THINKING THOUGHTS ABOUT THOUGHTS

Jan 07, 2021 - 04:21 Leave a Comment 1523 views

undefined

For more Elysium''s Passage Blog Posts, go to

https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/ep-blog-posts for over 140 links or
https://digitalbloggers.com/articles/elysiumspassage for the host site

____________________________________________

“AS A MAN THINKETH”

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes
Mahatma Gandhi

What do we do more than anything else? The answer, I think, is… we think. Think, think, think. That’s what we’re always doing, even while reading this.

But what do we think about most of the time? Do we even know? Maybe that’s something worthwhile to think about. I think it's fair to say that the mental act of thinking is neither good nor bad. Rather, it’s what we think about that has consequences for what might be considered good or bad (to our happiness).

So, the question is; how much do we reflect on what we think? Do we even know why we think what we think? Who and what are we reacting too, and why? Can we see a trend, a certain predisposition of what thoughts our mind defaults to when it's not intentionally focused? Is it predominantly productive or more of a lazy mind?

The fact is, if we wish to be sovereign over our lives and to know ourselves, we must become aware of what we are thinking. Why? Because it’s our thoughts that ultimately create our reality. Thoughts aren’t just thoughts. They become things, events and circumstances by which we live our lives. In fact, these aggregations of thoughts become the very substance of our spiritual being and determine the quality of our character.

Proverbs 23:7 states: As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. In 1903, English writer James Allen wrote a book simply called As a Man Thinketh. In it he writes: As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains…. a man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.

Our thoughts have consequences because they are the filters to how we view life. Thoughts of victimhood will make you a victim because you believe you are a victim. The same goes for entitlement without responsibility, which is often how many in this world seem to think. It's no mistake that Karl Marx’s ideological empire was based on these disempowering thoughts.

And so, victimhood, envy, fear and resentment became the reality for millions in this world… just as the ego would have it. Because of this, 150 million lives were sacrificed in the 20th century. Does this not illustrate how important it is to examine our thoughts?

On the contrary, thoughts of prosperity, love, and gratitude become the harbingers to prosperity, however, it might manifest, be it friends, family, creativity, happiness, etc.

In my case, prosperity and success in writing a series of seven novels while creating a successful blog site. Who knows, perhaps all my writing will make me a few dollars someday. But then, that’s not the point; my abundance is creating what I’ve set out to create. (However, if Netflix wants to produce a ten-part video series out of my novel series, I won’t say no… if the price is right.

Unfortunately, much of our world today is filled with thoughts of fear, division and anger, whereby we pollute the field of our consciousness (noosphere). MSM and much of social media reflect this toxicity as it heaps more and more garbage thinking upon us, and as it's often said, Garbage In, Garbage Out (GI-GO).

If we choose to think negative thoughts, our world can become negative and fearful. If we think positive thoughts, our world becomes positive and loving. As the ancient Egyptian maxim states “as within, so without.”

Seems obvious enough, and yet it seems few understand this basic principle. There is a proverb that tells us to guard our hearts more than any treasure for it is the source of all life. What do we guard our hearts against? It's our thoughts? We must be vigilant with what thoughts we allow to take residence in our minds so don't compromise our life's happiness. For further discussion on this see Guard Your Heart https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/guard-your-heart

Once we’re aware of this, we become empowered by intentionally choosing what thoughts we wish to think or not think. That’s when our happiness becomes a choice; do we choose happy thoughts or unhappy thoughts. It’s our choice: happiness or unhappiness.

When we have differences, we need to step back and ask: would we rather be ‘right’ or be happy? If our undefined preference is to be happy, we will be more predisposed to release our ego’s need to win the argument. So, when we find ourselves distressed by our thoughts, we need to become aware of what’s behind this “choosing again" by displacing negative thoughts with what's positive.

