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As I continue to meet people and to research the significance of our period in time I find more and more of a consensus, as well as my own personal intuition, that humanity is ready to break through into some new and expanded experience of reality. I discuss several reasons that suggest we may be on the cusp of a massive breakthrough for humanity.

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Many people who have spiritually-awakened, such as myself, or who practice a strong spiritual discipline believe very firmly that we are directly in the midst of a global shift of consciousness. Here are several reasons which support this belief. 

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Our own experience or intuition suggests it

One thing I have discovered as part of my research is that just as I have, many people are indicating that they have had their own spiritual awakenings within the last several years. Of course, people have had awakenings throughout history but there seems to be only now an acceleration of such events.

Perhaps this is just due to a greater ease in sharing our experiences with a vastly larger audience or that it is a result of a much more open and accepting society. But, nevertheless, a great number of us have experienced a shift in consciousness recently and so for us, this time appears to be a birthing point.

Others simply have an intuition that things are about to change and I think this is completely valid. Our intuition is the most valid and holistic of our senses and is not limited to this moment in time. Where many, many individuals begin to sense the same coming arrival I tend to give it a great deal of credence. 

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We now have a network of global communication and relevant resources to inspire and support it

We have at our disposal, for the first time in history, a global communication network by which those who have awakened through a personal shift in consciousness (as well as those who have not) have the ability to discuss topics relevant to such an event and whereby all people are enabled to help enable the shift that appears to be occurring by way of our conscious evolution.

There is now, as well, an immense array of resources (books, web pages, videos, seminars, associations, coaching, etc.), by which humanity is finding education and support toward these ends. By this, individuals are able to gain new insight and inspiration into the need for change and to better understand our role as agents of that change.

People can find answers regarding their personal shift in consciousness (or of that of a loved one) and see that process through to greater maturity. As well, individuals everywhere are beginning to find shared access to the principles and concepts of conscious evolution and thereby participate in many different ways toward the progress of our species. 

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We live in a world in the midst of rapidly escalating change

Nearly every citizen of the Earth can look around and recognize an immense increase in our technological advancements and a greater sense of change in general. Even in my own lifetime I’ve seen incredible advances; my parent’s generation even more so.

Generation X has witnessed the genesis of the personal computer, reliable global communication, wireless communication and data transfer, electric vehicles, virtual reality, and so on. Our parents witnessed man rocket to the moon.

Of course, our current time is not without struggle but there have also been more technological advances and positive cultural shifts in the last one hundred years than we have seen in all of the collective history of humanity (and one could even argue for the history of the entire known universe).

There seems to be no slowing down of this tendency either and technological indicators such as Moore’s Law are showing that we are continuing to experience exponential growth. Technological futurists such as Ray Kurzweil are suggesting that in our lifetimes we very likely going to experience the AI singularity, neuroconnection with the cloud (affording us a billion-fold advance in human intelligence), superlongevity (as in lifespans of hundreds of years), and even complete uploading of consciousness such that a fully posthuman reality will be achieved. And, of course, several companies are working towards interplanetary colonization.

Whether such prospects are incredibly inspiring or fear-inducing, they suggest one very clear observation: things are changing a great deal and at great speed. Whether this incredible rate of change and technological advancement equates to a positive benefit or we simply achieve catastrophic failure as it all implodes on a system unable to handle the stresses is yet to be seen.

But certain individuals such as myself see within this greater trend of technological advancement and societal change the very likely scenario that a similar exponential change in consciousness may occur as well. It certainly makes it seem not so crazy. If many of the most brilliant minds in the world tell us that we will have the option to live forever in a computer cloud I can certainly believe that it is also possible that we may expect to have monumental advances in consciousness.

In fact, we need to. It is my belief that without a corresponding increase in consciousness commensurate with our increasing technology, the wheels are simply going to fall off it all. By our state of consciousness at this very moment, we can descend into nuclear war or terrorist events tomorrow. Now imagine the possible technologies of 50 to 100 years in the future. If we cannot see ourselves and all things as one, our separation bias is going to drive us to terminal extinction.

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Great attention is going toward the understanding of consciousness

Perhaps for a number of reasons, consciousness itself is being given greater scrutiny as we seek to understand it in new ways. 

This may simply be a result of all of the other concurrent advancements in the world; scientists want to stake out a piece of a new scientific frontier. Advances are being made everywhere in science and those with an academic interest in consciousness are seeking to keep up.

Along with consciousness being swept up in a greater tide of progress, science is also loosening its narrowly-minded perspective of how it views consciousness. While there is a long way to go, there are scientists in the field of consciousness urging others to investigate it through a more expansive lens.

Philip Goff is one among many who is leading this fight. He suggests that traditional science cannot deal with consciousness and so must be expanded to encompass that which does not fall in line with the typical criteria of observation, verification, and repeatability. Mainstream science is still reluctant but more and more individuals and institutions are pressing the issue in favor of more appropriate manners of study.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) may be driving the need for greater understanding of consciousness as well. There is an incredible amount of focus on artificial intelligence and its holy grail is not just “learning” but legitimate consciousness. Those who seek its perfection and ultimate usefulness will not settle until artificially-generated consciousness is possible. So, this has placed a spotlight on the subject thereby helping it rapidly become perhaps the avante garde field of all academics and technology.

Given all of this increasing attention upon consciousness I expect to see new advances in understanding which will lead toward a more optimistic future. 

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We are at the edge of a precipice (multiple global crises)

Humanity has, for the first time in its history, a sense that it is rapidly approaching a precipice based on its own activity. In our past, we lived much more sustainably and this is especially so the further back we go on the timeline. In our deep history mankind had the roots of ego but not the dominant and unconscious version that we are now burdened by. This supported our sustainability in two primary ways.

First, we saw ourselves as one with nature and so lived cautiously upon the earth. In our Pre-Egoic state, indigenous humans saw all things as connected with a unifying spirit throughout. We did not yet have the developed concept of isolation from nature as we do now. Early tribal people would therefore treat the earth with great care, taking only what resources were needed and nothing more. The idea of waste was unthinkable and perhaps not even knowable.

Second, we did not have the same “needs” as the modern human. It is characteristic of humans in the Egoic Age to have a great sense of loneliness or emptiness (un-FULL-FILL-ment) and therefore a yearning to try to fill one’s life with things to bring happiness. This leads to greater consumption for one but also a characteristic tendency for that which is artificial and ultimately unnecessary. This may be because we want more things faster and to keep up with demand and their own need for profits, corporations produce lower quality goods, most of which are not essential to our survival or basic needs. It is of no real concern that products aren’t made to last that long because our desires and tastes change so often anyway.

We have become, by way of ego, a disposal-based society. Nearly every product purchased in the modern world is made of materials that are manufactured and possibly toxic in composition. They are also designed and produced with a very low useful life and have a terminal end use which means they are not easy or economical to fix or upgrade or to dedicate to other uses.

Consider our single-use packaging as well, used once and then discarded into the landfills (or just as often, throughout our landscapes and oceans). All of this material takes incredible amounts of time to degrade and when it does it merely leeches its toxins into the soil and water. No other species could commit such atrocities against the environment but humans can because of our disconnect between ourselves and nature.

We also find ourselves in a position of  overtaxing Earth’s resources, taking more materials than are sustainable.

Pollution is also a preeminent concern arising from our incredible demand of fossil fuels, from manufacturing or resource extraction, and as mentioned, from waste.

It is apparent that we cannot continue along these same lines of consumption and find continuity of the species even a few hundred years into the future. We are literally approaching the precipice of our existence and can already begin to see over the edge.

By being forced into a corner humanity is pressured to consider new options. Whereas by our (albeit, low) consciousness our influence has primarily extended upon our environment, our environment is now pressing back upon us. Consciousness is experiencing a back flow and that reversed pressure is forcing change at fundamental levels within us.

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There are many other indicators such as the ancient prophecy or the astrological Age of Aquarius

Along with these other items there are some other influences that suggest a general anticipation of our current time from ages long ago. 

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The Mayan Long-Count Calendar

The first is interesting as it so specifically points to our time in history, namely the Mayan calendar indicating the end of a great age in the year 2012. This is significant as the Mayan long-count calendar spans a range of approximately 5,125 years.

Many theories speculated in the years leading up to 2012 that something catastrophic would happen, perhaps the end of the world itself. But those who study Mayan culture state with considerable unanimity that the Mayans never suggested that. Their long-count calendar simply reached the end of the age and was therefore intended to reset the way an odometer on an older vehicle might.

