Spirit Whisperer's Blog

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I am I said to no one there

Post #36

I was moved to write this article after reading the article titled "The Importance of Doing Nothing" by my friend Johannes.

We are all brought up to believe in a purpose for our lives that revolves around making a living. Most of us never question this purpose society imposes upon us. Our schools are designed to prepare our children to accept their lot in lives as pursuing careers that enable them to join the consumer club and keeping busy until their physical bodies are unable to do so anymore.

The idea of doing nothing is equated with being lazy,a beggar on the streets, a burden on society. We are taught to feel guilty with words we are fed like "An idle mind is the devil's playground" and made to fear what might become of us when our idle minds are taken over by some sinister evil force of laziness.

The truth, however, is that in being still we are more likely to avoid our ego deciding the purpose for our thoughts words and actions. It is in inviting The Great Spirit to give our lives Its purpose that we find our vocations in life and become instruments of love in this world.

Be content to do nothing confident in knowing that The Great Spirit will give you Its purpose but only if you ask.

"Be still and know that I am God" are the words I read on the altar of the church I went to every Sunday as a boy and only now in my 50s do I realise the full significance of these words.

I was a mirror looking at itself and justifying my claim to exist by activities given purpose by my ego. Today I am still a mirror but nowadays I mostly refrain from doing anything without first inviting the Holy Spirit to give my doing Its purpose.

As a young man the words of the song I am I Said by Neil Diamond never failed to move me and now I know why!

Thank you Johannes for the inspiration.

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Consciousness

Post #35

Photo Credit to: iStockphoto/Brett Hillyard

I have never yet read or heard a satisfactory description of consciousness and the reason for this is because the spoon cannot know the hand that holds it.

In an article I read only today on the website called Healing Talks the author, From Across the Web wrote:

"Consciousness refers to your individual awareness of your unique thoughts, memories, feelings, sensations and environment." 

For me consciousness is more like the ocean and awareness is like a wave on that same ocean. We live and we die the same way a wave rises and returns to the ocean from whence it came. Unlike the wave however we experience our existence through an awareness that gives us the impression that we are separate from the ocean from where we came. 

The physical body we identify with reinforces the notion of our separation from the ocean of consciousness and each other. Many believe that they are their bodies rather than inanimate dolls that we play with for a while.

When Descartes said : "I Think Therefore I Am" he was  giving thought the power to define the "I am" awareness and as such was describing the separate "I am" bits that have broken off from the ocean of consciousness. It is the thinking that creates the illusion of separateness and in truth there is only the ocean which remains constant regardless of how many waves rise and fall on its surface.

"I am" is a thought and as such emanates from the mind that thinks it. How can the ocean be a wave? Waves are seen on the ocean but they are not separate from the water they are made of. It is as hard for the wave to "know" the water it is made from as it is for us to know "the stuff" we are made of. We are consciousness and not separate from it. We are one and not separate from each other. 

By believing what we think, by believing the thoughts we think we propogate the illusion of separateness and keep rising and falling like the waves on the surface of the ocean. Knowledge is like a veil that covers our eyes and prevents us from seeing the truth. Knowledge comes of knowing and knowing comes from thinking. It is in believing the thoughts we think that we become slaves to the "I am"  illusion and consciousness then seems to us the way electricity might seem to a light bulb as long as the switch is in the "ON" position.

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Reality and Illusion

Post #34

Look at an orange! What do you see? You see the light reflected from the orange. The reflected light enters your eyes and is converted to electrical impulses and sent to your brain. In your brain the electrical impulses are decoded and a picture manufactured. This picture in your head is the sense your brain has made of reflected light. Your brain has given meaning to the light entering your eyes. The only connection the light has with the orange is that it bounced off it. The connection between what we see and the meaning we give things is weak, to say the very least.

We all experience life differently because we give unique meaning to our experiences. That is why not everyone in the world will agree on somethings.

If we make up our own meaning in our heads about everything we experience through our five senses we create the illusion that we are separate and unique. We believe what we think and our thoughts thus become the building blocks for a reality we think exists. In actuality, everyone creates their own reality and we believe that we all share this same 'made up' reality! How could this be possible and how could we all so easily fall for this illusion?

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On Forgiveness 

Post #33

A lot of what we say comes from Latin and these words we call Latin derivatives. The English word 'forgive' is derived from the Latin word 'condono' which literally means to give or present. You could understand how people's perception of the word 'forgive' to be coloured by the sound of the Latin word 'condono' which might lead them to perceive the word 'forgive' to include the meaning 'to condone'. This, however, could not be further from the truth.
The English word 'condone' is derived from the Latin 'concedo' and so we can see how over many lifetimes the meanings of words can become mixed up especially when the language we speak in this lifetime can sound so much like the one we may have spoken centuries ago.
 
It is the function of the brain to seek patterns in  order to make sense of what would otherwise be non-sense and it is these patterns that form the basis for how we perceive. The meaning we assign to people and experiences is based on patterns created by a brain that does little else and even where a pattern does not exist we will find our brains creating one. Haven't you ever seen something out of the corner of your eye which you mistook to be something that may have scared you and then found it to be something completely innocuous? That is an example of the brain making things up that are simply not there. This is an example of a misperception we could correct but what of the other mistakes we make that are never corrected and are collectively accepted as truth?
 
Forgiveness is essential for human development and is the most important lesson for each one of us to learn in this world. Forgiveness is the key to our freedom and it is most feared by the ego. Once we start making forgiveness a habit there would be no need for the ego and it is for this reason that the ego does everything in its power to stop us from forgiving each other. To forgive each other spontaneously would mean that we realise that everything we perceive has been made up in our heads and as such could not be relied upon. It would mean that we could not judge ourselves, each other or our experiences because our judgements would be based on illusion and as such invalid. As long as we place obstacles before us that prevent us from spontaneously forgiving we are trapped in an insane world where we pass judgements on ourselves, others and our experiences based on patterns our brains have learned to look for in places where there are none. I am not condoning that we reject our perceptions but rather accept that our perceptions are not based on solid foundations but rather on flowing water and as such we need something more than a brain to make sense of what we perceive.
 
Our physical bodies are a means of communication and this is done in more ways than the spoken word. We know how easy it is for us to misunderstand an oral communiqué so how much easier is it for us to misunderstand on so many other levels? Surely by now we should have come to realise that it is in our communication that we fuel our conflicts and it is in our faulty communication that we justify our attacks upon ourselves and each other?  What kind of evolution blinds us to something as obvious as this?
 
Forgiveness is the key and in learning to forgive we withdraw our subscription from beliefs and opinions that are based on illusions. Forgiveness does not mean that you forget as that is simply not possible unless you develop amnesia. Forgiveness does not mean that we must suppress our emotions and not allow ourselves to feel angry. Forgiveness does not mean that we condone what we perceive as unjust. Forgiveness simply means that we have chosen to take the first step out of this world of illusions and back to truth. Everyday is a challenge but by persisting in forgiving everyone and everything including self we emerge out of a kind of stupor. We are like The Sleeping Beauty in Charles Perrault's fairytale and forgiveness is the kiss that will wake us up from this dream we call reality.

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Cutting People Out of Your Life

Post #32

I read a post this morning on Facebook which read:

"Cutting people out of my life does not mean I hate them,

it simply means I respect me."

More than 8000 people liked the post and over 7000 shared it.

I once thought like this and once upon a time I would have been one of the people agreeing with this statement and feeling justified in sharing it. These words now hold a very different meaning for me and the message is a stark reminder of how perception clouds our view and keeps stuck in our heads. 

The world we think we see is different to the world we feel we see. The world we think up in our heads and the one we feel are also different to the world that is!  Acknowledging this is the first step on our journey back to reality. Once this has been accepted it becomes easier to forgive what we then realise is illusion.

I heard Sri Sathya Sai Baba say the words "There is nothing in this world other than I", and many years passed before I understood what he meant. For me to cut someone out of my life now would mean that there is a part of myself that I do not accept. The illusion is seeing the part of me that I deny as separate from me and so I want to cut away from me what I judge as unacceptable.

The surest way home is to love all and serve all. Suspend judgement and make forgiveness a habit. Suspending judgement does not mean that you not follow the dictates of your inner source of wisdom. It simply means to stop all criticism of self and of others for to do so is to deny your Higher Self and keep you stuck in this cycle of death and rebirth.  

I wish you all a very Happy New Year and in the words of my guru Sri Sathya Sai Baba " Love all, serve all; the hands that serve are holier than the lips that pray. "

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Goal Setting

Post #31

I post something from A Course in Miracles every day to my Facebook Fan Page called Meditation for the Day. Today was no exception and the theme for the post I prepared today was about setting goals. Following is a link to that post Goal Setting and upon which this article is based. 

