What I am saying here touches on a principle that I have elaborated on in previous articles which is that of being preceding doing, which, in turns precedes your having that which you have desired to have. This same wisdom has been captured in our culture in the saying, “fake it ‘til you make it.” This is simply another way of saying that you must learn to be that which you want to be before you can indeed be that which you envision yourself to be.

Recently I have been studying one of the great iconic figures of the twentieth century, Muhammad Ali, and came to realize that this was something he understood well and lived every day in his life. If you are a student of history, black history, or even boxing history, you should well know that long before the world came to acknowledge him as the “greatest of all time” he consistently- and often to the chagrin of the world- proclaimed himself to be that. All that he was doing was faking it until he made it. In other words, Ali understood that in being in his own mind (or at least constantly trying to convince himself that this was true) that which he eventually wanted to become, he would initiate the thoughts consistent with this state of being, which would, in turn, lead to him doing actions that the greatest of all time would do, which would in turn lead to him having all that the greatest of all time would. He understood quite well the mechanics of manifestation, as evidenced by what he manifested in his own life – him becoming the greatest of all time.

So, in your own life, if you are to have the life of your dreams, you must learn to be that which you want to eventually become right now. Therefore, if you eventually want to become, for example, the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you must right now begin to present yourself to the world as if you already were the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, in terms of your overall self-presentation to the world of dress, speech, and manner. Projecting your future into the present will only have the effect of the world responding to you as that which you are projecting, and before you know it, “the future” will merge into your present reality.

Going back to our initial point about how most people find their current job through a friend, and therefore, all chance meetings should be treated as interviews, means that being that which you envision yourself becoming will lead to you attracting people that are currently in the position which you would someday like to be. Think about it. People that present themselves to the world as thugs attract other thugs; people that present themselves as athletes attract other athletes; hippies attract other hippies; and so on. Therefore, the way in which the law of attraction (like attracts like) applies to your job search is that if you learn to be that which you seek, that which you seek will be attracted to you. Thus, the best advice I can give you in your job search is to learn to match your current dress, speech, and manner with that of the type of position you would like to be in, and certainly you will attract the type of people that are currently doing that type of work (they will want to connect with you because your overall styles in life are consistent with each others) to you.

It has been said that the great philosopher Nietzsche’s entire philosophy can be reduced to the importance of style. This point that I am trying to make about how people will matching styles are drawn to each other in life is the essence of what I am trying to say about life as an interview. Every type of employment can, in a sense, be evaluated in terms of the overall style of the people that are in that type of environment. What type of dress is required in the position you want to attract? Is it suit and tie? Is it t-shirt and jeans? How do people speak in the position you want to attract? Do they speak the king’s English? Do they speak broken English? What kind of mannerism to these people have? Are they upright and dignified in their manner? Are they harsh and abrasive? All of these things are part of what I mean when I speak of the style of a position. If you can successfully evaluate the style of the position which you would like to attract to yourself, and learn to mold yourself into that style, you will find that the only people that are drawn to you are those whose style (because they are in that position you are seeking) matches your. And from there, it is only a matter of connecting with the new people which you draw into your life, and flushing out the way in which these relationships can be beneficial to all parties involved, the least of which is your own financial life.

So, what I am saying is that, you can literally stop everything you are doing right now, take out a pen and paper, and write out how you would like the rest of your life to unfold, and release that once and for all, and sit back as that wish you have asked of the Universe becomes your experience. Here is how you can do this:

1) Take out a note pad and a pen
2) Title this page “My Dream Life”
3) Write out in sequential order, everything you would like to have happen in your life today, tomorrow, this week, this month, this year, the next five years, the next ten years, and the rest of your life, in the form of : It is my intention to…
4) Be very specific in your intentions for your life, including describing details of the experience(s) you want to attract to you such as what, when, where, and why (never mention who or how because these are not up to you, they are the responsibility of the Universe to surprise you with how it manifests your desire
5) Never again ask for those intentions. They are already manifest at the moment you ask for them, but asking again can have the effect of “canceling your previous order” in that, you are essentially switching the “light switch” of manifestation back to the ‘off’ setting by asking for it again. So, ask once, and never ask again, because having turned the Universe on with your initial intent, you do not want to turn the switch ‘off’ again by asking again and again.

