ArchivesAwareness and Consciousness Podcast

#37: Confusion about love, compassion, hope, integrity and loyalty

on April 14, 2011 January 17, 2022 263 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#37: Confusion about love, compassion, hope, integrity and loyalty

00:00 / 26:58

Love, Compassion, Hope, Integrity, and Loyalty are the subject of this audio. This is an excerpt from a talk I gave at a Spiritual Retreat in 2010. Our mind has the ability to imagine in a myriad of ways. Because of this it also has the ability to distort, confuse, create chaos, and emotional drama as well. One of the ways that this happens is through the misuse of language. Even the basic building blocks of language such as words can be distorted and made confusing by how the mind alters its meaning when we are not aware.

If you want to implement changes in the way your mind works, how you feel emotionally, or negative behaviors, start by downloading and listening to the free audios from the Self Mastery Program

#36: Anger management

on March 22, 2011 January 17, 2022 443 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#36: Anger management

00:00 / 38:31

I don’t think we should just manage our anger. I believe in eliminating anger. Trying to control triggers, circumstances, and other people so we don’t become angry is too much work. It is much easier to identify and change the core beliefs causing our anger. In this episode I outline what the process of managing and eliminating anger looks like when you do it with awareness.

If you want to eliminate anger, and the core beliefs that cause anger follow the step by step process outlined in the Self Mastery Course.

#35: Sexual performance anxiety

on February 3, 2011 January 17, 2022 450 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#35: Sexual performance anxiety

00:00 / 37:00

Sexual Performance Anxiety

Sexual performance anxiety can cause a lot of stress in a relationship.

Sexual performance anxiety creates guilt, shame, and fears, that corrupt the emotional connection and can lead to and disconnection. In this podcast, I outline what goes on in a man’s head and some of the core beliefs at the root of the issue.

At the core of sexual performance, anxiety is the fear of failure, rejection from our partner, and self-rejection.

These expressions take place in our minds and affect our emotions. When we are caught up in these core beliefs of rejection our attention becomes so focused on these beliefs and emotions that we are no longer present with our partner and sexual experience. At that point, it is difficult to get aroused when what you are focused on is the beliefs in your head and the emotions they are producing.

In order to change this dynamic, it is necessary to identify and change the beliefs causing projections in our imagination and to unhook our attention from them and focus on what we are doing with our partner and our self. This shift in our mental state is all parter of better awareness and mindfulness.

#34: Spiritual journey interview

on August 25, 2010 January 17, 2022 196 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#34: Spiritual journey interview

00:00 / 28:23

Carolyn shares her experience on the 7 day Spiritual Intensive she took with me to Teotihuacán Mexico. She discovers what it is like to shed fear based self judgments from her childhood and embrace the experience of unconditional love. It’s no longer an intellectual idea that she reads about in books. It is a tangible way of living life that is now a very real possibility for her life.

She discovered that the journey wasn’t about the place, the mythology, or the history. The important focus of the journey was her and the process for transforming the emotional quality of her life.

You can find out more about these spiritual journeys and retreats on my events page.

#33: Inception and the life of an idea in the mind

on August 3, 2010 January 17, 2022 269 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#33: Inception and the life of an idea in the mind

00:00 / 33:58

The idea that ideas are alive has been around a long time. Careful observation reveals that ideas, thoughts, and beliefs behave as if they are alive in the mind. When ideas grow and link together with other ideas they become big stories and can have multiple points of view and tangents. Large story ideas intertwined with emotion act more like dreams. There are daydreams when we are awake, and dreams in our mind when we are asleep. The key to changing these ideas, stories, dreams, and the emotions they carry is for the dreamer to wake up.

Richard Dawkins term for ideas that live like parasites in the mind and have a life of their own is meme. I suggest watching this video first.

This video from Dan Dennett on Memes and dangerous ideas that direct their host to kill the hosts of other meme’s is worth watching.

Scientist and author Richard Dawkins published “The Selfish Gene” in 1976. Some background is provided here on this Wikipedia page.

Topics covered in this podcast include, ideas the the mind, how they act as parasites, references to the movie Inception, how ideas spread, have a life of their own, go viral, how our ideas control what we do. Our mind is a host of ideas.