"In any situation in which you are uncertain, the first thing to consider, very simply, is 'What do I want to come of this? What is it for?' The clarification of the goal belongs at the beginning, for it is this which will determine the outcome. In the ego's procedure this is reversed. The situation becomes the determiner of the outcome, which can be anything. The reason for this disorganised approach is evident. The ego does not know what it wants to come of the situation. It is aware of what it does not want, but only that. It has no positive goal at all." - A Course in Miracles

Man is the only species on earth that lives as if he is separate from nature. He does things and when he eventually discovers that his actions are detrimental to his own welfare he then does something else in the hope that his new direction will keep him safe and bring him happiness. He does not know what he wants and as such he wanders through life in a haphazard way. Man has much to learn from the other species who live their lives according to the laws of nature and who know exactly what they want and exactly what to do to achieve their goals.

Following is a set of photographs taken of birds preparing a nest for the arrival of their chicks. Keeping in mind how little a bird can carry in its beak just imagine how many journeys it took to complete the nest and the distance travelled each time. And then there is the perfect design for the entrance that breaks the wind and ensures the safety of the chicks from the elements. This is a perfect example of setting a positive goal and achieving it exactly as planned without any surprises along the way.

And all done with no hands!

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Meditation for the Day  

Post #30

Meditation for the Day is a Fan Page I created on Facebook to publish excerpts from A Course in Miracles and promote its message of forgiveness.  

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Johannes di Silentio on Synchronicity and Magic

Post #29

  Image for this post is by Clara Nathan who goes by the name ClaraN9 on the deviantart website Link to  Clara's Gallery  

I came across an article recently titled Synchronicity and Magic
( https://thealchemicalegg.com/synchN.html ) and  felt that it was special. I immediately sent it to Johannes, my friend and Dacian warrior for his reaction. I consider Johannes to be an authority on magic and not the magic associated with stage tricks but the magic of wizards and sorcerers of old who could mould and manipulate space and time being separate from the matrix they inhabit. Johannes goes by many names and no names and in his reply to me which I felt I had to share with you dear reader, he goes by the name Andrei. Here is what he has to say on Synchronicity and Magic ...

Greetigns Mr. Xavier,

The article was interesting, for a change. I say for a change because many things which I read about magic, I consider nonsense. In a parenthesis, I must say that we are extremely lucky regarding knowledge. It is out there, the difficulty remains in sifting it from all the not so valuable stuff ...

I found two quotes which I can say that I really enjoyed:

"The ego thinks that it is in charge because it can manipulate the world to attain its desires, but it can not decide what to desire. This decision is made for it by the real self." - Yes, this is the case with sorcerers from my perspective. The "real self" I think is what I called the person power, or will. For me lately, decisions made by the ego fail while decisions made in the Nagual, without reason manifest themselves.

"Magic must take place in the middle zone, where the archetypes emerge out of the unconscious, and our desires are not yet dissolved." I think this explains some of my thoughts rather well. We need this three dimensional perspective to manifest ourselves in totality but thinking that "This is it", is not a good idea because we limit ourselves and our potential. We can go from world to world: from this three dimensional perspective into the Nagual (the Spirit World, that which has no explanation because it is beyond words). We really cannot explain It, no matter how hard we try. Thus, in my mind explanations here are a futile exercise.

"The observer is intimately connected to result simply by having expectations." - This last quote although I find it quite correct, I think it simplifies matters a little too much. Even with myself, I have to always be in check to not express myself in the absolute.

I am glad You thought of me as some sort of authority on magic but I am not letting this ego swim in that perceived oasis ... I am who I am, an authority on magic ... no, I am just a practitioner and I don't even abide by any sort of sorcerer's code. I am not a Wicca, a Shaman or any of that. I walk alone thus, what I am building is my own Tower - I will It. I respect all knowledge and I bow to It but I bow to nothing in particular.

We had rain yesterday. Today we march (the Occupy Movement) and so, the rain is gone. : )  I will this too. The Sun is not out yet but clouds can easily move with a little wind. Haha ... This has very little to do with ego; I would say it has to do with Love more. I have to let go of the ego to talk to the Sky and to Mother Earth. Saturday, I sat for at least a half hour and just talked to a Cedar, a friend of mine who has given me some of his medicine in the past - I just went to say "hi". I use Cedar just as the Natives here use it. Again, the ego goes bananas when the decision to talk to trees and bow to them comes-up ... Ohh well.

This is how I see some things: we are energy which manifests itself in many different ways. One way is through this material form we call "the body" but we are not limited to It. We can see past it when we take off our horse-blinders/winkers. It is a long road and honestly, one must live in a specific way in my opinion just to be able to shape the mind in such a way that we can walk past the daily occurrences of our three dimensional perspective. One must live in an "impeccable" manner and this I cannot stress enough. That is why, in all my sadness I have to accept that some people cannot heal themselves - they have no will for it. One must live impeccably to access the Will of a sorcerer, the Will that can cure anything and do anything. That is one of my dilemmas: I can teach people to heal but they need to live like warriors and if they had lived like warriors they would not be ill to begin with ... Warriors live in an impeccable way - I still walk off the track myself but I am lucky because for endless years I have disobeyed reason and followed no trail. I decided to make my own. I waited years and years not knowing what I was waiting for ... it has been a serious quest (and still is) ...
 
Magic as I see it, works in both ways: it works in this three dimensional perspective but it also works beyond it - beyond reason, in the Nagual.
 
Yesterday I had a funny experience. Like today, I got up fairly early and by noon I felt tired/sleepy. A friend of mine had told me in the weekend that he wanted to come visit me. I had agreed. Yesterday morning, I was trying to foresee if he was still going to come - he very often pulls no-shows (lol).  I was thinking though: I was using my reason and I felt nothing. I was actually inclined to say that he would not come. So, I picked-up a book, read and fell asleep.
 
 I awoke at about half past one o'clock in the afternoon with the thought that "Ali is coming". "I'm a weirdo ...", I thought to myself right-away. I did nothing though. I remained in bed, looking at the ceiling, somehow knowing that my friend was coming. Two minutes later or not even, my cell rang - my buddy was telling me he was twenty minutes away. I laughed and told him I had just woken-up to take his call - it was the truth. I had no alarm clock, no reason to get-up and certainly no reason to expect him at that specific time. Yet, I was awake and for no reason at all expecting his call as soon as I awoke.
 
 I am not sure what to say about magic ... it is complicated especially for me because I actually merge priesthood and sorcery in a way that I am not sure if many others do in our time. My Dacian ancestors had high-priests who could heal. I know of no priests that can heal nowadays and I know why - the majority of them have no faith. I see it in their Being, in their eyes. I see so many things in people's eyes ...
 
 I have to end this conversation for now as there are things I must attend to but before I vanish, I would like to say that working with archetypes is a great way of practicing magic and of merging priesthood and sorcery - there is great power in this as I see it. This is where religion and sorcery meet for me. And I can even use history here: the three mages which are spoken of in the Bible; the ones who visited Jesus at birth - they were most likely sorcerers. Joan of Arc also worked with magic but she did it I believe mostly by working with archetypes/Gods.Her faith was incredible and thus, her Will and the way she lived was impeccable. She allowed her own Death, a Warrior's way ... what an amazing Spirit ...
 
 I really do have to get moving now. The conversation can continue, I just have to put a pause at the moment. I am off to the streets.
 
 Haha ... I just looked outside and the clouds are already moving allowing the Sun to shine here. We will everything Mr. Xavier! That saying about be careful what You wish for ... sooo true, in my opinion. Weather is the easiest to control because not many people interfere with this aspect. Thus, in my opinion it is good practice playing with clouds. : )
 
 
     All the very best,
 
          I   (Andrei aka Mr. Happy, aka White Wolf)
 
P.S. You can talk to Mr. Aravind about this topic as well. He is not shy of it but he did let me know of the concerns which the Man in Orange has with sorcery: power corrupts too often ... I agree with this too and this is why I cannot stress enough that one needs to live an impeccable life, otherwise one indulges in power and then, power will kill them. It can honestly be deadly in many ways when one indulges. No games there ... I do understand the concern around the power of magic. I think I spoke to You previously about the problem with megalomania ... Sorcerers can take what is called "the God form". That is difficult but even more difficult is surviving that experience - returning from the Nagual ... some can't and some don't want to when they first experience It - they indulge ...
 

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The Holy Instant and Special Relationships

Post #28

A Course in Miracles - Chapter 15 section V

The holy instant is the Holy Spirit's most useful learning device for teaching you love's meaning. For its purpose is to suspend judgement entirely. Judgement always rests on the past, for past experience is the basis on which you judge. Judgement becomes impossible without the past, for without it you do not understand anything. You would make no attempt to judge, because it would be quite apparent to you that you do not understand what anything means. You are afraid of this because you believe that without the ego, all would be chaos. Yet I assure you that without the ego, all would be love.