This is truly the final exercise for you to complete on what has become a sort of “school of magic” here on the internet. If you do this exercise as instructed, there will be nothing else that you will need to do in order to have the life of your dreams. There is a great saying that the great mystics often employ when they speak of doing nothing but accomplishing everything. There comes a point in your understanding of the magical process when you realize that all that you have to do to have anything in life is to ask the Universe one time, let go and let God, and surely it will be yours. And, at this point when you realize that the greatest power you have in life is to surrender yourself to the Universe by asking that it exercise its awesome power in you life, you will find yourself doing nothing and accomplishing everything. So, take the time out to do this exercise as instructed and after that truly there is nothing again that you will ever have to do to achieve success in your life. Just ask this one time for everything you could ever dream of to happen in your life, release those desires once and for all, and surely, in ways you could never have imagined, the life of your dreams will be yours.

Put another way, the Universe, much like a computer, can be thought of as an interface that produces results in accordance with the instructions it has been given by you, the programmer (creator). If you make a programming error, the results will come back with an error report (i.e. the results you get will seem erroneous to you). But, when you properly understand the rules and syntax of this language, what I will call MPL (manifestation programming language), you will be able to create the results you want.

Here are the rules of MPL that will allow you to yield the results you want in your life.

1) Every instruction begins with your intention. Thus, the best way to instruct the cosmic computer to execute any task for you is by beginning your request with the words, “it is my intention to/that…”
2) You must provide as the rest of your instruction the very specific details of what, when, where, and why in each request
3) You can not instruct the cosmic computer in any way about the ‘how’ and ‘who’ of a request. These are “syntax errors.” The cosmic computer has built in instructions that are beyond our comprehension that can’t be overridden when it comes to ‘how’ and ‘who.’
4) Giving the same instructions to the cosmic computer twice has the affect of canceling out the request all together. You must only intend for something to happen once if it is to happen.

The Universe is a perfect computer that is not possible of making mistakes. Thus, the output generated in your life has only generated what you perceive to be errors because of your violation of this very strict set of “syntax” rules. If you fully understand the language of MPL, you will never again create things in your life that you do not want. In fact, you will find just the opposite, that truly you are the creator (programmer) of your own life , and the only reason you have ever experienced any kind of dissatisfaction in your life is because you didn’t know these rules. Now you do. Apply them to your life and behold at the awesome speed and precision with which the Universe produces the desired outcome in your life, on every level of your life.

When it is said that if we ask we shall receive, it is important to understand that the intermediary step between our asking for what it is that we desire and receiving that desire is matching. That is, becoming a vibrational match to your desires. Vibrational matching is simply the process of finding the “feeling place” of what it is you desire in the present moment, as if you have already received whatever it is you have asked for. In a sense, this vibrational matching is really our learning to receive that which we have asked for internally, in order for it to manifest into our experience externally.

This is a very important point to understand: you can not receive your desire externally until you first receive it internally. And all that this means is that you must learn to match your inner state of being now with the way you will feel later, when you actually do receive that you which you have asked for.

Why is this? The fundamental truth that must be understood in order to comprehend why we must internally receive before we can externally receive is that saying that has been passed onto us by the mystics that came before us: “we are not in the world, the world is in us.” What this means is that the world that that we perceive to be “out there” is, in fact, nothing other than the projection of our own mind, outwards. In other words, there really is no world “out there.” The world that we falsely perceive to be outside of us is actually nothing other than a mirror reflecting back to us the true state of own mind. I have often called the deepest intelligence inside of each of us our Inner Being, and likewise the phenomenal world can be thought of as our Outer Being. The world is nothing more than the projection of our mind.

Thus, we must receive internally before we can receive externally because the external is actually borne of the internal. Mind is a cause, matter is an effect. Thus the saying “mind over matter.” And, when it comes to the process of manifesting our desires it could be said that “mind precedes matter.” That is, what happens in the mind causes and precedes what happens in the world. And therefore, the entire process of manifestation, from asking to receiving, must happen in the mind before it can happen in the world.