#32: The most important thing for your happiness

on June 23, 2010 January 17, 2022 207 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#32: The most important thing for your happiness

00:00 / 38:38

The process of overcoming fears, identifying and changing core beliefs, dealing with emotions, meditation, being present with your emotions, and all the other myriad of steps you can take towards living a happy and fulfilling life can be overwhelming. So sometimes it helps to take a step back and have a sense of humor about the process.

For details on how you can take practical steps towards some of these most important things you can do the exercises in the Self Mastery Audio Program on my site. The first few sessions are available free for you to sample.

#31: Miguel Ruiz and The Fifth Agreement

on May 12, 2010 January 17, 2022 392 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#31: Miguel Ruiz and The Fifth Agreement

00:00 / 54:10

Interview with Miguel Ruiz about his book The Fifth Agreement
Don Miguel Ruiz talks about the book, The Fifth Agreement. It is a follow up and completes the teachings he started in The Four Agreements. In this interview he talks about how the belief system of the creates a virtual reality, judgment day, human sacrifices going on today, how we distort love, having respect for your self, how to use doubt to question your beliefs.

Miguel also shares about the development of his son, Don Jose Luis, and his intense passion for the truth that inspired him to write the book together. As well as how they both experienced his heart attack and how he was facing death without fear.

In short the Fifth Agreement is “Be skeptical, but learn to listen.” However just having this agreement doesn’t serve you as well unless you have the context of why it will lead you towards inner peace and happiness. In The Fifth Agreement Don Miguel explains the structure of language, and how from language we create symbols in our mind to explain experiences of life with our rational mind. He calls it knowledge. Over the years that language of symbols becomes alive in our mind and takes on a life of it’s own until we can not even stop our own thinking. We end up with a voice in our head that we can not control. In the process we lose the experience of inner quiet and peace. When you learn to be skeptical you take your faith out of all those symbols and recover the joy of peace and quiet in your own mind.

A link to Amazon.com where you can purchase a copy of The Fifth Agreement

#30: Overcoming anger using the Self Mastery program

on March 26, 2010 January 17, 2022 155 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#30: Overcoming anger using the Self Mastery program

00:00 / 46:26

I interviewed Joe who used the Self Mastery course to overcome his anger and anxiety reactions. He’s started to be aware that some of his emotional reactions are completely gone. At other times he finds it enjoyable to experience emotions that used to be unpleasant. He’s still working towards emotional mastery but is well on his way. In this interview he shares how the course has changed his anger reactions in traffic, relationships with his wife and kids and experiences at work.

After the interview I share some insights on why I think Joe’s approach is successful. He’s not approaching his emotional change with a sense of urgency. Rather he’s consistently addressing what’s going on in his belief system 10 and 15 minutes at a time. The fact that he’s working through things without being in a hurry means that it has a much larger strategic importance to him than just something you need to do in a hurry. When we are trying to change things in a hurry it’s usually because there is a fear driving our urgency. When you are trying to change an emotional state like anger or anxiety, and fear is driving you to do it, you are really only adding fuel to the fire.

An urgent approach is what you use when fear is driving your solution path. And you’ll probably give up working on the change when your emotions cycle again. A consistent approach is what you do when change is important enough to work at it long term.

Related Articles

The Self Mastery Course

Understanding Anger

What Causes Anger

PS. Joe is a lawyer by trade. If a lawyer can make embrace love, forgiveness, and happiness, then there’s hope for everyone. Either that… or we just got the whole lawyer stereotype completely wrong.

#29: Faith: the power behind your beliefs

on February 17, 2010 January 17, 2022 1,008 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#29: Faith: the power behind your beliefs

00:00 / 26:32

Faith is more than a set of beliefs there is no evidence for or a doctrine of religious beliefs. Faith is a force. It is an aspect of your personal willpower that you can use in various ways. One way to use the power of your faith is to invest it in conceptual ideas. In don Miguel Ruiz’s book The Fifth Agreement, he outlines a more impeccable use of the power of your faith.

We’ll be delving deeper into the insights in don Miguel Ruiz’s new book, The Fifth Agreement, in future audios. I think this one help fills in some gaps about the concept of faith and perhaps makes it a little less abstract.

