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Handbook to Higher Consciousness
This perennial bestseller is more popular than ever and has helped countless people experience dramatic changes in their lives from the time they begin applying the simple, effective techniques.
215 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
87 people are currently reading
1895 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
August 25, 2008
Written in 1975, this is a New Age classic and a truly awful book. Normally I just ignore awful books, but I have some things to say about exactly why the worldview presented by Keyes is toxic.
The post-colon half of this book's title is "The Science of Happiness," which points to two ways this book is false: first, it teaches that spirituality is a science (it is not, it is an art). Second, it teaches that the goal of spiritual development is personal happiness (and it's not -- personal happiness is an accidental byproduct of spiritual development, but paradoxically, spiritual progress can only be made by cultivating selflessness).
Keyes mixes a watered down version of Asian spiritual philosophy with self help and humanist philosophy, producing a program that is part Forum and part Scientology. You are a biocomputer, which is capable of producing absolute bliss at all times, but has been improperly programmed to produce pain, and by reprogramming yourself, you can fix all of your problems. The first step is getting rid of all addictive behaviour, defined here as "emotion-backed desires." ALL desires based on "need" are considered unhealthy. The enlightened person learns to let go of all need, and learn to think of desires as preferences instead. We must learn to love everyone unconditionally, including ourselves. Keyes' "Living Love" system for self realization includes affirmations like "I always remember that I have everything I ned to enjoy my here and now -- unless I am letting my consciousness be dominated by demands and expectations based on the dead past and the imagined future."
There is some good advice in here, especially about how to break addictive thought patterns. The problem is that the overall worldview is narrow, shallow, rigid, and narcissistic. Keyes writes, "A practical rule of thumb for one starting on the road to higher consciousness is to grant oneself emotion-backed demands for physical necessities such as air, food if starving, or shelter if about to freeze -- and all other addictions are sickness!"
If taken literally -- and make no mistake, Keyes means you to take him literally -- here are some "sick" thoughts that need to be "corrected" by the Living Love plan:
-- my child needs good schools
-- I need the factory across the road to stop spewing out air pollution
-- I deserve to be safe from physical violence
If a woman trapped in an abusive relationship were to read this book, she would be taught by Keyes that her problem was with her own perception of her situation -- there is nothing wrong with being raped and beaten, it is only your addiction to safety that is creating your emotional discomfort. And if the abusive husband read this book, here's Keyes' advice: "You can do anything you prefer as long as you are not addicted. For when you are free of addictions, your actions will be characterized by wisdom and oneness." So as long as you don't NEED to rape, but merely prefer it, go right ahead.
There is no moral compass in this book at all, only infantile narcissism. That is why this worldview has such a deep and lasting appeal for the American middle and upper classes -- it IS useful advice if your biggest problem is where to shop this weekend, and it WILL help you stop obsessing about your neuroses. Furthermore, this book will help bolster the delusion that the world of the privileged, white, educated American is the only reality that exists, and nothing matters but furthering their comfort. If, on the other hand, you are a Haitian peasant trying to get health care for your child, this is a cheap and ludicrous book.
This book is to Buddhism as strawberry pop tarts are to strawberries.
The post-colon half of this book's title is "The Science of Happiness," which points to two ways this book is false: first, it teaches that spirituality is a science (it is not, it is an art). Second, it teaches that the goal of spiritual development is personal happiness (and it's not -- personal happiness is an accidental byproduct of spiritual development, but paradoxically, spiritual progress can only be made by cultivating selflessness).
Keyes mixes a watered down version of Asian spiritual philosophy with self help and humanist philosophy, producing a program that is part Forum and part Scientology. You are a biocomputer, which is capable of producing absolute bliss at all times, but has been improperly programmed to produce pain, and by reprogramming yourself, you can fix all of your problems. The first step is getting rid of all addictive behaviour, defined here as "emotion-backed desires." ALL desires based on "need" are considered unhealthy. The enlightened person learns to let go of all need, and learn to think of desires as preferences instead. We must learn to love everyone unconditionally, including ourselves. Keyes' "Living Love" system for self realization includes affirmations like "I always remember that I have everything I ned to enjoy my here and now -- unless I am letting my consciousness be dominated by demands and expectations based on the dead past and the imagined future."
There is some good advice in here, especially about how to break addictive thought patterns. The problem is that the overall worldview is narrow, shallow, rigid, and narcissistic. Keyes writes, "A practical rule of thumb for one starting on the road to higher consciousness is to grant oneself emotion-backed demands for physical necessities such as air, food if starving, or shelter if about to freeze -- and all other addictions are sickness!"