Thus, the simplest way to understand manifestation is to understand this three step process. 1) Ask for whatever it is you desire. 2) Become a vibrational match with that thing that you desire. 3) Receive it externally. Let’s explore each of these steps in greater detail.

1) Asking. The statement, “ask and ye shall receive” could more appropriate be put, “intend and ye shall receive.” As I have suggested in previous articles, anything you intend to experience you must experience because intent is the force that initiates movement in the cosmos. So, manifestation must, by necessity, begin with an intention for what is you would like to happen. Thus, the starting point for you to apply this truth in your life is to literally write out a specific intention(s) for what it is you would like to bring into your life (e.g. it is my intention to be a millionaire by January,1, 2008).

2) Vibrational Match. This is the act of receiving your desire internally by matching the emotional state you would have if you already had that which you intended to have right now. There are many ways to put yourself into this place of uplifted emotion including meditation, prayer, and physical exercise. In short, you must make a regular, daily practice of feeling as good now as you would if you already had that which you have asked for.

3) Receiving. When you have learned to set an intention, and to always be in vibrational alignment with that intention, it is only a matter of time before that which was once only held in your mind will be held in your hands.

This really is the entire process of manifesting your desires into physical form. It is said that the kingdom of heaven is within you. This kingdom is really just the place of your greatest joy and bliss that is deep within you. And surely, if you can learn to stay centered in this place of heaven, you will always be a vibrational match to your grandest desires in life. In fact, if you could learn to always be a vibrational match to this place of heavenly joy, you would find that this vibrational “match made in heaven” would be the catalyst to your receiving externally all that you have ever desired in life.

Most of us, as a result of societal conditioning, experience our lives as simply a series of random events that is just happening to us. That is, we are unaware of the fact that we are the authors of our life because we have been made to believe that we are but actors in a script that is written by everyone but us. This is to say that we live out our lives as victims. If you really listen to the worldview of just about every person you meet, you will find that built into their worldview is some type of victimizer outside of themselves that is causing their lives to be the way it is. This victimizer wears guises as diverse as a vengeful God, the Devil, the government, the terrorists, the rich, men, white people, and so on. The point is that many of us have utterly bought into the social indoctrination that teaches us that our lives are somehow at the mercy of some force, some individual, or some group of people, rather than the mercy of our own intent.

This is an assertion of free will. The doctrine of free will, in the context of the law of attraction, is simply the western philosophical traditions way of asserting the fact that each of us creates our own reality, based on the script which we are writing with our thoughts. When we talk about the creative power of thought, we are really talking about thought as the words that appear on the manuscript of our life, and intent as the pen by which those words are written. Thus, the creative power of thought is equally the creative power of intent. Though it is thought that creates the story of our lives, it is intent that shapes thought. Thus, intent is the ultimate source of creation.

The way in which this applies in your own life has been illustrated best in the findings of quantum physics. Quantum physicists, in doing research on the nature of photons of light, discovered that light has properties of both waves and particles, depending only on the presence or absence of an observer. In short, what these researchers discovered is that photons of light exists as waves, as potential, spread out over space and time until they are observed under a microscope by the researcher. The implications of this are that all of the material world exists only as a field of possibilities until that field of possibilities is collapsed into an actual expression by observation by a conscious observer. In other words, the world can’t exist without a consciousness to give rise to it. To put it another way, we create our own reality. And we do this by intent, whether that intent is conscious or not. What we intend to manifest is what must manifest because this research has taught us that nothing matters (is materialized) until something (our consciousness) makes it matter. The answer to the age-old paradox about a tree falling in a forest and no one hearing it is no. If a tree fell in the forest and no one heard it can only mean that a tree didn’t actually fall in the forest. For, the deepest implication of this groundbreaking discovery in physics is that there is no experience outside of human consciousness. The world that we perceive to be outside of us is nothing other than a projection of our consciousness. As the mystics have stated, we are not in the world, but rather the world is in us.

