Hello everybody its Thomas here with another episode of the Mind Guy Podcast. I want to start out this episode by asking a series of questions. What are you doing here? What is the meaning of life? Are you doing what you’re supposed to be doing? Some of you might not have an answer to these questions, while some of you feel confident in your response. Let me ask another question. Are you 100% certain you know you are doing what you are meant to do?
It seems that there is always a level of uncertainty to nearly everything. There are people who work 80 to 100 hours a week for their entire lives, only to find out at the very end of their lives that they missed out on a lot. They missed out on family experiences, relationships, exploration, adventure, travel and the list goes on and on. On the other hand some people try to make the most out of life by filling it with experiences because they don’t want to be that person that has regrets in their final days. They always have to be doing something and they feel unsettled otherwise.
I’m going to share with you what I think we are meant to do while we are here and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this. Here is a message from social memory complex Ra, “To teach/learn is the Law of One in one of its most elementary distortions.” The Law of One is from my opinion the most important principle of the universe where everything is one and the same, you are me and I am you, and all things combined make up the intelligent infinity. This is a state of complete unity where there is no separation between anything. The Law of One is not only a principle it’s also a channeled work, turned into a series of books that took place between 1981 and 1984 by three individuals.
When I say channeled work I’m talking about having another thought form communicating through a human being while in a trance state. Many of you are probably thinking you are listening to or reading a science fiction novel, but the wisdom in this series of books is quite extraordinary. If you’ve ever heard of the Law of Mentalism from the Hermetic Principles then you can grasp that thought preceded creation, even in the Law of One Ra states that one thought sparked all of creation and every other thought stemmed from that original thought. Albert Einstein one of the greatest scientific thinkers to ever walk this planet wanted to know the thoughts of god and spent the end of his career trying to discover the Theory of Everything which he believed was an equation that was no more than a few millimeters in length. The God Equation.
If you understand the Law of Attraction then you can see how thoughts create reality (along with vibration) by using our minds to think and imagine. These faculties of the mind are what determines creation and the future. We are the only species on this planet that has this uncanny capability to create our futures. Alright I need to slow down here because I’m getting a little to Meta for some of you and need to reel it back in a bit. Ten years ago these ideas and concepts would be much too foreign to me especially after being raised Catholic. I myself left the church in my early twenties and would get negatively triggered by the word god for nearly 15 years.
I want to go back to topic of this podcast which is Self-actualization verses Self-realization. As Ra stated in the Law of One the most simplistic reason we are here is to teach/learn. So if that is the case then ultimately this place is a school. I never enjoyed school so I prefer looking at it as a game. Just like in school you move onto the next level year after year, a game works very much in the same way but games are fun. Just as we learn knowledge through textbooks, we are here to learn about ourselves and seek to understand ourselves.
The first part of this process is called Self-actualization coined by psychologist Abraham Maslow in 1943. Although I use the term slightly differently and the term Self-actualization is the best language for what our intentions are here. Carl Jung on the other hand used the term Self-realization for this same result and the process to becoming Self-realized he coined as Individuation. In psychology Self-actualization is defined as being able to reach your full potential. I like the simplicity of this definition because if you do all the work that’s necessary within your own self then you will become the best version of yourself.
Individuation as Jung described, is the path of optimal personal development and separating yourself from the whole so that you can find your uniqueness as an individual. He said once a person follows this process then the person can become Self-realized. There is a contradiction here though from two different schools of thought. Self-realization in the Eastern World and in spiritual communities means something completely different. Self-realization follows more in line with the teachings of Ra and the Law of One. To Self-realize is to see yourself and everything around you as an aspect of the One Infinite Creator. Each of us are just mini-creators, made in the image of god as the bible suggests.
