to escape the constraints of our limited belief system and all the perceived 'laws of this world' that result from this.What's love got to do with it?The central premise of this book is that who we think we are is not true, that who we really Are cannot be known through thought but only through direct experience, and that this direct experience is very straight forward and takes no effort.We are now coming to know that, what we think of as a separate world outside ourselves that seems to be beyond our control, is an illusion. We are in fact continuously affecting the field of possibility to determine what actually comes into being in our lives. Whilst we struggle to understand this intellectually it is neither complex nor difficult to know directly by stepping back from our thoughts and beliefs and learning to trust our true Self our intuition and our direct awareness of what is really happening here in the present.When we allow the awareness of who we really Are to shine away our self concepts (who we believe we are - the egos ideas of a limited, separate self) we are replacing the basis of all our thoughts and perceptions. What we think and see then reflects this truth and our Free Will instead of our illusory self concepts. Love replaces all forms of fear and concepts of limitation in our minds, and our world reflects this as an effect it can do no other.In recognizing our true Self we see that there is nothing about ourselves that is not constituted wholly of Love - the one thing that endures. By learning how to bring our real Self into our conscious awareness we create, moment by moment, a life and a world that reflects only this Love.Big issues as distractionsWe ask ourselves big questions such as 'how can I find the work I love' or 'what is my purpose in life' without every realizing that to simply step back and allow who we already Are, the Love within us, to shine in our life is the greatest and most practical gift anyone can could ever give. We seek for answers to many problems whilst denying ourselves and the
world the one thing that would dissolve all problems. Our true nature is totally compelling and infectious and so we quite literally change the world simply by becoming the change we want to see in the world. So to those of us who despair at ever finding what we love, I'd say congratulations - because this is a great starting point. If we think we'll never find our true niche in life then we have far less resistance to calling off the search and being open to the recognition of the brilliance that has always shone within us. Our purpose in life is simply to let our own light shine, and in this the rest becomes perfectly clear.Settings ourselves free - one of many way out of the rat trap. The first step is to see that who we think we are, and the matrix of our thoughts that maintains this self concept, cannot be true. This is simple enough - we did it in chapter 2. Just stepping back from our thoughts, our bodies and the things that these perceive; and simply watching this dance of life both offers us an opportunity for a moment of self recognition - to feel our own Presence, and at the same time see that who we really are (the observer) cannot be who we thought we were (what we are observing), and also give us a welcome respite from our heavy burden of judgement - the habit of selective perception that our ego uses to play us like a puppet and maintain the illusion of separation and limitedness.We cling so tightly to our self concepts that we are blinded to anything that does not validate them. As Paul Simon wrote, Man hears what he wants to here and disregards the rest. The inevitable product is a world of war, greed and competition, driven by fear and paranoia. All problems no matter how seemingly complex or intractable are simply some form of fear made manifest. The one antidote to fear is perfect Love. The one antidote to paranoia is trust. Love is who we Are and in spite of appearances we are learning to trust this. Once we allow a moment of self recognition to cast doubt on our self concepts and the illusory thought system that maintains them, the second step is to call upon the power of intent to let our true Self, the feeling of Love thats growing within us, to nourish us and take control. This is the beginning of Self Trust trust in our true Self. This trust builds as we use it and witness its effects.[2]This is how we create a 'heaven on earth', but it can never be a solitary endeavour. In surrendering to the truth of ourselves we find ourselves in everyone and everything; and like all experience, as it's shared it grows stronger. Truly, no one meets and nothing happens by chance, and so every one we meet gives us another opportunity to heal the mind that thought itself separate and limited.Our everyday logical thinking minds
descreveu. Muitos esportes tem contado historias sobre estar na "zona". Sprinters chama-lo "viragem" quando funcionam apenas com as pontas dos dedos escovar a pista como se estivessem voando. Os jogadores de basquetebol chama-lo de "ir inconsciente". Eles nos contam como tudo e experimentado em camera lenta e ha uma sensacao de total liberdade e confianca para fazer o que eles querem quando eles querem. Estar na 'zona' pode ser tao euforico que muitas vezes se torna o principal objetivo de quem ja experimentou isso. Essas experiencias nao se limitem apenas ao desporto, quer - a maioria de nos ja experimentou algo parecido com isto pelo menos uma vez na vida, geralmente por acidente, em vez de design. Eles podem ser os mais belos momentos, sublime, despreocupado, criativo e feliz em nossas vidas. Muitas vezes lembro-los mais tarde na vida - como nos sentimos mais vivos e tudo parecia mais real que qualquer coisa que tinha experimentado anteriormente ou ja - quase como tentadora postais de um reino magico que nos nunca realmente tenho que ir. A unica coisa triste e que esses momentos sao muito raros. A premissa deste pequeno livro e que este nao precisa ser. O que eu gostaria de mostrar e que esses momentos sao ilusorios em vislumbres fato de nossa verdadeira natureza e, como tal, nao tem nada a ver com tecnica ou circunstancia (apesar de "fluxo" que muitas vezes parecem miraculosamente transformar circunstancia). Uma vez que reconhecemos que o estado de fluxo e a nossa forma original e natural de ser, ao inves de tentar criar as "condicoes" para o fluxo, podemos aprender como acessa-lo diretamente e deixar fluir infundir cada aspecto de nossas vidas - deixe brilhar genio em todos os nosso fazer, substitua o caos ou de stress com clareza e facilidade, e para obter insights sobre a verdadeira natureza dos nossos problemas para que eles possam ser resolvidos facilmente a sua causa. Trazendo a ciencia, a filosofia, a espiritualidade, o mito ea vida cotidiana juntos. Parece que se voce realmente quer saber as verdades fundamentais (que e a vida Como podemos ser cumprida -? Fluxo de experiencia e alegria em nossas vidas, etc) e manter o questionamento em face da confusao e do dogma, entao realmente nao importa o que voce seguir a disciplina, porque na sua essencia, todos parecem convergir e apontam para a mesma coisa. Pergunte a um fisico "o que cria o universo ', e eles dizem que a energia. Peca-lhes para descrever a energia e dizer-lhe, "Ela nunca pode ser criada ou destruida, mas sempre e, sempre foi e sempre sera, que esta sempre fluindo para a forma, atraves de formulario e fora de forma." Agora, pergunte a um teologo "que cria o universo e eles dizem que Deus. Peca-lhes para descrever Deus e eles tambem podem dize-lo, "Ela nunca pode ser criada ou destruida, mas sempre e, sempre foi e sempre sera, que esta sempre fluindo para a forma, atraves de formulario e fora de forma." Hmmm, interessante! Parece que a ciencia, filosofia, espiritualidade e mito sao apenas diferentes