To plan or not to plan?

[sranganayaki]

According to The Secret, the capacity to conceive of the ‘how’ is not essential for accomplishment. But it certainly can help. The story of how Fred Smith created Federal Express and grew it to become a Fortune 500 company in record time confirms this view. Smith started out with both a clear idea and a clear plan for how to achieve it. While doing his MBA, he conceived of the idea of establishing a courier business that would deliver packages across the USA overnight in comparison to the three to five day delivery offered by UPS and the US Postal Service. His strategy was to establish a hub system at Memphis so that flights coming from all major cities could reach the hub before 2 am, unload their parcels for resorting, reload with items bound for their return destination and land back home early morning in time for delivery during the day. His objective and his strategy were inseparable aspects of the plan he executed and the results he achieved. Today FedEx is a $32 billion company!

Planning works. The only question is whether the visualization of ‘how’ is always essential and always beneficial. Experience confirms that it is not. Many people have difficulty imagining how to achieve a goal that is very far removed from present realities. There is a proverbial story of a man who got lost while driving in a rural area. He stopped to ask a farmer for directions to his destination. The farmer replied, “There is no way to get there from here!” That is often the understanding of the physical mind. If so, it is better not to listen to it!

A person earning $8000 a year may be able to realistically envision $18,000, but he may find the effort to formulate a means of earning $80,000 is pure fantasy. In such cases, the inability to imagine realistic possibilities or a personal sense of incapacity become a bar to higher accomplishment. Countless stories can be cited of people who fail to take advantage of magnificent opportunities that are offered to them, just because they cannot imagine themselves achieving at a much higher level.

There are also many stories of people who accomplished tremendous results because they were determined to achieve, even though they had no idea how that achievement it would be possible when they started out. Sabeer Bhatia traveled from India to Silicon Valley in the mid 1990s as a young software engineer with an aspiration to earn millions. After a few years working for others and hearing stories of so many people becoming millionaires in the computer industry, he decided that he must achieve that goal himself within a short time. He and a friend came up with the idea of Hotmail and sold it to Microsoft a few years later for $200 million. He knew what he wanted to achieve and willed it powerfully. Only later did he discover the means to achieve it.

In 1961 when President Kennedy announced the goal of the US space program was to land a man on the moon and bring him back again by 1970, the technology had not yet been invented that could accomplish it. Reaching the moon was not an insurmountable object, but bringing him back again from the moon’s surface presented serious challenges. Yet America achieved that goal -- six months ahead of Kennedy’s deadline.

When France, Belgium and Netherlands collapsed under the onslaught of the German army in 1940, Britain was left virtually alone to fight the Axis powers. A month after Winston Churchill became Prime Minister, the Germans commenced the intense day-light bombing of England in what became known as the Battle of Britain. Churchill delivered his stirring proclamation to the enemies of Britain and to the world:
“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…” Probably no one in Britain or anywhere else on earth could honestly say that they knew how Britain could stand up alone and survive the German bombardment, let along win the war. Yet when Churchill spoke, few could doubt that he was absolutely determined to keep his word. He refused even to consider the possibility of defeat. He may not have known how, but he surely was determined to win at any cost. Churchill knew the essence of The Secret: “You create your own universe as you go along.”

humanscience.wikia.com

[Max Power]

I'm not convinced that how is necessary and/or a time frame.

All the gurus say the same thing (and I agree, but I'm no guru ) you must believe that you already have what you want and then the how will arrive. Choosing to have a million dollars and then deciding how it will be done, seems to place creatorship with ego and avatar instead of where answers seem to come from.

The FedEx guy (don't quote me) was already a millionaire before he started, a family inheritance I think, not that it matters. Also how do we really know for sure that he didn't envisage a larger fortune and the fedex idea popped into his head?

Max

[Robert Avila]

Sranganayaki...

Thank you for those powerful examples of incredible achievement!

You have really helped me refocus on the power being committed to the point where failure is not an option.

Perhaps the stronger the conviction, the higher the probability for success and the greater the chances of the "next step" appearing.

Wish you the best!


Robert Avila


PS.

I was wondering wasn't Sabeer Bhatia's idea for Hotmail actually his second choice? I thought he was originally pitching another idea...which was turned down...then at that same meeting he shared his idea for Hotmail ?

[torilink]

I think ingenuity or inventiveness is a great thing, but it isn't creation.

It may be creative in a physically based way, yet it isn't true creative power as being discussed by LOA or Conscious Creation.

Now in the example of Fed Ex, there is no way to say if he was manifesting the idea, or using ego based ingenuity to come up with his idea. Certainly I believe that I can desire to have a creative idea, but also my ego can just invent something.