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But, the meaning of ages appears to have some influence. According to a National Geographic article:

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“…the end of the long count represents the end of an old cycle and the beginning of a new one, according to Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta, the Chiapas state division director of Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History.

‘It is like for the Chinese, this is the Year of the [Rabbit], and the next year is going to the Year of the Dragon, and the next is going to be another animal in the calendar,’ Gallaga said.” 

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For the Chinese, the twelve different animals represent different fortunes based on a zodiac system. At the beginning of each new year, the expected results would shift slightly. The shift may not be that significant as the periods of each “age” are only one year, but they are intended to suggest subtle differences.

If this ascribed meaning was the case for the Mayan ages, what does that suggest for our current time? From the Mayan standpoint no one seems to know and perhaps that means anything is possible.

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But notable researcher and author Graham Hancock writes in his 2015 book, Magicians of the Gods:

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“… the Maya were not speaking of the end of the world, as such, but rather the end of an age—‘a time of great transformation and world rebirth’—that would be followed by the beginning of a new great cycle or world age”.

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Perhaps we may never know the significance of our new age as the Mayans saw it but we may be able to suppose that they recognized that this exact period in time was going to signal a shift into something new.

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The Age of Aquarius

What does have greater clarity regarding meaning is our supposed shift into the astrological Age of Aquarius. While there is no hard and fast date for the transition into this age, most people who follow the astrological ages tend to believe that it has already begun several decades ago or that we are currently moving into it at this time (a few suggest its beginning may be a few decades into the future).

In fact, it is to be expected that no hard and fast date exists as such a shift is a slow rollover from one age to another. Such a time range is known as a cusp. That we may take even 50 to 100 years to make such a transition would not be unexpected as such an age is considered by most to be 2,160 years. But almost everyone agrees that we are right now somewhere along the timeline of that cusp.

What fascinates me so much about the astrological ages is their apparent correlation with history. We are just proceeding out of the Piscean age which is the age of the fish. Note that the symbol Christians secretly used for Jesus and their loyalty to them was a fish and several of Jesus’ miracles involved fish. This is, of course, relevant in that our Western record of time is based upon the life of Christ and his influence here was approximately 2,000 years, or one age, ago.

More than this aspect of monotheism is the tendency of the age for patriarchy and hierarchy. Besides technological advancement, not much else could be said to sum up the history of the last 2,000 years or more.

And yet in our current time we are beginning to see the challenge of monotheism, patriarchy, and hierarchy. The old structures are tumbling down. Women are moving into positions of leadership much more frequently, traditional values such as marriage, family, and sexual orientation among many are being tested, and we are even seeing the beginnings of, at the very least, corporate hierarchies flattening into more shared ownership, leadership, and overall vision and purpose. It is my belief that we are only at the beginning of what is unfolding on all these accounts.

What other characteristics do people most agree upon as the expectation for the Aquarian Age? Among the former listed, two primary ones; a tendency toward greater technology and spirituality.

While these two points might seem mutually exclusive it seems we are seeing greater developments in both. The aspect of technology is obvious but we’re also experiencing unprecedented growth in the interest of and new interpretations regarding spirituality. Both are moving forward with increasing momentum, each in their own way.

If we are only just now at the beginning of this age what might their advancement look like in several hundred to a thousand or more years from now? In my opinion (or at least by my hope), the two will merge in a way that no one would have ever expected could even be possible. Perhaps Utopia is possible and it seems that it only could be with sufficient clean energy and sustainable materials and processes and a higher spirituality and consciousness to guide and govern it.

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Native American Prophecy

Native American prophecies also point to a time of remarkable change directly following a period of greater turmoil. It is by that turmoil that we can most easily determine ours as the age such prophecies are pointing to.

One of the primary ancient prophecies is known as the Spirit of the 8th Fire. This one refers to a time when mankind will have a choice to continue its destructive path based in separation or come together as one people, all nations unified. Although this prophecy does not speak specifically of our time by date, it does allude to an age of conflict and environmental destruction, the likes of which humanity has only known in the last hundred years or so, acutely.

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Chief Crazy Horse of the Lakota said this of this future time:

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“Upon suffering beyond suffering: the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world. A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. I see a time of Seven Generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the Sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again.” 

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Grandfather William Commanda also commented of the age in this way:

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“In the time of the Seventh Fire, a New People would emerge. They would retrace their steps to find the wisdom that was left by the side of the trail long ago. Their steps would take them to the elders, who they would ask to guide them on their journey. If the New People remain strong in their quest, the sacred drum will again sound its voice. There will be an awakening of the people, and the sacred fire will again be lit. At this time, the light-skinned race will be given a choice between two roads. One road is the road of greed and technology without wisdom or respect for life. This road represents a rush to destruction. The other road is spirituality, a slower path that includes respect for all living things. If we choose the spiritual path, we can light yet another fire, an Eight Fire, and begin an extended period of Peace and healthy growth.”

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The Rainbow Prophecy alludes to this age of healing as well. The time spoken of makes mention of an awakening of sorts where nations will begin to seek answers and wisdom which had previously been lost. People of all colors (red, white, yellow, and black) will unite like the hues of the rainbow to reign as one nation on the Earth. 

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This Navajo-Hopi prophecy references the rainbow as follows:

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“The great spiritual Teachers who walked the Earth and taught the basics of the truths of the Whirling Rainbow Prophecy will return and walk amongst us once more, sharing their power and understanding with all. We will learn how to see and hear in a sacred manner. Men and women will be equals in the way Creator intended them to be; all children will be safe anywhere they want to go. Elders will be respected and valued for their contributions to life. Their wisdom will be sought out. The whole Human race will be called The People and there will be no more war, sickness or hunger forever.”

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It is clear to me that the intuition of many regarding our shift as a species into something new and remarkable is well-founded. Signs abound if we look for them. Please comment if you would have any insight to add and share with others to bring a message of hope to the human race. Our future is being made right now.

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My spiritual awakening was quite profound. By this I mean it was certainly attention-getting and marked a significant inflection point in my life. 

When it occurred I was in my early forties, hovering at the cusp of a mid-life crisis, suffering and in despair because of my dissatisfaction with life and with who I was. 

I now have a greater understanding of consciousness (although it is certainly a complex subject) and see as its essence that which acts as some kind of operating system to allow us to understand the self, our environment (life or the universe), and to grant us an interface for interaction between the two. 

But the flow of my greater consciousness had been stopped-up fully and was, in a figurative sense, backing up sewage into my life. 

I hated who I was. I felt incompetent and I really was incompetent, unable to influence any sort of positive direction in my life. The world was only influencing me and I had no functional ability to influence it back. I was overwhelmed.

On the day of my awakening, I experienced what was apparently the straw on top of the camel’s back. My wife and I went to a friend’s house after work because she wanted him to look at a car she was considering buying. This was already a stressful moment for me because I did not want to purchase another vehicle. But I also felt subjected to a great deal of shame because I am not a car guy and my own wife had to defer to a “real” (my emphasis, not hers) man to give her mechanical advice.

After a very quick look at the vehicle, Jeff very convincingly told us to not purchase it. He suggested instead another vehicle he knew of which was for sale. But, at this time we did not have enough money saved to purchase a vehicle outright, only having the ability to make payments as the owner of this vehicle we were looking at had offered. This was a secondarily shaming moment because our friend was an entrepreneur and had no such difficulties. I felt truly incapable.

Jeff then gave us a tour of his business, a coffee roasting facility (this is where we met him that evening). He was excited regarding all the events going on and his future opportunities including some very healthy financial projections. To make the situation more unbearable for me, it must be realized that our friend had been released from a nearly three-decade prison sentence only a year or so before. Although happy for his turnaround and success, I also felt even more ashamed that he was becoming a more successful person than I in one year than all of my own previous 30 years combined.

From here, I recall that we stepped outside for some reason and that is when it happened: I had immediate clarity first of all, that I was not my job and that all I thought that represented of me and, second, that I was not my life that I had been living so unfruitfully and without joy. My perception shifted and I experienced a new understanding that I was not all that I always thought I was. At this moment I was exposed to my true identity as a spiritual being.

At the same time, I realized that I was to become a writer and to help humanity by that gift. In other words, I received a calling.

It took me several months of research to begin to understand what had happened and many more after that to get a comprehensive enough picture in order to begin to help people in any meaningful way. Understanding my awakening was so elusive primarily because I was not searching for it; it arrived on its own, spontaneously. 

