Manifesting vs. Total Reversal

Show Transcript

[edited for clarity]

This is episode two, Manifesting versus Total Reversal.

So this episode is going to use the idea of manifesting as a point of departure. Now, this is what the discourse on Neville seems to focus on. Overwhelmingly, people are really interested in the idea of manifesting their reality. And rightly so, it's a very attractive and worthwhile notion.

But the whole thing, I think, goes deeper. If you just take it at first blush, at first glance, it seems to imply two distinct things. There's me, there's my mind within, and then there's the external world, within which I'm going to manifest something that is desired. But I think Neville's message is something in the nature of a total reversal. He's saying that the two, that is the mind and the external world, are actually one and the same thing. And that's the nuance; that's the next level that we need to get to to really go deep and understand what Neville is talking about.

So in this episode, we'll use the idea of manifesting as a point of departure to explore the idea behind it. That is, the reality of the psyche. But I won't abandon the idea of manifesting altogether in this episode. In fact, we'll end with an exercise to focus on just that.

Well, I want to start with a brief summary of some of the points that we covered in the first episode, because this is something that we'll use to build upon. I referred to a lecture that Neville gave called Fundamentals. Actually, it was an article. He lists three practices that he characterizes as fundamentals in metaphysics. First one is self observation, the second one is definition of aim, and the third one is separation.

Now it seems to me he might have presented these in reverse order. You could take the first thing separation, also referred to as detachment or non identification, as the fundamental practice. And that's why I gave you the exercise on awareness of being.

The second thing definition of aim. We have to have an aim of some description, and whether that aim is a general one [i.e., a broad one, having a wide scope] or a more immediate one that is sort of more trivial in nature, but still definite nonetheless, it's best to have an aim and not to drift. That is most important. Do not drift.

The third element is self observation. Here I can tell that he read the Fourth Way literature because that term comes directly from it. So the idea is that you use your faculty of detachment. You use your faculty of being able to witness yourself, to observe where you are in yourself. What thoughts, what emotions are you experiencing -- with regard to what? -- with regard to your present circumstances and your aim. All right, this is how Neville sets it out.

So with all of this in mind, let's look at this whole idea of manifesting our reality.

My observation is that in trying to manifest specific things and events, we might be perpetuating our unconscious assumptions about our own nature and identity. So the misconception that I'm talking about is that we might unwittingly be persisting in our feeling of ourselves as physical beings, having a separate faculty called mind, which somehow brings about things -- whether that's accessing the quantum reality or accessing a finer degree of materiality -- whatever it is. But somehow it brings about things in the concrete, independently existing external world.

And that's precisely the point. I believe that Neville's idea is that there is no independently existing external world. Now he's following on the principle in the Hermetic writings that the universe is mental in nature. He also quotes Blake many times saying, “all that you behold, although it appears without, it is within, in your imagination.”

Similarly, another person, the other person is in his terms the seeming other, there's only one mind, there's only one consciousness, there's only one being, and that is all God. Another person, while we maintain our individuality, at the same time, the other person is only the seeming other. There's some sort of mystery there.

The outside world is, as he often says, “you pushed out”. So we have two sources in the Western tradition, in the Hermetica and William Blake, which Neville quotes quite often to underscore this point.

So what is the result of contemplating this whole idea that the world is ourselves pushed out, that the other is the seeming other, and so on? It's somehow to make us feel much more closely related, much more vividly aware and connected with the seeming external reality. I just want to emphasize this point: that, as opposed to visualizing something or intending something and then waiting for its appearance in manifestation, Neville often emphasizes the point that the very present moment is actually an immediate reflection of your own state.

In Western philosophy, there's a term called solipsism, which we might think captures this worldview that's being expressed by Neville. The Wikipedia definition: “the external world might not exist outside the mind”, except with Neville, there is no “might not”. He's unequivocal about it. It's the actual experience.