The past is the ego's chief learning device, for it is in the past that you learned to define your own needs and acquire methods for meeting them on your own terms. We have said that to limit love to part of the Sonship is to bring guilt into your relationships, and thus make them unreal. If you seek to separate out certain aspects of the totality and look to them to meet your imagined needs, you are attempting to use separation to save you. How, then, could guilt not enter? For separation is the source of guilt, and to appeal to it for salvation is to believe you are alone. To be alone is to be guilty. For to experience yourself as alone is to deny the Oneness of the Father and His Son, and thus to attack reality.

You cannot love parts of reality and understand what love means. If you would love unlike to God, Who knows no special love, how can you understand it? To believe that special relationships, with special love, can offer you salvation is the belief that separation is salvation. For it is the complete equality of the Atonement in which salvation lies. How can you decide that special aspects of the Sonship can give you more than others? The past has taught you this. Yet the holy instant teaches you it is not so.

Because of guilt, all special relationships have elements of fear in them. This is why they shift and change so frequently. They are not based on changeless love alone. And love, where fear has entered, cannot be depended on because it is not perfect. In His function as interpreter of what you made, the Holy Spirit uses special relationships, which you have chosen to support the ego, as learning experiences that point to truth. Under His teaching, every relationship becomes a lesson in love.

The Holy Spirit knows no one is special. Yet He also perceives that you have made special relationships, which He would purify and not let you destroy. However unholy the reason you made them may be, He can translate them into holiness by removing as much fear as you will let Him. You can place any relationship under His care and be sure that it will not result in pain, if you offer Him your willingness to have it serve no need but His. All the guilt in it arises from your use of it. All the love from His. Do not, then, be afraid to let go your imagined needs, which would destroy the relationship. Your only need is His.

Any relationship you would substitute for another has not been offered to the Holy Spirit for His use. There is no substitute for love. If you would attempt to substitute one aspect of love for another, you have placed less value on one and more on the other. You have not only separated them, but you have also judged against both. Yet you have judged against yourself first, or you would never have imagined that you needed your brothers as they were not. Unless you had seen yourself as without love, you could not have judged them so like you in lack.

The ego's use of relationships is so fragmented that it frequently goes even farther; one part of one aspect suits its purpose, while it prefers different parts of another aspect. Thus does it assemble reality to its own capricious liking, offering for your seeking a picture whose likeness does not exist. For there is nothing in Heaven or earth that it resembles, and so, however much you seek for its reality, you cannot find it because it is not real.

Everyone on earth has formed special relationships, and although this is not so in Heaven, the Holy Spirit knows how to bring a touch of Heaven to them here. In the holy instant no one is special, for your personal needs intrude on no one to make your brothers seem different. Without the values from the past, you would see them all the same and like yourself. Nor would you see any separation between yourself and them. In the holy instant, you see in each relationship what it will be when you perceive only the present.

God knows you now. He remembers nothing, having always known you exactly as He knows you now. The holy instant reflects His knowing by bringing all perception out of the past, thus removing the frame of reference you have built by which to judge your brothers. Once this is gone, the Holy Spirit substitutes His frame of reference for it. His frame of reference is simply God. The Holy Spirit's timelessness lies only here. For in the holy instant, free of the past, you see that love is in you, and you have no need to look without and snatch love guiltily from where you thought it was.

All your relationships are blessed in the holy instant, because the blessing is not limited. In the holy instant the Sonship gains as one, and united in your blessing it becomes one to you. The meaning of love is the meaning God gave to it. Give to it any meaning apart from His, and it is impossible to understand it. God loves every brother as He loves you; neither less nor more. He needs them all equally, and so do you. In time, you have been told to offer miracles as I direct, and let the Holy Spirit bring to you those who are seeking you. Yet in the holy instant you unite directly with God, and all your brothers join in Christ. Those who are joined in Christ are in no way separate. For Christ is the Self the Sonship shares, as God shares His Self with Christ.

Think you that you can judge the Self of God? God has created It beyond judgement, out of His need to extend His Love. With love in you, you have no need except to extend it. In the holy instant there is no conflict of needs, for there is only one. For the holy instant reaches to eternity, and to the Mind of God. And it is only there love has meaning, and only there can it be understood.

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Be Still Be Quiet and Be!

Post #27

A friend on Facebook, sent me a link on Wikipedia to the work of William Grey Walter. Link  In her comment she included a quote from the article and it gave rise to a reaction in me that has culminated in the post your are now reading.

“"In the 1960s Walter also went on to discover the contingent negative variation (CNV) effect (or readiness potential) whereby a negative spike of electrical activity appears in the brain half a second prior to a person being consciously aware of movements that he is about to make. Intriguingly, this effect brings into question the very notion of consciousness or free will, and should be considered as part of a person's overall reaction time to events."

I replied saying that we interpret everything we observe and our interpretations are opinions based on perception. In other words we make it all up in our heads in our insane compulsion to make sense of nonsense.

This is exactly how the ego keeps us distracted from our true nature and true purpose in life. The world colludes with the ego to reward people for their opinions and we exult their greatness calling them geniuses until someone else comes along with an even “clever” opinion. We never question the fact that our explanations for what we call reality are constantly changing. It never dawns on us that perhaps feeding the monkey mind is a futile attempt to explain the inexplicable and that our true nature and purpose can only be found in being quiet.

Involuntary perception feeding on the alphabet of conditioning is how Mooji describes what we call awareness. But by quietly observing without effort or intention we become self aware and go to a place within where there is no distraction from the truth.

Being quiet not following the thought stream, no image, not pursuing the senses, no interpreting, having no intention, will result in an intense focus without any effort.

Don't call it meditation. Don't call it anything. Just be still, be quiet and be self aware without thinking about it. Spontaneously out of nowhere wisdom comes.  

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Friday 27th January 2012 Post #26

As long as someone else is guilty I am innocent.

All the strange associations we have made in order to keep the past alive and the present dead give rise to the world of illusion we believe to be real.

Why do we relive moments in the past? To remind us of the guilt we cling to and to keep us distracted from the now. In this way we nurture and strengthen our cherished ancient hates, which we bring with us from one lifetime to another, to maintain the ego.

The ego as defined in A Course in Miracles is a false image of our identity based on identification with the body and our lives. It is our identity as we know ourselves to be. This definition of the ego is different from the ego defined in psychology which only defines a part of what it really is.

We use memory to remember what never happened. How can what we remember have really happened when we interpret all of our experiences?  Our interpretations of what really happened are made up and nothing to do with reality. This is the reason why each person will give a different report of an event.

We use memory to conjure up memories of what never happened in order to feel what we have chosen to feel and we have convinced ourselves that we cannot help these memories coming up as if they have a life of their own.

We can in fact choose the memories we wish to come up. We have the power to choose the good or the bad memories but choose to believe that we don't. When we do choose the good memories then they are the memories that will come up. It is not an automatic process but our choice and we need to remember that truth if we are to free ourselves from being haunted by ancient hate and loss.

No change can be made in the present if its cause is in the past. If we have a problem in the present then we cannot resolve the problem as long as it's cause is in the past. This is the reason why what is happening to us right now has been caused by what we were thinking in the past and continue to think those same thoughts in the present.

By reclaiming our power to choose we can live in the present and make new choices free of the past and free of our false identity which we have created in order to make ourselves believe we are separate from our brother. We use this belief in separation to project our guilt on to others and in order to justify our attack on what we disown by projection.

The purpose of the ego is to convince us that we are not powerful eternal spiritual beings with power to make choices about how our lives work. Part of the mind is dedicated to concealing from us our true identity.

By separating ourselves from our ego image of ourselves  we separate from the ego whose sole purpose is preserving its own dedication. We are not the ego, we are beyond this! We can become the observer of what the ego is doing, watching what our image of ourselves believes it is doing  and we can be unaffected by it.

We are not separate from each other and it is only when we fully realise this that we can free ourselves from the illusion we all subscribe to.  The peace we all seek is found in forgiveness and not in judgement and blame as the ego would have us believe.

By making a habit of forgiving every thought that makes us hate ourselves or another we are extricating ourselves from an ego that would keep us enslaved in a world based on the past and which does not in reality exist.

I have also devoted a page on Facebook to meditations on A Course in Miracles called Meditation for the Day.  

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Wednesday 18th January 2012 Post #25

Caught in a Dream of Guilt

People have forgotten the purpose of the body. Rather than see the body as a device the mind uses to communicate we identify with our bodies and believe we are our bodies.

Evertime we say the word "I" we mean our bodies. We point at each other's bodies and call our bodies by name and we think that everyone we see is a body. When the body grows old and dies people mourn because they think that the body is the person. 

How can intelligent human beings subscribe to such an insane belief? There has to be a very good reason why Man has degenerated into this state. I believe that this has happened because we have relinquished our power to think and we have given it to the ego. Rather than use the body for the original purpose of communicating truth the ego uses it for attack.

We project our perceptions on others and the world and we attack these projections. We attack our own projections because we fear them. We disown them, we criticise them and we judge them. We attack completely oblivious to the fact that we are attacking ourselves.