Now certainly ingenuity is a great thing to possess, I'm simply stating I don't know that it is exactly what is meant by conscious creation.

hmm, I think I'll think on this for awhile.

[torilink]

I have thought about it and I think I still come back to this:

With conscious creation, I need do nothing. No physical action is required.

I choose a desire, and then since everything outside of mind is an unfurlment of what is contained within it - everything simply moves into place to bring forth that which I have choosen to experience.

Now, this is not "Magic" in the traditional sense of the word, it is everything in this reality working in unison to bring about my desires, because each active part in its fruition is really a part of my mind projected out.

My choice instantly creates the desire and then a process is put in place to unfurl it (bring it into physical manifestation), the time required and path of unfurlment is dependent upon resistance.

[ExploringTheMatrix]

What you have to look at is your universe/container is being created every moment. It's literally coming out of nothing, disappearing into nothing, over and over again, eternally. Most people don't see this but a few can. It seems the key to this is really being able to see what is.

Conscious creation would be one step below this, where the creation takes place over a number of now's. However, one thing I think you guys may be missing is that something like FedEx is the product of a series of creations. First the initial creation of a business/shipping company, then ongoing creations - creating a more efficient shipping system (by computerizing), creating more profitability (employee policies), and so forth.

For me at least, the intrigue in life is establishing a conscious creation that gradually unfolds over a physical body lifetime. Perhaps you could manifest a $36 billion company with no time delay, but the enjoyment comes in watching that come to fruition. If you just walk by FedEx headquarters, you instantly manifested said company Where's the fun in that?

[Max Power]

It's important to trust your power. As soon as you say "I chose to have a million dollars" most people will go straight into denial of power.

I don't have it now
I've never had it before
I don't know how to get it
Deep down I don't want a million because I fear what that may imply.

That last one is the one that most people won't admit, but it's probably the most powerful one. So now we have resistance and very strong resistance.

Also, people want to create through thought and avatar. This means trying to solve probelms and find solutions with their limited thought processes. It's called over-thinking and it just clouds creativity.

Have you even needed a solution and struggled with it to no avail and then forgot about and the answer just popped into your head? Well that's how it's supposed to work. Consciousness solves the problem, but you just keep getting in the way, slowing it down, you are working from avatar and thought, where you should work from consciousness because that's where all the power is.

If consciousness could send you an email, it would say "I see that you desire something, but I can't help you if you won't get out of the way" Consciousness can't and doesn't send you the plan to get what you want, while you're trying to make a plan.

We talk often here about instant manifestation, but to maintain the container, maintain the illusion, a plan may be required to make the observation of attainment more acceptable. So if you want something and think it needs a plan, then just ask consciousness for one, get out of the way and the next thing you know a plan will be revealed to you.

Max

[trekr5]

Sabeer Bhatia actually started Hotmail with a friend. They eventually sold it to Microsoft for $400m

If you want an example of someone who visualised her way into success..

Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX (ladies underwear)

6 years ago, Sara was a fax machine saleswoman. She would go into offices trying to sell her faxes and would be physically ejected by security guards from the buildings. During the evening she was a stand up comedienne.

Sara said she had always wanted to start her own business but didn't know what she would sell so she would visualise as often as possible her dream:-

• Her own business
• Wanted to work on the business and not in it
• Wanted it to be a product she passionately cared about and that would have an impact on other people's lives
• Wanted it to be highly successful

She came up with the idea of a revolutionary kind of underwear starting out with her life savings of $5000 in 2001. In 2007 her business now turns over $80m a year and is carried by retailers all over the globe. She's best friends with Richard branson and has just launched a foundation to support women entrepreneurs (Mr Branson donated $750k)

LoA works....

[Shamou]

Originally Posted by trekr5

LoA works....

Great post...

LoA does work if you are willing to back it up with massive action... if not... you can dream your life away... and waste it...

.

[MrBig]

Originally Posted by sranganayaki

According to The Secret, the capacity to conceive of the ‘how’ is not essential for accomplishment.

I don’t think this should be taken literally and applied to all situations. The Secret was trying to make a point that we often are so cut up in the “how” that we forget or start even doubting what we want.

Some people are born with a “gift” of just going after what they want. They don’t worry about “hows” and their primary focus is on a desire to achieve what they want. Because they keep their attention on what they want and take action, they often reach their goals.

Others, it seems, get scared or destructed from their goals because they worry that they won’t be able to do what is necessary, or maybe, although they know what they want, they don’t take action at all (not even a first step) because they think they don’t have the right skills for the job or what have you.