I can think of no better psychological method to accomplish this than by practising Holodynamics techniques. For information on this, go to, HOLODYNAMICS https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/art-of-holodynamics

I’m not suggesting it’s always easy to reprogramme the mind. Often it takes discipline and awareness before positive thoughts solidify into waking consciousness. But as we make the effort, over time we eventually succeed provided our heart is in it. If our heart isn’t, then our mind will remain lost, unhinged and confused.

Thoughts must be subordinate to the heart. Though the mind is necessary and essential for life, still, unto itself, it’s not sufficient but requires union with the heart.

The heart (or soul), is our portal to divine love. And so, when the mind enters into full union with the heart, they become one. This is what it means to be ‘full-hearted.’ It’s not just about knowledge, but a synthesis where wisdom emerges. For more on this topic see Union of Heart and Mind
https://digitalbloggers.com/book-reviews/union-of-heart-and-mind

In becoming ‘fullhearted’ we remain thankful, grateful and appreciative by allowing the heart to provide whatever leadership and inspiration the mind needs. Read more about this in the post, Sowing Happy Seeds of Gratitude https://digitalbloggers.com/book-reviews/sowing-happy-seeds-of-gratitude

We don’t have to settle for what’s out there, even when so much negativity seems to impinge itself on us. We can shut down all that doesn’t feel good rather than feeding the ‘pain-body.’ So, run in the other direction from whatever doesn’t make us feel good. Turn off the TV and seek out high-vibe thoughts in nature walks, meditation, inspirational literature, quality videos, uplifting music, happy friends, etc. See the post Raise your Vibe https://digitalbloggers.com/book-reviews/a-higher-vibe

Remember, the thoughts we think are not neutral, each has its own vibe or frequency. Just like radios become attuned to what sound waves they receive and transmit, so do we receive and transmit thoughts. As sound waves have their frequency, likewise the thoughts we chose to receive and transmit have their own conscious frequency and calibration. For more on this, go to How Conscious are you? https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/how-conscious-are-you

Our divine Source is love, not fear, and so to be fulfilled as conscious beings, we need to seek out the happy zone for which we were created. How do we know where that might be? A good place to start is to find where love is, and fear is not. To do this, we must become aware of where we’ve attuned our hearts and minds and, consequently, what we’re thinking. We must learn to choose our thoughts rather than intruding, unwanted thoughts choose us. For more on this, go to the post Choose Again.
https://digitalbloggers.com/relationships/choose-again

It's helpful to remember that our ego’s delusions if allowed, will keep us disempowered in a negative swamp because that’s what it does best. With permission, I’ve included the following essay by Marie-Ève Bonneau, a psychotherapist and writer who speaks of the distractions that lead us astray and what reconnects us to our divine Presence within.

I have included a short excerpt from ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE: QUANTUM LEAPS to illustrate some of these concepts of thinking.

I then remembered one of our campfire discussions on moral ethics. The gist was that we are not always responsible for what thoughts occur to us, only what we do with these thoughts, be they rogue or not. Do we own them, or do we disavow them? Often, it’s the most subtle thoughts we find the hardest to resist once we feel justified in nurturing them.

I’ve always found it interesting how these unwelcome thoughts seem to come out of nowhere without knowing why we think them. It happens to everyone. They’re like the sound waves our radio receiver picks up even when we don’t like how they make us feel. Of course, its easier to turn the radio off than our thoughts.

Still, it’s for us to decide what to do with the thoughts we didn’t ask for. Do we tolerate them, even entertaining them at times, or do we try to turn them off by resetting the dial? Unfortunately, the longer we listen to what we tune into, the more accustomed we become and the harder it is to disassociate with its frequency.

Likewise, I was beginning to realize that as we identify with certain thoughts, the more we take ownership of them. They became our own, or perhaps more correctly, we became theirs. Thoughts that are vested with our affectations soon become our masters, and we the slaves. After a while, it becomes almost impossible to reverse these roles as the new master recasts the subject’s face and body in its image.

