00:45:07 So, this is going to be an experiment.
00:45:11 It's January, 2022, and I am preparing for a workshop on the current January topic, which is peptic lecture 32 decision making.
00:45:24 And as part of that the feedback that I got from participant, was that they would rather have more exercises during the workshop than teaching.
00:45:38 However, there is a certain amount of teaching that needs to be done to make the exercises work, to, to, to fill them out so that they're. Understood.
00:45:49 So what I decided to do was bring the PowerPoint presentation that I use from workshops into this video introduction to Patrick lecture 32.
00:46:02 Now I got carried away, and there's a lot more material in this introduction, then you may need to get an idea of what Patrick lecture 32 is about. Keep in mind that I'm differentiating the experiential exercises, which I'm not going to go into from teaching
00:46:22 basics teaching perspectives, teaching ways of looking at things.
00:46:28 So I'm going to be using the PowerPoint, and I'm a little clumsy with this sometimes so do the best I can.
00:46:37 I once again there's going to be a lot of material in this that is in excess of Patrick lecture 32 I don't normally like to do that in the video introductions and presentations.
00:46:56 I like to try to make as clean a line as possible, between how I teach the materials versus what the materials are.
00:46:59 So there's going to be a little interweaving here a little intro mixing.
00:47:03 So if you'll bear with me.
00:47:05 If you can see subtitles that's because zoom now allows subtitles and they're pretty good so I tried to turn them on for the meetings because I can download them and offer them to people, if they need them to help understand what happened during the meeting.
00:47:23 So with a little clumsiness expected. Let's see if I can do this.
00:48:11 I've also got me up in the corner because people like to see me, it helps them understand what I'm saying.
00:48:18 So this is decision making Pathak lecture 32.
00:48:23 And as an outline what this presentation is going to be about his decision making, as a process, versus an event, a decision is an event, decision making is a process.
00:48:37 Examples of conscious decision making.
00:48:40 And then, addressing unconscious decisions that we make, how to develop awareness, so that you can bring those unconscious decisions to the surface of your consciousness, spiritual aspects of decision making.
00:48:55 And then what the workshop will continue into is some bare bones information on how to use meditation for three voices, the nickname of Patrick lecture one ed to the formal name is the process of meditation, but because it talks about three different
00:49:15 voices, it got its nickname.
00:49:18 to differentiate between the ego and the real self.
00:49:21 So the idea in this section is to focus on the ego which makes decisions and the real self which is the spiritual core of all of us.
00:49:32 Now next month for February, I'm going to enlarge this. And that's why I put so much effort into this slideshow because this will work for January, it will also work for February, because although we're going to be looking at ego versus real self to voices,
00:49:49 using the technique. Next month we're going to expand into more voices, including the super imposed conscience. So, seems worthwhile to make an effort to set up two months worth, rather than only a single month.
00:50:04 So let's see.
00:50:06 So decision making as a process versus an event. Now, I have uploaded all these slides onto my website under Patrick lecture 32. You'll have to go to the tab for the numbers and look for the number that has 30 212 49, and you'll have to go down to 32
00:50:32 to download these slides. Because of that, I'm not going to go through every single one of them. I'm going to describe them, because you'll be able to download them, and read them and work on them at your leisure.
00:50:39 This is another thing that happens at workshops is some people say oh I got that idea I don't need any more information and other people are a little confused at me need more time with that information.
00:50:51 So not knowing who you are and what your studies are and what your level of development is, I'm going to touch on the ideas, and then move on. And if you need to look at how I outlined them or what I was trying to say.
00:51:06 Then you can download the workshop materials the.
00:51:11 This particular PowerPoint presentation from our website.
00:51:14 So, decision making is a process versus an event, decision making is a starting point.
00:51:21 It's also a willingness to take responsibility for beginning of process. You can't go into the decision making process. If your intention is not to make a decision that that's where those contradictory things that we very often say that it's why we don't
00:51:36 get anywhere because we, we said it, we didn't mean it. We didn't follow up on it, decision making is also needs to be an acknowledgement of reality.
00:51:49 So when you make a decision that you're making a decision based on unrealistic factors, you're not going to come to a satisfactory conclusion. If your parameters that you're looking at are not real.
00:52:01 Then the decision won't be real either.