By criticising and judging others we give our subconscious guilt to others and in so doing we see ourselves as innocent. We interpret everything in order to save ourselves from the guilt we project. By making others responsible we relinquish our power to think for ourselves and so we do not question what we believe to be true.

The body symbolises the separation we desire in order to keep ourselves separate from the guilt we project on to those we believe are separate from us. In the beginning it was our desire to feel special that gave birth to the idea of separation. It is in our creation of separation that the ego was born in order to maintain the illusion of separation. It is guilt about what we have done to separate ourselves from the One that keeps us separate.

Forgiveness is the key and the way back to 'oneness' because forgiveness undoes guilt! Caught in a dream of guilt the Holy Spirit is showing us the way out of the dream and back to God through forgiveness.

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Monday 19th December 2011 Post #24

The Healing Power of Sound

I first became interested in the power of sound for healing when I came across the work of Robert Monroe and his Hemi Sync Audio Products. I published a post to our Manx Hypnosis Website about Robert Monroe and how he used his own audio products to induce Out Of Body Experiences. Over the years I discovered other people who were also interested in this area and who refined Robert Monroe's work and added even more sophisticated sound technology to it.

Following are a list of sites where you can read more about these products all of which I have used and can vouch for. 

SBaGen - Binaural Beat Brain Wave Experimenter's Lab

CenterPointe Research Institute

LifeFlow Project Meditation

SBaGen is a site run by Jim Peters who developed a way for anyone to create their own audio programs which include the binaural beats and brain wave entrainment technology that Robert Monroe discovered and which other people have developed upon. I found Jim Peters to be very helpful and he promptly and patiently answered all my questions and helped me whenefver I contacted him. Jim Peters provides his work free of charge and believes that everyone should have free access to this kind of knowledge.

CentrePointe and LifeFlow use the same kind of sound technology but their programs are more refined due to the money they each spent on devloping their products. I invested in both programs and benefited greatly from each.

Below is a video I made and uploaded to YouTube and  ManxTube which uses the LifeFlow demo. You can listen to the video using stereo headphones for one kind of experience and without them for another completely different experience. The video will give you and idea of what you can expect from the full program and it was what got me interested in the first place.

Links to Related Articles:

Robert Monroe's First Out of Body Experience

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Thursday 8th December 2011 Post #23

Love is the Only Reality

From my own personal experience and observation it appears that people believe that the thoughts they think belong to them. They then even go so far as to patent the ideas they claim are their own.

I now see it a little differently and the analogy I propose to describe what I believe is closer to the truth is that we are each like electrical appliances that are plugged into the grid. We all share the same electrical energy but we each perform different functions.

The thoughts we claim as our own come from the grid which is universal and available to each one of us. For one person to claim that he/she owns some of the energy flowing through the grid is as insane as claiming title to some electricity in an electrical circuit.

Love is the only reality and everything else is ego based. The whole notion of mine and thine is insane and is construct of a delusional system made up by the ego and which we have simply got used to. We need to collectively wake up from the nightmare we have allowed the ego to create in place of reality and return to our source.

Love All Serve All

Related links:

The Disappearance of the Universe

Maya Illusion

Wake Up Sleepy Head

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Friday 2nd December 2011 Post #22

Reaching Agreement is Vital in Therapy

The success of any therapy depends on the degree to which therapist and client are in agreement. Agreement is the key to building rapport which is probably the most important ingredient in therapy. If the client is not comfortable with the therapist or vice versa it is unlikely that there will be a satisfactory result. Just as a child in the classroom will refuse the help of a teacher, no matter how well meant that help is, unless the child likes the teacher the child will not cooperate. Unless the client and therapist "like" each other then there is little point in pursuing therapy. The very first step in pursuing any therapy is for the client to search for a therapist that he/she can feel comfortable with and not stop until such a therapist is found. Once a suitable therapist is found then the task of reaching agreement begins.

The first step in any therapy is for the client and therapist to agree upon the goal of the therapy. Once agreement has been reached then the destination is set. Both client and therapist will then embark on a journey to reach the destination set. The goal is an agreement created in the mind of both and which sits outside the ego of both of them. The degree to which both client and therapist reach this mutually agreed destiantion will determine the result of the therapy.

I cannot stress enough the importance of this idea and when it is fully understood and applied in any therapy the results speak for themselves. I compare failure to comprehend this basic foundation for any therapy to a marriage where sometimes a woman will marry a man with the firm conviction that she will change him for the better. She feels she knows best and we all know how that ends! The therapist does not know what is best for the client and the client does not know what is best for him/herself. The "best" for both lies outside the ego of both and that is why agreement is so important. For two people to reach agreement they must suspend, to an extent, the beliefs they hold that prevent them from changing. Since therapy is all about change then agreement is the vehicle to achieve the desired change.

There is no room for ego based therapy in true healing and this can be clearly understood from the words of Matthew 18:19 in the Bible -

"Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." 

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Thursday 17th November 2011 Post #21

Body Identification

My sister,  the world renowned Irish soprano singer, Regina Nathan was interviewed on the RTE Radio 1  John Murray Show  this morning but before her interview I heard the host John Murray and two other guests speak about their experiences as sufferers of arthritis. One of the guests was a young woman in her twenties and the other was the author Maeve Binchy. They each spoke about how painful and debilitating the condition was and they each expressed a wish that someday someone would find a cure for it. However during the whole interview not once did any of them entertain the notion that the condition could have an underlying emotional root cause.

In our Private Hypno-Psychotherapy Practice here in Peel, Isle of Man my wife and I have successfully treated a number of people who suffered from this debilitataing condition and in every single case guilt was the underlying root cause. Once the gulit was addressed and released the physical symptoms also disappeared. 

If more people would recognise that we are are more than just physical entities and that the physical aspect of our being is but a shadow, a reflection of the power behind our lives pain and suffering could be a thing of the past. But people cling to the notion that they are their bodies and even in the face of unbearable pain and even death they will not let go of this limiting belief.

The physical conditions we manifest are but reminders of the issues that lie below the level of our conscious awareness and unless we deal with those issues the physical symptoms persist.

Unless the mind is willing to entertain the idea that we are not the body then we are victims of what we believe to be the truth. By changing how we perceive ourselves and the world we can once again become authors of our lives but for this to happen more of us need to stand back from our bodies and realise that the body is a vehicle through which we interact with this world separate from who we really are but necessary for us to learn the lessons in forgiveness we have come here to learn.

Related Link:

Psychotherapy to Change Seldf Concept 

Analytical Hypnotherapy

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Thursday 10th November 2011 Post #20

Ego-Based Therapies are at best a Temporary Respite from any Illness 

Some of the most  innovative approaches to hypnosis and psychotherapy
were pioneered by the late Milton Erickson and described as follows:

“The induction and maintenance of a trance serve to provide a special psychological state in which the patient can re associate and reorganize his inner psychological complexities and utilize his own capacities in a manner in accord with his own experiential life...therapy results from an inner resynthesise of the patient’s behaviour achieved by the patient himself.

It is true that direct suggestion can effect an alteration in the patient’s behaviour and result in a symptomatic cure, at least temporarily.  However, such a “cure” is simply a response to suggestion and does not entail that re-association and reorganization of ideas, understandings and memories so essential for actual cure.

It is this experience of re-associating and reorganizing his own experiential life that eventuates in  a cure, not the manifestation or response behaviours [to hypnotic suggestion] which can, at best, satisfy only the observer [and stage hypnotist]” (Erickson, 1948).

Link to Related Article:

Psychotherapy to Chage Self Concept

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Tuesday 1st November 2011 Post #19

The true story behind the movie Remember the Titans

For the movie buffs among you. Remember the Titans is one of my favourite movies. It starrs Denzel Washington as Coach herman Boone, Ryan Hurst as Gerry Bertier and Will Patton as Hall of Fame Coach Bill Yoast.

The movie is based on a true story  and is very inspiring, the kind of movie that you could show to a class of children and you won't hear a pin drop. But Hollywood has tendency to exaggerate to sell movies and though I don't mind this because I love to have my emotional strings pulled I do love to also know the real story behind the movie.

There is awebsite called https://www.chasingthefrog.com which chases after the truth behind movies based on true stories and it was my son who put me on to this. Following is a link my son sent me a very interesting article on the chasingthefrog website about the true story behind the movie Remember the Titans.

https://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/rememberthetitans.php

Below is also a clip from one of my favourite scenes in the movie:

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Friday 21st October 2011 Post #18

Sister Carmel O'Keefe 1918 - 2011

Dear Saint Maur Graduates, Past Students, and Friends,

Sister Carmel O’ Keeffe,  1918-2011

Sister Carmel O’Keeffe, a pioneer of international education in Japan for
half a century, died of heart failure on Monday, October 17, in her hometown
of Cork, Ireland. She was 93 years old. Her funeral took place in Cork on
October 19.

