Busting Loose from the Money Game

[Wax Frog]

Just read the first 7 BL chapters, and the ideas are nearly all familiar to me. The most interesting and encouraging thing is that many of my in-reading questions were answered directly. I trust it gets juicier?

I like that Michael Talbot gets a nod in the acknowledgements...

I also like that a book that discusses, among other things, blue shirts turning pink can steal its way into the business and finance section of a bookstore. Hah, take that materialists!

[cylon]

It's familiar but it's the way that it's packaged... this is a really well thought out "model" of how subjective reality works... frankly I'm going slowly with it because it's kind of freaking me out. This is the first time that LOA, SR, the whole enchilada is coming together for me. Really trippy things are happening and I know if I keep reading it's just going to get that much more trippier.

[Wax Frog]

On the verge of shirt-color-change kind of trippy? Pretty soon you're going to be like that long-lost E-pal of mine...

[cylon]

Yeah it's pretty much stuff like that. Like in the matrix and putting your hand in the air and watching ripples suddenly appear around your hand. (Not literally that though, if that happened I would have a heart attack).

[cylon]

... or I should say, the illusion of a heart attack.

[Wax Frog]

I hear you; I sometimes wonder if I'm blocking this out of some sort of fear of "losing myself". First it's ripples in the air, and before you know it you're dissolving your body or seeing in 360

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

I hear you; I sometimes wonder if I'm blocking this out of some sort of fear of "losing myself". First it's ripples in the air, and before you know it you're dissolving your body or seeing in 360

When you "lose yourself," that's when it gets juicier.

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by Angela

When you "lose yourself," that's when it gets juicier.

It figures World's my oyster if I can just get past the demon I created...

[cylon]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

I hear you; I sometimes wonder if I'm blocking this out of some sort of fear of "losing myself". First it's ripples in the air, and before you know it you're dissolving your body or seeing in 360

Well that's the Phase 1 thing... putting all our effort into not seeing our true power. It's weird how he flipped that around in the book, seeing your true self is actually what happens when you don't try hard (no resistance), and seeing yourself as separate is what happens when you try really hard to not feel separate! F'ing paradoxes.

I'm only on page 111 so I don't know what's coming, but the part that is really tripping me out is when he keeps saying that in Phase 1, the "spiritual traditions" we seek out to give us answers, or the self-help techiniques we use (like LOA) are are DESIGNED to not work! Or I guess he means, they are designed to frustrate you so much that you keep saying "nothing works", finally give up, and at that point, you're actually open to seeing what works.

Crazy. I'm all for the fun... I've lived enough years in Phase 1, I think I'm willing and able to just take the colored pill and start surfing the crazy waves.

The "ripples" in the fabric of reality used to really scare me. They don't anymore, they still astound me a little, but I'm not so afraid of them like I used to be. So, maybe that means I'm open to more of them.

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by cylon

Crazy. I'm all for the fun... I've lived enough years in Phase 1, I think I'm willing and able to just take the colored pill and start surfing the crazy waves.

I'm about there myself (my own edition of Phase 1 isn't working too well, and doesn't appear likely to do otherwise). Heck, I did finally manifest the book!

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

It figures World's my oyster if I can just get past the demon I created...

That about sums it up.

Except that you don't have to get past the demon, so much as just acknowledge it, reclaim your power from the creation of it, appreciate it -- appreciate your own limitless power for having created that demon! == and let it go, easily and effortlessly.

[cylon]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

Heck, I did finally manifest the book!

That you did, sir. Well... that means your resistance is subsiding and you're ready for something new too.

Personally I think it's like the barn door being open... those horses are not going back in. Too late!

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by cylon

That you did, sir. Well... that means your resistance is subsiding and you're ready for something new too.

Personally I think it's like the barn door being open... those horses are not going back in. Too late!

I've spent my whole life making overtures to the "woo-woo" aspects of life, in one form or another. I'd be a fool to back off and 'turtle' when they decide to start winking back (especially since I'll go back to Whatever I Am eventually anyway - why put off facing truth?)

[cylon]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

I've spent my whole life making overtures to the "woo-woo" aspects of life, in one form or another. I'd be a fool to back off and 'turtle' when they decide to start winking back (especially since I'll go back to Whatever I Am eventually anyway - why put off facing truth?)

Just depends on how "cool" you are with things winking back. Sometimes when I would get winks, and in quick succession, I would just short circuit. I'd get this sort of awe/fear about it. I'd say "Ok, enough with that! I'm going to go crazy if this stuff keeps happening." We need to know we're safe and protected. That's why change can be so slow....you have to build up a tolerance to being outside your comfort zone.

I think a lot of folks want major changes in their lives but when something in their reality shifts, that is seriously disturbing. And people dive right back into the illusion that what they always thought, is the way it really is. I've done it plenty. "No, it CAN'T be like this! I can't even comprehend this crap!"

So I think that is the biggest stumbling block, just being "ok" with the fact your life is going to change. I really think that when we are open to it, then it just speeds up, big time.

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by cylon

That's why change can be so slow....you have to build up a tolerance to being outside your comfort zone.

Again, I can see that. I'm not looking to turn my world upside down, one or two measurable positive shifts would be enough for starters.

I think I'll do one more chapter, then succumb to my sudden sleep urge...

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

Again, I can see that. I'm not looking to turn my world upside down, one or two measurable positive shifts would be enough for starters.

Then busting loose from the game might not be ready for you yet, Waxy.

You can't judge your illusions and collapse them at the same time. Trying to make your creation "more" or "better" only feeds the illusion and makes it stronger.

But keep reading, if it inspires you at all. You may be surprised, and a special readiness may find you.

[impaul99]

Finishing the book doesn't end the illusion.

It's not the end of the process.

It's just the beginning.

