I remember a time when silence was awkward.
Back then, there was an urge for ME to fill the void.
Say something!
Say anything!
And if my racing, fill-the-void mind can’t find something to say, then please-oh-please can one of you get your fill-the-void mind to fill it for us!?
Then came a great relief in the realisation that the source of all experience is prior to self…Â It’s the first of 3 keys I’ve found to living (and speaking) your Divine Expression…
And I’m going to walk you through each of them here…
KEY 1: The Source Of All Experience Is Prior To Self
I suppose that could do with a little further explanation – so if you’re up for it, come down the proverbial rabbit hole with me…
As I pointed out in my ‘Bad News for Control Freaks‘ post:
“Enlightened Masters, Quantum Physicists & Brain Researchers agree that fundamentally there’s no personal causality & every perceived reality is entirely at consequence to God/The Field/The Subconscious (pick your label)”
A slightly softer way to look at this, is to say there’s a heck of a lot going on that you are simply not aware of. And this stuff has way more influence than most people ever dare contemplate.
And… if I’m really honest, using the word ‘influence’ is pulling my punches. Â
How so?
Well, if you follow any thought, impulse or inspiration back to it’s source, you’ll very quickly get beyond the self and into a much grander, more intricately connected consciousness.
For example: A simple act of ‘personal will’ like picking an ice cream flavour…
Vanilla or Chocolate?
Your choice right?
Let’s follow the trail…
Well it might land in your ‘actionable mental inbox’ as a preference, in the form of a thought: “I fancy chocolate today”… but where did that thought come from? What was the source of that thought..?
Now clearly there isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to that, and you’re unlikely to truly experience the answer by chasing it with another thought.
But if you ask yourself the question “What is the source of this thought/experience?” and let the answer find you… then you’ll likely have a direct experience of something greater than your personal self.
Things I have heard when I’ve done this exercise with people include:
Stillness, nowhere, vastness, silence, energy, Source…
Sometimes it takes a few steps… like “Well I felt like it”… OK, so what is the source of that feeling? “Er… well it’s like pleasure”… Great, so what is the source of that pleasure? “Er… I don’t know”… Great so what is the source of that not knowing? “Ooh… it’s like a vastness”… you get the idea.
Some would argue that this is still the self, or even some ‘truer‘ Self.
That, unfortunately, is simply a modern re-imagining of our pre-Galileo notion that the Earth was the centre of the Universe, around which all things revolved. Â
I know it may be seen like heresy in the modern Spiritual age, and I’m inviting you to consider that both these ideas serve to keep the self safe in a bubble of (ahem) self-importance and the illusion of control.
With a little dogma-free, and sober inquiry this vast consciousness reveals itself to be beyond local/personal comprehension and control. It’s the non-personal, and as long as I exist as distinctly me – even a grand idea of me as a Soul, or God itself –  there’s a ‘me’ and the relationship I have with the unknowable beyond.
In other words, there’s a distinct ‘you’ which is only a tiny part of something much greater.
So I call it God, the Infinite Field or some other derivative, and through my relationship with it, I come to know it and myself as best I can.
So what’s all this got to do with words speaking you?
KEY 2: Shifting Your Attention From ‘The Causal I’ to ‘The Receptive I’
Once you become aware that you are part of something bigger, you can begin to make a paradigm shift in the areas of responsibility, attention & control.
It’s a process over time, but when you really get that the experience of self is at consequence to a greater force, your attention can shift dramatically from a causal I and the heavy world-on-my-shoulders responsibility that brings… to a receptive I that basks in the gifts of The Divine.
The Causal I
In causal mode, you believe you are responsible for creating all that you want. For correcting your perceived imperfections. For managing your emotions, and the emotions of those around you. The list goes on.
You must therefore KNOW what to say. You must gather knowledge and expertise. You must crack the formula. YOU must determine the action to take and take it. It’s an almighty effort to be sure…
You get to assume the credit, but of course you also risk the blame – for you perceive yourself to be personally responsible.
