June 28

I remember a number of years ago I was listening to Marianne Williamson in one of her talks. At this particular talk she was saying (I am paraphrasing it) that there are two ways of manifesting your desires. The first way is something like white magic which encompasses everything from law of attraction, visualization, mind power etc. The second way is surrender to God and allowing God to decide what the best is for us, it is manifesting your desires through prayer.

At the time, I remember thinking to myself, that the second way is just way too much religion for me. God didn’t create us so we could just allow him to decide everything for us. God created us so we can grow and become like God. And the way that happens is by using our will power, learn the deeper secrets of the universe and master the art of willful creation. As we get better at creating things consciously, we grow spiritually.

This was a time when I was learning aspects of alchemy (and certain other secret arts) and was pretty successful at manifesting things with mind power and law of attraction and so on and so forth. I had multiple businesses, offices in 3 continents of the world and a fantastic social life.

So what has changed? Not much really, except that along my journey of self realization, along the many paths that I have trodden that took me to extreme highs and lows, I have learnt the greatest secret of them all. The secret that has changed my entire life; from one that was filled with struggle and fight, also money and glamour, along with speed and excitement, to one that is filled with peace and surrender, miracles and magic.

The change happened as I slowly realized that along with the recent global re-discovery that we are indeed in charge of our destiny (and we do indeed create our own reality and there are, indeed, very specific ways of manifesting our dreams using our mind power), we are still stuck in the same basic misconception that human kind has been plagued with for the last two millennia. The misconception is that YOU are a separate being from everything and everyone, from nature, from God.

Now at this point most people who know anything about, lets say, Law of Attraction, as its known by most who take interest in self improvement topics, may be tempted to say that that is not correct. That you do realize we are one. That you do understand your Oneness with God. But do you really? When you practice visualization, create your “vision board”, or perform any other ritual that has to do with manifesting your desires, do you ever take into consideration that what you are asking for may not be the right way for you? That maybe, just maybe, you having a “million dollars” right now may not be in the best interest for yourself? Do you realize that in your quest for realizing your dream, you maybe drifting far off your personal destiny? How would you know the difference? How would you know how all things are interconnected between infinite past and future? How would you know what your responsibility is in this infinitely complex web of time, space and causation? Could it be that your being poor actually serves a purpose for the greater mass? Could it be that you having an accident or even dying could serve as a valuable lesson for others so they may grow? Are you even ready to accept such a concept?

It’s been two millennia of socio-cultural-religious-scientific brainwash that has taught human beings that you are a separate being from everyone and everything. Thing about it: modern man (and woman) is absolutely incapable of experiencing anything other than himself. He may feel compassion, but it is he who feels compassion, which is very different from experiencing what the other person is going through. He may appreciate beauty, but it is he who looks at the scenery and enjoys it, which is very different from the experience of being one with the scenery. Everything is dependent on him existing first, then letting everything else having the privilege of being experienced by him. When he dreams a dream, it is he who needs to manifest his dream, at any cost, regardless of how his dreams may alter the course of time and web of interdependent components. He wants to be rich, right now! He wants to be successful, right now! Regardless of what his responsibilities of learning and growing maybe. What if his destiny is to learn humility? Or patience? Or maybe help some one else learn a difficult lesson by sacrificing his own self? Can the modern man even humor such a strange concept?

Now don’t be mislead into thinking that I am against conscious manifestation of desire. I am not. My whole existence is dedicated to teaching humanity how to redefine reality. It is your birthright to create consciously and I am here to help you learn the art. All the things I mentioned above are possibilities and all can be worked through while having a fulfilling life filled with joy and adventure, but that topic is for another day. Right now I just wanted to demonstrate how difficult it is for our current state of consciousness to experience anything apart from itself.