I had been an evangelical Christian since my early teens and as one might guess, people like myself do not go searching for alternative viewpoints inconsistent with the biblical ones for our answers. 

I have come to learn that, although freeing, awakenings can initiate their own form of turmoil for many people who experience them. People’s understanding or worldviews become flipped upside down and many can feel as though they are having some kind of psychotic episode, even being prescribed drugs by their doctors or therapists to try to normalize their newly expanded consciousness. 

I understand this turbulence firsthand and so it has become the highest priority for me to allow others some measure of direction as they themselves awaken or for those around them to understand how to respond compassionately. This is so very important because I do believe that the occurrences of awakening episodes have become more common and may very likely increase rapidly in the very near future.

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One of my deepest passions as an awakened individual is contemplating what it means to be human at this time in our history and what our potential as a species is. Here are some key points of what I see as we continue our progression toward the future.

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Although we live in unprecedented times, I absolutely believe that we are living FAR below our human potential.

People say that we only use a small fraction of our brains (something on the order of 10% or so). If we could capture more of our brainpower, imagine what that could do for us.  However, my interest is not in our hidden potential for intellect but for consciousness.

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Our Potential Is A Reflection of Our Consciousness

There seems to be no real unified definition of what consciousness is and there are as many interpretations as there are people to offer them.

When I interpret the various theories and contemplate them through my own intuition, I see it as acting something like a universal operating system, granting us an understanding of who we are and of the nature of the universe (our environment in which we operate) and providing an interface between us and that environment.

Just like a computer, the operating system can remain as it is (and not be able to keep up with changing demands applied to it), can decline in performance (through corruption or the introduction of a virus), or can be upgraded. It is by this very concept that I believe humanity can push through to a new, higher potential.

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The Ego Has Corrupted Our Operating System

If my spiritual awakening revealed one understanding to me it is that we as humans are limited in every respect by our egos. To be clear, the ego is not a trait of pride or arrogance but a psychological construction that all people have to some degree (very young children typically do not yet have a developed ego, isolated indigenous cultures probably have very weak egos, and people who have engaged in certain effective programs of meditation and mindfulness—or who have spiritually awakened—can transcend the unconscious, dominant aspect of the ego—but still have an ego).

The ego acts as a constriction upon our greater consciousness. It’s like a choke-point or filter that limits its functionality in many ways. Although ego has played an important role in humanity’s development (bringing us the mental capacity for analysis and logical inquiry necessary for all our incredible technological achievements), it has also brought a complementary degree of conflict and suffering by which we seem to be capping our overall advancement as a species.

The ego’s limiting tendency is based on its fundamental belief in and requirement for separation. The ego sees each individual as isolated from each other, from nature, and from a higher cosmic order. This is automatically limiting because rather than experiencing our universal, divine nature we are just you and me and that is all we have. Not too inspiring or empowering. 

Our paradigm of separation also causes us to be reactionary beings, motivated by fear, and willing to capitalize on “others” for our own benefit. Every major problem we can think of in the world right now—war, genocide, crime, poverty, poor health, social injustice, and more—stem from such a fundamental belief in separation.

If this was not enough to limit our potential, the ego acts in a predominantly unconscious fashion for most of humanity. This is to say, we are conditioned to engage in the same old patterns of thought and behavior even when those tendencies are no longer sustainable. The ego is so vulnerable that it will cling incessantly to that which has worked for it in the past and can never let it go for to do so would admit that its version of reality was found to be flawed. And the ego will never invite any suspicion of its validity and worth.

Can there then be salvation from our fallen state, a restoration to wholeness? I do say yes and that this is where the opportunity for realizing a greater potential lies.

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Our Greatest Potential Lies In Expanded Consciousness

In my understanding, I see consciousness as a general property of our universe, something that exists at all places and at all times. In this base capacity it seems to be pretty much regulatory, maintaining the status quo of our universe. For instance, if we imagine the earth prior to mankind, nature was harmonious and self-balancing. No one species upset the balance; it was all even-keel.

Humans alone seem to have a higher degree of consciousness, or access to consciousness, which brings a greater sense of awareness, experience, influence, and so forth than the animal or, obviously, plant kingdoms. We are on an altogether different plane of consciousness. This is why we are able to exert so much influence upon our physical reality and to advance so far as a species. Slugs and snails are relegated to crawling in the dirt.

Yet some humans seem capable of an even more expanded state of consciousness. While most people see themselves and their environment as disconnected (by way of ego), there are others who have been able to transcend the ego either by spiritual discipline or through abrupt spiritual awakenings.

For such people, their “operating system” has been markedly upgraded to understand and interact with one’s environment. Rather than division, things are seen as much more cosmically-unified, an experience of absolute oneness.

If humanity as a whole can reach this state of expanded consciousness we will drastically increase our understanding of Self, of the nature of the universe, and of our ability to interact with—even greatly influence—our universe, perhaps in remarkable, new ways.

We will have surpassed by far the base consciousness of the universe as well as the higher human status plagued by the harmful tendencies of the ego in order to reach new levels of consciousness by which we can find opportunity to rise toward our greater potential.

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Evolution in Consciousness

Humanity, like all things, is in a state of constant evolution toward a higher and higher version of itself. Certainly, biological evolution is controversial and if it is a valid experience of the organic world at all it does not appear to be advancing very rapidly.

But for humans, we have continued toward a higher evolution in other ways. One has been that we are the first species to significantly develop technologies to expand our influence upon our environment. The human ego has allowed for this and so has been an “evolutionary” benefit as already discussed. But, as an unconscious mechanism restricting a more expanded consciousness, it is now becoming an unsustainable, existential threat.

This being said, I see our evolution now shifting in yet another way (notice how much more rapidly these transitions of evolution seem to be occurring: millions or billions of years of biological evolution, thousands of years of technological evolution reaching exponential growth in only the last couple of centuries, and now what may be a rapid transition into an expansion of consciousness for all of humanity).

As humans are accessing an expanded state of consciousness and finding an understanding of oneness with all things, we are able to rise above the tendency of the separation-based ego to cause conflict and division. But in the unified nature of our expanded consciousness, we are also finding a greater power for new levels of inner and outer well-being.

To be fair, there have been many individuals throughout history who have experienced this possibility of expanded consciousness. But more generally, the experience of humanity has not. It is my contention that we are now in the beginning stages of a new shift for a much larger percentage of humanity.

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Source Consciousness

What I believe is pushing humanity through to new levels is a renewed connection to what many refer to as Source consciousness and energy. Source could be seen as the cause of all current creation and the re-Source for our own co-creation here in time and space.

While many people make Source synonymous with God, I don’t think that is quite accurate. It could be that Source is, in fact, God but that would require that we rethink our assumptions about God (mono-theistic, separate from all creation, the great Judge—these are all irreconcilable with pure spirituality because such concepts are based in the dualistic nature of ego).

By our transcendence of the ego, we are discovering bit-by-bit that we are one with ALL things; this emphasis is to imply that we in this realm of time and space are actually extensions of Source itself.

We as extensions of Source consciousness find revealed in our transcendence of the consciousness-constricting ego a new power by which we can thrive and advance. While we find our lives restricted by the limiting forces of this realm of time and space, our reconnection with our true nature, Source consciousness, supplies a great abundance by which we can fund a new level of progress as a species. We are freed and find supply to continue our evolutionary journey toward an ever-increasing potential.

I refer to this supply of well-being and all that is needed for our progress as spiritual abundance. Its influence is massive and unending as long as we allow it—which in the transcendence of ego, we can.

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Potential

The concept of Potential likely deserves some clarification itself. For most people, potential implies something synonymous with possibility. We often say that when there is potential, something better can be achieved but that destination is wide open.

I prefer to see potential not as a range of possibility but as a singular direction that we can expect should nothing impede or short-circuit the means to that end.

Potential could be seen as the embedded, unmanifest reality intrinsic to a particular set of conditions. In physics, potential energy refers to what is capable of being done by an object if it is allowed to release that energy by way of an impending circumstance. A vase tottering on the edge of a shelf has a certain potential energy relative to being allowed to topple to the floor. If it does fall its potential will have been expressed through its decent and in the collision with the floor.

In electrical physics, there is a similar concept called potential difference. In a transfer of electrons, there is a movement based on a difference of potential known as Voltage. The electrons will move to a very specific destination as long as an uninterrupted circuit is provided.

As might be obvious by now, I view the ego as the switch in the circuit which prevents the necessary current from flowing. We are denied the Source of our energy and therefore find a disconnect from the potential which is displacing us toward a new position. Said another way, I believe that Source is pulling us toward a higher potential of which ego is short-circuiting.