I remembered how Mo often referred to Swedenborg’s teachings on this topic,[1] where every thought we identify with becomes consociated with a corresponding spiritual state he identified as heaven or hell, light or darkness. If that was true, as Mo suggested, I wondered how many of my thoughts might consociate with Elysium’s order and how many with the lower domains of perdition.

The question kept returning: Do I take ownership of my thoughts by identifying with them, or should I accept whatever comes? If I’m to live in freedom and be master of my fate, I need to determine what thoughts I wish to entertain and which I need to guard against.

Still, I wondered, do I have what it takes to choose when I find my mind entertaining thoughts that don’t serve my higher being and what’s best. Would my consciousness be capable of choosing again?[2] I wasn’t sure I knew myself well enough to do this. I guess that’s why Mo never let up quoting Aristotle’s maxim: Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

I wasn’t sure how much of humanity was even marginally capable of intentionally choosing their thoughts – I suspected there weren’t too many who were. I know I used to spin off into a rage when provoked, simply because I didn’t have sufficient control over my thoughts.

ENDNOTES

[1] See Appendix ‘B’ for Swedenborg statements regarding this topic
[2] Choose again, is a phrase repeatedly stated in A Course of Miracles concerning the thoughts we think.

____________________________________________________________

Unwinding the Mind: Reconnecting to Presence

It’s not our deepest being that is afflicted, confused, lost, or fragmented. It is our minds.

Mind is looping, spun out, hung up, locked down. Mind is keeping us anywhere but here, attached to our stories, leading us astray, weaving fallacies, taking us away from the beauty of beingness that is continually shining through us as us.

Mind has stories of every kind, every colour, stories of what’s working, stories of what’s broken, stories about stories, even stories about how we are awakening, how we’re ascending.

Mind running rampant is hooked, invested, transfixed, bewildered, obsessed, distracted... Even our noblest of journeys at its mercy can get distilled into repetitive, canned stories.

The treasure in the centre of the room is obstructed by thousands of stories spinning, never-ending, never truly progressing. Stories of self, stories of past, stories of the future. Never arriving, always sidestepping, clinging, grasping, controlling...and all the while the shining beauty of the One is trampled like a precious flower on the roadway of mind.

Never arriving, always striving, perpetually missing the quench of the Holy, mind bypasses the present for an ever-elusive ‘something better’ that never comes.

A sign of an awakening mind is one that is less transfixed by the stories, less consumed by the thoughts and thinking, more in touch with the felt simplicity and realness of this present moment.

Entranced beings lose touch with beingness and then run to’ and fro’ trying to find that which they are that they’ve lost touch with.

Stories are mistaken for reality. Mind is mistaken for the source of life. A false god is being worshipped.

Overfed but undernourished: There is no amount of thinking or contrivance of mind that can connect us to the true essence of our beings.

We don’t need more mental constructs or ideas, or formulas. We need tastes of what’s real. We need to step back from thought—many are not even our own. We must release our fixation with thinking and bring devoted attention to any other touchstone of reality.

Too much thinking obstructs the senses, dulls the ears, the eyes, taste, and touch. We become disembodied mental chatterboxes caught in old tracks that aren’t even true, and these untruths can hijack months, years, lifetimes.

The wind in the leaves. When is the last time you watched and truly saw the wind flutter leaves?

Bare feet on earth. This sensation can stir your heart and your whole body awake if you let it.

Breath. Connect to this sacred simple thread of life that chooses you again and again. It is choosing you now.

Please come back to what is real. Allow your mind to unwind.

Presence awaits you with the most exquisite tenderness. She will make you whole, dissolve your imagined woes, and return you to the peace that is encoded in your innermost being.

What you need is what is here now. Not what thinking tells you that you need. What is truly needed—unconditional sustenance for your body, heart, and soul.

As long as your cup is overfilled, there is no room for the Holy. It is the Holy that will give you what all your mind stories will not.

The grace of God is never not here. Give your self back to your Self.