If taken literally -- and make no mistake, Keyes means you to take him literally -- here are some "sick" thoughts that need to be "corrected" by the Living Love plan:
-- my child needs good schools
-- I need the factory across the road to stop spewing out air pollution
-- I deserve to be safe from physical violence
If a woman trapped in an abusive relationship were to read this book, she would be taught by Keyes that her problem was with her own perception of her situation -- there is nothing wrong with being raped and beaten, it is only your addiction to safety that is creating your emotional discomfort. And if the abusive husband read this book, here's Keyes' advice: "You can do anything you prefer as long as you are not addicted. For when you are free of addictions, your actions will be characterized by wisdom and oneness." So as long as you don't NEED to rape, but merely prefer it, go right ahead.
There is no moral compass in this book at all, only infantile narcissism. That is why this worldview has such a deep and lasting appeal for the American middle and upper classes -- it IS useful advice if your biggest problem is where to shop this weekend, and it WILL help you stop obsessing about your neuroses. Furthermore, this book will help bolster the delusion that the world of the privileged, white, educated American is the only reality that exists, and nothing matters but furthering their comfort. If, on the other hand, you are a Haitian peasant trying to get health care for your child, this is a cheap and ludicrous book.
This book is to Buddhism as strawberry pop tarts are to strawberries.
February 16, 2011
Wow. Everyone should read this book. Defining the "obvious." Teaching how to operate from higher consciousness, and what that means, instead of animalistic-automatic-emotion-backed-responses. Great stuff. Life changing in an internal way... reprogramming.
November 1, 2013
This is the most profoundly practical book to clean up your unhappiness act and choose a happy way of life. It's neuroscience reprogramming before its time. (It sold a million copies in the 1970's. I just reread it and am amazed how much working with it had bettered my life. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
July 12, 2012
I read this book at age 15. I can still say that it is one of the most influential books I ever read.
October 12, 2015
This little gem of a book brings some of Taoism and Buddhism into a western framework. Ken Keyes views suffering being the result of "emotionally backed demands" which he labels "addictions.
The book was written at a time when the word "addiction" wasn't used unthinkingly by pop culture. I don't know that he was the first to use the word as he did, but I don't remember anyone earlier in my readings.
It is easy to skim the book and misunderstand his view. But here it is in a nutshell.
Life happens. You win some and you lose some. If you have a problem and there is something you can do about it, you probably ought to go do that. Nowhere does he recommend you put up with abuse or the ill manners of others or bullying, etc. If there is something you can do about your problem, he's a pragmatist and recommends you be one as well.
But sometimes, you can't do anything about your problem. Sometimes, you are not in control. It is here that Keyes begins talking about his methodology. He suggests that if you can let go of your emotionally backed demands - your addictions - you will be able to relax more and be happier. He provides 12 explorations of "letting go," and also explores 7 ways that we orient ourselves in the world. The 12 ways begin with aphorisms and the 7 orientations he calls "centers of consciousness."
The material should be easy to understand for anyone of average intelligence and a reasonable command of the English language.
It is a book that can help, even if you do nothing with the information. You will at least have something to think about and this can help you let go more easily. But if you start working with it, you can begin experiencing some real changes that will please you.
I highly recommend this book, and my one wish about it right now is that it be available on Kindle.
The book was written at a time when the word "addiction" wasn't used unthinkingly by pop culture. I don't know that he was the first to use the word as he did, but I don't remember anyone earlier in my readings.
It is easy to skim the book and misunderstand his view. But here it is in a nutshell.
Life happens. You win some and you lose some. If you have a problem and there is something you can do about it, you probably ought to go do that. Nowhere does he recommend you put up with abuse or the ill manners of others or bullying, etc. If there is something you can do about your problem, he's a pragmatist and recommends you be one as well.
But sometimes, you can't do anything about your problem. Sometimes, you are not in control. It is here that Keyes begins talking about his methodology. He suggests that if you can let go of your emotionally backed demands - your addictions - you will be able to relax more and be happier. He provides 12 explorations of "letting go," and also explores 7 ways that we orient ourselves in the world. The 12 ways begin with aphorisms and the 7 orientations he calls "centers of consciousness."
The material should be easy to understand for anyone of average intelligence and a reasonable command of the English language.
It is a book that can help, even if you do nothing with the information. You will at least have something to think about and this can help you let go more easily. But if you start working with it, you can begin experiencing some real changes that will please you.
I highly recommend this book, and my one wish about it right now is that it be available on Kindle.
September 7, 2011
This book helped me to recognise how to change things that I did not know how to change about myself.For someone who did not possess the skills needed to begin making changes in my life, this guided me in a gentle,practical way.I still use some of it daily.It helps you to begin the internal dialog needed to begin healing a cycle of wrong thinking.If you know someone who is struggling with trying to do better but they honestly do not know how, suggest this book to them or make sure they get a copy.It helped me so much to begin the long journey to my true self.
June 14, 2017
I would recommend this book to everyone. It brings home how most of the suffering in our lives comes from the meaning we attach to things and not the events themselves.