 So, practically what this means for you and your life is that the world, being nothing but a projection of your own consciousness, can literally be molded into the form in which you choose it to be. In truth, the world, being a field of pure potentiality is like an infinite mass of clay. You, the observer, have the responsibility of using the chisel of intent to mold that mass of clay into the form in which you wish to see it manifest. For free will (will is another term for intent) is, ultimately, the assertion of the freedom we have to mold reality into whatever form we choose, scrap that creation, and start over as many times as we choose. Truly, there is nothing that none of us can not be, do, or have, because we have all been endowed on this journey of life with the only tool we need to chisel our life into the masterpiece it was meant to be; that tool is the chisel of intent. If you would but wield this mighty tool in each of the segments of your day, week, month, year, and life, you will soon find that your life will be a gallery holding the most masterful creations.

   

After doing this symbolic visualization for a period of a couple of months he noticed that opportunities for dramatically increasing his income began to spontaneously come into his life. At years end, he earned approximately $92,000. He fell slightly short of his goal, but was more than pleased with the result of this practice.

You can adapt this practice in your own life as a wealth creation experiment. In fact, I want to challenge you to dream beyond the mediocre standards that society has given you for success. Here is the experiment:

1) go onto the world wide web
2) go to Google’s search engine and in the search tab, type in ‘one million dollar liberty bill’
3) click on the image for the lady liberty one million dollar bill
4) print a dozen copies of this image at full-size
5) cut out these million dollar bills and post them any place in your home that you look at frequently (mirrors and doors are some good places)
6) behold the auspicious coincidences as well as creative inspiration that begin to come to you
I realize that the idea of becoming a millionaire may seem farfetched or even inconceivable for you, but in my mind, living an entire life in the “middle class” or in the working class is more farfetched. Firstly, human beings were never intended to spend our lives as “workers,” living a working class existence. On the contrary, we are magnificent creators intended to hone our creative abilities on this physical plane, constantly manifesting our grandest dreams into physical form. Scripturally, we are taught that we are created in the image and likeness of the creator. As such, we too must be creators.

Furthermore, the notion of people being “middle class” is a great myth that exists in our society. In truth, there is no such thing as a middle class. The fact is that as far as traditional work environments are concerned, one is either an employer or an employee. In other words, one either works for someone, or has others work for you. There is no middle ground here. So, as we can see, in traditional work environments, there are really only two classes of people: the working class and the master class. By thinking of oneself as a creator, rather than a worker, you are stepping outside of the traditional work paradigm, and freeing yourself to live the life you were truly meant to live. So, why not unleash your creative power in the direction of true prosperity. For, if you truly understand that your “Father” has an unlimited supply, you will understand that you are truly worthy of having it all.

Wallace Wattles, author of “The Science of Getting Rich” talks about our perception of lack stemming from our only paying attention to the “visible supply.” But, he suggests that there is an “invisible supply” with the Father/Mother that is readily available for us if we only ask. So, knowing that your Father/Mother has an invisible supply that is unlimited, you should begin to ask for more than you ever imagined asking for. After all, what is a million dollars in contrast to an infinite supply? I say to you, it is but a drop in a vast ocean. And certainly, you are deserving of that and more. Though your cup may now be empty, if you would but ask, the Father/Mother will fill up your cup, and soon, you will find that your cup spilleth over. 

When it comes to my own practice of gratitude, I have made it a habit of giving thanks for everything in my life that I am grateful for, every single night before I go to bed in four areas: financial, relationships, health, and purpose in life. Financially, this would be the appropriate time to give thanks for having gainful employment (if such is your condition), or for any unexpected financial gifts you may have received during the day. In the area of relationships, you can give thanks for anything you appreciate about your significant other, family members, closest friends, acquaintances, or even any interesting people you may have met during the day (remember, the quality you most focus on in another is what you will draw out of them; so, if you are currently dissatisfied with your relationships in any of the areas, begin to focus on what you like most about the other to draw those qualities out of them). In the area of health, if you are currently well, be grateful for your wellness, as well as everything that contributes to your wellness including your medication and nourishing meals. If you are not currently well, perhaps you can be grateful for intermittent moments of wellness that you may be experiencing throughout the day. And, as for purpose in life, you can be grateful for any auspicious coincidence that may have occurred during the course of your day. Being grateful for synchronicities that brought you closer to the realization of your intentions is especially potent, because paying attention to synchronicities (which, by law, causes them to increase ) will accelerate the speed by which your intentions manifest.

