Complete Idiots Guide to Enlightenment

“Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.” — Marcus Aurelius

To change your reality, to awaken and become enlightened, all you need to do is: you must fully FEEL emotions (Part 1) and LET GO of thoughts (Part 2). Here’s how:

I lived a life of fear, suffering, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, PTSD, depression, anxieties, agitation, phobias, and loneliness. I spent well over $200,000 trying to get well and achieve happiness. I learned so many traditional and non-traditional medical modalities that I wrote a book to share that information (Alternatives for Everyone, 1988). Nothing much helped. Until recently.My change consists of two parts, linked in important ways. I learned Part 1 from Lola Jones (Divine Openings.com; Things are Going Great in my Absence.) I learned that life was comprised of emotions and thoughts – what we call reality.

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PART 1 — EMOTIONS

1 — Pay attention to what emotion you are feeling.

2 — Locate emotion on Emotions Chart *** below (just notice).

3 — Feel that emotion fully, without judgment or stories.

4 — Invite Divine Energy (god, higher self, universe, field of probabilities) into yourself.

5 — Ask Divine Energy to shift to that emotion higher up on the chart.

6 — Feel the shift upward. (This could take seconds, hours, days or longer. Be patient. The emotion is all-important.)

7 — Thank Divine Energy for the upward shift, no matter how small the shift might have been.

Regardless of the level of the emotion you are feeling, you can always move higher.

You can practice Part 1 any time you find yourself experiencing an unpleasant or unwanted emotional level.

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Part 1 was very helpful, but for me, incomplete. Traumatic early childhood experiences combined with my being highly verbal created overwhelming torturous thoughts, against which I felt helpless. I began to notice that when these thoughts surfaced, I went down to the bottom of the emotional scale into a virtual “hell.” I discovered that I, like many of us, had become an assemblage of unhelpful stories. With some insight and practice, I created Part 2, which I share here.

You may find it helpful to practice Part 1 until you can clearly feel and identify distinct emotions, and then practice Part 2.

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PART 2 — THOUGHTS

1 — Recognize a thought that brings you down on the emotion chart — feels unpleasant.

(e.g. My husband doesn’t pay attention to me; The economy is getting worse; If only my child would do what I say; What if I lose my job; My father is disappointed in me; My neighbor is noisy; I don’t like my body.)

2 — Re-frame that thought as an “unhelpful story.” (Stories can be factual or not. The point is whether or not the story is unhelpful, that is, if it brings an unpleasant emotion.)

3 — Bring your awareness to it and say / think to yourself, “This is an unhelpful story.”

4 — Observe as the story disappears. (Once a story is recognized, it usually dissolves immediately.

My metaphor is: “shine a flashlight on a cockroach and it scuttles away”)

5 — Continue to recognize “unhelpful stories” as they appear in your awareness. Bring your awareness to each and EVERY one and say/think to yourself — “This is an unhelpful story.” Observe as the story disappears.

6 — If a particular story doesn’t immediately disappear, repeat “This is an unhelpful story” until it does. (I found old, ingrained stories sometimes took up to 3 repetitions before disappearing.)

7 — A VACUUM or VOID is created in the absence of the unhelpful story. The Void grows as you continue to “disappear” unhelpful stories. It feels like you are vacuuming your consciousness!

You don’t need to fight an unhelpful story for it to disappear. All that is required is to bring your awareness to each one.

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THAT’S IT!! All you need to do is Feel your emotions and Ignore your thoughts.

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These 2 exercises above, when practiced regularly, can take you to living at the top of the Emotions Chart — happiness, love, contentment, bliss, ecstasy — Enlightenment.

The Emotions Chart is located towards the end of this article.

The rest of this article is information for your mind and helpful hints in case you get stuck.

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Where do unhelpful stories come from and where do they go? Shree Bhagavan, an Awakened person who created the Oneness University in India says, “The mind is not mine. There are thoughts but no thinker.”

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—SHARK ATTACKS: If you are ever bombarded by a rowdy bunch of unhelpful stories (I call these “shark attacks”), you can bring awareness to each one – or you can imagine you have a “laser gun of awareness” and disappear them all at once.

—ONE WORD UNHELPFUL STORIES: Sometimes unhelpful stories can consist of just one word: “Fat; Ugly; Old; Poor; Can’t; Hate, etc.” I believe there can be an entire unhelpful story attached to a single word. Repeat Part 2.