00:52:05 It's an opportunity to explore cause and effect that's why it's a process. So we say this did that.
00:52:13 And then we have to take a look at did it. And if I repeat it just like a laboratory in a scientist in a laboratory.
00:52:22 Can I repeat this experiment, does this always follow that or is it intermittent, and therefore I have to look at other factors that could contribute and interfere with the decision decision that I want to make.
00:52:36 It's also an agreement for the process to be conscious decision making is intended to be a conscious process.
00:52:42 We make go into it a bit later, we make a lot of decisions without thinking about it. There was some homework done and we dropped it, it just kind of went into the background, and the background takes care of it.
00:52:54 Just like as I tease people because I love biology as an example.
00:52:58 You don't ask your liver for, whether it's going to start working now, whether it was to wait an hour, the liver, the liver makes its own decisions, it's independent.
00:53:07 However, it's not independent in the sense it does whatever it wants. It has parameters that it works with him.
00:53:14 And as long as it's working within those parameters you're healthy and you don't notice your liver, you only notice it when it's working outside those parameters when it's not doing what it's supposed to do, or doing too much of what it's supposed to
00:53:28 do.
00:53:30 So decision making is the agreement for this process to be conscious.
00:53:35 Um, here's another factoid because I I'm into little trivial facts is that a factoid that I found out about for years people have said that dolphins.
00:53:45 Breathe. I have conscious breathing. So if they fall asleep they'll drown.
00:53:50 Well, technically that may be true, but as they've done more studies on dolphins, hopefully, kindly to them. I hope it was done kindly what they have found is that dolphins do get to sleep, but their brains are wired differently than ours, they're allowed
00:54:06 to have half their brain fall asleep, and the other half takes care of the breathing.
00:54:12 And then when they switch. One side wakes up takes care of the breathing, and the other side takes it out.
00:54:19 So while it is true that dolphins have to consciously breathe, they don't do that without sleep and without rest, they have a different mechanism than we do so silly.
00:54:32 I know but it's it's part of an agreement for the process to be conscious to bring decisions to the surface so that we can interact with them, instead of allowing the parameters that we set off, years ago decades ago to continue or parameters that are
00:54:48 automatic, a lot of human intuition and instinct is automatic.
00:54:55 And we have to step into interfere with that if it's gotten out of hand.
00:55:00 But decision making is not. It is not about a specific choice. It is not exclusionary meaning when you make a decision in the decision making process.
00:55:13 it needs to be reversible.
00:55:15 You need to be able to make a decision, and then adjust the decision that is the process.
00:55:21 Now I have shared many times, and a very large number of people nod their heads or agree with me that. As a child, I was asked to make decisions. And when I did that was it.
00:55:33 That's what Jan is, that's what Jen likes and it's as if you said I like dogs and they give you dog presence for the rest of your life.
00:55:41 And what that tends to make you do is not make decisions, or at least not verbalize the decisions.
00:55:48 That's a childhood reaction to other people's limitations. The idea is that we're going to grow up we're going to be more mature than that. We're going to learn to make statements and not expect they're going to be, we're going to be held that all the
00:56:03 time.
00:56:04 Now this is something I learned very very late in life is the right to change my mind.
00:56:12 The right to say I did make that decision. I admit, I made the decision.
00:56:18 I even admit that you develop expectations because of how I made that decision.
00:56:24 I need to change my decision my mind because of circumstances.
00:56:30 I'm sorry it inconveniences you and I will work to make that inconvenience as small as possible.
00:56:37 Whatever I have to do but I still have the right to change my mind and other people's expectations, and the actions they took because of decisions I made are not 100%.
00:56:48 My responsibility. I have some responsibility.
00:56:53 But what I'm speaking of here is getting away from the dualistic I have all the responsibility for how you took my decision ran with it.
00:57:02 I have some responsibility and it varies from situation to situation.
00:57:08 So decision making is not dualistic or exclusionary and decision making is not the end process.
00:57:18 A lot of people say well I didn't make a decision. Well, that's a decision.
00:57:23 It's a decision not to make a decision.
00:57:26 And when you do that you put your future. Your situation in somebody else's hands.
00:57:33 I invite you to see that as a whole, horrendous. I'm not sure what to use that word. I invite you to see that as a far reaching decision that you make that may be hard to get back.
