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Welcome Members once again to the February Edition of SGM.Kevin Schoeninger here.In the second week of each month, we review a specific book/product/or tradition for the practices that it offers.It is our application of insights through daily practice that is the key to our personal transformation.
If you remember from last week’s message, we are talking about Gregg Braden’s book, The Divine Matrix.Last week we discussed the key insight of the book, which is the existence of the Divine Matrix itself and the difference that knowing about the nature of the Matrix can make in our lives.
This week, we’ll talk more specifically about the key to manifesting what we want in our lives, the three fears that hold us back, and the five ways that the Divine Matrix mirrors ourselves back to us so we can unlock our greater potential.We will then highlight one of these mirrors and describe how to use it to transform judgment into appreciation.
What is marvelous about Gregg Braden’s work is how he weaves together a great respect for ancient wisdom with a desire to understand this wisdom through the eyes of scientific research.Those of us who are seekers on a spiritual path and have a desire to more deeply understand what we are discovering through the scientific method will resonate with Braden’s writing.
He also clearly practices what he preaches, which is another big positive marker for me.It’s not just head knowledge, but it comes from the mind, heart, and a body of practice.If you’re onto that like I am, you will probably enjoy The Divine Matrix.
Most importantly, from my perspective, is that The Divine Matrix offers us practical information about how we can incorporate this knowledge to make a difference in our lives.Sometimes we know something in our minds, but the full implication hasn’t worked its way through our being.Braden’s book gave me one significant “Aha” that opened up my heart in a new way.More on that in a moment.
The key to manifesting what we want in our lives is not something new, but Braden states it in his unique way.He begins with something that we know from The Secret: “The focus of our awareness becomes the reality of our world.”(p.77)He elaborates on this by saying: “it’s our ability to purposefully create the conditions of consciousness (thoughts, feelings, emotions, and beliefs) that lock one possibility of our choosing into the reality of our lives.”(p.79)“To choose a quantum possibility, we must become that way of being.” (p. 83)
Now, for those of us who follow this kind of work, this is not new information, but it is, I think, particularly well-stated.
Since our old programs of struggle and suffering are so strongly embedded in ourselves and our culture, it takes a significant transformation to become conscious participants in the joyful creation of our lives.That is why we are always harping on practice in SGM.It is through daily practice that we overwrite our old programs and encode new possibilities.It is through conscious intentional action everyday that we fashion the lives we are meant to live.
Anyone who has endeavored to follow a daily practice will know that it’s not as simple as deciding to do it and following through.Lots of stuff comes to challenge us.Here is where The Divine Matrix offers some more practical insight: our resistance and our suffering come from three basic fears:
1)fear of separation or abandonment
2)fear of low self-worth
3)fear of surrendering and trusting
These fears are the roots of our negative experiences.For example, if I am afraid of abandonment, I may try to control the actions of my relationship partner which creates tension and damages the flow of love between us.If I am feeling unworthy of material prosperity, I may criticize those who have or those who have not to try to build up my sense of myself.If I lack trust that the universe will take care of me, I will hold tightly to my little slice of the pie and do whatever it takes to get more for myself.
Though these examples are brief, you can get the idea.Look at the tensions and dramas in your own life and see if you can trace them to one of these three fundamental fears.It’s quite profound, if you get into it.Tracing suffering back to fear is a powerful practice.
The beauty of the Divine Matrix is that it is set up to mirror ourselves back to us.As Braden says, “Each moment we’re sending our messages of emotion, feeling, prayer, and belief to consciousness, which translates the code of what we send into the daily reality of our bodies, relationships, lives, and world.”(p.200)In other words, what we experience in our lives is the result of how we “are” at the moment.What we get is what we give out.
In order to better see how this is true, Braden describes five ways that The Divine Matrix mirrors ourselves back to us.These are:
1)the mirror of the moment
2)the mirror of what we judge
3)the mirror of what we’ve lost, given away, or had taken
4)the mirror of the dark night of the soul
5)the mirror of our greatest act of compassion
I highly suggest this section of the book for a detailed explanation of these mirrors.This would be a great topic to talk about in our Group Coaching Call or in our blog.So feel free to post a Comment at the end of this entry or to bring it up on our call.What I would like to talk about in this message is to talk about one experience of mirroring in my own life.
Many of us are aware of the idea that the world mirrors back to us how we “are” at the moment.This is the first mirror, the mirror of the moment.For example, if I am afraid of something, I am most likely to be faced with that fear in the events of my life.If I criticize another for something, it’s likely that I do the same thing–and I do not like that about myself.
PRACTICE OF THE MONTH:
Transforming Judgment Into Appreciation
The second mirror is the mirror of what I judge.Sometimes what I criticize in another is not something that I do myself.It could be something I am opposed to.For instance, I may criticize someone for being lazy and not exercising.Or I may criticize another for being late, when I am usually on time.
What Braden points out is that I also bring what I criticize into the world by my act of criticizing it.When I am holding onto a judgment about something, I insure that that thing will arrive in my life to give me an opportunity to judge it.This was a big “aha” for me.I create more of what I criticize by holding a critical attitude toward it.
When I really get this, and let go of my judgments, it opens my heart to accept others as they are and to have greater compassion.This provides a safe space in which others are free to be themselves without fear of judgment.We can offer this gift to those around us and to ourselves.Whether we judge others or we judge ourselves, it’s the same dynamic.When we accept and appreciate ourselves and those around us exactly as we are, we create an energetic environment in which we can thrive.
See if you can use the mirror of what you judge to let yourself and others off the hook.This week, practice turning a few of those moments of judgment into moments of appreciation and see what happens.
Next week’s message is our Question of the Month.I will draw these questions from your Comments on the members blog at the end of each Weekly Message, so be sure to participate by posting your questions or comments in the Comments section at the end of this entry.I will discuss one or more question in the next Weekly Message and we can also talk about them in our Group Coaching Call at the end of the month.