#28: Conscious awakening

on January 21, 2010 January 17, 2022 199 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#28: Conscious awakening

00:00 / 51:11

Waking up to the unconscious beliefs in your mind is an uncomfortable and disconcerting realization. Realizing your unconscious beliefs have been leading you in a dream world of unnecessary emotional reactions, and sabotaging behaviors, all based on illusions in the mind is confusing and we often react with judgment and denial. It can also create a reaction where you feel powerless because you see these things controlling your mind and you can’t stop it.

In this podcast I outline what is happening so you can keep the process in a larger perspective. When you wake up you have no control over this and it takes some work to develop control over your attention and begin dismantling beliefs. The specific steps in how to do this and what to do are in the Self Mastery audio program.

#27: Reasoning your way out of fear

on July 17, 2009 January 17, 2022 276 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#27: Reasoning your way out of fear

00:00 / 40:13

Most fears are not rational. When we apply some skilled common sense and awareness to them we can detach. However applying reasoning skills to overcoming fears is an uphill battle. That’s because the emotions we feel push us against accepting truthful reasoning. That’s because our fictional, or false beliefs often make us feel better emotionally. This doesn’t mean that our false beliefs make us happy. Rather they just make us feel a lesser degree of bad. Our effort to overcome fears is furthered hampered because part of our reasoning mind is more concerned with just having an answer than it is with knowing the truth. When you direct your attention and intent towards knowing the truth, the truth will set you free from your fear based beliefs.

#26: Overcoming fear of what others think of you

on June 15, 2009 January 17, 2022 210 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#26: Overcoming fear of what others think of you

00:00 / 41:27

There is a structure of beliefs that support the fear of what others think of you. When you dismantle these beliefs, your fear dissipates, as well as the internal dialog that it drives. In this podcast I guide you through some of the resistance you will probably find when you attempt to overcome your fears.

This podcast probably won’t do every thing you need to strip away your fears, but will help you strip off one of the layers of resistance.

This podcast is part of my series on overcoming fears. When overcoming fears it is not just a matter of letting go of fear. You also have to work through the resistance to letting go of fear. One level of this resistance is the illusion that our fears help us to be safe. The claim I often hear people make is that their fears help them avoid dangers of getting hurt. This appears true, but isn’t. It isn’t the fear that helps us to be safe, but rather the heightened level of awareness that our fear raises that helps us to avoid painful outcomes.

Without awareness, fear could just as well be blinding us from something helpful. When we are in a panic attack our fear doesn’t seem to help us at all. We are so full of fear that we have difficulty seeing our way out.

So it is not the fear that helps us, but the heightened awareness that brings our attention to the situation that is the real help. If you find your self defending fear, then it is likely that you are misunderstanding it’s merits.

You will find practical exercises and steps to overcoming the false beliefs that generate your fears in the Self Mastery online course.

#25: Overcoming controlling behavior of jealousy and anger

on April 6, 2009 January 17, 2022 470 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#25: Overcoming controlling behavior of jealousy and anger

00:00 / 43:59

David started the Self Mastery audio program because he discovered some things about himself that he didn’t like. It was principally the emotions and behaviors of jealousy, anger, and being controlling in relationships. He had been doing it for more than 25 years but was not aware of it. It was difficult to see himself having this problem because David’s belief system masked and justified his behavior as “helping people”. In his mind he was serving and helping people. He was so busy playing the role of the hero that he didn’t see himself behind the mask.

Becoming aware that we have a controlling side of our personality can be painful, but only if we judge our self. However, not making changes in our controlling behavior is even more painful when we realize what it does to the people we love, and the people that love us. Great relationships are based in respect. You can’t be respectful, and believe you know better than someone else at the same time.

The first step in overcoming controlling behaviors of jealousy and anger is to change our perspective. We have to start looking at things differently and see different choices before we can make those choices.

You can listen to the 7 1/2 minute short audio David mentions. It is on the page about Overcoming Jealousy.

You can access the Self Mastery course that David has found as a means for so much personal change by signing up for free.