00:57:45 Once you give people the reins to your life. They may not want to give them back. So it may be quite a, quite a tussle to get certain rights to get certain systems to get certain elements back in your own hands.
00:58:00 Once you've given them up, but not making a decision, the decision allows others to maintain or practice active control. It allows the status quo to continue.
00:58:11 It also allows us to live in fantasy.
00:58:14 When I didn't make the decision, I can play with well what if I did this or what if I would maybe it could be this or that, because I don't feel responsible for the decision.
00:58:25 And I can live in the fantasy of well maybe if I make a decision, it'll be this way.
00:58:31 You can never know how things would have been.
00:58:37 So decision making is taking responsibility and say I will make this decision, and then I will see what happens.
00:58:45 Not what I imagined happens, although I want to compare it to my expectations. I will make a decision and see what happens. And if it doesn't work out well.
00:58:54 I will remake.
00:58:57 That decision, rather than living in the fantasy of well if I only had a chance I would have done this, which allows us to blame others for making decisions for us, you can see the circle there.
00:59:09 I didn't make a decision you made it so now I blame you for making decisions goes on and on and on.
00:59:17 So part of decision making, comes down, feet on the ground boots on the ground, comes down to creating and changing habits.
00:59:26 And that requires awareness, understanding, effort, and commitment.
00:59:31 That's what I bring in some examples.
00:59:35 This is from entrepreneur. com on how to change habits, three suggestions.
00:59:41 Going over these fairly quickly.
00:59:43 This is from a CNN article on mindfulness, five different suggestions, creating a gratitude habit from the New York Times.
00:59:54 A simple way of developing the habit of being good being gracious be creating a habit of expressing gratitude towards someone something or to you.
01:00:07 Using the magic of post it notes which is a gift from God.
01:00:12 as all things are a gift from God.
01:00:16 So those are all about conscious decisions that you make to change habits.
01:00:22 What a big portion of our work is about is addressing decisions we've made that we're not conscious we may, we are not conscious that we have made.
01:00:42 So the question becomes how do you address a decision that you don't even know you made. So what the brain does not see it cannot process.
01:00:46 This involves paradigms paradigms are a generally accepted set of beliefs, we don't even. We're not even aware of them. You're usually not aware of a paradigm until it's violated.
01:00:58 And then you just can't figure out what went wrong, because it was such a broad assumption that something would happen.
01:01:06 And then it happens and you don't know quite how to deal with it.
01:01:12 So paradigms what paradigms do, is they reduce a chaotic mass to some form of order, they simplify, so that we don't have to think about things all the time.
01:01:24 Okay, there are shortcuts.
01:01:26 The problem is that once you figure out a shortcut, and it works consistently. It just sinks into your unconsciousness, and you don't think about it, a very large portion of path work is about images images or conclusions you make and you don't even realize
01:01:44 you've made them, they operate, when you're a child, they sink into your own consciousness and then you find out that you're still operating from those unconscious images, five six decades later.
01:01:58 So, if they work they're allowed to operate without the involvement of the conscious mind.
01:02:05 I tease people a lot. We don't deal with what works if it works if it's harmonious if it's productive and constructive.
01:02:12 I don't want to hear about it.
01:02:17 Because there's probably a lot in your life that is like that and hopefully that's the conversations you'll have with friends and relatives. What I work on with people are places that are disharmonious deconstructive or unconstructive places that are
01:02:30 dis harmonious and cause pain.
01:02:32 And in those places these shortcuts may not work anymore, but since we don't know we're operating under them. We don't know how to change them.
01:02:45 parent why paradigms are useful. So this is an exercise I got from the University of Hawaii.
01:02:52 And it says prime focus for a minute on the sensory input in the room where you are now. Now you can do this later at your own time, it's an example of an exercise that I find that I find useful and listen to all the input.
01:03:06 If you take that and you listen for two three minutes to all the input that's going on, including smells and tastes even the taste of your own mouth How does your mouth, taste, it may not taste negative or positive that still a taste.
01:03:21 A smell may not be positive or remind you everything. But it's very hard to have absolutely neutral, no smell environments.
01:03:33 So the idea is that when you look at all this stuff you can't hold this in your brain, you have to ignore. Some of them, and that's where paradigms, come in handy.