Is it sensible to be upset if it rains? It does also use the exmple of spilt milk... Unless we are starving and that is the only sustenance we have perhaps these things aren't worth upsetting ourselves about and wouldn't we be happier without those upsets?
The difficulty is in overcoming our habitiual programming... Despite our cortex and ability of higher conscious thought we can still be beaten by lesser beings who adapt and don't hold on to (addictions) of how we want things to be.
A rat following a tunnel that no longer produces cheese will soon give up and look elsewhere.
An adult will stand on a podium and give speeches about how cheese should still be there, they will finance expeditions to look for it and pass laws that we must act as though cheese exists.
When we were 2 years old, crying and tantrums often got us what we wanted. Some adults continue to act in these ways, despite them not getting results or getting the wrong kind of results.
Is it sensible to be upset if it rains? It does also use the exmple of spilt milk... Unless we are starving and that is the only sustenance we have perhaps these things aren't worth upsetting ourselves about and wouldn't we be happier without those upsets?
The difficulty is in overcoming our habitiual programming... Despite our cortex and ability of higher conscious thought we can still be beaten by lesser beings who adapt and don't hold on to (addictions) of how we want things to be.
A rat following a tunnel that no longer produces cheese will soon give up and look elsewhere.
An adult will stand on a podium and give speeches about how cheese should still be there, they will finance expeditions to look for it and pass laws that we must act as though cheese exists.
When we were 2 years old, crying and tantrums often got us what we wanted. Some adults continue to act in these ways, despite them not getting results or getting the wrong kind of results.
June 22, 2018
This book is revolutionary. It helped me to recognize a lot of the ego-based behaviors and reactions that were creating unnecessary stress in my life--and to reframe them in what amounted to a paradigm shift. After reading the book and applying a few techniques, I felt a MUCH closer oneness with ALL the people around me--family, strangers, and friends. It seemed to help me return to an easy countenance that I could only remember harboring DECADES ago. Beyond that, one of the appendixes answered my question as to how to recommend the book without being pushy. It's a fairly easy read, and I completed it in about a week.
February 1, 2015
I've read easily over a hundred books on self development, psychology and consciousness...I would say this is easily in the top 3 of those books, if not the best book I've ever read.
February 14, 2016
You can end your search here.
April 7, 2019
"Are you depressed? Well, have you tried being happy?"
If you have ever heard that and were justifiably angered, skip this book.
If you are curious about Eastern philosophy, and have never heard of the Bhagavad Gita or the Dhammapada, this could serve as an introduction to some of the concepts. I'd say it's just a plagiarized mix of the two if it weren't for all the new age pseudoscience mixed in.
This book was probably a good thing when it was first written, and I imagine it did help a lot of people in its day when foreign scripture wasn't so known or accessible.
These days, a copy of something like the Gita is rather easy to come by. There's no need for a watered down version that also promises that it can make you happy right now and forever. I am tempted to find an electronic copy just to count how many times the word "biocomputer" is in there, but I'm okay with leaving it at "too many".
At the outset I might have recommended this to someone completely new to the ideas described here, but after reading further selections, there's just better books with those same ideas and less baggage. I see statements like "love and life are the same thing" or "you have everything you need to be happy right now" (are you going to say that to someone suffering from a bowel obstruction?) and it seems so ingenuous. I haven't got time for it.
I see that the number one recommendation for people who enjoyed this book is from David Icke, of lizard-people fame. Any reservations I might have had about giving up on it are gone now.
If you have ever heard that and were justifiably angered, skip this book.
If you are curious about Eastern philosophy, and have never heard of the Bhagavad Gita or the Dhammapada, this could serve as an introduction to some of the concepts. I'd say it's just a plagiarized mix of the two if it weren't for all the new age pseudoscience mixed in.
This book was probably a good thing when it was first written, and I imagine it did help a lot of people in its day when foreign scripture wasn't so known or accessible.
These days, a copy of something like the Gita is rather easy to come by. There's no need for a watered down version that also promises that it can make you happy right now and forever. I am tempted to find an electronic copy just to count how many times the word "biocomputer" is in there, but I'm okay with leaving it at "too many".
At the outset I might have recommended this to someone completely new to the ideas described here, but after reading further selections, there's just better books with those same ideas and less baggage. I see statements like "love and life are the same thing" or "you have everything you need to be happy right now" (are you going to say that to someone suffering from a bowel obstruction?) and it seems so ingenuous. I haven't got time for it.
I see that the number one recommendation for people who enjoyed this book is from David Icke, of lizard-people fame. Any reservations I might have had about giving up on it are gone now.
February 5, 2017
Self-published in 1972 and selling a million copies, this is one of the best books I have ever read on spirituality (challenging my all-time favourites Byron Katie, Neale Donald Walsch, Anthony de Mello). This handbook is potentially life-transforming.