I’m going to try to break this down so it’s a little clearer because Jung thinks we need to separate ourselves from the unified group while yogi’s from India think we need to connect ourselves to the Creator and become unified with the true Oneness. Well which one is it? The answer I’m going to tell you is actually both, but for different reasons. You see the path of Self-actualization and the path of Self-realization are two completely different paths with two completely different kinds of results and if you take both paths then you will find the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth. Yes that’s what I said, the Kingdom of Heaven.
I believe this to be true and even though I have glimpses of this heaven state I’m still on my journey of discovering it more fully and consistently. The process of Self-actualization will bring feelings of fulfillment, happiness, and contentment, because you have discovered your purpose here on earth. The process of Self-realization brings feelings of love, connection, bliss and fearlessness. Does that not sound like heaven?
Have you not already determined that money cannot provide you with true happiness, fulfillment, love, and bliss? It can only move you away from misery. Same with all material possessions. They can make life easier and you can have an appreciation for those things, but ultimately they are not going to bring you into the heaven state.
I want to now spend some time describing Self-actualization in a different way to Maslow based on how the mind works. Most of our unconscious programming happens between the ages of 0 and 21. From the ages of 0 to 7 we are in the imprint stage, where we are constantly in a state of hypnosis, and we act likes sponges to our environment. Then from the ages of 7 to 14 is the modeling stage where we try to mimic other people and their behaviors. We decide who we want to become based off of our role models, peers and authority figures. Then from the ages of 14 to 21 is the socialization period where we try to become accepted fully by the group and will do whatever it takes to make sure we are not the outcast.
During this period of time we develop our self-concept or put another way our identity. We develop core values and beliefs. We even create mini-personalities that have their own strategies, values and beliefs and they create internal conflicts within ourselves. Our memories, especially the ones with strong negative emotions and trauma influence our behavior as well. This develops a majority of our programming or conditioning. Put in other words we become disjointed, fragmented, and disconnected. Now our behavior is driven by fear, which tries to protect us from experiencing other negative emotions like hurt, sadness, anger, guilt and shame.
Here is where the trap comes in modern society. We are not taught how to Self-actualize during this period of time and school often does not help one determine what they want to be in life. So what does it truly mean to Self-actualize? I think for starters it is important to know what your gifts and talents are. Utilizing your talents in your life’s pursuits is important. You must try a variety of different things in order to discover this and I’m talking about things like reading, writing, arts, music, sports, math, socializing, empathy, listening, caring for others, and the list goes on and on.
A good way to find your gifts and talents is by being curious and open to trying new things. Also just because you are not initially good at something doesn’t mean that it can’t be one of your greatest talents. I think I’m a good writer but I hated reading as a child and never thought I was a good at it so I avoided it until my early 30’s. I make a decent amount of grammar mistakes because I didn’t learn all the foundational components of the English language, but I also think it’s what makes me a unique writer. I made some limiting decisions around this skill and that prevented me from doing something really I enjoy.
The second aspect of Self-actualizing from my point of view is understanding the mind. I think everyone should do trainings in NLP or hypnosis. They were absolute game changers for me and just personal development work for that matter. This is what the internal work is all about, by getting to know yourself. You can become a master of your emotions, behaviors and thoughts. I have so many tools at my disposal, that if I get into a negative state I can do something about it immediately, as opposed to swimming in it for a full day or many days at a time. Actually I used to get in long ruts in my late 20’s to early 30’s where I’d be in that negative state for up to a month at a time.
This is really the process of making conscious what is unconscious to you. The things you are not aware of in your unconscious mind. Since we are not taught how to do this as children we create nearly everything unconsciously and now we have hundreds to thousands of things running in the background of our unconscious mind that we are completely clueless to. We even put things in the shadows of our unconscious as Carl Jung described and these aspects of ourselves create a misalignment or incongruencies within us. The process of Self-actualization is a process of waking up from the unconscious. Then we become masters of our own fate and feel empowered as creators. Otherwise we are just at the effect of what happens around us while we can actually become the cause of our own lives.