Born in 1918 as Eileen O’Keeffe, she was educated in Ireland and Scotland
and took her vows in 1939 as a sister of the Congregation of the Infant
Jesus, a Catholic order dating to the 17th century. She was sent to Yokohama
in 1947 to re-establish Saint Maur International School, originally founded
in 1872 and the oldest Catholic and international school in Japan. Thousands
of her former students throughout Japan and the world remember her strong
moral influence to this day.

Over an astounding span of 60 years, Sister Carmel taught three generations
of students, first in wartime wooden barracks and later in the modern school
buildings whose construction she oversaw. She worked tirelessly, overseeing
the revival of the school from the ashes of World War II. Not only did she
teach Mathematics, English, and History for over 20 years at Saint Maur, she
also contributed to the English education of students at Yokohama Futaba
Gakuen, its sister school.

Sister Carmel served as Principal of Saint Maur International School from
1967 to 1991, continuing as chair of the Board through the turn of the
century. During her tenure, the school expanded in size, underwent a
successful coeducation process, and inaugurated one of the earliest
International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma programs in Japan, as well as one
of the first international school computer labs in East Asia. The five
current school buildings were all constructed or conceived while she led the
school.

Sister Carmel was honored by Kanagawa Prefecture with its highest award for
service to education, the first foreign woman to be so recognized. Even more
impressive was her commendation by Pope Benedict XVI, conveyed to her in
2009 by the Papal Nuncio in Japan, which commemorated her 90th birthday, 70
years as a nun, and 60 years at Saint Maur.

Although her retirement was announced more than once, Sister Carmel
continued to report to work every day. Failing health persuaded her in 2009
to return to Ireland, where Saint Maur remained in her thoughts and heart.
Those of us who knew her for many years realize what a forward-looking and
superb educator she was throughout her long career.

Memorial services will be held at 17:00 on Thursday, November 3, 2011 at the
Saint Maur auditorium.

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Thursday 20th October 2011 Post #17

Everyone Deserves Personalised Treatment

Here at Setanta Hypnotherapy Clinic in Peel, Isle of Man Mary and I  provide therapy that is personalised so no two clients, regardless of their presenting symptoms, are ever treated in exactly the same way.

Each person is unique and the reasons for them having developed a particular condition will be different.

Rather than treating the symptom our focus is on the individual and addressing the cause. We see the symptom as a physical manifestation of an unresolved emotional issue. When the client addresses the cause, releases the repression, forgives and lets go of the limiting belief, then the symptom disappears.

In some cases people will have developed bad habits and through repetition they will have taught themselves a behaviour that they no longer wish to continue. For these people Suggestion Therapy is a very effective way to change a bad habit like smoking.

We use a combination of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy to treat depression, anxiety, insomnia, PTSD which invariably have a deep rooted emotional cause.

If you live in the Isle of Man, to book a free initial consultation with no obligations call Xavier or Mary on 842938 

For those of you who live outside the Isle of Man please visit the downloads page on our website where you can avail of the products we have created for our Private Hypnotherapy Practice www.manxhypnosis.com

You can also download some of our products from our Facebook Store

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Wednesday 19th October 2011 Post #16

Making Sense of Nonsense

Our brains are designed to make sense of everything the world throws at us. The sense I refer to here of course varies from person to person and is dependent on each person's experiences and upbringing. We are constantly referring to the library of the subconscious where all our past experiences are stored and labelling everything we encounter. When we come across something that does not match any previous experience the mind comes up with the best fit and failing that we are left confused and even traumatised.    

By reading the message below you can demonstarte to yourself the power of the mind to make sense of things even if it is meaningless:

7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5!

1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY

W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17, B3 PROUD! 0NLY C3R741N P30PL3 C4N R3AD 7H15.

PL3453 F0RW4RD 1F U C4N R34D 7H15. :)

The mind is so busy making sense of everything for us that we forget that behind the sense our mind is making up for us lies the truth. Most of us spend our lives believing what our minds have made up. We call it reality and never question it unless something happens to make us question our perceptions.

Pain,suffering illness, loss and disease are times in our lives when we are presented with the opportunity to question what we believe to be reality. When we choose to see these times as opportunities to change our minds we free ourselves of our suffering. 

Hypnosis enables us to suspend our beliefs in order to entertain alternative interpretations of what we call reality. My wife and I are Clinical Hypnotherapists in Private Practice in the Isle of Man and we have developed an audio to teach the art of Self-Hypnosis. Each new client is required to play this audio for a week to ten days before starting therapy so when they arrive they have already mastered hypnosis  and are ready to make those chaznges they want for themselves.

You can purchase the Self Hypnosis audio from our Manx Hypnosis Facebook Store.  We recommend that you listen to either Xavier's (if you prefer a male voice) or Mary's (should you prefer a female voice) every day and correct your wrong perceptions allowing you to live the life you truly deserve.

Whether you choose to purchase the audio or not please press the "Like" button on our facebook Fan Page to indicate your support of the work we are doing.

Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy the video below.

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Friday 14th October 2011 Post #15

Hypnotherapy and Loss

Nobody goes through life without experiencing loss. Grieving is our natural response to loss and when we are allowed and allow ourselves to grieve fully at the time of loss then the process comes to a natural conclusion without any after affects. It is when we are not allowed to grieve or when we prevent ourselves from expressing our emotions that we create problems that can last a life time.

We all cope in our own way; often burying our emotions, hoping that time will heal. But these emotions can surface at any time in our lives if triggered by circumstances which remind us of the original loss. We are, of course, not consciously aware of this triggering mechanism but we are aware of the ensuing chaos that comes in its wake.

 Hypnotherapy with Psychotherapy is an effective approach to addressing loss and bereavement and is the approach we use with our clients here at Setanta Hypnotherapy Clinic in Peel, Isle of Man.  The therapy we provide is not age dependent, so even children can benefit enormously and so don’t have to suffer throughout their lives. Please follow the link below to read more.

Hypnotherapy for Grief and Loss

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11th October 2011 Post #14

Introduction to Chris Hammer

I received an e-mail some time ago from Chris Hammer Ph.D. a certified professional coach and licensed psychologist. He had come across my Manx Hypnosis website and felt that we a common interest in promoting spitirtual and emotional wellbeing. The communication I received from Chris made me realise quite quickly that I was dealing with a man of honour and integrity. He sent me an article he had written which was based on a study he had done and which I am honoured to share with you here. 

Please also note that Chris is not just licensed psychologist but he also offers practical leadership and life coaching services, and has written two high-quality ebooks: ‘Building Better Relationships’ and ‘Be a Leader’. 

For further information about Chris and the services he provides please visit:

Silver Hammer Coaching Services  

Making Sense of Your Spiritual Development by Chris Hammer Ph.D.

You’re likely reading this article because you’ve been thinking about your own spiritual development, or because you’ve had some sort of spiritual experience that’s made you look more closely at the topic. Or maybe you’re just interested in spirituality just for the sake of interest. In any case, I just wanted to share with you a bit about what I had found in my dissertation research a few years back.

I interviewed psychologists who had self-identified as having experienced some sort of spiritual development. Through the use of a very specific methodology, my goal was to create a universal snapshot (the structure) of this experience: In other words, any psychologist who had experienced some sort of spiritual development would be able to read the structure and say, “Yup, that’s how it happened for me”.

For the purpose of this article, though, I’ve left out the psychology-specific aspects, and included in the structure only the themes that might be more general. It’s important to note that because the original study was done on psychologists (and the original structure was thus modified for the purposes of this article), this information may or may not resonate completely with the average reader. This is not presumed to be a scientific article by any means: I note these themes purely for interests’ sake, and to encourage the reader to explore his or her own experiences further.

The following description contains the themes that were common to all of the participants in the study (the ‘essential constituents’), as well as the themes that were common to most, but not all (the ‘substructures’). The word "often" is used when the topic in question was a substructure:

“Spiritual development is experienced as a process that continues throughout one’s life: it is an ongoing, as well as a historical process. At some point in their lives, people experience a catalyst for the examination of their spiritual belief systems: a specific incident or feeling that causes them to look more closely at their spiritual selves. This is not necessarily experienced at the beginning of their journeys, as some individuals may hold a solid spiritual belief system that becomes challenged by a catalyst later in life (leading them to further exploration or reexamination). People ultimately internalize a spiritual belief system, which may be similar or different from their family of origin (or it may be similar in form to their parents’ (i.e. the same religious affiliation) but with a more personal sense of meaning and understanding attached to it). People also experience positive consequences from their sense of spirituality in their personal lives; although they often also often experience a conflict between their own belief systems and the beliefs of others as a part of their journey. Individuals often experience a sense of connectedness to others, living or deceased, or to a higher transpersonal reality such as God or Self as a result of their experiences. Experiences of synchronicity also often shape the development of spiritual beliefs (either informing new ones or validating existing ones); and people often experience a transpersonal event at some point in their development that strongly impacts their spiritual belief system. (Synchronicity is defined by Carl Jung as "a coincidence in time of two or more causally unrelated events which have the same or similar meaning”. A transpersonal event can be thought of as an event that extends beyond the normal personal experience).”