Marie-Ève Bonneau
June 2020
http://centeredwithin.org/about

______________________________

The following posts on this blog site are related to this topic of thinking. See these posts:

The Ego Mask https://digitalbloggers.com/relationships/the-ego-mask

Plato or Aristotle https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/plato-and-aristotle

Choose Again https://digitalbloggers.com/relationships/choose-again

_________________________________

For more profound thoughts on thinking, read these quotes:

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. Marcus Aurelius

Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself. Plato

You can't change who you are, but you can change what you have in your head, you can refresh what you're thinking about, you can put some fresh air in your brain. Ernesto Bertarelli

We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. Albert Einstein

Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it's thinking of yourself less. Rick Warren

What a man thinks in his spirit in the world, that he does after his departure from the world when he becomes a spirit. Emanuel Swedenborg

No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking. Voltaire

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any. Alice Walker

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. George S. Patton

For all other posts on the Elysium's Passage blog site go to
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/ep-blog-posts

___________________________________________

SUMMARY OF ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE NOVEL SERIES

This is the first in a series of seven Elysium narrations regarding a young British philosopher named James Phillips, who finds himself living in an altered state of reality while still remaining on earth.

After experiencing a near-fatal fall while climbing to the summit of a remote mountain in the Andes, James awakens in a new dimension. He soon encounters two mysterious beings who provide him with a very different perspective on the nature of his existence. Over the next year, before his body recovers from the coma, he is challenged to re-examine his understanding of life’s meaning and purpose far beyond anything he previously believed or could believe.

An engaging and sometime surreal adventure with intimations of impending romance, the narrative explores the most important questions about life, death, reality, and our ultimate destiny.

The Plains of Elysium (Champs-Élysées) was described by Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, and many other poets as the paradisiac afterlife realm reserved for heroes. As the title suggests, this is about a journey through a passage that leads towards Elysium’s exciting realm of existence.

To read a sample press review at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/05/prweb15515775.htm

______________________________________________________________________

PENDING PUBLICATION OF ELYSIUM’S PASSAGE SERIES

Amazon in 2024

THE ASCENT: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

THE SUMMIT: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

QUANTUM LEAPS: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

SURREAL ADVENTURES: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

MYSTICAL ROMANCE: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

THE ELIXIR: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

THE RETURN: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

1. The Ascent is the first novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage that’s foundational to everything that happens in the following narratives that embark on an adventure that will surprise and delight the reader like no other book.

It all begins with an extreme adventure of climbing a remote and challenging mountain somewhere in the Andean Mountains. Just as James, the protagonist, is about to reach the mountain summit, he falls into an abyss that leaves him in a coma for almost a year.

After being airlifted by a forestry helicopter and flown back to London, where his body remains for almost a year. Eventually, he learns it was not him but his body that was rescued. Several days later, without understanding what happened, he continues to climb to the summit in an alternate dimension of higher consciousness.

Fortuitously, he meets two adventurers on the summit ridge who are no longer of this world. After that, his surreal life leads him to several new adventures in the subsequent chronicles that include a rich mix of adventure, romance, and fantasy, along with profound discussions of philosophy, spirituality and the afterlife.

2. The Summit, the second novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, carries on where James, the narrator and protagonist, is taught more about a multidimensional reality that he finds difficult to comprehend.

Not only does he find he’s not as clever as he imagined, but his off-world companions on the summit demonstrate that much of what he believed about life was not just parochial but wrong. At first, he finds this difficult to comprehend since their teachings are contrary to his limited understanding of non-material reality.

After being tricked into teleporting off a ledge where he was trapped, James becomes aware of the new reality that makes him capable of far more adventures than could have ever been experienced previously in his physical body back home.

Now, if only he would win over the only woman in this life who matters, the nurse on the other side of the veil, who continually demonstrates her unconditional love toward his healing.

Warning: This book may also open the reader’s eyes to a much vaster reality than most might be aware. As with the other Chronicles, there are discussions of philosophy, the spiritual afterlife and what might seem like fantasy.