In the first episode, we were trying to reconcile Neville's view with the conventional view of Christianity. Well, how about Neville's view with regard to other traditions, not necessarily Western? I think Neville's view is good news to those who look for parallels between the mystic philosophies of the East and the West. So at the risk of oversimplifying the matter, I'm going to give you some excerpts from Buddhist and Hinduist texts that reflect exactly the notion that we're focusing on, which is that the external world and the mind are one and the same thing.

So here's the first quote. This is from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. “May I recognize whatever appeareth as being mine own thought forms

The second one, from a commentary on the Upanishads: “The Upanishad holds the mind to be the only God, and all actions in the universe are thought to be a result of the mind assuming infinite forms.”

That's a commentary given in the Wikipedia entry on Solipsism. And I'm going to give a reference to that in the show notes. From the same article, I'll give you a third quote: “For the enlightened, all that exists is nothing but the self.”

And finally, I'll give you a fourth quote from the Tibetan spiritual tradition. After a certain demonstration, “the belief in the solid reality of an external object is destroyed... The disciple's spirituality (being in itself) must remain unaffected by falsehood and deceit, by abiding in pure commitment.”

That's from The Life and Teaching of Naropa.

So following on those indications from Eastern philosophy, I want to pursue the point -- the same point -- using Neville's language. He said that there is no qualitative difference between a dream image, a memory image, and a sensory image that is before us in the present moment.

The experience of what we call reality can be described as an image, a sensory image, in which we see projected, so to speak, onto the screen of space, what we are currently experiencing as our state. Now to the question, why, then does the seeming external world in the present moment have such a forceful aspect of hard reality? He answers, the imagination is immersed in and acting from the present sensory image. That's why it seems to be so overpoweringly real, whereas it is out of and thinking of last night's dream image, for example, or a memory image.

Well, this seems very difficult to grasp, and for some people it will seem to be nonsense. But I think it's worthwhile considering carefully, just to turn it over and over in your mind. We can already see with the practiced acquisition of wordless self consciousness (and I'm referring here to the exercise that I provided in episode one)... we can already see that with that sort of practice, objections to new ideas are taking on a sort of relative quality, as opposed to the status of a calcified truth. So we're a little more open to considering the nature of reality, by carefully contemplating and considering new ideas.

So in this way, we can start to consider the idea of the present sensory image as a waking dream, an entirely relative concoction or assemblage, reflecting nothing other than our own beliefs, our own current state. Now, does that seem counterproductive, if we're trying to reach a place of better self assurance, better confidence, better faith, and so on? I don't think so. I think, on the contrary, it's liberating, because first (and this is essential) with the practice of self remembering, self consciousness, we feel more vitally, alive and real than we ever have before. And then [we have] the realization that the external world is not threatening us from the position of an independently existing and malevolent force unto itself. It's merely a reflection, subject to our control.

That's the very freedom that I think people have been seeking since time immemorial. I'm convinced that this truth that sets you free is the very secret that is at the heart of secret societies, the secret knowledge in mystery schools, in ancient esoteric traditions, and so on. I'm convinced that this is the very heart of it. As Neville himself says: to the person who understands the creative principle, nothing can stop him.

Of course, that assumes that you've mastered the idea; that you've overcome your own subconscious objections and that you've practiced and you can somehow gradually accustom yourself to this worldview and put it into practical application. So right there, I've summarized the whole purpose of this podcast series.

Now to those who might think this is all nonsense from the point of view of modern science, let's just do a little side discussion on that point. People forget that the materialist scientific attitude, which completely colours our thinking, I admit... is very young in terms of the march of history and the progression [procession] of human worldviews. So material science itself, and its seeming quality of absolute truth are really nothing more than constructs of the mind.

Now, as discussed in episode 1 (and I gave three references) the edifice of science, if it is really honest, it must give up its claim to the scientific standards of evidence, verifiability, repeatability, and so on. Why? Because the very practitioners ignore those standards; they perpetuate one or another paradigm, which has the characteristics of a rigid and repressive institution.

So this is not a blanket condemnation of science, nor is it a denial of the achievements of science in technology and so on. It's just a way to give ourselves permission and rationale to consider another view of reality, that just might have merit, and in personal experiment is verifiable and repeatable.