So, an “attitude of gratitude” is a very powerful practice in helping creating the life of your dreams. I utilize this practice every single night before I go to bed, and I have been amazed to see that all I am grateful for is constantly expanding. Apply this practice to your own life, and behold the miracles that blossom forth into your own life.

In other words, when it comes to manifesting our desires, most of us are imbalanced toward one of two possible extremes: metaphysical (the creative power of our minds) or the physical (the creative power of our bodies through labor). The fact of the matter is that it is only in striking a balance between what I will term “metaphysical manifesting” and “physical manifesting” that one maximizes one ability to manifest, with greatest ease and enjoyment, ones desires. Let’s examine these extremes in greater detail.

Metaphysical manifesting is focusing exclusively on the role of our thoughts in the creation/manifestation process. That is, a person that has been newly introduced to the law of attraction may have the misguided belief that all that they have to do is think about what it is they want, and then, somehow, perhaps by some supernormal experience, whatever it is they desire will fall of of the sky into their lap. This is not quite how it works. Though it is vitally important that we consistently direct our thoughts toward what it is we want, eventually we will have to take some form of action in the world in order to get whatever it is we desire.

On the other extreme, physical manifesting, could be thought of as the protestant work ethic approach to creation. This ethic suggests that it is only through hard, grueling work that we can achieve our dreams and desires. Of course, recent studies indicate that the prevalence of stress-related illness such as heart disease, strokes, and even cancer are very much related to this work ethic. So obviously, some type of balance is needed.

So, to reiterate, it could be said that there are two diametrically opposed schools or thought when it comes to manifestation. The first, the metaphysical manifesters, falsely believe that if we just sit, visualize, direct our thoughts, etc., we will find all of our desires magically fulfilled for us. The second camp, the physical manifesters, falsely believe that is only through hard work and effort that we realize our goals, dreams, and desires. Both of these camps are partially correct, yet not fully balanced in their approach to manifestation .The way in which they are imbalanced, of course, is in their relationship to action in the world. The first camps relationship to action could be thought of as hypoactive, whereas the second camp is hyperactive. Thus, the balance, and therefore resolution of these approached is to be found in what many teachers of the law of attraction refer to as “inspired action.”

The first camp, though correctly understanding the power of the mind in manifestation is incorrect in its devaluing , or failure to apply physical action in the world. The second camp, though correct in its understanding of the importance of actual action/work in the world, is incorrect in its underemphasis of the power of the mind in manifestation. The correct, and most balanced approach to manifestation is “inspired action.”
Inspired (in-spirit) action is action that is done from a place of mental stillness. Inspired action is action that we do, not from a sense of obligation or routine, but rather because we have heard a faint whisper from Spirit urging us to move. Typically, most of us act because we either feel obligated to do so, pressured by the outside world to do so, or out of routine. As such, these acts could be called acts of desperation (de-spirited). On the other hand, inspired action is action that comes from our own deepest intelligence, our deepest knowing, and, as such, the very prospect of executing this action fills us with joy.

 Truly, it is this action, this inspired action, that is the balanced approach to our manifesting our desires. For, in this approach, we skillfully sidestep the pitfalls of passive idealism (metaphysical manifestaters) and hyperactive skepticism (physical manifesters), and strike a balance that allows us to truly bridge the gap between our desires and their realization. For, in inspired action we are fusing the eternal play of opposites in the metaphysical and the physical, the Spirit and the flesh, the yin and the yang, the feminine and the masculine, and in doing so will be able to impregnate and conceive of your deepest desires in yourself, and through yourself, into the world.  

Along the way in this long, arduous journey towards transforming our thoughts, that we might transform our lives, we will all fall into the inevitable pitfalls of doubt and despair. That is, no matter how far along this journey we have come it is vitally important that we remain vigilant of being derailed from the path of transformation by our residual negative thinking patterns.

In my own life, I have developed a practice that I have found to be very useful in both preventing such derailments, and getting back on track in the event of falling into those unavoidable moments of despair and doubt. I call this practice the “practice of inspiration.”
 
Quite simply, the practice of inspiration is using, regularly and consciously, various forms of art and entertainment as a means for uplifting one’s spirit from a place of negativity to one of positivity.