So take these findings for what they’re worth – see what fits for you and what doesn’t. Hopefully they encourage you to further explore your own development, and to engage in more discussion with others about theirs: people don’t generally just share these things for the sake of casual conversation. When I began these conversations, I was very surprised by the incredible things I was learning about people whom I thought I had already known reasonably well – and how much similarity we actually shared on a very personal level.

If you have any questions about the article please feel free to

contact Chris by  e-mail

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Thursday, 6th October 2011 Post #13

Right Perception

When I look at an object I cannot know it. The best that I can do is to perceive it correctly. I wrote this article to explain what I mean by right and wrong perception.

Light reflected from the object enters my eyes and is converted into electrical impulses by nerves at the back of the eye which travel to the visual centre of my brain where they are decoded and converted into the image I see.

The process is instantaneous and gives the illusion that the image I see is the object that I am looking at.  The image I see will also have associations for me which are all stored in the subconscious and triggered every time I see it or a similar image.  I then give meaning to the object based on these past associations with it and which is subconsciously triggered. The meaning I give to the object is my perception of it.

Perception then is a judgement based on opinion.  Opinion is an idea and is subjective.  Perception therefore is subjective and is dependent on the observer.  The observer has little choice in how he perceives the object as long as the meaning is subconsciously triggered.  It is only by bringing the associations, which are buried in the subconscious, to conscious awareness that we can reclaim the power to choose the meaning for the object.

The perception a person has of an object is wrong if it leads to conflict.  So if the object being perceived creates more separateness then it is wrong and is the main reason for illness.  To correct wrong perception the subconscious must be accessed in order to unearth the triggers we have filed there and release the negative emotions that hold them there.  Once this has been done we reclaim the power to choose the meaning we wish to assign the object.  In order to choose correctly we must ensure that the new meaning is free from anything that might cause conflict.

Conflict cannot exist where there is agreement.  Where there is agreement there is love.  Where there is love there is right perception.

Related Links:

Psychotherapy and A Course in Miracles

Psychotherapy to Change Self-Concept

Higher Consciousness and Hypno-Psychotherapy

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Monday, 3rd October 2011 Post #12

Undoing Ego by Suspending Judgement 

I have just finished writing a comment on Mr Happy's hub On Making Decisions and Being a Judge . He asked some very pertinent questions about judgement and its role in our lives. He questions the notion that judgement is negative and puts forward the idea that without judgement thinking itself becomes impotent.

Mr Happy is a very honest man and he wears his heart on his sleeve. I admire him for this and his hubs draw to them people who appreciate his desire to understand everything. I highly recommend this honourable man's writing because he asks the questions that shake the foundation of the belief system we call reality and he is not afraid to do so.

I have published a post tonight, Higher Consciousness and Hypno-Psychotherapy  to come part way to answer Mr Happy. In my article I explain how I suspend judgement when I am treating a client and allude to the idea that the same principle can be used in our everyday lives. 

It is very difficult for a mind which has been conditioned to judge and which has been taught to believe in separation to turn such beliefs up side down. But that is exactly what is required in order to undo the conditioning that makes unconditional love so difficult for us to sustain.

We resist change so when the idea is put to us that we must give up judging others in order to attain enlightenment then of course we will experience resistance. We will see images of atrocities, pain and suffering and ask how can we not judge the perpetrators of such hideous actions. For every change we entertain in our lives the ego will give us a million reasons not to, especially when the change involves the undoing of the ego.

When I see a tree I often remember being told that the tree provides shade for everyone who stands under it for shelter from the sun or the rain. The tree does not withhold its shelter from some and not others. The tree does not judge. The tree gives its shelter unconditionally.

To learn more about undoing the ego through non-judgement and forgiveness I highly recommend the book "A Course in Miracles". No other book has ever explained it so well to me. Whenever I am asked to debate the topic I find that nothing I say could do more justice to this topic than the book and in fact some of my own interpretations could very well do it an injustice. Read the book and see for yourself. As I have said before it is best to chew your own food to get the most goodness and nourishment from it. Eating food digested for you by another will never be as good for you.

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Thursday, 15th September 2011 Post #11

Gratitude

The first thing I do every morning as soon as I wake up and before I open my eyes is think of everything I can feel grateful for. I start by thanking my pillow then I move about the room, feeling grateful for my wife, the bed I lie in, the room and all the things in it, each of my children, my parents, siblings, friends, colleagues, clients, the town I live in, the island I live on, the sea, the sky and the list goes on. It takes me about five minutes every morning and it never fails to start my day full of love and happiness. It is an impossibility to feel anything but happy in choosing to feel grateful. By saying thank you for the people in my life, the things that I have, the things that I do and everything that I am I am choosing to feel happy.

Starting the day full of happiness is a choice that everyone can make and all it takes is five minutes every morning. I don't leave it that however, for me feeling grateful is a life style and the key to owning happiness all day long. I start the day feeling happy, I spend the day looking for opportunities to feel grateful and I end the day saying thank you for a great day. I end most of my communications to people with the words thank you and especially when I comment on someone's blog.

When I walk down the street I say thank in my head to everyone I see even the people I don't know. I thank the birds that cross the sky or chirp to me from the trees. I thank the hills and the beautiful scenery all around me. This is me deliberately choosing to give love and and feel happy. Ever since I started practising giving love and appreciating  my life things have just kept getting better and better.

Here is a video  I often send to people to remind them to give love and choose happiness...no buts! It never fails to put a smile on my face. Please share this message with as many people as you can and give everyone the opportunity to choose happiness by thinking grateful thoughts.

Related links:

Mind Fullness

All Criticism is Self Criticism

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Tuesday, 13th September 2011 Post #10

Agreeing to receive what we pray for

Saturday September 10th was a special day for me because it was the day that I put something into practice that I had not truly understood until that day. I finally understodd what the words in the bible under Matthew 18:19 really meant.

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven."

The operative word here is "agree". I finally realised that the reason we don't get what we pray for is because of the conflict that we all live with. Our minds are split and for that reason we are continuosly fighting ourselves even about the most trivial things. It is the inner conflict that we project on the world around us and then proceed to condemn what we ourselves have made. 

The hardest thing for any of us to do is to become aware of our projections and to own them. We are designed to disown everything and anything we abhor about ourselves so it makes sense for us to project what we hate on to our brothers and sisters and hate them instead.

I finally realised the wisdom in the words of Matthew 18:19 because by enlisting the help of another to agree about something to ask for we are in essence owning what we would normally project.  So rather than sabotage our receiving what we ask with conflict we agree and in so doing we nullify conflict. Agreement becomes a subconscious symbol to we get out of our own way to receive what we want. 

In my work as a Hypno-Psychotherapist it is the degree to which agreement is reached about our goals between me and the client that determines the degree of healing achieved.

I enlisted the help of my wife and Slarty O'Brian, one of the wroters I share this website with. I asked both of them separately to tell me what they really wanted and to agree to with me to accept what they asked for. In the case of Slarty I sent him an e-mail and I asked him to be with me in spirit between 12 noon and 12.30 and I described the setting. My wife accompanied  me to the harbour wall in Peel and as she stood beside me praying for what she wanted she told me that she agreed with me to receive everything she asked for. I called on the great spirit, the sky, land and sea to accept my offering of a jump from the harbour wall to secure Slarty's and my wife's wishes. When my wife said she was in full agreement and ready I leapt from the storm wall into the sea offering my body to the sea.   

Following is a video I made of that offering and published on YouTube.

The following day things started to happen but I think I will leave it to my wife and Slarty to explain if they each ever felt the inclination to do so. For my part I am satisfied that I now know what those sacred words mean and how to use the power of agreement in all sorts of situations but especially in my capacity as a Hypno-Psychotherapist.  

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Thursday, 8th September 2011 Post #9

I finished the book yesterday but rather than read the book I listened to the Audio Book Version. It was read brilliantly by Kathleen McInerney and it was so enthralling that I didn't want it to end. In my opinion the Amazon review below does not do the book justice because for me the book deals so well with the human condition on so many more levels.

 The characters are real and each symbolises something special in our own journey through life. There is nobody in this world who can escape tragedy, pain and suffering but the book shows how even the most controlling personalities inevitably change in the face of unconditional love. The message of forgiveness is told in a realistic way that resonates with two other books, one I have finished called The Disappearance of the Universe by Gary R Renard and A Course in Miracles by Helen Schucman which I am still reading.  