So we can use the principles of good science. Ultimately, good science, that is, science that is honest and comprehensive must accord with true religious practice.

Now, I'm going to belabour this point a little bit. If you're still objecting on the grounds of modern science, let me ask you, is it good science to ignore or refuse to acknowledge the evidence, the counter evidence? And this is what routinely goes on. If something is presented that goes counter to the current theory, then a scientist will often simply ignore the evidence or deny it. They'll try to discredit the evidence. But if it's overwhelmingly credible, then the scientists will very rarely go back to the original theory and say, okay, our theory is now discredited. Our theory is faulty. We have to go back to the drawing board and revise. Now this happens because there's simply too much conflict of interest going on. There's too much bound up in one's career reputation, salary and so on to go against the force of the institution.

But when it comes back to ourselves, when it comes back to you and me, [we are] trying to consider this material and learn a new standpoint, to acquire a new mental standpoint, it's going to be the bastions of conservatism within our own subconscious that we're fighting against. So that's why there's quite a lot of emphasis on trying to pay attention to how your subconscious is manifesting itself. What attitudes, what beliefs, what thoughts, what emotions are coming to the surface, in response to current conditions and in response to your ideal, in response to your aim? Those observations will reveal to you internal barriers.

Now here we're getting into the subject of the limitations of imagination. The limitations of what is possible. Are there any limitations? Well, this is something that's really worthwhile considering. It seems like the limitations that are imposed are simply the ones that are imposed by the limitation in your own belief. Now, if that sounds outrageous, remember, there's all kinds of interesting evidence about things that seem impossible that go against, that fly in the face of physical science -- results of, for example, experiments in hypnosis. So it might be worthwhile doing an entire episode just on that phenomenon.

But what I suggest now is we come back around to an exercise. Let's try to put this whole thing into practice just on a small scale, to get a feel for what the whole thing is about. So here I'm suggesting that at a predetermined time of the day:

1. Take, let's say, 20 or 30 minutes to review the exercise in self remembering that I gave in episode 1, the author is Rolf Alexander.

2. Define your aim. Now, what is your heartfelt desire? It could be an aim that really has a sort of a grand scale. But I suggest that you try to make it something simple and definite once you've decided on a definite aim that reflects your heartfelt desire. Formulate the desired end. What is the end result that you want? Do not divise the means, and do not dwell on worry, if the whole thing should seem improbable.

3.Review this episode. Try to internalize the whole idea that everything is within -- the idea that you're not fighting a malevolent and threatening external world. On the contrary, the external world is awaiting your command, just like the title of that selection from Neville, At Your Command. Now, mentally step into the state of your wish already having been fulfilled. That is crucial. Keep in mind Neville's admonition. He says: “The feeling of the wish fulfilled, if assumed and sustained, must objectify the state that would have created it.” That's from Prayer, the Art of Believing. And I'll put a link in the show notes.

For the rest of the day, I can suggest, after your session, continue in your assumption, deal with doubt and worry as you would deal with any negative state. In other words, use detachment, use indifference, use nonbelief, then return to an attitude of confident expectation of your wish fulfilled.

Finally, persist and persist.

So to summarize today's episode: We considered the idea of manifestation and how at the back of this idea, there's really a world view or an understanding that the mental existence, the psyche is really the all. There's nothing but God, there's nothing but consciousness, and the external world is only the seeming external world. It doesn't present an independent malevolent force that is fighting against you. It is simply a reflection of your own belief.

That point of view is reflected in many Eastern teachings. And we gave quotes to that effect.

We discussed that although we have an overwhelmingly materialist science viewpoint (our mentality is pretty much shaped by that in this society) science itself is a relative phenomenon and it does not really obey the strictures that it puts in place.

That gives us permission to explore a different world view. To do that, we ended with an exercise to achieve awareness of being, to define an aim and then to persist in the feeling of the wish fulfilled -- and to carry this out as an experiment.

I hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and I look forward to speaking with you further, and exploring this whole mystery of the imagination.