Many successful people have said something like this over and over again, “I have no idea how I did it. I just went for it.” Or may you have heard something like this, “I acted as if I knew what I was doing and other have bought it.”

Or something like this, “I just did it because that is what I wanted to do and it was fun. I had no idea that it would turn out to be this huge money-maker.”

Matthew 21: “Then Jesus told them, “I assure you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and it will happen. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Now, I don’t think Jesus was suggesting that one can use the power of intention to literally lift and throw a mountain into the sea. He was trying to make a point that however impossible a task at hand may seem, one does not need to worry about the “hows” – know what you want and take action, the rest will fall into place one way or another.

I am not a Christian by they way or subscribe to any specific religion.

[Acting Like Godot]

Here is another way to look at it. If you stick to working on goals where you can conceive the "how", well, certainly you may achieve them. In fact with a good, logical plan, you certainly increase your chances.

However, if you work only on goals where you can conceive of "how", then these goals are necessarily smaller and more limited than what you can really achieve.

Essentially you may be falling into a trap whereby you limit yourself only to goals where your conscious mind can already see a path, or a solution. In other words, you aren't really tapping into your unconscious mind or resources at all.

It may not be such a terrible trap if you're by nature quite intelligent, ambitious, driven and good at planning. Of course a person who is intelligent, ambitious, driven and good at planning

will not do as well as

a person who is intelligent. ambitious, driven, good at planning AND knows how to utilise his unconscious mind.

[Max Power]

If we need a plan or think we need a plan, does that not imply that we do not have what we desire. All the gurus drone on about placing desire in the now. You have it now. If that's true (which it is) then seeking a plan or planning (again) implies you don't have it, which of course is a contradiction.

So how do we get what we want when we see we don't have it?

The trick lies in accepting that you (human you) doesn't do any of the creating. You are the sum total of conscious output. This is why creating stuff takes time. Firstly you're denying you're the creator (it's not my fault you say) and secondly, when you do create something, when something happens that you intended, that something came about through conscious choice and then you got in the way and slowed the whole creation process down.

You don't need a plan, there is no plan required, sure it looks that way, because you want something and then there seems to be a process that manifests it, but this is all a drawn out sometimes painful process, that can shortened and negated if you realise the truth.

You already have what you desire and you already have it right now.

Believe that and then observe what happens...........and try to get out of the way, mostly you are the annoying barrier that stops consciousness (what you really are) from creating stuff you want.

If you could identify truly with consciousness you'd see that your human body and your human mind (while necessary to observe creation) are at best a barrier for creation. While wonderful to observe, it's often a spanner in the works of creation.

If something is going wrong, then you're creating it, sit back relax and let go of creation, jump out of the driver's seat, hop in the back seat and let consciousness take the wheel and steer you where you want to go. Consciousness is sitting in the back seat watching you criss-cross all over the road, running down people, crashing and burning, getting in trouble with the police. It's a really honest back seat driver saying "look, if you'd just let me drive, we'd get there faster and smoother" but mostly you are that maniac that appears on police video show 'ploice chasers gone wrong'

Max

[ao2007]

Max,

How do you "identify truly with consciousness"? That is what I don't understand. Please help me wise one! (That's not sarcasm!)


Also, can you tell me of any books or resources that you recommend that are along the same line as what you are suggesting?

Thank you.

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by ao2007

Max,How do you "identify truly with consciousness"? That is what I don't understand. Please help me wise one! (That's not sarcasm!)

AO,

Identifying with consciousness is not supposed to be easy, that's not the point, that's not the game consciousness (you) is playing. There is a level of built in denial that must be maintained to maintain the perception/illusion/physical reality.

I find consciousness or at least sense being closest to it, when I consider I'm not human, my humaness is output created by me to place an observer at the point of observation of all that I create.

So if I want to identify with consciousness, then I must not align my creative source or perception with this human being that is an observer. I can acknowledge that this human being is my central point of observation, but it's hardly creative.

If you want to identify more with consciousness and become a better creator, then realise that the human being you're observing through is not creative and/or creating. I say to myself when I seek consciousness identification "I create everything in awareness including this human being to observe it" this helps me align with consciousness and then I can sense conscious choice better.

Now someone might say "But lots of people are creating efficiently and they don't align with consciousness or consious choice, so is this really necessary?" The point here is that they are aligning and creating very easily through conscious choice, but they incorrectly think it's the human in them that's doing it. They're letting conscious choice run free and it's extremely effective, but then they deny the true source of creativity.

The real issue is to actively and effectively to choose to align with conscious choice to become a better creator, instead of it hopefully being the default. For most people it's never the default.

