Well, one of the things I wanted to use the course with was handling a sense of overwhelm I get when I have to deal with large projects.
I generally will procrastinate and freak out as things come to a head. I get things done, but it is generally really frenzied toward the end.
Well, I have been handling things slightly differently from using the course and the feeling exercise. I found myself procrastinating still, but it was slightly different. I simply did the feeling exercise, and I realized that, hmmm, I just really don't want to do this stuff right now. So I didn't. And I didn't hassle myself or work myself or feel a whole bunch of guilt and shame about the stuff I felt I should get done but didn't.
Thing is, I am making progress on my current projects, and I think I will get everything in on time. This was one of my goals, to manage the project without freaking myself out or procrastinating and feeling like crap ... not even getting the rest I wanted from procrastinating in the first place.
I am also meditating every day. This is something I haven't done for a really, reall long time. And it's not like I am really forcing myself to or anything. I pretty much just want to do it.
This might not be what was intended by the course, but I am not really focusing on conscious choice. I mean, the intentions for a better life are there, I am just hesitant to make this program be like all the others I've done.
So, what I am doing is focusing on the feeling of manifestation of the feelings from my self and feeling the current situation in my life as an expression of my beingness or self. I feel that the deeper I connect in this way, the more automatically I can move through whatever it is I need to move through by intending to have my life the way it is.
That is, right now my decision is to own my present moment and state of life (including my messy apartment and everything) and to make a transition to whatever is next in as natural a way as possible.
I am sure I have more planned for myself on a higher level than what I am living. I also know that I am living as I am living for a reason (or a bunch of reasons). So I am just checking things out, letting them flow, and seeing what happens.
Every once in a while I think, oh yeah, I want this ... and things have been going pretty well. I am not in need of material things, so I haven't been using the program for that.
I believe there are many commonly acceptible psychological explanations for what the course is doing for me now without metaphysics. I admit that I am skeptical about the claims about manifesting material goods, etc.
The metaphysics of the course are interesting and, imho, half-plausible. Part of me remains skeptical about things like this, the other part of me says, "What the hell? It might be true."
So, if I try some material manifestation outside of myself with the course, I'll let you know how it goes.
Personally, I think you'd be better off trying to better your self rather than focusing on material things. But, of course, I recommend that because it is right for me. It might not be right for you, but you might want to try it.
Claims made by a lot of human potential products are horribly exaggerated (my opinion), including those made in mailings by LSC.
If the magic of belief worked, then Santa Claus would climb down chimneys and deliver a pony to every little gullible and imaginative girl and boy. How many girls and boys have ponies after Christmas?
That being said, there are things, realistically, you can do within the domain of your self. There are processes involved in your consciousness that are better to accept and be connected to in a helpful fashion as things unfold. For instance, I see my apartment as a manifestation of my thoughts and feelings, because it is my thoughts and feelings that lead me to get it, pay the rent on time, bring things into it, clean it or not clean it, put junk mail on the floor, etc. By using this course, I can certainly modify the way my apartment looks, the way I think and live. This is acceptible to me as an expression in reality of my ideas and thoughts.
The whole deal about thoughts attracting things ... well ... people work with cancer all the time without getting it. They are thinking about it, but does it happen? People have fears that horrible things are going to happen to them and their loved ones. Does it happen? Usually, no. People are paranoid and believe that the cia has implanted tracking devices, radios, mind control technology, etc., into their fillings. Does this make the CIA do so? Does it make it happen? No.
When you focus on a goal you sensitize your mind to things in your environment relevant to the achievement of your goal and you act in accordance. That is, you notice what helps you get what you want, and you act on those opportunities and achieve your goals.
This is why people who believe crazy things and act out on them are seen as crazy. Their beliefs are not in sync with reality. They are nuts.
Now take people who are, by the definition of most people at the time, nuts, but who are successful. The Wright brothers believe man could fly. Their idea was based, however, on understandings of physics and how the world worked. They worked within the limitations of physical reality and changed the world.
Now, contrast this with trying to fly by simply visiualizing yourself floating around, flying out the window, etc. Believing in one is crazy, the other the birth of a work of genius. So ... my question to you is: how are you thinking about this course? If you think you're going to fly by magic, my guess is you're in for one hell of a fall.
I have known people who believe that if they chant sutras (without even knowing what they mean), their lives will be filled with abundance. They can list a whole host of occurrences to "prove" that chanting will manifest abundance. My question is: is the link of cause and effect between chanting the sutras and having whatever happened happen a proven fact? Or would those things just have happened anyway?
I prefer to focus on what I can do for myself. From a certain point of view, what is being said in the course is plausible and makes sense. You have just got to see how most of this stuff isn't magic, but can be applied to practical application where results can seem like magic. When the unconscious mind or various levels of consciousness are involved things can seem like magic.
My next goal with this course is to allow myself to give my all to various projects with which I have tended to hold back. I'd like to be able to totally commit myself to something over long periods of time as an easily accessible skill.
[This message has been edited by babayada (edited April 25, 2004).]