Much like getting a gym membership doesn't = big muscles automatically. It's a Process, and it was designed to be a Process.

It could very well be 200 lifetimes from now before it fully dissolves, so I wouldn't really worry about it too much.

The Process will takes some time.

[Wax Frog]

I've just deleted a bucketload of blather in response to a question that popped up - is it even possible to have a conversation about this book without falling into the aforementioned traps? Is this a variation of "if you try to describe it, you lose it"? Ugh!

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

I've just deleted a bucketload of blather in response to a question that popped up - is it even possible to have a conversation about this book without falling into the aforementioned traps? Is this a variation of "if you try to describe it, you lose it"? Ugh!

Well, the book is a creation of YOUR consciousness!

Waxy, maybe you'd like to just accept your confusion and finish reading the book and trying on the process -- you'll find, I think, that the process itself is an excellent tool for powerfully setting your confusion free.

Speculating about what you've read so far, comparing it to other modalities, and resisting it are all fine, too.

[Wax Frog]

Curse you free spirits and your ability to rise above complexity by NOT denying it (or however that idea would be better phrased)!

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by Angela

resisting it [is] fine, too.

Ah, now there's another point - in my version of this book , the author accepts that readers will likely reject what he has to say, and does not suggest that this means they should abandon reading it. So resisting IS fine, at least as I understand it. No harm done to learning about this Process (which I will do in the next chapter)

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

Ah, now there's another point - in my version of this book , the author accepts that readers will likely reject what he has to say, and does not suggest that this means they should abandon reading it. So resisting IS fine, at least as I understand it. No harm done to learning about this Process (which I will do in the next chapter)

Yup. Just between me and you, though, I think you might have more fun with it if you acknowledge and accept your resistance, and then just put it aside for awhile as you read the book -- act AS IF you accept it fully -- trusting that you can have your resistance back when you're done.

That's not a requirement for getting value, though. It's just a handy tip for you to accept or reject, as you see fit.

(By the way, I don't think doing so will make you lose yourself. You'll still be in complete control. There's no magical power in the book that MAKES you shift your perspective, or locks you into a perspective if you do shift.)

[Wax Frog]

Originally Posted by Angela

Yup. Just between me and you, though, I think you might have more fun with it if you acknowledge and accept your resistance, and then just put it aside for awhile as you read the book -- act AS IF you accept it fully -- trusting that you can have your resistance back when you're done.

Right. That's what I've been doing since I first learned of IM/LoA, and related matters.

(By the way, I don't think doing so will make you lose yourself. You'll still be in complete control. There's no magical power in the book that MAKES you shift your perspective, or locks you into a perspective if you do shift.)

Sure, just so long as it reveals something to me that *can* work.

[cylon]

Originally Posted by Wax Frog

Curse you free spirits and your ability to rise above complexity by NOT denying it (or however that idea would be better phrased)!

It's not that you don't deny it... like I mentioned earlier when I said "stop! This is f'd up!" to the universe, it wasn't exaggeration. Damn my whole personality and ego is tied up into the fact that you and I, and everyone else, really are separate people. You don't think that it can be extremely uncomfortable to "deny" that? Sometimes I think about this stuff and it can be exhausting because all the ramifications just weigh me down.

But... if you're going to be skeptical, obviously it makes sense that you would be skeptical of your own skepticism. THAT is really where the power of all this stuff lies... to break free of your defenses and decide that for a time you're just going to "buy into it" for the purposes of the experiment.

Steve talks about this all the time, trying on different belief systems/lenses and changing them like they are socks. He doesn't just put his toe in the water, he tries to become an expert swimmer so he can later make observations on what his results were. And if he doesn't like it he goes "not for me". Except his "not for me" is always the "not for me" of a true expert, not a dabbler.

So I think that's how it is with this stuff... if it's a "total immersion movie" and you are a character playing the part of "man who experiments with belief structure to see what it's all about" then you want to stick with that character till the end of the story.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by cylon

It's not that you don't deny it... like I mentioned earlier when I said "stop! This is f'd up!" to the universe, it wasn't exaggeration. Damn my whole personality and ego is tied up into the fact that you and I, and everyone else, really are separate people. You don't think that it can be extremely uncomfortable to "deny" that? Sometimes I think about this stuff and it can be exhausting because all the ramifications just weigh me down.

In that regard, it may give you access to insight that you are "ignoring" an aspect of yourself by putting me on the "ignore" setting. And of course, I get to appreciate my consciousness for creating an aspect of myself that is ignoring me! That sort of thing used to feel like a weight (Rose and Aspiring can surely remember those days!), and now it's just delightful.

[Wax Frog]

Pavlina's IM Forum - "Your One-Stop Source For All Things Brow-Furrowing"®

[pc99]

Originally Posted by Angela

In that regard, it may give you access to insight that you are "ignoring" an aspect of yourself by putting me on the "ignore" setting. And of course, I get to appreciate my consciousness for creating an aspect of myself that is ignoring me! That sort of thing used to feel like a weight (Rose and Aspiring can surely remember those days!), and now it's just delightful.

I appreciate the fact I created a place where you’re not “ignored”.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by pc99

I appreciate the fact I created a place where you’re not “ignored”.

I appreciate that, too, pc99!

[Darren]

I've ordered this book due to the recommendations in this thread. Really looking forward to checking it out. I must say, from the front cover and the book title it's not something I feel i would've been naturally drawn to.

Oh, what's that saying again? "You can't judge a book by its _ _ _ _ _"

[Tanja]

Originally Posted by Darren

I've ordered this book due to the recommendations in this thread.

I got hold of it too! Just to see what it was all about, the discussion here triggered my curiosity.

Although, if I've understood correctly what they've been discussing here, I recommended the book to myself And discussed it in this thread too