01:03:43 So paradigms, allow us to throw out the stuff that doesn't matter. It does not matter what my mouth tastes like at the moment. I'll wait till something goes in it, and then I'll decide whether I like it or I don't like it.
01:03:58 The smell is not a problem unless it's negative, or perhaps positive and intrigues me.
01:04:02 So the idea is that I just ignore certain sensory input, unless it raises his hand causes a problem or catches my conscious attention.
01:04:12 These become paradigms, to make sense of the world, we have to simplify it to a level that our brains can deal with it.
01:04:23 So, our brains decode what information is important and what can be ignored.
01:04:27 And we're not fully conscious of what that process is can be personal can be cultural.
01:04:36 You could have various paradigms.
01:04:40 They affect the types of questions we ask because if we have a paradigm that that doesn't matter we won't ask the question,
01:04:50 we go on autopilot so that we don't overburden the direct blade brain with pure realities.
01:04:57 And these are these are like filters, so we're filtering, all the information that we're getting.
01:05:03 So on this particular site, they had a quote by Groucho Marx, time flies like an arrow fruit flies like a banana.
01:05:11 Now, you have to think about that perhaps. But he's using the word slides in two completely different context and when you put those contexts together, it's jarring.
01:05:20 Okay, flies and fruit, it.
01:05:28 So, you've probably seen this where people use the word the letter seven in front of the word seven, and we get it.
01:05:35 They put the letter five in front of the word five instead of the F, we get it. Even is a replacement for an S in smell. And we get it we can jump over that.
01:05:48 There's a little part of our mind that says something's not right there, but we jumped over anyway.
01:05:55 sociological paradigms, what foods are appropriate for breakfast. If someone served you something that you did not feel was appropriate. It's an unwritten law, you don't do that for breakfast.
01:06:05 Others of us do, but we all have our different paradigms.
01:06:09 A question was how hungry, would you have to be before you ate a pet it jars us where we're not used to thinking of satisfying our hunger, with the family pet.
01:06:21 What clothing is it appropriate to wear it school is an invisible presumption that we make until somebody shows up in their pajamas, or in a bikini.
01:06:32 And the famous example is the book flatland by Edwin Abbott I use it a lot in my work, where if you're a two dimensional being you don't develop the words for up and down because up and down don't exist in your word world.
01:06:45 If they do occur in your world.
01:06:49 You may not be able to recognize it, you don't have a place in your brain to put that activity.
01:06:55 You can't invent the wheel suddenly it just flashes right past you and you, you really understand it based on two dimensions.
01:07:04 It's a very good analogy for a thinking process, and especially in spirit, moving from the earth plane to spiritual work where things operate a little bit differently.
01:07:16 So changing unconscious beliefs requires awareness understanding and making a decision to change them.
01:07:24 This is a list of beliefs that we may have learned in school.
01:07:28 That may be operating in your daily lives I invite you to look at this later, and see where these beliefs are still present for you.
01:07:36 Even though they were designed for a specific environment. We carry them not only you and I, but a very large percentage of people carry these school or childhood experiences into their professions into their lives into the families they create, and then
01:07:54 may not be aware of them.
01:07:57 This is another list of them.
01:08:01 So examples of unconscious decisions that we make.
01:08:06 I like using the physical example of blind spots, and it's called the filling in phenomenon, both eyes have a blind spots a phobia, and it's where the optic nerve comes into the eye, and in that place there's no rods or cones, which is what we see with
01:08:25 is a little blind spot.
01:08:27 And if you've ever had an extensive optometry exam.
01:08:32 They will give you one of the tests that I'm going to show you, because certain illnesses, of the eye diseases of the I.
01:08:40 be bigger than the normal.
01:08:53 Okay. Now, why don't we notice that because we have binocular vision, and as I move my head, even slightly from moment to moment and we're never still, I move my head slightly from side to side, as I live.
01:09:09 One I makes up for what the other one doesn't see. So the only way to see the phobia and the effect of the blind spot is this little test. Now, you may not be at the right place in your screen to see this so the instructions say you'd be so far away and
01:09:22 you look at the one and you cover an eye, and what you're looking for is the place where the.or the cross depending on which side you're looking at disappears, but it will only happen if you cover one eye.