I experienced an intense trauma at the age of 4 and because of that trauma I ended up internalizing everything. I didn’t feel safe sharing my thoughts, feelings and emotions. The unfortunate result of this was that I developed a ton of limiting programming which brought me to psychological manifestations of learned helplessness, depression, avoidant personality disorder and substance abuse. All of which I’ve overcome by taking on the process of Self-actualization.
By using the tools of hypnosis and NLP you can discover, release, and reprogram your unconscious mind so that it works in favor of your goals and dreams. You can modify your values which is one of the biggest drivers of your behavior. A value is what is important to you. If you experienced a lot of trauma in your life you probably value safety, security and comfort. This will often lead people to living very isolated lives and spending a majority of their free time at home, even though there is a part of them that wants to explore the world and be adventurous.
You can very easily clear that trauma with timeline therapy and hypnotherapy. Once you clear the negative emotions from your past, then fear no longer drives your behavior. You stop moving away from pain and you can start moving towards pleasure instead. Moving towards pleasure is a much healthier form of motivation. How many people go to a job they hate out of fear they won’t be able to find the money to survive? The reason this happens is based on unconscious programming that is primarily driven by fear.
With the tools of NLP you can change memories, change your values, clear negative emotions, limiting decisions and beliefs. You can integrate fragmented parts and reframe your thoughts. There is so much you can do with these simple set of tools that you will be able to master your mind. It may take a while depending on how old you are. I started with these tools in my mid 30’s and it’s been about 4 years now. I’ve made tremendous progress and I’m still clearing or modifying my unconscious on a weekly and even basis.
I must say before working with the unconscious mind I tried for 6 years using willpower and throwing myself into uncomfortable situations as a means of growth. It was such a slow process and I felt so far away from achieving my dreams that I was ready to give up and settle for a life I truly didn’t want. Fortunately for me the universe provided me with an alternative – ayahuasca, hypnotherapy and NLP.
There is a third aspect of Self-actualization which is finding your own truth. It’s the process of critically thinking for yourself and determining what you believe to be true. This is where it’s important to step away from group mentality as Jung suggested. The reason people cling to a group and develop a tribe mentality is because of unconscious fears. They don’t know what the hell this place is and it’s much easier to survive life by being accepted into a group. It’s not as scary when you have someone else in the trenches with you.
The problem is that you take on the beliefs of the group and you aren’t going through the process of understanding the world through your own critical analysis. This is the only time where separation is a good thing, because separation from my understanding is the source of all suffering. But if you really think about it, when you are taking on the thoughts and beliefs of others you are actually separating yourself from what is real and true to you. So there is a separation from self when you hold onto a group mentality.
The fourth aspect of Self-actualization is finding your life’s purpose or your soul’s purpose. What are you meant to do in this world? Are you meant to be a leader, an engineer, a brick layer, a teacher, a student, a yogi, an athlete, a musician, or in my case the Mind Guy? I personally have always been drawn to public speaking and love speaking powerfully in front of others. The problem was that I was terrified to speak in front of others.
I even did acting through Community Theater to try to overcome those fears, but it didn’t help much. It wasn’t until I was at the Hypnotherapy Academy at the age of 35 where in two hypnosis sessions I significantly dropped my fear of public speaking from a 9.8 out of 10 to a 2 out of 10. I’m about to do an NLP Trainer’s Training in July that is 2 ½ weeks long and installs 30 resources of great speakers. So I am on a great path to becoming one of the greatest speakers this world has ever seen!
This is why clearing the limiting programming in the unconscious is so necessary because it can hide your purpose and talents for this life. A good way to determine your purpose or a potential talent is to look at books, movies or TV characters that really resonate with you. I personally was drawn to Neo from the Matrix because I was asleep and deep down wanted to wake up from my sleep. I ended up doing that by becoming conscious of my unconscious or otherwise stated as the process of Self-actualizing. I was also drawn to powerful speeches in movies like Al Pacino in Scent of a Women and Any Given Sunday, as well as Charlie Chaplin in the Dictator.