Max

[ao2007]

Max,

Does meditation, especially pursuing the state of "no mind", help/hinder (or neither) identifying with consciousness?

Can positive emotions, such as appreciation (of what consciousness has created) or creative visualization have any positive effect on creation? Or does all emoting slow down the manifestation process?

Also, on a separate issue, if I (consiousness) create it all and everyone is me then I have the power to create things in the experience of others, good or bad, correct?

Thank you.

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by ao2007

Max, Does meditation, especially pursuing the state of "no mind", help/hinder (or neither) identifying with consciousness?

To me, meditate means to go into a state, where observation of truth is clearer, but we are already in that state, we are constantly observing the clear and pure state. You don't need to go to the forrest or the mountains to meditate. Sure it may feel more peaceful, but to me meditating is observing, so simply looking to your present moment awareness, wether in a big noisy crowd or a peaceful forest setting is actually meditative.

Can positive emotions, such as appreciation (of what consciousness has created) or creative visualization have any positive effect on creation? Or does all emoting slow down the manifestation process?

The true state of creation is neutral, it doesn't require happy or sad emotions to create. Consciousness isn't emotive, emotion, like thought is output, not creative. Now you might say that happy thoughts about getting something into your life will speed up the manifestation process, but I don't believe that.

Thoughts validate, emotions validate and they are helpful to validate choice, so using them is a good thing, but do we strictly need to to create? I don't believe so and as the awareness of conscious choice power increases, we can negate them fully within the creative process.

Also, on a separate issue, if I (consiousness) create it all and everyone is me then I have the power to create things in the experience of others, good or bad, correct?

Correct, but remember, strictly speaking there are no others, there are other bodies, but there is only one consciousness, so consciousness is only ever dealing and interacting with itself. It's not that difficult to get others to work will you and also against you, it's the one thing and it's all connected. Look to your life and you'll see that you are already influencing others via consciousness, we just don't see it very well, because we strongly identify with out human bodies.

Thank you.

Actually I have to thank you, for consciousness loves self improvement

Max

[absvan]

Originally Posted by Max Power

If you could identify truly with consciousness you'd see that your human body and your human mind (while necessary to observe creation) are at best a barrier for creation. While wonderful to observe, it's often a spanner in the works of creation.

If something is going wrong, then you're creating it, sit back relax and let go of creation, jump out of the driver's seat, hop in the back seat and let consciousness take the wheel and steer you where you want to go. Consciousness is sitting in the back seat watching you criss-cross all over the road, running down people, crashing and burning, getting in trouble with the police. It's a really honest back seat driver saying "look, if you'd just let me drive, we'd get there faster and smoother" but mostly you are that maniac that appears on police video show 'ploice chasers gone wrong'

Max

I like your driver analogy.

Yes I totally agree. This is what every spiritual book calls Surrender - let the energy flow through you. Unfortunately our ego does not feel comfortable when its not in control and thats what block everything. I think the key is to always relax and be happy.

In the movie Peaceful warrior, Socrates tells Dan - "Be happy even if its for no reason"

[Max Power]

Originally Posted by absvan

I like your driver analogy.

Yes I totally agree. This is what every spiritual book calls Surrender - let the energy flow through you. Unfortunately our ego does not feel comfortable when its not in control and thats what block everything. I think the key is to always relax and be happy.

In the movie Peaceful warrior, Socrates tells Dan - "Be happy even if its for no reason"

AB,

The trick is to jump in the back seat, but the problem is, the ego is so strong, that it looks in the rear vision mirror and can't see consciousness sitting there ready to take control

Max

[MrBig]

Max Power,

Where do our thoughts come from in your opinion?

[sranganayaki]

Mr.Big,

Thoughts come from two sources – subconsciously they rise from the body and sensations and the enter from outside through what Sri Aurobindo calls the circumconscient. Human thought has emerged from animal sensation so most of our thought is a response of the conscious mind to sensations rising up from the physical and subconscious. I see a person who I do not like or an object that appears attractive to me, and thought forms in response to the sense perception and the bodily emotions associated with it. As mind develops, it also becomes receptive to thoughts entering from the atmosphere as it is also to feelings and life vibrations such as fear and joy. To test for yourself the capacity of thought to move from one person to another through the circumconscient without the intermediacy of speech or written word, you can try the experiment outlined in Silent Will. Secrets behind The Secret - Human Science - a Wikia wiki

[MrBig]

Sranganayaki,

Thank you so much for the link. It looks like the information I wanted to explore more. Hmm, as a student of the LoA that should not have come as a surprise – “Ask and it is given.”