The reason why I felt complelled to write about Night Road is because of its spiritual message. It describes very eloquently how we make up the meaning we give our lives and how we ultimately decide how to interpret everyone including ourselves and everything that we imagine is happening to us. Jude Farraday symbolises the analytical conscious mind, the ego that imagines it can control everything and is above the laws of nature. Even when it is proved to be impotent in the face of of forces that lie beyond its control it still endeavours to regain control at any price. Lexi Baill is the heart, the seat of all our emotions, our subconscious, the inner child we all seek to control and make obey the laws that we make up to suit our perception of reality. The book shows that only by addressing our problems at this level  that change can occur and the veil of illusion cast over our eyes by the ego is removed. Myles symbolises God, who waits patiently for us to return to Him. Some who read the book may see him as an ineffectual father just as many in this world who blame God for all their ills and never take responsibility for their role in perceiving life as they do. God does not judge, but simply waits our return as Myles waited patiently for hiws own wife's return.

It is a wonderful story and one I highly recommend. I hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading this.

Following is the Amazon Review of the book Night Road by New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels Kristin Hannah. 130 people gave the book a five star reviewed when I looked today and too would give the book a five star rating.

Amazon.com Review

For a mother, life comes down to a series of choices.

To hold on…

To let go..

To forget…

To forgive…

Which road will you take?

                                                            Night Road

For eighteen years, Jude Farraday has put her children’s needs above her own, and it shows—her twins, Mia and Zach—are bright and happy teenagers.  When Lexi Baill moves into their small, close knit community, no one is more welcoming than Jude.  Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, quickly becomes Mia’s best friend.  Then Zach falls in love with Lexi and the three become inseparable.  

Jude does everything to keep her kids on track for college and out of harm’s way.  It has always been easy-- until senior year of high school.  Suddenly she is at a loss.  Nothing feels safe anymore; every time her kids leave the house, she worries about them.

On a hot summer’s night her worst fears come true. One decision will change the course of their lives.  In the blink of an eye, the Farraday family will be torn apart and Lexi will lose everything.  In the years that follow, each must face the consequences of that single night and find a way to forget…or the courage to forgive.

Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, NIGHT ROAD raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness.  It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope.  This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.

Related Links

Introduction to A Course in Miracles

The Disappearance of the Universe

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Sunday, 4th September 2011 Post #8

Trevor Cowin sent me an e-mail explaining how we can all do something to keep more jobs in our country and all it takes is for us to exercise our power of choice:

Any time you call an 0800 number (for a credit  card, banking, charter
communications, health  and other insurance, computer help desk, etc) and
you find that you're talking to a  foreign customer service representative
(perhaps in India, Pakistan, Ireland, etc), please consider doing the
following:

After you connect and you  realize that the customer service representative
is not from the United Kingdom you can always ask if you are not sure about
the accent), please, very politely (this is not about trashing  other
cultures) say, "I'd like to speak to a  customer service representative in
the United Kingdom."

The rep might suggest talking to his/her manager, but, again, politely say,
"Thank you, but I'd like to speak to a customer service representative in
the United Kingdom."

YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED TO A REP IN THE UK.  That's the rule and
the LAW.

It takes less than one minute to have your call re-directed to the United
Kingdom. Tonight when I got redirected to a UK rep, I asked again to make
sure - and yes, she was from NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE.

Imagine what would happen if every United Kingdom citizen insisted on
talking to only UK phone reps from this day on. Imagine how that would
ultimately impact the number of UK jobs that would need to be created
ASAP... If I tell 10 people to consider this and you tell 10 people to
consider doing this - see what I mean...it becomes an exercise in viral
marketing 101.

Remember - the goal here is to restore jobs back here at home - not to be
abrupt or rude to a foreign phone rep. You may even get correct answers,
good advice, and solutions to your problem - in real English.
If you agree, please tell 10 people you know, and ask them to tell 10 people
they know.....etc...Etc

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Thursday, 1st September 2011 Post #7

Happy Birthday Clara.

My daughter Clara is now sixteen years old. It is hard to believe that sixteen years have passed since I held baby Clara in my arms. The nurse handed Clara to me after she was delivered  and I still remember how she stuck her tongue out at me. It made me laugh. A couple of years later she she burnt her tongue because she  tried licking a light bulb. I suppose she thought it looked like an ice cream.

For her birthday Clara asked if she could join a gym as she is keen to keep fit and because she is now old enough to join. My gift to my daughter was that I would drive her every Sunday morning and work out with her. I drove her in today and she had her induction. An instructor went to every machine in the gym and explained how each worked and after that we went for a run on the treadmill and spent about half an hour working out on some of the machines. We did some Yoga exercises and kettle bells before going downstairs to the sauna and jacuzzi. We were there from 11am to 1pm and we were hungry and exhausted when we arrived home. I was even too tired to go jumping! We spent the afternoon watching my other two daugthers and their friends jumping into the sea. 

I feel very lucky that my daughter wants to spend time doing stuff like this with me. Doing things like this allows us to chat about lots of things and it strengthens our relationship. She will of course go to the gym with her friends who have also turned sixteen but Sunday mornings will be time for father and daughter.

I have always striven to teach all of my children the importance of attending to all aspects of what makes them human and that includes the physical, emotional and spiritual apsects. As a child growing up I was always told that your health is a precious gift and without it spiritual progress is very difficult. Each of my four children are physically very fit and healthy and that is no accident. My wife and I lhave always led by example and as we would never ask our children to do what we ourselves would not be prepared to do.

I am happy about the choices I have made in my life and particularly so when I see my children opting for those same healthier choices. I have so much to be thankful for and today was another spectacular day in my life.

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Sunday, 21st August 2011 Post #1

I am actually very excited about this new website and I have already been asked by another writer in HubPages idf she could join us. Her name is Ruby and she writes under the name always exploring  in HubPages. Ruby is a wonderful person and her honesty shines through everything she writes. Her latest  article however freaked me out because she described a frightening experience she really did have recently. It involves finding a naked rapist lying inher porch and you will just have to read the article to find out what happened. When a man Stood Inside My Home saying "I live here."    

We have had a busy weekend with saturday night being the last night of a show all four of my children were in. The show was put on by the local music and drama society called Inspirations and they were great. I suppose all parents will say that about their own children. I was a little disappointed that on the final night the people in charge had chosen to celebrate in a pub so my wife and I had aparty for the kids in our house and their friends just stayed the night. I think that the children deserve to be made a fuss of especially when they have put so much time and energy into a production like that. In the mornig the children brought the dog to the river and in the afternoon we went jumping into the sea. 

Jumping is now a family pasttime. Jumping is something we were given by friend Richard when we went to stay with him and his family for a week last year. We have been jumping ever since. Here is a link to an article I wrote about our first jump My Friend Richard Jumping is much more than diving into the sea for me. It has come to symbolise my own spiritual journey and I will elaborate on this in a separate post.

I had a talk with my son tonight about his future as his GCSE results are due out on Thursday. We have planned to bring them all to see Planet of the Apes that night and he was excited about that. I also threw out the idea that perhaps going to University may not be the wisest choice for a yourng person nowadays. I told him that the world is changing and there are a lot of children leaving university thousands in debt with little prospect of a job. I asked him to investigate and rather than just following the crowd to come to a decision that would be best for him. 

Spirit Whisperer's Hypnotherapy Website Blog

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Tuesday, 23rd August 2011 Post #2 

Johannes now has content under The Dacian and Spirit Media. The videos he put up are really interesting and give a whole new persepective on spirit and the Dacian view. He went to alot of trouble to secure permission from a fellow Dacian and Priestess Ziua to allow us to post a link to her website. The video he posted on energy manipulation by the same lady is one in a series and teaches us how to manipulate energy by first becoming in tune with the enrgy of a candle flame.

I came across articles written by Johannes in Hubpages and was immediately struck by how honest he was. His honesty and great compassion for his fellow man shone through all his writing and in every communication with me. Needless to say we have been in daily contact ever since and I felt he would be a very important addition to this very special gathering of writers.  An example of the compassion I refer to in Johannes can be seen in his HuBpages article         "On Giving pity and Perception" 

Johannes is the embodiement of giving and his articles leave the reader emotionally stunned when they read how gererous and loving a person can still be in a world obessed with the accumulation of wealth and material security as symbols of success. I love how this gently soul can also show his fangs especially when he sees injustice to children. I too felt like scalping the politicians who spend millions on weapons and defence when innocent children don't have a classroom to be taught in just a prefab where they freeze in Winter. He was the one who made me aware of 13 year old native American Indian Shannen of Attawapiskat First nation in Canada and her dream to for her government to provide proper schooling for all of the children of her nation. Johannes wrote a series of hubs to raise awareness of the plight of these children to move more people to do something. Folowing is alink to Part 1 of that series "No school for the Forgotten Chuldren of Attawapiskat"

When he sent me the video about Shannen's dream that he posted here I was moved but also very uplifted by what a young girl coming from such an underprivileged background and making such a big difference. It reminds me of the inspirational words Invictus by James Henley "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul". Shannen was killed in a car accident before her 16th birthday but she is an example to all of us who waste so much of our lives in vain pursuits when there is so much we can accomplish it hearts and minds pure and as focussed as Shannen's.