In the silence, someone has to take up the slack; find the words that will fill the void and keep the self alive.
Rarely do the words that come from the formulaic causal I truly inspire. They can seem shiny and good but are, most likely, hollow and powerless in any real way. Kind of the ‘fake tan’ end of the ‘power of the word’ spectrum.
The Receptive I
In receptive mode the self becomes effortlessly attentive to the subtle movements within the non-personal as they coincide with the personal. (Take a breath, I’ll explain that later)
The self becomes attuned to the rhythm of The Divine, and discerns its presence amongst the noise.
In this way the dance becomes synchronous, harmonious, in time, responsive. The self surrenders to the rhythm and is moved. The pattern of Graceful genius becomes expressed through the receptive I.
In the silence, the self is cradled by The Divine; feeling it’s innate support, feeling it’s innate power; buoyed by the waves.
The experience is akin to that feeling against your back when the car you are in sets off. It’s a feeling of being moved, and the words speak.
Living in the realm of the receptive I requires you to surrender the habitual causal I and nurture an active ability to notice what is ‘moving’. The term I use for ‘what is moving’ is animation…
KEY 3: AnimationÂ
In case you don’t know, NPA stands for Non-Personal Awareness and The NPA Process is a very simple and very effective tool for letting go of the yukky stuff and letting in the yummy stuff of life. Most people know it as a beautifully simple way to stop taking stuff personally… and it’s much more than that.
Because The NPA Process seems so simple (it’s just 6 lines long!), people often cheat themselves of the greater opportunity it brings them. To put it bluntly, they think that once they have the lines that’s it… they’ve got it and need go no further.
That’s like putting a dusty old painting from your attic in a boot sale; never realising you sold a Rembrandt original for a fiver.Â
There is an art to using The NPA Process…
And those that choose to do the further trainings will tell you that something amazing happens once they have mastered this ‘art’.
What they quickly realise, is that they have gained a powerful skill whose benefits go WAY beyond just using The NPA Process. It’s a skill which allows you to master your alignment with your moment-by-moment Divine Expression.
It’s the skill of spotting the ‘animation’ in any given moment.
Animation is one of several unique terms we use within the NPA toolkit. To quote the Non-Personal Terminology Handbook, spotting animation is the skill of:
“Becoming effortlessly attentive to the subtle movements within the non-personal as they coincide with the personal”.
That’s a very technical and precise description, and I promised to explain it earlier…
So, in simple terms, you could say it’s the skill of listening to (and receiving) The Divine. And, by the way, this is something which can only happen in the realm of the Receptive I.
In both the NPA: Basic Training video programme, and my NPA: The Bridge audio programme, I go to great lengths to help you understand how key the skill of spotting animation is to experiencing Graceful and powerful NPA processes.Â
So as you practice and become skilled with The NPA Process, not only do you make a positive difference to the small and big stuff in your life, but you also move yourself firmly into the Divine realm of The Receptive I.
I can’t emphasise it enough: This is an incredible life skill!
When you start effortlessly listening to The Divine, your life becomes magical.
You experience alignment, clarity and flow.  An effortless grace infuses your life experience. The words begin to speak you, life begins to carry you and silence ceases to be scary. In fact silence, and the whole backdrop of your life, transforms into a source of inspired potential.
THE NPA PROCESS: BASIC TRAINING…
“This video programme will walk you step by step through the core training of The NPA Process and give you what you need to get started making a difference in your life right away with NPA.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
When Words Speak You
These days, I am un-phased by silence and have no need to fill it. I speak when words speak me. I am quiet when they don’t.
And I invite you to join me here…
For when words speak you, they carry the rhythm and power of The Divine. The pattern of Graceful genius as expressed through YOUÂ can begin to emerge… For your joy, and the benefit of all.
As always, I welcome your comments, and am grateful if you choose to share this musing. The best place to start your journey to a magical animation led life is HERE ♥
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