I just shared with you my generalized explanation of Self-Actualization and it will vary from what you find from Abraham Maslow or Carl Jung. I wanted to come at from a different angle and I am not saying either of their theories are inaccurate. This is just how I like to understand it and explain it to others.
I do want to talk about Self-realization now, which is not the Self-realization Carl Jung talked about. I’m going to define it in a way that makes sense to me. In the simplest terms I would define Self-realization as knowing there is an invisible, eternal substance to your being that can never perish. You can consider it as the spirit or the soul.
Actually I think there is more to this definition which includes knowing that eternal aspect of yourself is the same substance as the Creator of all that is. Just as the Law of One suggests, everything that exists comes from the same source and because of that everything combined makes up one singular entity. Even though we look different on the outside, we have different personalities, different perspectives of the world, the one thing that is identical is that spirit/soul aspect. Imagine a big ball of light that is shaped as the sun. In some dimension of reality there is the source of all creation and each of us is a speck of that light that comes from that source.
I know this might be a stretch for most and may sound a bit crazy. Ten years ago if you told me something like this I would have told you that you were nuts. It’s been quite a journey to get to this point of understanding around this. Another thing I realized is that you can’t completely Self-realize through logic. This eternal substance cannot be found in the mind. It’s more so located in the heart because source is made of two things -- light and love. I found this discovery of Self-realization through a series of experiences and these are the same experiences I recommend to you if you are searching for the deeper meanings of life. Each one of these metaphysical experiences cracked the door slightly more to Self-realization.
My first experience of the metaphysical was going to a psychic. Ten years ago when I hit rock bottom and was searching for something to keep me here, I ended up in front of a psychic who knew specifics things about myself, even things I never told anyone. He shared things about my future and it was exactly what I needed to hear to propel me forward in life. For many years I asked myself how he was able to do that. Here is how. Everything is connected and is One, including a collective mind where all knowledge exists, known as the infinite intelligence. He was able to tap into the hive mind and in the spiritual community it is known as the Akashic Records.
The next experience was at the Hypnotherapy Academy where I did four past life regressions. I felt the emotions, saw the correlations between those lifetimes and this current lifetime, and most importantly it brought me back to spirituality in a different form, much different from my Catholic upbringing. My past life regressions made me realize I was not just a body and mind and because of this realization my fear of death diminished. I had a sense of relief knowing there is more to all of this.
Another experience which profoundly connected me to Self-realization was two of my ayahuasca journeys. The first one was experiencing a feminine energy spirit heal my body. The second being my most recent ceremony where I felt, in Christian terms, the Holy Spirit running through my veins. It was absolute bliss, harmony and a knowing that I was connected to all things. This is a common experience for those who use psychedelics.
Self-realization in Eastern societies is a common concept. Yogis, monks, masters, gurus have all gone down the path of this self-realization. You can find it through meditation. Through silencing the mind and connecting into your heart space, you can develop a relationship with the Creator. The more time you spend building that relationship the more that this physical reality becomes an illusion. You start to see it as a dream or a virtual world. The only real thing that exists is your eternal light/love being. All the craziness of this world means very little and you see there is a divine order to things, a synchronicity of sorts. This place is just a school or a game and we are here to experience, but ultimately to teach/learn.
I said earlier that Self-actualization and Self-realization have two different paths and two different results. They are two different results of positive feeling states. One brings happiness and the other brings fearlessness or love. I wanted to conclude that there is one result that is common between the two. As I said before separation is the source of suffering. Both these processes bring you to a state of wholeness. Self-actualization brings you to a state of wholeness within yourself and Self-realization brings you to a state of wholeness with everything around you. This is the Law of One and this is the school or game we are in. We are here to rediscover Oneness; to know that we are whole, perfect and complete not only in ourselves but with everything around us.
This concludes this episode. If you want to learn more about how to Self-actualize through NLP and hypnotherapy, send me an e-mail at [email protected].