01:09:37 It's a fascinating experiment for you to experience the fact that you've got a blind spot in each eye, and you never notice it.
01:09:46 And that's because the brain paints, in what ought to be there. The brain knows that the wall in the ceiling exists so there's a little gap there just brushes through it.
01:09:56 Like, touch up artists the brains of great touch up artist.
01:10:00 I included three of them because the effects are different for different people. You may see the effect on one and not the other.
01:10:09 So physical blind spots, binocular vision will fix that.
01:10:14 So one of the ways we get biological feedback is the concept of proprioception, and that is that your inner ear your balance system and Lord, your body because of gravity kind of knows where it is in terms of space.
01:10:29 I know when I'm leaning over I can feel the pull on me, my ears, give me information, my organs that are pulled to one side, give me information.
01:10:40 And my musculature may give me information.
01:10:43 So we have, we have a means to tell us if something's not right.
01:10:55 Physiological psychological and spiritual blind spots, can also be realized. And the one of some of the ways to do that it's not the full list, never the full list is you can listen to feedback from others.
01:11:03 So if I have a psychological blind spot where I just can't see something, listening to my friend or my neighbor or my relatives my loved one can fill in that blind spot, and they can say, you never see so and so do this you just never see them.
01:11:20 For instance, if somebody was a kleptomaniac, and they were constantly stealing things and you had a blind spot against ceiling, seeing negativity and somebody loved you might blank out what you see, or reinterpret what you see, It might take someone
01:11:34 else to bring to your attention. Didn't you see them shoplift Didn't you see them steal that item.
01:11:42 Another way to overcome psychological and spiritual blind spots, is to connect the dots to look at cause and effect to become more realistic about every time I do this that happens, it may be a connection there.
01:11:55 I love the phrase connecting the dots.
01:11:59 And then there is the internal feedback through development of an observer self, my capacity to step out of my forcing current and get a slightly different, and to get like binocular vision.
01:12:12 Get a slightly different aspect, on what is going on.
01:12:17 Now, Susan, the Sangha, wrote a book called The undefended self, and the observer self is chapter three, and she has with very great kindness and graciousness allowed me to put that on my website so it can be downloaded, because it's really a
01:12:33 brilliant examination of that process.
01:12:38 It may be that the word observer self doesn't work for you, you may have to think of it differently depending on what the background that you come from, but for example in the observer self.
01:12:49 I am using it now because as I'm speaking I'm trying to stay on topic, and I'm trying to get through the slides and not talk too much. I have a part of me that is listening.
01:13:00 A part of me that is saying things are good things, things are going well yes this is what you plan to do that might alert me when I was going on too long to sit on a specific point.
01:13:12 I have a habit of speaking junk, just garbage just mangled word salad sometimes, and I can hear it. And that's a little bit of my observer cell saying, you'd better repeat that one, that one didn't fly.
01:13:25 So depending on how you describe it. This is an aspect of us that observes our activity as we are acting.
01:13:34 And the observer self as a handy phrase for that and developing that will keep you from being tripped up by psychological and spiritual blind spots.
01:13:48 One of the biggest blind spots to self development is the ego and password encourages the development of a strong and healthy ego which is unusual, a lot of new age studies, a lot of Eastern religious practices, do not encourage the development of a strong
01:14:05 ego, so it's a distinction between path work and other spiritual studies.
01:14:10 The idea is that a strong and healthy ego knows its place.
01:14:15 It understands is a bigger spiritual reality, and then it's not there.
01:14:19 So it understands is a bigger reality.
01:14:23 A healthy ego chooses to accept life.
01:14:26 People get hung up on that. Accepting life does not mean approving of life, it does not mean you're happy.
01:14:33 It means you accept what is.
01:14:37 I accept the temperature in the room, or I need to get up and do something about it, or where more clothing I have to. It is important for my ego to say if I can't accept what's going on I need to create some changes, so that it works for me.
01:14:53 A healthy ego does want to understand itself and it chooses to do so.
01:14:59 It seeks to integrate itself with its own divine consciousness. Now, these are not separate per se, but it is useful, just like in biology, you can talk about the hand but that hands doesn't really matter like if it's separate from the body.