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Our Ultimate Human Potential

What does our ultimate potential look like exactly? It’s hard to say. By and large, our results as a species have only been by ego so as we transition into a completely different “operating system” we should expect to see totally different results. Our future may not resemble our current reality or even have no significant limitation at all.

In this way, I don’t really see a final destination for humanity, what the notable evolutionary philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin termed the Omega Point, but rather a continual draw to ever higher forms of being.

If I had to speculate, I would suggest that (assuming we can turn the tide on our currently unsustainable egoic state of consciousness) as we progress through the next several thousand years of our development that we will continue to be bound less and less to the restrictive nature of our realm of time and space and perhaps even surpass it. Such an outcome almost seems inevitable given enough time.

If we gauge the possibilities of consciousness with our predicted near-future advancements in technology it seems as though anything is possible. Ray Kurzweil, one of the most respected futurists of our day, predicts that in our lifetime we will see a billion-fold increase in individual human intelligence as we become neurologically-connected to the cloud. Many transhumanists and posthumanists suggest that we will soon have the capability, for those who desire to do so, to entirely upload our consciousness into the cloud and live forever as digital beings.

What will our expanded consciousness mean for our future? I think that we ourselves will become the extraterrestrials to some other galaxy’s version of our current selves. We may overcome the physical limitations of our bodies altogether and find the capability to merge between dimensions. It is entirely possible that we could become our own creators of other realms of time and space. All that is needed is time and the continued abundance of Source to fund ever higher transitions.

Source seems to me to be both the re-Source needed for our advancement but also the potential which draws us to ever-expanding versions of ourselves by our unified consciousness. In many ways, I suspect that Source is calling us back home; that our own potential IS Source. Toward this end, I would say that should we collectively make the shift in our consciousness, we will undergo incredible changes as a species.

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The ego. As a psychological construct, it maintains incredible control over our lives. By this incessant control, it brings a greater limitation to our experience and a far lesser degree of freedom. But why does it do so? What are its motivations for usurping the power in our lives for its own benefit? I suggest three reasons why our egos are so controlling:

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Reason #1: The Ego Wants Desperately To Survive

The controlling tendency of ego is born first of all from its vulnerability. It must be remembered that the ego has long ago seceded from the power and wholeness of Source energy, our true spiritual nature. It departed from a state of fullness and total adequacy to a place where it must construct itself from the ground up. As a “startup” entity it must bootstrap itself from only the capital it can find by which to associate and attach. All egos survive by superficial identities—that is all they have.

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The Ego Has Everything To Lose

The ego has only what it has managed to construct throughout its brief lifetime. If it loses any strength of identity at all it must search out new attachments with which to identify in order to restore its ego-health. It, therefore, proceeds through its reign in a constant battle to retain its image and repair and shore it up as needed. And this means it must maintain control in order to do so.

But ego’s vulnerabilities go even deeper. While in spirit, we are able to live a life of greater trust and ease we also understand, even here in this place of time and space, that should our physical lives cease our essence will in some form continue on. This is a great source of comfort and some of us even look toward our horizon in anticipation. But ego has not come from spirit and it cannot return to spirit. In the truest sense, when the ego dies it is lost forever.

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The Greatest Threat To Ego

Of course, by way of our own physical passing ego is severed as the body dies and spirit continues on. There is not much ego can do to avoid the inevitable except to ignore it and ego is quite adept at that skill. But there is a “death” that is even more concerning to ego and is so by far. In our physical death, although ego has terminated, there is no shame; it has occurred despite any ability of the ego to deter it. But the ego cannot accept that we may come to awaken to a new spiritual awareness and bypass the need of it altogether.

The greatest threat to ego is not our physical death but our spiritual life. Recall that ego has established itself in spite of spirit and is perpetually concerned with maintaining that separation. The finish line is of no concern relative to maintaining its lead along the way against this rival competitor.

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Should ego slip and allow us to glimpse our spiritual nature then its dominance is immediately undone. To be spirit-aware is to gain a new level of consciousness or, put another way, the stranglehold of un-consciousness is defeated. Ego only can survive because we are unaware of it, allowing it to do its phantom work in our lives, unnoticed and unquestioned.

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The Ego Takes Control To Protect Itself

Ego, therefore, has a great task at hand in defending its position from dethronement. This is why it takes its need for control to neurotic levels. One small mistake could be its last. So ego keeps grabbing us by the chin and setting our attention forward lest we catch something truly interesting in our periphery. It forces us to believe that ego is all we are and that all our focus should be directed towards its ends. We are engaged in busywork, forced to distraction, and controlled in ways we might never know or understand.

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Reason #2: By Control, Ego Finds Strength Through Importance

In all of this desire for survival, the ego finds the need to buttress itself in numerous ways, increasing its sense of solidity and substance. Wrenching control from our hands so that ego can ensure its immediate survival is is one thing but enhancing the ego’s sense of validity is another.

The Ego Is Constantly Seeking Validation

Because the ego has pulled itself up out of the “primordial goo” of spirit and onto the shores of its own manufactured self there is this sense that it is weak and exposed, perhaps not strong enough to grow legs and run or clever enough to sprout wings and fly.

Out of this vulnerability is a desire for ever greater validation. Through the ages of ego’s reign, it has discovered and developed ways of securing that need of which the chieftain ruler is that of a sense of importance. Importance equates to substance in ego math and although that summation is only conceptual, for ego, it is sufficient. As far as ego is concerned, beggars can’t be choosers. Because it finds its roots not in the greater essence of Source, all its resources must come second-hand. While Source provides nourishment from within, the ego must scrounge for it without. And so, like a vulture, ego capitalizes on any carrion it can sniff out and find sustenance by. 

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Control Allows Ego To Feel Important

Believing itself important, the ego is able to build and strengthen itself, having found its lifeblood in how it (and hopefully others) find need in its presence.

And considering all of the ways we can attain to some self-delusion of importance, what better, quicker, easier way than to follow the lead of the child. We’ve all known one or were one; that bossy pack leader in our neighborhood or school playground that sought to control everything you and your friends did.

If ego understands one concept more than any other, it is this: Taking control is the quickest way to the spotlight. Even if people hate you, when you have control, guess where they’re all looking? That’s right, at someone important. Ego will capitalize on this and find its importance through association with all that incoming attention. Such energy is the fuel it craves.

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In all ways, the ego is eking out some measure of merit, trying to prove itself to others, to itself, and possibly even to spirit. And being that it has no past lineage or support it is up to it to drudge up its own apparatuses of acknowledgment. This is ego’s go-to understanding: Possessing control makes us important . . . importance validates the ego . . .  validation is ego’s conceptual substance.

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Reason #3: By Being In Control Ego Holds ALL The Cards

The final reason I offer as a motivation for ego’s incessant need for control requires a little background. While the first two points presented are generally intuitive, this last, for most people, is not. The majority of the human population might consider that perfection is a crucial criterion for the ego’s sense of importance. This is true in most cases. The ego loves to be perfect and when you find someone guilty of perfectionism (perhaps even yourself), that is ego at work.

If we are perfect then not only do people look up to us, they find no reason to question our merit. The ego marches on in validation-victory.
It makes sense then, that ego demands control so often because by its micromanagement it can hope to attain it. By cutting out all middlemen, the ego can quality-check each step of the way and ensure its continued success. But even though ego seeks control to achieve perfection, not all of us can believe ourselves so able or worthy of standing on the victory podium, at least not in all instances. What then?

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The Fallacy of Perfection

One of the greatest misconceptions of the ego I find again and again is that ego desires perfection and only perfection. Again, perfection is preferred but not all of us are cut out for it. There are plenty of people on this planet who are living lives in deep despair, simply trying to make it out of their bed in the morning only to try to return to it relatively unscathed at night. In such a condition, these individuals haven’t the capacity to attain to anything more. Rather, they embrace their sense of low worth or failure and find identity in that.

Remember that ego has no inherent identity but must attain to it surrogately through whatever attachments it may find. For some (admittedly most) an identity of importance may come through wealth or power or accolades. But for the number of individuals who don’t find themselves in those successful circles, they tend to forego the unattainable for that which they have really, truly learned to believe—that they are not good enough or worthy enough.

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Only The Extremes Matter

The foremost concern of ego is identity because without it ego is just an empty construction. Its appearance as a shell would, therefore, represent something of a carcass, dead and ready to be buried in the past. Without an identity, ego has no other justification for being. And, as already discussed, survival is a critical need to which it will hope to attain at all costs.