For example, I have always been a big fan of the sport of basketball. In my younger years, the game represented for me physical conditioning, competition, and enjoyment. As I’ve evolved over the years, the meaning of the game for me has also evolved. At this point in my life, I watch the game solely for those moments in which an athlete makes the “impossible possible.” In other words, every so often, an athlete in this sport does something that was previously thought to be impossible, and even inconceivable. In doing so, they transcend what was once thought to be a limitation. And, for the aware observer of such an event, we are all reminded of the greatness of the human mind and spirit, and that truly, we too, are capable of making the impossible possible. So, it is my conscious decision of observing such events, either in real time or through the genius of human archiving (DVD, VHS, streaming videos, etc.) that I am referring to as the practice of inspiration.

Another inspiration practice that I utilize is routinely watching inspirational movies. As a matter of fact, thanks to the pioneering work of film director Stephen Simon, there is now an entire genre devoted exclusively to such films- “spiritual cinema.” In short, spiritual cinema is movies that tell stories of hope, redemption, overcoming adversity, perseverance, the hero’s journey, and other inspiring archetypal journeys. After viewing such a film, I always walk away from the theater feeling incredibly inspired and hopeful, and always reminded, to quote best-selling author Neale Donald Walsch, that “God is with me always, and in all ways.” In short, the practice of inspiration is simply using various forms of art and entertainment as a means of giving oneself a “dose” of inspiration for those moments when you find yourself falling into the illusions of despair and hopelessness along the path of transformation. If you keep in mind the law of attraction, which states that like attracts like, you can see why it is important to avoid falling into negative thoughts and emotions, if even for a few moments. For, it is very possible for those negative thoughts and emotions to attract to you negative conditions, which, in turn, reinforce your negative thoughts and emotions, and launch you into a vicious cycle. The antidote to such an occurrence is the practice of inspiration. This practice can be thought of as a type of “energy drink for the soul.” “Ingesting” this “elixir” provides you with an instant dose of positive thinking that will consequently assure that you continue to attract positive conditions.

So, on a daily basis, some of the practices that I use include listening to inspiring music, watching an inspiring moment in sports history, watching an inspirational movie, and reading an inspiring passage from a variety of spiritual books. I am certain that you will find such practices useful in your own life also, so that you insure that you are always inspired (in-spirit), always attracting to yourself the most favorable conditions.

 

Albert Einstein

The first, and, in my opinion, most important thing you can do to make full use of the law of attraction is to add a regular, consistent practice of meditation to your life. I would recommend practicing at least forty-minutes each morning, before you start your day.
Meditation is a very important tool for utilizing the law of attraction, which again states that the nature and quality of our thoughts are the ultimate cause of our lives, because, quite simply, meditation is a means of systematic observation of thought, and the thinking process. Moreover, in the observation of the thinking process, one becomes aware of antiquated, socially conditioned, destructive thoughts, and therefore, can make room for new, self-produced, creative thoughts. In the words of the great Indian mystic Osho, “meditation is needed only to undo what the society has done. Meditation is negative: it simply negates the damage, it destroys the illness. And once the illness has gone, your well-being asserts itself of its own accord.” And, it is this very well-being that will be the basis of your attracting that which furthers your sense of wellness.

Therefore, in a very real sense, I would suggest that meditation is the very foundation upon which a creative life (i.e. power in manifestation of our desires) is built.
Desire, contrary to the social indoctrination that suggests that “desire is the cause of suffering” or is somehow evil, is actually the Universe wanting to give birth to an aspect of itself through you- one of its creations. In a sense, we, as children (creations) of the Universe are constantly being urged by the Universe to give birth to grandchildren (grand creations). So, desire is the receiving of an urge from Spirit to give birth to a new creation, that Spirit might further know itself through its creation’s creativity.