01:00:14 It's a tough thing to study but it's not what it's meant to be. It's not an organic moving thing once it's separated from the body. The ego cannot be separated from divine consciousness, but the ego is an aspect of the divine consciousness that specifically
01:00:30 manifests for earthly chores.
01:00:47 So a healthy ego does try to move out into real life as the real self, with the real self, with the awareness of divine consciousness, so that it's integrating divine consciousness into the decisions that makes
01:00:52 creating and changing spiritual habits no different than changing other habits, which is why I included all that other information that's about not biting your nails or getting up earlier, but it's still useful for any other decision you make.
01:01:08 So I like using very practical.
01:01:21 Three to five point examples of things. And then, modifying it for other things that I wish to do, and spiritual decisions are made by the real self. Now, at some point, this became way too long so I just had to truncate, if you want to know more about
01:01:29 the real self I invite you to read for the lecture materials.
01:01:33 The real self represents me as an individual, not the entire spirit world and not perfection, but me as a spiritual being imperfect, and here to develop myself.
01:01:45 So spiritual decisions are made by the real self, they are enacted to the functions of the ego. And I have found this chart on the ego this comes from Patrick lecture 132 function of the ego, and also from Patrick lecture 199 ego tricks.
01:17:04 And if you look at the ego side, it's very straightforward and simple.
01:17:10 And there's a mistake we can make by delegating this, but it. It's important to remember it's important to learn.
01:17:20 Collecting creative knowledge, repeating and copying is how we make sure we got the instructions right so we'll get where we're going to remember to sort out to select to make up the mind to move in a certain direction.
01:17:35 And the last one is that the ego can die, why it's part of the earth plane.
01:17:41 There is no ego per se, according to Pathak teachings in the spirit world we are our real selves in the spirit world.
01:17:50 The ego is like our body, what we use to move around on the planet Earth.
01:17:56 What the ego cannot do and the real self can real deep feelings come from the real self, the ego can pretend it can exaggerate it can emote, but real feelings come from the real self deep experiences, giving a deep flavor to living.
01:18:19 The ego can mimic this. That's one of its functions is to mimic to repeat, and to copy.
01:18:26 But it doesn't generate the state feeling to be creative and spontaneous, while the ego needs to grab the pen and get the paper and create the space, where you have time to do your art, but the actual artistry comes from the real self.
01:18:45 And that's the difference between flat paintings that are just representations of versus something that scares us.
01:18:55 The definition of art is I don't know what it is but I can recognize it when I see it, it moves us. It has an effect on us that we can't always name, although we, the ego just tried to name it.
01:19:09 And sometimes it tries to hard tries to pin it down and make it simple so that can copy it.
01:19:15 But that's not art, the copy is not art.
01:19:20 The real self reconciles a parrot opposites the ego gets hung up in a parent opposites.
01:19:28 The ego, the real self always has solutions, meaning that there's always something that can be done, whether the ego likes it or not, whether it's pleasant or not, that's that's not a factor of.
01:19:42 There is something that can be done it renders man more alive and fulfilled. And the real self continues back into the world of spirit. Now, I went into that because in the workshop we're going to move into working with the ego and the real self so at
01:20:00 some point we need to know what what actions indicate that the ego is speaking versus the real self is speaking.
01:20:16 So the mind can imagine all the functions on the real self side of the equation.
01:20:23 And the ego may believe it is moving in life, already is the real self, and the ego starts to try to take over all the decision making processes.
01:20:34 So, I wanted to bring a reminder here. Of the four stages of spiritual evolution which is outlined in Patrick lecture, 127, which is automatic reflex, which is lack of conscious awareness, you can't work there.
01:20:48 Then you have awareness and awareness, leads us to seek understanding, which leads us to seek greater awareness and this goes back and forth and back and forth, until we are able to drop into a knowing, knowing it's hard to define but you know what, when
01:21:06 you hear it. I invite people to look at these examples in areas in your life where things go well.
01:21:20 And it's as if it goes into unconscious thinking again and it does, but because of knowing.
01:21:28 It doesn't go as deeply.
01:21:30 So you can bring knowing back up adjusted new circumstances and let it go again.
01:21:36 If you look at these four stages of spiritual evolution in the areas what I happen 20 times a day.
01:21:45 Then you can start looking at where you get hung up on the awareness because we're resistant to the awareness.