This means that the ego will do anything to survive. Like a government that presents a polished face to the constituents but operates behind the scenes as a sinister deep-state, the ego will carry out its own shadow operations. This includes acting the part of the saboteur if the situation calls for it.

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Ego will cut out our possibilities for success if it deems it strategic to do so. And this is exactly what happens to many of us, unable to trace the sources of what seems like an unending string of failures. Ego must find and maintain identity, in whatever form it can, regardless of what’s best for us. For ego, success is its survival and validation no matter what that looks like to others.

While success places one out of the bell-curve and toward one extreme of the continuum, there remains one more end of the spectrum, the polar state, failure. Setting aside what seems more enjoyable or more reasonable to expect of ego, the opposite condition singles one out from the masses in just as strong a manner as those we would call successful. Many people are known by their victimhood. Some cling to it like it is life itself and now you know why—to the ego that represents the only lifeline to a validated identity it has.

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Seamless Versus Flawless

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What is most important to ego is not necessarily that our image is flawless. What matters more is that our image to ourselves and others is seamless.  Only that entity that is in control can cover all the bases. By holding all the cards, the ego can ensure its survival even if its means are questionable. Ego will hamstring our efforts if it believes its own “deep-state” will remain hidden and unhampered into the future. As the saying goes, Absolute power corrupts and ego is especially guilty in this regard. It is by retaining control that ego keeps such insidious methods hidden and available should the need arise to implement them..

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Summary

The ego desires control for primarily selfish reasons. It is about self-protection and self-promotion. By maintaining control in one’s life ego ensures its own security and strength of life-force. Through control, the ego can do so in three primary ways:

• It keeps us isolated from the greater connection and the spiritual experience which would otherwise render ego as unnecessary.
• By claiming control ego can find a certain measure of substance by way of importance.
• Having full control means that the ego can retain all the options for ensuring its survival—even the more sinister ones. 

By understanding the motives of the ego we may begin to forgive ourselves and others for having struggled to find purpose, meaning, and clarity in life. We can relieve ourselves and those around us of fault for our lack of growth or our misdirections and failures. And perhaps by our greater understanding, we can alleviate the ego’s ability to gather and maintain its stronghold. 

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The following blog is a revised and condensed version of the ebook, “What Is Transpersonal Extropy?” You can download a copy of the expanded document here, no email address required.

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What is Transpersonal Extropy?

Transpersonal Extropy (TE) is the idea that as we individually and collectively transcend the psychological mechanism of the unconscious ego our lives become more expanded, ordered, meaningful, and even guided toward a higher state of being. By way of expanded consciousness, humanity not only finds the ability to avert our destruction but adapt to more harmonious and sustainable ways of living and even to release the limiting tendencies of the ego in order to ascend higher.

“Transpersonal”  means “beyond self” or beyond “ego” and so refers to the “awakened” experience of ego transcendence. While the study of the transpersonal nature is typically confined to the fields of transpersonal psychology and spiritual self-help circles, TE expands this concept further to include humanity as a collective.

“Extropy” refers to the ability of a system to become more ordered, more full of energy, and more purposeful. The term arises as an antonym to the concept of entropy, a scientific principle that refers to the tendency of certain systems over time to become less ordered and less energetic, ultimately resulting in the death of the system itself. The end result is chaos.

Whereas entropy implies a downward spiraling tendency, extropy suggests an upward, ever-ascending one. Things get better rather than worse. Life expands and we are freer to express and ultimately to evolve. 

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The entropic qualities of ego

Because of various traits of the ego, its effect is generally entropic, moving us  into lower states of functionality. Compounded across the entire race, we find ourselves in this current state of relative decline.

The ego has three primary characteristics by which it devolves humanity:

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#1: The ego’s nature is one of un-consciousness

The nature of ego is primarily unconscious. We are fundamentally “unaware” of the effects of our actions; we do things without really knowing why or caring what the results are—as long as our short-term desires are met. Our habitual patterns of thought and behavior lead us blindly as though we are operating from some sort of psychological programming, only able to execute commands and never to recode the instructions.

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#2: The ego holds a fundamental belief in separation

Because the ego exists in opposition to the greater consciousness which is our true nature, it is born of a belief in separation and therefore produces results in accordance with that belief. The ego compels us to see ourselves as separate from all other humans, from nature, and from a greater cosmic order. 

This perspective drives a particular worldview with specific consequences:

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A) Separation-belief inspires personal agendas of protection and promotion

Such a mentality holds that in life there is “me” and then there is everyone else. The natural tendency for such a worldview is that each person must look out for themselves, sometimes even at the expense of consideration for others. 

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B) Separation-belief suppresses progress by way of opposing energies

By way of a belief in separation, egos take on isolated, individual positions and as such, there is no cumulative, forward progress or even perspective. Some efforts point or aim in one direction and others a different way. At the end of it all, what is left amounts to a cancellation of any meaningful advance except for a smattering of the most dominant ideals. 

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C) Separation-belief tends to create conflict

Should we be able to experience life as a unified human race we would expect no conflict to be present. But the ego builds on our differences and argues for them, even at the cost of life itself if deemed warranted. History has proven this tendency time and again.

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D) Separation-belief reduces our capacity for empathy

When our concern is for our own promotion we don’t desire so much to be bogged down by the alternate perspectives—and burdens—of others. In our mutual separation, it is difficult for us to maintain the level of empathy we need to raise the collective experience of humanity.

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E) Separation-belief creates a lack of internal peace

Our isolated experience is similar to one of being lost. A sense of panic ensues along with an overwhelming feeling of vulnerability. In our lostness, our experience is one of fear and doubt, a sense that we are not capable of surviving life easily on our own. 

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#3: The ego’s isolation imparts limitation

Having separated out of the formless, eternal, infinite qualities of universal consciousness, the ego has thus taken on a quality of form-full-ness, and limitations as would be expected within our realm of time and space. All form, even that which we might imagine were galactic in size, is bound ultimately by its dimensions. Yes, we have consciousness but it is in limited quantity and disconnected from the power of the universal whole.

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Ego-Consciousness and the Future of Humanity

The following are some of the most prominent possibilities of how ego can ensure our destruction or at least make our life experience miserable:

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#1: Our ecological devastation

By our actions, we are destroying our own lifeline and the only home we currently have. Prior to the dominantly egoic human presence, no other species fell into such disharmony with the natural environment. Nature has worked in absolute harmony for perhaps millions of years and only with the advent of modern man did that trend reverse. 

What follows are a few ways in which the unconscious ego is driving this destruction of the environment: 

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A) Rampant consumerism

Because of the ego’s basis in separation, there is a deep need in humanity to fill the gaps of ourselves and find some manner of inner wholeness. One of the primary ways we do this is to appease our inner distress through the means of materialism. Our desire for more initiates an endless process that includes extraction, processing, manufacturing, shipping, and disposing, each step of which has its own unique impact on the earth, particularly in terms of resource extraction, energy consumption, pollution, required use of chemicals in processing or production, and, of course, disposal. 

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B) Throw-away mentality

Partly an extension of this consumerist cycle is a much more problematic issue of how we consider product life. Many of these products are low-quality and made of low-cost materials (most of which are chemical in nature) and which have low and terminal life cycles. In other words, products are so cheap and so poorly made they are used and discarded without another thought. Can we see humanity thriving 100 or 200 years into the future if we maintain this practice? It is only by the short-sighted and self-seeking nature of separation-consciousness that we are experiencing such unsustainable practices.

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C) Deforestation

The practice of massive deforestation practices in our planet’s rain forests is also a result of our short-sighted tendencies, thinking foremost of our initial needs and not the long-term sustainability that expanded consciousness endows. If we don’t get a handle on how we treat our forests—and quickly—our environment will no longer be able to support us. 

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D) Fossil fuel consumption & introduction of climate change

Our ego-inspired individuality almost demands that we idolize personal vehicles. The greed of ego drives the supply chain as well as huge corporations must keep drilling, processing, and supplying crude and refined oils for consumption. We are living out of conditioned habits. Should our blind obsession with fossil fuel use continue and the presence of greenhouse gases increase, we will eventually reach a threshold that, once crossed, may not be recoverable.

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E) Urban sprawl and massive transportation infrastructure

Spawning from this vehicular Independence along with our egoic need to own individual property, our earth has been haplessly covered in asphalt and concrete. Again, we have lost sight with our connection to the earth. The ego demands dominance over nature and seeks to benefit itself even at the environment’s expense. We continue to destroy nature for our own egoic ends.