3. Quantum Leaps is the third novel in Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, where James, the philosopher-protagonist, teleports back to London to visit his body and make contact with the special nurse taking care of it in his absence. Immediately, he feels an inexplicable spiritual bond with her for reasons he remains unaware of.

Now aroused by a renewed interest in matters of love, the beginnings of a relationship begin to emerge as he attempts to reach across the chasm of their worlds. But it’s not until the fifth novel, Mystical Romance, that he encounters her in a way that he finds difficult to believe.

However, before that can happen, there is much about his failed relationships that must be resolved before he is ready to move forward in his new life in Elysium’s Passage. It is during this time he christens his comatose body as the fall guy since it took the fall for him down the abyss so he could learn the lessons he’s now learning.

That will be the next focus of his life, where in his next Surreal Adventures, he is given virtual lessons to release many of his past beliefs about life.

4. Surreal Adventures is the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, which finds James, the protagonist and narrator, escorted by his companions to a remote South Pacific Island, where he is left to reflect on what he’s learned.

During the next forty days, he battles the demons of his past as he works through some rather painful issues from his early youth. Here, in a tropical storm, he encounters an eery suspended spectre of the one he loved yet still resents for abandoning him as a child.

After this, he achieves peace of mind and is ready to return to his lodge to join his off-world companions on the Andes summit. However, just when it seemed things couldn’t get any stranger, a sixteenth-century sea captain sails his ancient ‘ghost’ ship onto the beach. Together, they sail off on a mystical ocean voyage to a couple of virtual islands supposedly in the South Pacific, where he witnesses and, at times, participates in several important life lessons.

Near the end, these encounters help prepare him for a new challenge within the interior of a mountain, where he falls deep into a dark tomb of fear. After being rescued by a mysterious stranger wielding his Excaliber, he continues on to where his life is about to be transformed in the following chronicle, Mystical Romance.

5. Mystical Romance is the fifth chronicle in Elysium’s Passage, which will surprise the reader with a romantic twist of how love is expressed in higher realms. From this lofty perspective, everything about intimacy is understood as within, so without.

After escaping his tomb, James, the narrator and protagonist, makes his way through a maze of tunnels until he arrives at a large oak door, which he opens with the golden key he had been given. There, he steps into Elysium’s Passage’s Great Hall, where his life and recent achievements are celebrated now that his eyes have been opened to perceive a fascinating interior world of wonderment… and romance.

To say more might risk diminishing the multitude of delightful surprises as circumstances begin to open to The Elixir, where James is about to re-enter his earthly body’s existence.

6. The Elixir is the sixth chronicle of the Elysium’s Passage series that prepares James, the narrator-protagonist, to awaken and return to his body in London. Before that can happen, however, his off-worlder friend presents a mysterious equation enshrouded with a light code frequency that will stimulate multidimensional DNA strands within him.

Much of this narration is centred in London, where his nurse unknowingly becomes involved in how the Elixir’s equation finds its way from a taxi cab driver to higher echelons of science. There are many twists in how she unwittingly brings the Elixir to the attention of mathematicians and physicists, after which they eventually discover how to code the equation into a laser ray to stimulate his fall-guy body into full consciousness.

Ostensibly a new Adam, he is destined to return humanity to a higher multidimensional existence. How this happens is filled with intrigue, as is his shocking return to his earthly body.

7. The Return is the seventh and last chronicle in the series where James, the narrator and protagonist, has re-emerged from Elysium’s Passage as he readjusts to life in the third dimension. Many of the events experienced in the previous novels are tied together in an exciting, fast-moving, action-packed narrative over several countries.

At first, it seems all memories have been lost, with his fall guy’s brain not being aware of what happened to him while in his coma. As a consequence, it takes a while for him to be convinced he had been out of his earthly body for almost a year.