Johannes is a wounded healer as are most of the writers and people who flock to this site. We are a tiny flame right now but everyday we pour our energy into this site and we will become a blazing fire someday like a beacon for floundering souls as we have been. We empathise and we judge not. We are pointing the way to a new way, a way based on giving without condition and that is what  Johannes is striving to do with each post. 

Johannes is also quite the philosopher as his hub My "Stairway to Heaven" shows and his photographs will just blow you away from his travels in the wilds of Canada. Here is one example "British Columbia and Alberta: On Mountains" Johannes has published articles from a wide range of topics but what the reader is always aware is the the love that pours into the words from this writer's heart.

Thank you Johannes for being part of the Spirit-Whisperer project. And thank you for being you.

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Wednesday, 24th August 2011 Post #3 

Billy Mills or Makata Tala Hela was one of only two Native American indians to have ever won an Olympic Gold Medal. He won the gold medal in the i964 Olympics held in Tokyo, Japan by defeating the Australian Ron Clarke who was considered at the time  to be unbeatable. Billy was born in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota for the Ogala Lakota Sioux tribe. His parents died when he was twelve years old and he was raised by his grandmother. Billy excelled as both a runner and a boxer as a youth but chose to focus on his running in later years. He won an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Kansas. After graduating  Billy went on to serve in the Marine Corps and it was during his military service that he trained for and won the coveted Olympic Gold medal in the 10,000m final in Tokyo in 1964.

I purchased the video (in VHS) of the life of billy Mills from Amazon many years ago and it has been a source of inspiration for me and my children who are keen athletes. Billy's success was more down to a mental attitude he had developed over four years leading up to that Olympic final. He visualised running and winning the race in his mind for those four years so on that fateful day his subconscious kicked in and he was carried across that finsihing line fatser than anyone else in the field. He had to run two minutes faster than his fastest time over that distance which is a feat any athlete would tell you is a miracle.

My wife Mary, who partners me in our our private Hypnotherapy practice here in the Isle of Man ("The Setanta Hypnotherapy Clinic") has posted an article to our website blog about hypnosis and how we sue it to teach sports people how to enhance their performance. Billy Mills used the power of self hypnosis to achieve his amazing success but many more athletes have done so since then.

Here is alink to Mary's Article "Hypnotherapy and Sports Performance".

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Friday, 26th August 2011 Post #4

My son and daugthers received their GCSE Exam results yesterday and they did very well. My son Jake is in Year 11 and achieved seven A grades. My daughter Clara who will be going into Year 11 in September achieved two A*s, one A and two B's in her module exams. My daughter Rebecca who will be going into Year 10 in September achieved A in Art GCSE shortcourse. 

My children go to Queen Elizabeth II High School in Peel about 5 minutes walk from our house. We have been living in the Isle of Man since August 2002 when we moved from Ireland so I would take up a full-time teaching position at The QEII high School in Peel. I was teaching in a mixed boarding school, St Columba's College in the Dublin Mountains, at the time, when I read an article in a magazine in the staffroom looking for high school teachers in the Isle of Man. I showed my wife the article and when I got home and I told her I had a good feeling about it.

I sent my CV to the Head and within a few days she contacted me to say that the post had been filled but she she found my CV interesting enough to want want to still see me. She paid for my travel and overnight stay at the Castle Mona Hotel (which has since closed down) and as the interview was arranged for during the TT the roads were closed so I was unable to see the school. I met the Head and  a few other people including representatives from the Board of Governors andDepartment of Education. 

After the interview I went back to the hotel to await their decision which didn't take very long. The Head told me that though the vacancy for seond in the Mathematics had been filled she was going to create another post for me so there would be two seconds in the Mathematics Department. I was delighted and rang my wife to tell her we would be moving to the Isle of Man. She asked me what my impression of the island was and I told her it looked a bit like DunLaoire or Bray as I had only seen the area around the hotel. I also told her that it felt like Ireland when I was a boy and so would be ideal for bring up our children who ranged in age from 7 to 3 years old.

The school paid for the move and we  found a 3 bedroom house in Peel to rent. The landlords were Bob and Eileen Jones who were the nicest people anyone could have for landlords. Though we didn't arrive till the early hours of the morning as the ferry was delayed, Bob and Eileen were there to greet us and even  gave us digestive biscuits to have with the tea that Eileen lovingly made for us. The children had some fruit juice and biscuits and we went to bed exhausted. Eileen returned the following day to take our children to the beach while Mary and I tackled the unpacking.

The children attended the local primary school, Peel Clothworker's School again just a few minutes walk from the house. They had such a great start to their education at that school and how happy they each were to go to school and enjoy all areas of t heir school life which included sport, music, and drama. Each of my children plays a a musical instrument, sings, and have participated in shows put on by the local theatre group Inspirations. They each play for the local hockey, and basketball teams as well as represent their school at cross-country and athletic meets. 

The years have gone by quickly but one thing we will never regret is moving to this beautiful island that has given my wife and I so many opportunities for our own personal growth and development and for the opportunity to give our children the very best upbringing parents could give their children in what can only be described as an idyllic setting.

My children have availed of all the wonderful opportunities provided them by the school and community. They have participated in all the sports, music and drama clubs and societies and they have also excelled academically. They have been able to play out safely  with their friends without my wife and I ever having to worry. We leave the doors open and nobody tries to rob us. I have never seen a burnt out car that youths have taken for a joy ride as I often did in Ireland. We have never had to pay for medical or dental care for our children. We have never had to pay for school books and these are all things that the people here simply take for granted.

Three years after our move I received my qualifications in Hypnotherapy & Psychotherapy from the Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Psychotherapy in Ireland as I had continued the studies I had begun in Ireland. I retired from full-time teaching and set up my own private practice in Peel. My wife received her qualifiactions a year later and she joined me in the practice. The Head of QEII High School asked me to continue at the school and she created a position for me whereby I teach for twy hours every morning as an SEBD teacher. This means that I teach children with severe emotional and behavioural difficulties as well as those children with learning difficulties. 

My wife and I enjoy walks along the old railway track  that leads to some of the most beautiful country scenes and we regulary go jumping and swimming in the sea that is only minutes walking distance from our house.

I feel very thankful today for many things but top of that list is the gratitude I feel for God bringing us to this piece of heaven on Earth, our Ellan Vannin.

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Monday, 29th August 2011 Post #6

Start the day with love, spend the day with love and end the day with love.

My normal ritual every morning is to lie in bed for about ten minutes after waking and concentrating on all that I have to be thankful for. I believe that by starting the day with a heart full of gratitude fortifies me spiritually for the day and ensures a happy start to my day. After this I meditate for about 45 minutes and I then read a paragraph from A CourseIn Miracles. In order to mainatin this ritual I need to go to bed at areasonable hour and I need to wake up early enough.

I have heard people tell me over the years that they could never do what I do and they give all sorts of excuses including that they are too busy. These same people wake up every morning giving themselves so little time that they barely have time to eat breakfast. They start they day rushing about and under stress and wonder why their lives are so stressful. In my opinion, you start the day the way you mean to end it, calm, relaxed and happy.

It isn't rocket science to realise that if you do things  to put yourself under stress then you will feel stressed. There is nobody else in there with you. You create the feelings you experience. There is a price to pay for being calm. Relaxed and happy and the price is the time you spend creating these feelings. Cultivate rituals to create peace and happiness in your life and you will feel the benefits. Continue to do the things thaty cause you stress and that is exactly what you will feel.

Here is a link to a free ten minutes morning meditation audio I made  for my clients.  Morning Meditation by Xavier Simply download it to an MP3 player and play it every morning before you get out of bed. That would be a good start to your day and will encourage you to develop more rituals to enhance your emotional and spiritual well-being.  

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Saturday, 27th August 2011 Post #5

We Make It All Up

When I sit at my computer and converse with people from all over the world I sometimes catch myself thinking ...the person whose e-mail I am now answering could be anyone. There is no way for me to really know who it is that I am actually connecting with. The man you are writing to could be a woman and the story he has told me about his life could be a complete fabrication designed to make me perceive him in a certain way.

I wrote an article in HubPages about this which I titled Trust on the Internet in which I also talk about how written communication over the internet is so easily misunderstood. So there are people who are deliberately trying to deceive for their own ends which are usually for money and there are those who accidently deceive.

I see this in terms of a discussion I had with a fellow writer Slarty O'Brian about knowledge and perception. The world we see existss inside our heads where we perceive it. The pictures, sounds, sensations, tastes and smells are transmitted to  the brain where they are used to create the image we believe exists outside of us. The senses receive the input but it is in the brain that we see the world. We then attach meaning to what we see. In other words we make it all up and we do so inside our heads.

When we sit at our computers and talk to each other we are making each other up inside our heads. We imagine what the person we are talking to is like and we make judgemments based on what we ourselves make up. This is an exaggerated version of what we do in our normal everyday lives even when the person we are talking to is standing in front of us.  

Watch what this video says about reality:

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