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#2: Devastation from warfare

If anything can clearly demonstrate the insanity of the human race and showcase our collective low level of consciousness, this one fact should suffice. That nuclear weapons of any kind are found on our planet actively commissioned or not is concerning, to say the least. In fact, there is hardly anything that demonstrates less consciousness than to say that humanity or the planet is less worthy of existence than our national proclivities for dominance. The madness is so great that whichever country will launch first will most certainly ensure their own destruction. 

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#3: Rampant terrorism, or the rise of factions or rogue nations

In these times of powerful technology, including weapons, transportation, and communication, such groups find great ability to support their egoicly-based missions and manifestos which always put the desires of one group (unrepresentative of the whole) ahead of those of all others and do so without regard for the wellbeing of anyone not in support of their ideals. As ego is maintained in society, their desire for self-promotion may only strengthen, their ability to carry out their visions becoming easier and more destructive.

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#4: Continued global poverty, hunger, and unsanitary conditions. 

Here the ego can be seen at play again as the inadequate availability of resources can be attributed to a misallocation of our global attention. Instead of providing greater aid to all people everywhere, individual nations tend to focus on their own prolific wealth (especially promoting their sense of power through military might).

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The extropy of consciousness

Consciousness is antithetical to the ego so by understanding the fundamental aspects of one, we gain intrinsic insights into the other. Each of what follows is an opposing answer to those given previously for the entropic nature of ego:

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#1: In consciousness, we have awareness and adaptability 

Where the ego will lead our species into lower states of functionality because we see no consequences and no alternate path, consciousness brings a greater awareness of our courses of action and the consequences implicit in those. Instead of continuing in the same thoughtless patterns which lead us away from our higher potential, by way of consciousness we can consider our options and the consequences for each.

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#2: Consciousness imparts a sense of connection

Greater consciousness allows us to begin to recognize that we are all essentially one; with each other, with nature, and with a greater cosmic unity. This gives us a far greater capacity for empathy. It is difficult to ignore the suffering of your neighbor when you recognize that you are fundamentally one and the same. We also begin to regain our primal connection with nature and to seek its best interest.

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#3: Consciousness lessens our experience of limitation

To enter into the expanded consciousness that transcends the ego is to gain power over the effects of ego-limitation. Where ego is form-full, consciousness is formless; where ego is finite, consciousness is infinite; where ego is time-bound, consciousness is eternal. In our expanded consciousness, humanity will begin to know collectively the power transcended individuals have known for millennia.

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Expectations of expanded consciousness

Because of the grounding of consciousness in connection, several resulting experiences can occur. The following are a few of the primary ways among potentially many:

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#1: Peace

One of the main results of a sense of connection with all things is peace. Peace arises when things are whole or “perfect.” There is nothing to fear when all is complete. On the other hand, if we are separated from a greater sense of connection in the cosmos, insecurity can arise. In the experience of division, we find an inner conflict or turmoil as we struggle to maintain composure in our isolated state.

Connection restores that peace. Imagine the turnaround in the collective inner state of humanity and what that could do to raise our quality of life if only we could realize that state of oneness. We could rise above the fear, worry, doubt, and anxiety and get about the business of living presently with great joy as well as embrace the future in our attitude of optimism. Peace brings the freedom to be our best.

As well, in unison, we shed our individual viewpoints and share in a mutual perspective of a greater underlying connection, one that guarantees we need not pick up armaments against each other again.

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#2: Clarity

Connection also results in greater clarity; this is opposed to the sense of confusion that results from chaos. In our greater cosmic connection, we are granted an opportunity for understanding that normally eludes us in our divided state. Our local experience of consciousness becomes expanded in its restoration to the greater, universal field where all understanding resides. We become “plugged in” to a greater knowing that floods us as long as we vacate ourselves of all the concerns of the “I.” 

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#3: Meaning

One of our primary concerns in this modern age is one of our state of inner despair and struggle to find meaning. Meaning is always fostered by context. We can’t look at an individual letter on a page and discern much of what it means or, in other words, why it is there. But connect the letter with other letters or groups of letters in an orderly way and we can begin to discover meaning in the text. 

In our isolated states, we are not that unlike the lonely letter on a page. We feel in some way that we don’t belong or that the point of it all is unclear. Not only does this dampen the quality of life for us as individuals, it detracts from our forward push toward any collective progress. Our incentive for optimism and investment toward our future potential is short-circuited in our experience of separation. 

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Summary

Humanity is currently in the midst of chaos, staring blankly at our oceans of plastic and polluted skies and waterways, ever-aware of impending global conflict, and at a loss for personal meaning. Much of our species is still waking up to these hard facts and it seems while others recognize the problems, they seem to not have the understanding of the causes.

It is the nature of our level of consciousness to reflect itself upon our reality. Both are intricately linked, representing an interaction between the two, ourselves and our environment. If our degree of consciousness is limited, unaware, and self-serving then we can only expect results in life in accordance with those qualities. 

But if we can collectively shift into an expanded consciousness beyond the limiting, separation-belief of the ego, then we can begin to expect entirely different results as a species. Rather than remaining under a paradigm of self and all that entails it can move into a paradigm of connection with all the benefits that entails. The very act of moving from the one state of consciousness to the other begins to open our possibilities.

This is the nature of extropy. It comes from within and supplies energy, order, and intention for ever-expanding, harmonious growth. This is how humanity evolves. For far too long, ego has capped our potential as a species. It is meant to limit us, after all, as its purpose is control. But under too much restraint, it is the tendency of things to die. 

Humanity is coming into a greater age, a new and unbounded experience guided by consciousness itself. It is time to shed the limiting aspects of our separation-consciousness and begin to grow as a species just as a child must eventually become an adult. Those rules and curfews which were once needed are now no more. What remains is freedom to express and expand and evolve as humans. This is the experience of Transpersonal Extropy.

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NEXT STEPS

If this blog has resonated with you please share the link with those who might find it equally interesting or share it on your social media channels. Humanity is in a critical stage of its development, walking the razor’s edge between destruction and ascension. The most crucial activity we can be involved in is to raise awareness of the possibility for expanded consciousness (achieved as we collectively move beyond our egoic paradigm) to allow us to #EvolveHigher.

And finally, please subscribe. Your email will never be sold or misused and you will stay up-to-date on any new content or relevant news regarding humanity’s expansion into greater consciousness.

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The post The Basics of Transpersonal Extropy appeared first on .

The ego is a psychological mechanism by which we find identity and through which we understand our world. Ultimately, it is similar to some type of operating system which brings the ability for interaction between our personal selves and our environment. In this sense, it lies somewhere on the spectrum of consciousness. But is the ego a functional gradient of that spectrum and does it represent our highest possible degree of consciousness?

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Ego Analogies

The ego is our individual representation here in this realm of time and space, or as my friend Roland Achenjang, author of Who and Why You Are refers to it, our own personal avatar. Just as we must enter a digital game environment, not as our True Self, but through a character, our metaphysical nature comes to this earth in need of a representative that we experience the “game” of life through. This presupposes that we cannot experience this finite world in our formless, eternal, infinite, unbound reality of the True Self. We experience this place locally through ego and the local self though our true essence is non-local and universal.

But like our game avatar, our ego-self is severely limited relative to our true nature. It has a distinct set of characteristics and relates to a limited world via a stringent set of assumptions. While we as the game player might be able to creatively imagine this artificial world and our ability to freely do anything within it, we are ultimately confined in the actual experience of the game to our representative character. By experiencing life through that character’s perspective we are bound to its individual viewpoint and immediate context although our “Higher Self,” experiencing the game through us from afar, may have access to overhead maps, greater background or knowledge of the game, or so on. The avatar’s experience will always be far more limited than that of the game player (who’s own understanding is even less than that of the game maker).

The avatar itself—if it could have any awareness at all—will always believe it is running the show, completely autonomous and distinct from any other influence. It would believe in a complete paradigm of separation for it has this unique experience and presumes every other character has their own set of unique experiences. But the game player, the Higher Self, has a much more expanded view. Of course, the analogy gets fuzzy because in “real life” we are the game players and we are generally playing from our own distinct vantage points as well and with self-motivated, personal agendas of winning the game.