01:21:52 We may be resistant to the understanding because it challenges us, it changes how we've been thinking of we don't want to change. This is the ego you could probably hear it.
01:22:01 I don't want to.
01:22:02 The real self wants to understand and wants to know that is its life flow.
01:22:23 But the ego feels that it is invested, and it deals with the qualities of pride self will and fear. I'll look stupid if I change my mind.
01:22:18 Maybe you are stupid, but looking stupid is not stupid. And sometimes trying not to look stupid is as stupid Park.
01:22:30 So, I have found this lecture, extremely valuable in looking at where we get hung up, and what the process is, but it's not 1234, unless there's no resistance, and then it can drop through very easily.
01:22:44 One of the examples, two of the examples that I bring up is. Well, now that I think of it three.
01:22:50 When you learn to ride a bicycle, you have to figure out what balances nobody knows balance on two wheels until they've tried to ride a bicycle. It's, we aren't bicycle so we have to learn something.
01:23:02 And then we struggle with it and then at some point you get it. And once you get it you know how to compensate. When that balance is threatened.
01:23:11 Another example is driving a car which is much more complicated. And at some point if you succeed in learning how to drive a car, you may at some point realize I got from here to there and I wasn't even thinking about it consciously the entire way.
01:23:25 That's not automatic reflex lack of conscious awareness, that's a matter of having mastered a complex series of feedback mechanisms. So that to some extent you only wake up.
01:23:40 When something interrupts the natural and normal flow of events.
01:23:46 The third example I was thinking of was learning your way around the city. It's confusing at first and then you, you get you have an awareness and you put the pieces together and then you understand the avenues and you understand where they meet and you
01:23:59 understand this landmark means this. And at some point, no matter where you live, you become comfortable, you become aware there's a knowing.
01:24:12 Very often of where you are in that town or city.
01:24:16 Once again I encourage you to think in terms of innocent uses of this, because when we move into areas where we are resistant. It's just not as easy.
01:24:26 So it says if we need to practice over here with easy, and then we bring it to the difficult part,
01:24:34 creating and changing spiritual habits involves the same process as regular habits awareness understanding, effort, and commitment.
01:24:44 Part of this that to become aware of your current beliefs.
01:24:47 That's a whole different process but I wanted to put it in here, because it's important to understand what you believe, you may never have verbalized what you believe so you can think you believe one thing, when your actions and behavior indicate you
01:25:04 believe something completely different.
01:25:08 So, in the lecture. There is an example of a challenge by the guide.
01:25:15 Can you decide to believe that all things work together for good.
01:25:21 Now, people read this and they immediately read it as everything happens, everything that happens is good. It's not what it says all things work together for good.
01:25:31 And the guide is trying to make a few sentences at a time. Sometimes he does expand and it turns into a sentence that last paragraph. So it's, it's, you have to forgive him when he tries to say things in shorter sentences because he's simplifying, so
01:25:47 that all things work together for good does not include the timeline.
01:25:52 All things may work together for the good over a 20 year period, and humans are very often not happy with that idea.
01:26:02 So, once again you can work through this.
01:26:06 And this is some suggestions on how to find out what you resist. And what you believe.
01:26:15 Then I changed over to find your resistance to believing that all things work together for good and gave some examples of things that you can try.
01:26:26 And then I want to move into the idea of using meditation for three chairs, which is Patrick lecture 182.
01:26:32 It's a process for differentiating between the voice of the ego and the voice of our inner divine knowing I.
01:26:43 You can make a game out of this it's good to make a game out of this. It's good to play. So you have spares part in chairs you have rich gold or nature yeah hobbyhorse, you have a lovely cushy round place to sit.
01:26:58 You can use chairs, you can use clothing and objects. And the idea is to differentiate between spirit and ego.
01:27:06 Now, your spirit and your ego are unique.
01:27:10 So, what expresses those for you may not be what expresses them for somebody else. When I used to do workshops we would use IKEA IKEA pillows, and we would use that a big heart with an arrow through it, big fluffy heart, and a yellow star.
01:27:27 And I remember the third one yellow sun. And then the third was a blue star.
01:27:34 Now that doesn't necessarily represent three things. So you have to name it this is what it represents that there's something about holding the yellow star that usually stood in for the real self, and then putting that down and holding something that
01:27:46 represented emotion that assist us in finding different aspects of ourselves.