—PHYSICAL SENSATIONS: Sometimes unhelpful stories can surround a physical sensation: pain or discomfort anywhere; bloating; tiredness; sickness or dis-ease of any kind. (I found many unhelpful stories were attached to symptoms of my chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.) Repeat Part 2 as if it was an unhelpful story, focusing on what may be attached to the sensation. Don’t focus on the sensation itself – but just slightly outside of it.

—ENDLESS LOOP STORIES: An unhelpful story can become an endless loop, repeating until I bring my awareness to it and disappear it. “I have a headache. I have a headache. I have a headache.” Repeat Part 2.

—UNHELPFUL STORIES SEEM TO BE MORE NUMEROUS WHEN:

Thinking about the past Thinking about the future Experiencing pain or sickness Listening to others’ unhelpful stories. Residing in lower than “Acceptance” on the Emotions Chart. The higher on the Emotions Chart, fewer and less persistent unhelpful stories emerge. I notice that when I’m stabilized on a higher level of emotion, I experience far fewer thoughts of any kind.

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—OTHER PEOPLE’S UNHELPFUL STORIES (friends, family, news, movies, TV, books, magazines, teachers, doctors) can affect me the same way my own unhelpful stories do.

I can silently notice the unhelpful story and follow the same steps in Part 2. Or I can explain to the person what I’m doing (Part 2) and so share this method. Or I can laugh. I have discovered that laughing disappears the stories, while stabilizing me on the emotion level I prefer, often joy. Spontaneous laughter is something that is recently emerging, so I am still experimenting. Or I can implement Part 1 and shoot up into a higher emotional level.

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A PARTICULAR STORY TAKES ME TO A SPECIFIC EMOTION (if left unnoticed):

Angry stories take me to anger. Sad stories take me to sorrow. Judgmental stories take me to judgment, etc. An unhelpful story resonates to a particular emotion. It is my experience that an unhelpful story shows up just a nanosecond before the emotion is experienced. Buddhism teaches that thoughts create suffering. Now I know how.

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—COMPARISONS (both favorable and unfavorable) are unhelpful stories.

Notice the unhelpful stories: (“He’s bigger, richer, smarter, taller than me” or “He’s poorer, dumber, shorter than me”) and follow the steps in Part 2.

—Should a helpful story be used instead? No. I find that those (like affirmations) don’t reach the depths or ignite the lasting changes that this method does, because with this method a void is created that is filled with positive energy by the universe.

—Should a helpful story be put into the place vacated by an unhelpful story? No. Although helpful stories are an improvement over unhelpful ones, stories still have limitations. I want to stay limitless and so opt for the universe to fill the void for me (the universe hates a vacuum). The void left by disappearing unhelpful stories are filled with immensely positive energy of the universe.

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I DISCOVERED SEVERAL TYPES OF THOUGHTS:

Helpful stories Unhelpful stories Memos – Go to bed. Eat breakfast. Call my sister. Walk the dog. E=mc². Messages from divine source

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WONDROUS BENEFITS I’VE NOTICED:

(I think these come about because a different emotional state has a different vibration. Reality is vibration. Hence higher emotions vibrate differently) Positive emotions and outcomes occur oftener, last longer, and are felt more deeply (frequency, duration, intensity). Stabilizing in upper emotions – e.g. peace, contentment, happiness, love, bliss, ecstasy. Spontaneous, joyful laughter. Relationships evolving into more positive ones; more friends and more fun. Changing the outward state of my life. Enjoying the benefits of a meditative state without meditating. Dissolving the past and suffering. Dissolving melodramas. Experiencing more synchronicities and miracles. Shifting into a state of awakening and enlightenment.

I invite you to practice these methods for yourself.

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EMOTIONS CHART *** Courtesy of Lola Jones

Ecstasy Joy, Bliss Knowing, Empowerment Freedom Love, Appreciation, Gratitude Passion, Eagerness, Enthusiasm Happiness, Positive Expectation Belief Optimism, Confidence, I Can Do It Hopefulness, Seeing Possibilities, Curiosity Self-Esteem, Interest, Courage Contentment, Relaxation, Emptiness

Acceptance, Boredom, Don’t Care —- This is a resting zone Pessimism, I Give Up

Frustration, Aggravation, Impatience — THE TIPPING POINT

Overwhelm, Stressed, Hard Work — much of society lives here and thinks it’s normal

Disappointment Doubt, Confusion, Uncertainty Worry, Negative Expectation Discouragement, Quit, Fatigue

Anger – A bridge to get your power/energy back

Revenge Hatred, Rage Jealousy, Desire that feels bad, Lack Guilt, Blame, Project on Others Fear Sadness, Grief, Depression Shame, Unworthiness, Despair, Apathy