The relationship between the ego and the Higher Self can be seen in yet another way. If in the future, humans can travel among galaxies we might imagine that we would have mobile command centers by which we find new worlds and send teams of people down from to explore. These orbiting bases would conceivably have all of the technology to view an uncharted planet remotely via drones or to otherwise have the ability to see the “big picture” of the makeup of the atmosphere, the density of the soil, or the characteristics of the terrain. As they orbit above they can maintain a global perspective. But to truly begin to understand the planet better they must arrange an away team to be the “boots on the ground.” This team will be able to gain a new perspective which the command center (and ultimately the greater federation headquarters back on earth) could never have.

But while the away team’s experience is more personal and adaptive to the physical world they have begun to explore, they do so with a diminished sense of awareness and connection with the base they just left. Conceivably, if the planet was deemed suitable for occupation and the orbiting base left for another planet, all sense of connection might eventually be lost. Even if it took generations, the terrestrial dweller’s accumulated, conditioned experiences would become passed on without a direct remembrance of their beginnings on the planet. In time, people would go about living a less conscious life, perceiving disconnection with a greater order and carrying out their days with a lower level of awareness of any greater connection to their originating Source.

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The Limitations of Ego

The ego has some positive function, then, but it does have limitation. To experience this life in ego we must pull out of our infinite, eternal, essential nature and take on physical and psychological form. We must do so as we could not expect to be without limitation in this realm of time and space. In terms of another analogy, this might be seen as similar to the Christian theology of God coming to earth in the form of a man. In order to experience this world, Jesus had to shed the infinite, eternal, form-less for the finite, time-bound, and form-full nature of human reality.

It is difficult (actually, quite impossible) for the ego to maintain the bigger perspective of our true identity and the nature of the universe. This is because the ego comes at life from the viewpoint of separation. The ego maintains that we are each individuals, fully isolated from each other, from our environment, and from a greater cosmic order. This introduces problems for the species as we have become reactionary, operating from a position of fear or insecurity, or prone to conflict in order to either protect or promote our unique positions. The separation-belief forces us to restrict our perspective to “me” versus “you.”

The ego is also inherently UN-conscious. While I stated earlier in the opening paragraph that the ego is on some gradient of the scale of consciousness, this is only because it does grant us the ability to have some understanding of self and of our environment and allow us to interact as such. But, in ego, we also have the tendency to act without full awareness of our consequences for certain actions. We become conditioned to habitual patterns of thought and behavior without much additional scrutiny. Humanity has been on an autopilot mode for some time now, perpetuating certain activities without question. We can see this propensity in operation, for instance, in our continuing oppression of or lack of compassion toward various people groups or our on-going environmental impacts across the globe. We have continued to do things the same way because “that is how it’s always been done.” However, to remain unconscious for a long enough period of time, we might say, ultimately leads to death.

The ego does not necessarily grant us the full, or even correct, picture. The MO of ego has become to usurp our full awareness, constricting and distorting our true view of reality. The effect is that we do not understand our true identity (and certainly not our power) nor do we truly understand the nature of this spiritual universe in which we live. We are left to experience this “game of life” not knowing our true capabilities as a player or even the rules of the game. In this, we are individually and collectively struggling. Humanity is losing the game.

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The Need For Collective Ego Transcendence

While the ego has had a functional role in humanity’s evolution, allowing us greater capacity for thought and reason and motivating us to advance our positions in light of a fundamental belief in separation, such tendencies are now becoming detrimental. The ego is quickly becoming our undoing.

In the expanded consciousness that is accessible beyond the limiting effects of the ego, we find the extropic tendencies of higher energy, intention and the ability to impose order, and a cure to our inner psychological turmoil. Prior to the human ego, all species and ecosystems thrived in a state of sustainable balance. There were no limitations to prevent the tendencies of consciousness to enable equilibrium and to inspire evolution.

Why can it be stated with such certainly that it was consciousness which provided such effects? Because the ego and higher consciousness are antithetical to one another and it can be clearly demonstrated that ego—left to its own devices long enough—supports chaos, unsustainability, and eventual entropy. By way of reason, it stands that the realization of opposite results, then, should be considered to be the effect of greater consciousness.

The nature of this expanded consciousness, as experienced by ego transcendence, is one of expression and expansion. While humanity currently maintains an inner focus on self, in greater consciousness we grow to see ourselves as connected with each other, with the universe in which we reside, and a greater cosmic order. It is freeing, rather than restraining.

We face at this time a decision as a species, perhaps the only time any species upon the face of the earth has had the capacity to do so. We also, maybe more so now than at any other time in our history, have the means to act on that decision in the manner required to reinstate our evolutionary potential. It is almost as though this possibility of greater consciousness has come to us, as if the universe itself is righting us and initiating a quantum leap we have done little to deserve.

Humanity is beginning to awaken. Some are beginning to transcend into a higher state of consciousness, seeing the ego for what it really is—an outmoded psychological construct that aided humanity at one time but is now being shed for something light years beyond. The unconscious, dominate ego was a necessary stage of our evolution but its useful life has ended. The universe itself is shifting our consciousness in this New, Aquarian Age, allowing humanity to ascend to new heights and new potential.

At this transitional phase, the unconscious ego is no longer a helpful mechanism. It is true, however, that an ego held in greater awareness can certainly be an effective tool for progress. Such integration will continue to propel our evolution, combining the Aquarian traits of technology and consciousness. It is this transmuted ego, and not the previously dominate version, along with our expanded consciousness, which becomes useful for us as we march forward into the future. In the tradition of Someone whose level of consciousness is far greater than mine, Behold, the former things have passed, all things are becoming new.

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Next Steps

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All of us, especially in our natural (unawakened) state find our lives bound by certain limits. Most of these are self-imposed but some are assumed. One such type of limit is found in the expectations of others.

“Others” is a broad group and can include individuals that we know, groups of people, or institutions. But the expectations that others have for us can be extremely powerful in their ability to hinder our growth. We tend to place a lot of value in what others think of us.

When I was in high school I had a certain reputation in the eyes of others. I wasn’t popular at all. I wasn’t by any means athletic and only moderately academic. I was a bit of a loner.

As time went on the picture others had of me became cemented. And because I knew that others saw me a certain way I believed that I couldn’t easily break free from that. There’s a certain fear that would overtake me in the thought of deviating from the collective image.

If I would have tried out for a sports team, for instance, could you imagine the laughs I would get? I could. I couldn’t very well approach the popular clique either. It didn’t seem that I could be anything but what people wanted me to be.

The difference between my attempts to do or be something new and the perceptions and reactions of others would be too high for me to bear. And in that fear and discomfort, I was locked from reaching my potential.

All of us find this limit manifest in our lives at times. The housewife who is considering going to work for the first time. The construction worker contemplating going to college to get a business degree. Basically, anyone that imagines a life different from the one they are currently living.

It is possible to overcome the problem of expectations. One answer, drastic for some, is a complete life change. I clearly remember the feeling of freedom I had when I left my high school behind to begin college. It was so refreshing. Not a soul there knew me. I was free to be whoever I wanted. Many of us don’t have the luxury to just leave everyone behind and start over, however.

Fortunately, there is another way. The influence of expectations lies in the strength of identity that we tend to find in others. For some, this identification can be very strong. This is the power of peer pressure. We are driven to do things that we don’t want to do simply because others want us to. They have a mold that they expect us to fit into. It’s hard to resist.

But with a greater identity of self and less identification with anything outside of us we can break free from the powerful limit of expectations.

It takes a certain trust in oneself to detach and live authentically. But that is the cure for this limit. We have to find our value within ourselves and understand that we all have a unique purpose to fulfill—a particular call or callings that require our commitment at the expense of what anyone else thinks.

To make this profound shift requires a healthy dose of awareness. For me, this was no less than an awakening of my soul. No matter how it comes, find yourself. Determine who you really are, discover what it is that you are here for. Find the answers to those two things and you won’t worry again about what other people think of you. You will be well on your way to achieving great things.

Closing Thoughts and Questions

Feel free to journal your thoughts or leave a comment or comments below to generate further discussion:

• What are some of the expectations you believe that others have of you that are keeping you from progressing to the next stages of your journey? Write them down. This act alone helps to bring awareness. Include your feelings about being limited in this manner. Do you experience frustration, anger, or even fear? It can be painful to bring attention to feelings such as these but only in addressing pain will you be able to advance. As you find victory, write that down too and, if you would, please share in the comments section below.

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All of us have a purpose in this life. That general purpose is to willingly and joyfully align with the Grand Plan. As you look around you, you can see that the universe is highly structured, exhibiting great order at all levels of scale. Every element, creature, and environmental system contributes to the Grand Plan to create a unified and harmonious expression of its Creator.