01:27:54 So, because I'm doing this workshop online. I thought, Well, number one, we're going to keep this one down to two items, so I thought of using objects.
01:28:04 Now there are objects that connect you to your spiritual source.
01:28:09 And there are objects that connect you to your ego identity. And the easiest thing I could figure out was a phone, and a lit candle cliche is yes but the work.
01:28:19 Okay. and then you hold one versus the other.
01:28:23 And the idea is to speak in the voice of the ego versus the voice of the spiritual self.
01:28:40 No, I can't really demo well during this presentation, but I'll give you a for instance, if I go into demo I'll I changed years. And then it's hard for me to get back out again.
01:28:44 What is the voice of the ego, it says I am this person and I do this, and I have this many years of experience. And here are my credentials, and there's years.
01:28:54 I can tell you why I should be trusted.
01:28:56 Perhaps you can hear that those are all ego basis, they're all based on facts.
01:29:03 They are, I offer them up because they can't be disputed.
01:29:07 So that's my resume that that's, that's my list of things that show that I'm qualified.
01:29:16 It's very difficult to prove that I'm spiritually qualified to teach something that requires a bit more consideration.
01:29:25 It requires a little bit.
01:29:28 It requires a deeper voice within me.
01:29:33 And if I can just play with that for a second. What qualifies me to teach this is having done it.
01:29:41 I have done the work myself.
01:29:46 And what I hope is that I have a partnership with my ego, and this is the goal of the healthy ego partnership with my ego, where my ego is able to verbalize my spiritual experiences, and even augment and extend them and say let's go over to Wikipedia
01:30:06 we can get a good example over there.
01:30:08 But the inspiration of that comes from my real self comes from my desire to be a better person, which is too vague for the ego, it says well how do I do that, because that's its job to figure out how to do it.
01:30:26 So, that's a suggestion for using two objects and seeing if you can do this on your own or with a partner.
01:30:34 Okay. You can notice the different energies that happen this is an energetic process that's why it's hard to do in two dimensions of a video presentation.
01:30:44 And then you switch back and forth, picking up and putting down, it's important in our real world to pick up a different object and feel into it, and then put it down and pick up another object and feel into it.
01:30:58 We are beings of matter and matter matters.
01:31:06 When I was years and years ago, I had, there were three of us that were interested in this, and we watched videos from the voice dialogue group. And then we practiced and we practiced for two hours or so.
01:31:22 Five or six times we would get together we would practice and we would trade off. And we would be one would be the therapist the other will be the client and the other would be the observer, and we will rotate.
01:31:35 And my experience was that it was relatively easy to begin to hear the difference in the voices.
01:31:46 Now we do that in ordinary life, someone might say You sound just like your mother.
01:31:51 But you may be carrying at that moment, an image in your mind of how your mother approaches things you may even unconsciously be taking her attitude to promote that.
01:32:03 So without vocally sounding like your mother. You may remind people of that energy.
01:32:10 You may be sounding like a boss. I've been accused of being bossy, because I tend to take this is the way it should be done attitude.
01:32:18 They sound like the boss and you're not the boss.
01:32:22 It's an energy and an attitude, more so than some of the details. So I recommend going to voice dialogue. International, and take a look at their videos and manuals and and see if this is something that appeals to you.
01:32:39 so it can be self taught.
01:32:42 And then this is information on the workshop, click, Click to exit. There you go.
01:32:51 And stop sharing screen.
01:32:52 So, that's a presentation.
01:32:58 I'm not used to doing PowerPoint so this has been a revelation to use this tool.
01:33:03 It can be helpful. Ultimately it's about feelings, it's about what we're doing. It's about a lot of aspects of us that are not easy to verbalize that the ego needs something to take away the ego needs handouts, so it can sit down and study it later.
01:33:21 So that part of my goal is to give you something to work with.
01:33:27 And, you know, feel free one page one page at a 45 may work for you.
01:33:32 I want to thank you if you're still here for bearing with me. it's been a bit of a long presentation.
01:33:38 And I hope you'll take a look at Patrick lecture 32 on decision making, pathway lecture 182 on the process of meditation or meditation for three voices.