I know how difficult it is to face everyday with uncertainty. I know what its like to live from day to day not having enough money to even buy food. To be so depressed that the only way out seems like suicide. I know all of that because I have lived through it. And I am here to tell you that there is a middle ground between being desperately helpless and a manifestation zealot. The middle ground is realizing that our human consciousness has its limitation, that we cannot see the infinite interconnection between all things and past and future. That no matter how smart we act or think we are, the truth is we know so very little about the deeper laws of reality, it’s not even funny. That we do live in a very noisy world with an average of 1500 advertisements and marketing messages being bombarded on us each day. That what we think, what we dream of, what we want, what our thoughts are, are not always our own, and most definitely not always beneficial to our own selves.

There is an intelligence that pervades all reality. The Universe is a living organism that we are all part of. God is the creator and IS all that is. God is within you and around you. You are in the heart of God. You are being taken care of and loved beyond comprehension. God became human in you, unfolding through you, everyday. And while you will always have free will to choose your path, just like the ultimate loving parent, God will protect you from going too far off from your personal destiny, one that is not confined within your personal story of birth and death. When you dream, God dreams with you. But sometimes what you want right now is not what is in your best interest, especially when your desires are heavily influenced by socio/cultural conditioning, marketing messages, personal pain or fear.

So how do you manifest your dreams when you don’t even know what the right path is for you? Surrender. Surrender your dreams to God. Pray. Pray in the right way. How to pray? Here is how…

First, go into deep meditation. Meditate to the point where all noise dissolves away. Meditate to the point where you no longer have a name. Meditate to the point where you feel the absolute joy of being One with God. Keep saying “Father, I am your son. You are my Father. We are One. Love me Father. Love me Free. Open my heart so I can feel You. Open my heart to Love. Open me to Love. Love me free my Father so I can feel you, hear you, see you, touch you.” Keep praying till you absolutely feel the joy and love of being One. When you feel it, God is listening to you. It’s the right time to pray.

(Replace Father with Mother if that’s what you are comfortable with, it’s the same thing; choose the one that makes you feel the closest to God in a very real sense. This is not a clever formula to make things happen quickly but to be one with God. When you do that, miracles happen but there is no faking it.)

Second, state your desire. Say “This is my desire I am willing to work for it and grow through it. This is what I think will make me happy. But I realize I don’t know what the best is for me. So guide me my Father. Guide me towards the right path. Show me the right way to take. Send me signs, inspirations, guides and teachers. Open my eyes so I can see. Above all else, I want to love You and be One with You. Guide me my Father through all these dreams and desires so I can find my way back home again. This is what I want, I surrender my dreams to You. Guide me my Father. Show me the way…”

Third, keep praying until you see the signs. They will arrive very fast. But not always what you thought it would be. Follow the signs, no matter how scary. This is detachment. This is surrender. If you follow them, miracles will happen. You will always, ALWAYS win. Sure the path will test you beyond belief, sure everyone will think you’ve gone mad, but you will constantly receive signs and help and teachers and guidance to lead you on the way, through the darkness of the unknown, to a destiny so fantastic that no one could ever imagine. But above all that something more unbelievable will have happened: the world will be a better place because you followed your dreams. Whole humanity will take a step forward because you have awakened. Entire human consciousness will awaken a little more because you opened your eyes.

That is the difference between white magic and surrender. The difference is simple yet it is most difficult to make a part of our life. The difference is realizing that we are all One. That God is truly within us, around us, IS all that there is. That the divine plan is inconceivably bigger than our 3 dimensional existence between life and death. That when we awaken, we will realize, when we realize, we will be able to relax, but until then… we need to surrender, or love, which is really the same thing, when you think about it.

With you always on the way to miracles and love!

Shafin

—
Shafin de Zane, CHT, MH, MNLP
Hypnotherapist, Author, Spiritual Coach
www.redefineyourreality.com

PS: Thanks to Francesca from Singapore for asking the right questions which helped me bring about these answers.

PPS: Suggested further reading:

1. Who Is God?

2. Miracles & Patience In a Spiritual Life