#24: Fear and origins of the financial crisis

on February 19, 2009 January 17, 2022 185 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#24: Fear and origins of the financial crisis

00:00 / 29:23

I cover how to use awareness to break free of fearful resistance to taking action. Just for fun I also get into understanding origins of the financial crisis. Credit default swaps, lobbying by banks to lower their equity reserve requirements, and speculation is not what caused the financial bubble and subsequent meltdown. These changes in the direction of the economy were actually the results of something else, a system of beliefs based in illusion, and propped up by faith. The problem with bubbles, financial, romantic, or otherwise, is that they originate in the mind as illusions. With enough faith in those illusions we create irrational exuberance, and people lose their commons sense to the hype of emotions generated from being overly optimistic.

Preventing future bubbles will not depend on good laws and government oversight, although that should help. What is really needed is a dose of awareness and skillful skepticism at what is going on in the realm of the imagination in terms of assumptions and beliefs. Skip becoming aware of how your mind creates illusions and we follow self destructive behaviors at your own peril.

It wasn’t just the general public that was caught in illusions. The lobbyists, investment bankers, legislators, were in a world of assumptions when they put laws into place. Unless of course you believe in those conspiracy theories that purport that high level banking types had a master plan in the meltdown. In which case I propose to you that they were lost in even more subtle, and deeply fear based set of illusions.

#23: Dealing with financial fears

on January 22, 2009 January 17, 2022 194 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#23: Dealing with financial fears

00:00 / 27:51

Dealing with and overcoming financial fears isn’t a one-step process. Those fears can be intertwined with real survival needs for the body like food, shelter, and providing for your children. Financial fears can also be from projected scenarios in the imagination that have nothing to do with reality. The imagination is a big source of fears that appear to be irrational. Financial failing can bring up fears related to self image, what others think of us, and self worth. Shedding your financial fears is a multi step process of un-layering beliefs in the mind. I’ve found that breaking free of financial fears is a process that is best addressed in steps. The first step is awareness. The second step is to get hold of your attention.

Some people address their financial fears by trying to amass enough wealth so that they feel financially safe. The assumption is that their money will protect their health, their physical security, and even protect them from emotional suffering. The truth is that no amount of money can protect you from fear. Money doesn’t give your mind immunity from fear, and the false beliefs that cause you to be fearful. In fact, for some people, having more money only exaggerates their financial fears. Wealth will allow you to build physical barriers around you and hire a medical team to assist your health. But the best protection against fear and other emotions of suffering is awareness.

To free your mind from fears, including financial fears, will take more than a good financial plan. It will take awareness and vigilance to keep your mind free from illusions, denial, and false hope that conspire to create emotional suffering.

In this podcast I address issues of denial about our financial situation, addressing resistance, and not judging or blaming our emotions of fear. This just puts a layer of confusion in the mind as to what is happening.

The Self Mastery online program will help you with exercises that raise your awareness, inventory and change your beliefs.It is awareness and consciousness that can free you from fear, not money.

#22: Change your life – interview with Holly

on December 12, 2008 January 17, 2022 177 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#22: Change your life - interview with Holly

00:00 / 34:47

You can change your life, but first, you have to change your beliefs. Beliefs are those mental constructs that drive our emotions of fear and sabotaging behavior. In this interview, I follow up with Holly who I interviewed in early 2007. She has continued to practice the exercises in the Self Mastery Course 1 and added the practices from the Self Mastery Course 2. The result is that she has transformed her emotions from fear to love. That emotional change has impacted her relationships as well.

#21: Fear Doctrine: The creation of anger and agression

on October 29, 2008 January 17, 2022 158 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#21: Fear Doctrine: The creation of anger and agression

00:00 / 1:04:56

Fear is at the core of anger and aggression. Yet we become so busy with the strategy of control and the act of aggression we rarely see the cause. We can see the emotional dynamic at work whether we look at our internal thoughts, relationships, or the macro relationships of countries. The basis if aggression is a primal instinct for survival. Through awareness we can elevate our self to make a different choice, a choice of kindness, compassion, love, and respect. Failure to awaken to this choice will leave humanity in a perpetual state of fear and emotional suffering.

People who choose aggression can be very intelligent. Intelligence is no defense against the insanity of violence. This is true whether that violence and anger takes place in our personal relationships, or international affairs.