Through some rather unexpected events and evidence, along with his girlfriend’s urging, he is brought to an awareness of much of what occurred. It takes a while for his mind to catch up with the changes made in his heart during his stay in the alternate realm. But after experiencing several harsh realities, he discovers what he became within while out of his body. Gradually, he comes to understand the many challenges that lie ahead for him in fulfilling his future mission on Earth.

This book is filled with adventure, romance and personal intrigue that ties together all six previous narratives of the Elysium’s Passage series.

_________________________

(ATTEMPTED) INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES

___________________________________________

undefined

The following comments are excerpts from among the first readers, including a number of Amazon five star reviews. To read the full reviews, go to READER REVIEWS on www.elysiumspassage.com or directly at https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/reader-reviews

"A delightful mix of fantasy, reality, conjecture, and humour; Mr Meyers draws the reader into the story with a gentle narrative that captures the imagination, leaving one anxious to get to the next page drawing you into his exceptional world.”

"Quietly, gently, and without imposition, the Author unfolds the pages, creating an intricate, interlocking bridge spanning the chasm between mind and heart. Renewing, refreshing, restoring. In my bereavement, it was vigil and light…"

“Excellently written with an exceedingly deep understanding of this world and the next. The characters are very well written and engaging. I can't wait to complete this book!"

“Takes the reader on both a philosophical and spiritual journey, a journey that at times is both disquieting and tranquil. James, a British Philosopher, can be irreverent and caustic, traits that should have left me cringing, but instead made me laugh out loud. Elysium’s Passage is a fun, enlightening and remarkable book.”

“This is a masterful fantasy, becoming a real possibility, as the reader is drawn into the story. The Summit leaves you anxious for the next book in the series, yet also leaves you totally satisfied with the world you have just visited. Genius! An exciting yet calming experience that is not to be missed."

"There was hardly a page on which I did not find at least one sentence worthy of hi-lighting for future reference. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed the main character, James, whose personality and passionate verbal exchanges with the other characters, kept me coming back for more. I am reading the book for a second time while I wait for the next one in this series to be made available."

“N.G. Meyers has clearly put a great deal of research and thought into what the afterlife may look like and I like his perspective. It’s an altogether welcoming and exciting vision. The book gives one a great deal to think about and a reassuring confidence that the end of our lives is truly the beginning of life in the next. I highly recommend it."

"I am really enjoying your book, it’s fantastic! It is so incredible and diversified that I can’t really explain it to other people, so what I say is just read this book. Thank you so much for the blessings that you’ve given the world!"

“The humour interjected into a serious discussion makes me laugh out loud. Totally unexpected....l may be in the presence of at least a master, if not a genius. A fair ride into reality... seeking that which is unseen, yet absolutely real.”

“An engaging story of adventure embracing man's deepest desire to search for meaning and purpose, N.G. Meyers takes the reader on an adventurous thought-provoking journey. This book has substance. It is a perfect blend of adventure and fantasy combined with spiritual philosophy. It ignited my imagination. The author magically weaves a good story laced with wit and humour together with deep philosophical wisdom. This book has it all!”

“An evolution in thought is triggered by many fresh philosophical themes which could inspire readers to re-think their reality and former ideologies that have dictated their lives… the author fires readers’ imaginations to view what could be possible when spirit vacates the body.”

“This is the book spiritual seekers have been waiting for. For me, it granted a great read as well as increased inspiration to live every day with a heightened sense of purpose. I highly recommend it.

“The Summit is capable of hooking readers and luring them to search for Book 2 to discover more about Dr. Philip’s surreal trek into the mysterious unknown universe. This thick book is well worth the read and to share…”

“Mind-blowing statements and speculation (‘…everyone is a non-physical thought form conceived in the Mind of God, preserved for all eternity because God’s thoughts never die…’). Many will find Meyers’ journey up the Mountain intriguing—and possibly even life-changing.” (BLUEINK REVIEW)

“In its effort to grapple with fundamental questions about the meaning of life, it raises questions that have echoed throughout the ages, including about where we come from, where we are going, who we are.” (CLARION REVIEW)