All participants in the Grand Plan contribute exactly as they are intended to. The rhinos behave as rhinos—perfectly. So does the water cycle. When was the last time you saw the oceans flood or the mountains tumble apart under the weight of a thousand feet of snow? Every last detail of every ecosystem or galaxy works smoothly, to its highest capacity, to ensure the faithful operation of the Grand Plan.

No participant ever does too little or too much. The role that every creature, thing, or process has is defined by Potential—how things are designed to work. We can see Potential faithfully realized throughout the ages.

But humans, despite being at the top of the food chain and having faculties no other creature has—presumably in the entire universe—are as a majority failing to reach it.

Instead, almost everyone (myself included for most of my life) is simply trying to make it through life. Most have no idea what their particular place in life even is. The misalignment of humanity from Potential creates a significant disharmony. Suffering among us is unprecedented. Suicide rates are steadily climbing. What other participant in the Grand Plan operates this way?

Mankind is alone in that we have not been granted the instincts of the animals. Left to our own devices we remain in darkness. We stumble our way through life in this ignorance until we obtain the awareness of our unique purpose for being here. Fortunately, awareness is becoming more prevalent in this modern age.

Most humans also have something unique among all the cosmos—free will.

There are plenty of reasons people find to not contribute in life. Fear, doubt, the desire for comfort or pleasure all can derail a promising life from reaching its own potential.

Nevertheless, all persons have a highest capacity of fulfilling their purpose in life. Some are fortunate enough to actually attain it. At the end of a person’s life, after they have been made aware of their purpose and have chosen to follow the path before them in reaching Potential, we say that they have achieved their destiny. Destiny is the fulfillment of our potential, the purpose that God prepared and intended for us to complete.

The greatest of recent examples that I can think of for this is the late Reverend Billy Graham. Billy was a decent child but did not commit his life to Christ until the age of 16. According to Graham, he didn’t receive his calling until several years later.

But receive a calling he did. And choose to follow that calling through many decades of faithful labor, he also did. Over the course of his life, he impacted millions of lives. In terms of one man’s purpose being realized to its potential, I can clearly say that Billy Graham fulfilled his destiny.

Sadly, countless others fail miserably in life to reach this mark. Destiny is available to all, however, as all have been each endowed with Potential. Man only need faithfully walk the path toward that destiny through awareness and acceptance of the call and he will reach his destiny.

Closing Thoughts and Questions

Feel free to journal your thoughts or leave a comment or comments below to generate further discussion:

• Who are some other amazing individuals who you can say are clearly in the process of or have achieved their destiny? What makes you believe they are at the level of destiny? What did they have to do to get there?
• Fast forward in your mind to your last day on earth. What do you believe that your destiny would look like? What has to change in order for that to be realized?

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At all times in history, humanity has experienced a collective version of reality that is commonly accepted. There are a number of reasons why this is so, whether out of convenience or simple ignorance. For each of us, though, life has a highest embodiment known as Potential.

Potential is the state of our optimal reality. As such, it is an expression of Truth. What is Truth but rightness, the way things are supposed to be? To achieve potential is to find and adhere to that which God intended. It is to rise above the myriad of illusions that shield us from how we and life are supposed to be and find the pure, intended form.

Who we are meant to be is a far greater truth than who we are trying to be or who we default to. Most people are unaware of who they really are. People generally find their identity through attachment with their ego or the inner dialog of the mind or through work, financial status, power, physical qualities, etc. But these are all apparitions, illusions that blind individuals to their true nature.

The true nature is the Authentic Self. This is who we truly are. It is essence; it is soul. To be authentic is to be genuine and true. If a luxury watch is authentic then it is true. It is not an impostor or liar. Only when we have stripped away the illusions of self can we reach our potential; the expression of true identity.

As well, the way life is supposed to be, or the nature of reality, is also often obscured by our perceptions. We are all indoctrinated from our births with collective beliefs about how things are and what is possible. We are taught what is reasonable in terms of our personal expectation and expression.

With expectation, we are trained to believe that there are certain established limits and that they cannot be surpassed. Until a person is a substantial way into their awakening these limits of expectation are seen as being true. How could they not be? They are imposed on us from before our earliest memories and reinforced by institutions, culture, and the beliefs of nearly all other members of society.

With expression, we are molded into certain stereotypes and programs which we are supposed to fulfill and live out. We are taught that we grow up to fulfill certain roles. Those roles have definable limits and are enforced universally. In reality, we all have specific roles. That we have uniquely individual functions, as opposed to blanket generalizations, is a realization that comes through greater spiritual acumen.

The programs of life that we are led to follow are equally prescriptions that undermine our individuality. These are abstractions such as “go to college, get a degree, get a good job, and retire happily-ever-after.” That such a plan applies to everyone is certainly a lie. Our life paths lead us in a billion different ways to our individual destinies. Our destiny is truth as it relates to us. It is who we were meant to be within the reality we were intended to live from before the beginning of time.

Such barriers to reality such as our perceptions of identity, expectation, and expression are just illusions. God has so much more for us. There is so much more built into us and into life than we have ever before realized. This highest ideal is Potential. This is the way things really are. This is Truth.

Closing Thoughts and Questions

Feel free to journal your thoughts or leave a comment or comments below to generate further discussion:

• “The greatest barrier to someone achieving their potential is their denial of it.” Simon Travaglia

Denial is a condition of refusing to believe the truth. There are all kinds of things we can be in denial in regarding our Potential. List out 3-5 denial points that you can observe about yourself in how you relate to your Potential.

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As you continue to grow stronger on your spiritual path and actualize your potential, you can do so knowing that you live in a favorable universe. It is 100% conducive to positive change and for manifesting the things that are beneficial to you and others. In other words, life is not out to get you. Although it may seem like it at times it does not have your worst end in mind.

To think that life has the intent to prevent us from reaching our highest potential is quite an irrational thought to be sure but that is exactly how I used to think. I had, through poor thoughts and feelings, produced a great deal of heartache and pain in my life. Then with every failure and disappointment, I reaffirmed my belief that life was a difficult place to live in, if not impossible. Not only did I believe it was a struggle, I believed it was seeking the worst for me.

In short order, I stopped trying to struggle and advance in life. I succumbed to quitting. It was at this point that I finalized the disconnect from my potential; my life essentially ceased. I retreated to survival mode.

It is, of course, crucial to have a proper understanding of the world we live in if we are to live effectively. In particular, I’m referring to that realm of life that many refer to as the spiritual universe. Understanding and interacting with the universe is really difficult in our natural state, however, and it’s only in my awakened condition that I was able to produce a turnaround that has helped me to make giant leaps forward in life.

In my awakening, I began to realize the source of these failures and disappointments that I was identifying with. To be sure, the suffering was real but it was not the universe that was generating it. It supplied it, yes, but only because the universe is an objective repeater—it was simply feeding me what I was first feeding it. With this realization, I was finally free to focus on my beliefs, thoughts, and feelings that were being amplified back to me.

There are, of course, times when life throws us curve balls. These are the times when a promising athletic career is ended with a debilitating injury, or a business fails due to an unforeseen economic crisis, or a loved one is lost. If we look at these events objectively we can see that they are isolated occurrences. I also believe that painful events like these are always the birth of something new if we don’t discount and shut them out. This is not life being malicious; it is life being life. Although it might be difficult to accept, painful happenings have a purpose. They ultimately find a place in the ongoing act of creation.

What we call the universe is infinite, creative potential. At its essence is the ability to allow God’s plans to be realized as He so inspires each of us to contribute to that end. In the physical universe, He gives us means to interact with it and create—whether by words or colors or calculations on a page. It is the same in the spiritual. We interact with universal laws that allow us to create with belief, desire, and intention.

The universe accommodates growth, creation, and the fulfillment of our potential. This is how it is programmed and it simply cannot be rewired to negative ends. It is perfect in its ability to manifest our intention. As we inject strong, vibrant, focused energy into the universe it will always return positive energy to us in manifested form. As we create, the universe always supports it. It is incapable of any other way. It is a favorable universe.

Closing Thoughts and Questions

Feel free to journal your thoughts or leave a comment or comments below to generate further discussion:

• In what ways have you believed that life is malevolent to you? Single these thoughts out and write them down. You must be aware of them before you can resolve them. Once you have your list developed really ponder the individual points. Try to discover the source of the painful issues. Did the universe bring them to you or did it simply give you what you first gave it? This is a point of awareness. If you can make this realization you can empower yourself to interact effectively with the universe. But, you can only do so when you first truly believe that the universe is in favor of your efforts.

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