A man who is not afraid is not aggressive; a man who has no sense of fear of any kind is really a free, a peaceful man. – Jiddu Krishnamurti

For specific practical exercises to identify and change core beliefs and perceptions of fear practice the work in the Self Mastery online course. The first few exercises are free.

#20: The value of a spiritual teacher or mentor

on July 25, 2008 January 17, 2022 184 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#20: The value of a spiritual teacher or mentor

00:00 / 39:23

If the emotional quality of your life and relationships were solely dependent on how smart you were then you wouldn’t need a teacher. But that isn’t the case. A book can’t teach or model for you self acceptance, respect, love or gratitude. Being happy in this chaotic world isn’t based on how smart you are. Even changing beliefs or negative thoughts isn’t easier because you have a high IQ.

As I explain in this episode, mastering your mind and emotions is more like a skill. Swimming, playing an musical instrument, or flying an airplane are all skills If you wanted to learn any of these skills would you get a coach or mentor? Then if you desired to change your emotional reactions and be happy, wouldn’t it make sense to get some good guidance as well? More about this in this episode.

#19: Understanding the spiritual journey

on June 26, 2008 January 17, 2022 182 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#19: Understanding the spiritual journey

00:00 / 43:28

All self help, personal development, growth, and self awareness work is part of the Spiritual Journey. That’s because Spirit means Life. And all of these endeavors should have an intent to facilitate greater happiness in your life. The mystery of the Spiritual Journey is that it happens within the realm of your perceptions, mind, emotions, and consciousness. There is no common external reference for clear communication. Much of what is passed down often gets distorted into myth and superstition by fear, self importance and ignorance. In spite of all these distortions and illusions the journey continues.

In this audio I attempt to put this in the language of common sense as much as possible.

Topics covered in this episode:

What is the value of ceremony and ritual?
Why reading all those self help and spiritual books won’t help much.
How do you measure your progress?
What is Dreaming?
What is the value of meditation, ceremony, ritual?
What is The Initiation of Death.

I also introduce the important element of your Point of Perception that is the critical element in determining all your beliefs and emotional state. Part of the intent of this podcast was to answer some of the questions I get about what goes on the Spiritual Journeys I lead.

#18: Changing habits and overcoming addictions

on May 17, 2008 January 17, 2022 263 Views

Awareness and Consciousness Podcast

#18: Changing habits and overcoming addictions

00:00 / 38:02

People attempt to change a habit or addiction by going cold turkey. This often raises the expectation too high and can set a person up for failure if they don’t yet have a lot of personal power or discipline. The result is failing and self judgment. That can lead to more emotional suffering. The alternative is to perceive your addiction or habit as comprising many small habits and then to systematically change those small habits.

Each action we take that is negative or self destructive is based in a false belief. That belief is only powerful because you put your faith in that idea. The conceptual idea could be the idea that we are not worthy, lovable, or that we are smarter than someone else. We then act, on that belief in a way of action, or inaction. These actions or inactions often become habits because we maintain the same beliefs. When those habits are self destructive, and we have difficulty changing them we call them addictions.

When you change the core beliefs behind an action, it becomes easy to change the habit. The steps to changing a habit or addiction are:

Awareness and perception: You can not change what you are not aware of.
Desire: If you have no desire to make change, then you will take no action.
Intent and commitment: Your intent is the channeling of that desire towards a new expression or action that involves change.
New action: A new action will replace your old habit. Sometimes that action might just be refrain.
Manage expectations: If you set the bar too high, or have not prepared your self for your actions, you can fail. That will usually lead to self judgment.
Acceptance: What will derail your persistence is self judgment. When you judge your self as a failure, you can put your self into a downward emotional spiral. That emotional spiral starts with self judgment, and is broken when you practice self acceptance.
Persistence: Some habits are bigger than others and will take longer to break and replace. You may fall down many times, but it only matters how many times you stand up. Your ability to persist in breaking your habit or addiction, even after you have fallen, will be depend on your awareness, and desire.

The Self Mastery course offers practical exercises in building self awareness, changing beliefs, and self sabotaging habits and addictions.