Furthermore, this whole issue of desire as the cause of suffering stems from a slight misinterpretation by many in the West that have a surface understanding of the principle in Buddhism that suggests that “attachment to desire is the cause of suffering.” But, this in no way indicates that desire is the cause of suffering, but rather that attachment to desire causes suffering. Why is this?
This is because desires, as most of us tend to understand it could more aptly be thought of as a type of longing, or craving, or perhaps even addiction. There is a sense of lack or wanting in this understanding of desire. So, desire, on this level can be thought of as the desire that is generated by the ego (the illusion that we exist as an individual separate from the whole). But, desire in the sense of when creation can occur spontaneously and effortlessly comes from Spirit, as opposed to the ego. This type of desire could more appropriately be called intention. That is, desire can be born of either the ego or from Spirit. When your life is driven by the desires of the ego, you are continually frustrated as things fail to always go your way. Therefore, there is suffering, because inherent in desire that is generated by the ego is attachment. And attachment to desire causes suffering. But, on the other hand, when you surrender your ego (through the process of meditation), you become connected with the desires of the All, and, consequently, become a channel through which the desires of the All can flow. And another way of describing the desires of the All is intention. Intention is the desires of Spirit.

So, as far as living a creative life is concerned, the process of meditation, ultimately, is the process of surrendering one’s own egoic desires to the desires of the All. Just think of Dr. Martin Luther’s King’s “I have a dream” speech. Certainly, the dream that he was sharing with us was the dream (or intent) of Spirit. Through his contemplative Christian lifestyle he was able to surrender his own personal dreams and desires (ego) for a dream that encompasses racial unity and equality for all human beings. Therefore, meditation is our means of connecting to Intent, which is the very creative force of the universe. It is the urging of Spirit to be born again and again through its creation. And meditation is our way, to paraphrase Dr. Wayne Dyer of keeping our connecting link to intention clean, that we might always receive clearly the subtle whispers of Spirit urging us to create for the benefit of all.

There are countless techniques for meditation, and ultimately, one must find a technique that works for them. And what does it mean for a meditation technique to work? In the early and intermediate stages of meditation, the results that you should be experiencing as a result of your practice are peace of mind, decrease of stress, and increases in relaxation, memory, and creative thinking. In the later stages, one finds perfect stillness of mind, infinite knowledge, and infinite joy.

So, as far as beginning, intermediate, and even advanced stages of meditation, these are some of the results we should be looking to experience to verify that we are indeed deepening in our experience of meditation.
Nonetheless, there is a technique of meditation that I have developed that is essentially an extension of the “styles” of meditation advocated by the Indian mystics Osho and Krishnamurti. Both of these teachers both taught that the essence of meditation is watching or witnessing. That is, learning to silently watch or witness or impartially observe all of the various mental phenomena that occur in our mind as they appear and disappear, enter and exit. So, here is the technique that I use that I have found to be very effective in unleashing my own creative power.

1) Sit in a relaxed position, either on a chair or a meditation cushion, with your back in a vertical, upright position. Place your hands palms down on your lap. (If you are sitting on a chair, it is important to keep both of your feet firmly planted on the floor to keep your energy grounded.)
2) Take in a couple of deep breaths into your diaphragm, and then allow your breathing to settle into its natural, gentle flow. Observe your breath move in and out of your body. Simply sit and watch the flow of your breath effortlessly move into and out of your body without any exertion on your part. When your mind begins to wander, which it will, simply bring your attention back to the movement of your breath. Continue this practice until your mind becomes firmly concentrated on the breath, barely wandering at all.
3) Next, begin to observe the litany of mental phenomena that flash across the screen of your mind. Simply, sit, observing, watching, impartially witnessing all thoughts enter and exit your mind without clinging to any thought or repelling any thought. Simply watch all thoughts that enter your mind as a detached observer.
4) Continue this practice of impartially observing your thoughts for the duration of your meditation.

What will happen as a result of this practice is that eventually, after just watching
thoughts appear and disappear in your mind is that spontaneously you will notice that there is a silent space or gap in between your thoughts. Though the mind seems to be constantly chattering, there is, in fact, a silent space between all thoughts. Furthermore, the more you continue this practice, the longer or more extended will be that silent space or gap.
It is important to spend time in the gap because the gap is your connecting link to Spirit, and therefore, the intent of Spirit. And this practice that I have outlined is especially useful for firmly establishing ones awareness in the gap. And, having established ones awareness firmly in the gap, you find yourself constantly, easily and effortlessly, manifesting intentions into physical form.