Ken Keyes clearly and persuasively lays out twelve pathways, seven centres of consciousness, and five methods to overcome the addictive emotion-based demands (models of how we believe the world should be and should treat us) that cause all of our suffering.
According to Wikipedia, Keyes was also an utter dude, who lived on a yacht and on a bus, giving over his personal fortune and book royalties to his non-profit spiritual organisations.
Ken Keyes clearly and persuasively lays out twelve pathways, seven centres of consciousness, and five methods to overcome the addictive emotion-based demands (models of how we believe the world should be and should treat us) that cause all of our suffering.
According to Wikipedia, Keyes was also an utter dude, who lived on a yacht and on a bus, giving over his personal fortune and book royalties to his non-profit spiritual organisations.
December 12, 2016
The language may seem dated (this was written in 1975), but it is a wonderfully practical self-help book. The "Higher Consciousness" referred to isn't necessarily anything mystical; it's about changing your mental "addictions" to "preferences," so that if you don't get what you want, you can be happy anyway. Keyes invented very effective tools for doing that. I've read many self-help books and most don't really "stick," they don't make much difference. This book has made a noticeable, positive difference in my life.
May 25, 2014
This book is a great primer if you haven't read too deeply or widely into eastern philosophy or new age self-help books. The most valuable piece of info in this book is probably the little boxed blurb on page 87 that says:
TO BE FREE:
1. Explore the suffering.
2. Pinpoint the addictive demand.
3. Reprogram the addictive demand.
4. Experience the freedom.
The whole notion of addictions and preferences was a fresh concept to me. A lot of Ken Keyes's info hit me as old hat and overdone, but the language he uses is pretty clear and concise. The only problem I had with it was the depth of love required to follow his "Living Love Way." The notion of always turning the other cheek and never striking back at those who seek to hurt others is a little misguided, if well-intentioned. Sure, he makes allowances for removing oneself from damaging situations, but I can see how his "love everyone always" approach could very easily backfire.
TO BE FREE:
1. Explore the suffering.
2. Pinpoint the addictive demand.
3. Reprogram the addictive demand.
4. Experience the freedom.
The whole notion of addictions and preferences was a fresh concept to me. A lot of Ken Keyes's info hit me as old hat and overdone, but the language he uses is pretty clear and concise. The only problem I had with it was the depth of love required to follow his "Living Love Way." The notion of always turning the other cheek and never striking back at those who seek to hurt others is a little misguided, if well-intentioned. Sure, he makes allowances for removing oneself from damaging situations, but I can see how his "love everyone always" approach could very easily backfire.
May 17, 2017
I think that the only way to appreciate this book is to be at a point in your life, as the author says, where you want your inner peace and happiness increase more than you want to change the world around you in order to generate feelings of peace and happiness.
The Living Love Way to Higher Consciousness explored by the author can easily be seen as simply "turning the other cheek", but with careful thought and meditation, always asking "What's the essence of what this is saying?", most people would probably find the methods explored here to not only be practical, but extremely effective.
I saw BIG, little transformations in the relatively small period of time I spent reading and reflecting on this book. I absolutely plan to re-read it a few times.
The Living Love Way to Higher Consciousness explored by the author can easily be seen as simply "turning the other cheek", but with careful thought and meditation, always asking "What's the essence of what this is saying?", most people would probably find the methods explored here to not only be practical, but extremely effective.
I saw BIG, little transformations in the relatively small period of time I spent reading and reflecting on this book. I absolutely plan to re-read it a few times.
October 21, 2015
The book has some really good ideas - nothing really new as far as standard enlightment goes but it does a nice job of connecting concepts with basic psychology. The one gripe I have with this book is that it is very repetitive - it could be a third shorter but still be able to convey its splendid ideas.
July 3, 2016
I am surprised by how relevant the book is given that it was published over 40 years ago. Compared to other books dealing with the same issue, the book offers more practical advice that is actionable. I also liked the summary in the appendixes, which you can keep as a reminder to refresh your mind once in a while.
July 9, 2016
Ken Keyes outlined steps you can take to bring yourself to a higher level of consciousness. I keep a copy of this book and review it again and again. I don't know how many times that the information in this book has helped me through negative situations.
May 22, 2017
A lot of good advices and a good reflection about happinness.
February 16, 2019
I read this book at a time when staying in the "now" was my only chance to keep from projecting a horrible future. It helped me so much.
November 25, 2020
I cannot recommend this book enough. It is one of the most impactful things that I've read, and I am incredibly grateful to have come into contact with it.
Acceptance of what is is a major theme here. And it's important to define what I mean by acceptance. I don't mean liking everything that happens. I don't mean letting go of preferences. I don't mean giving up and simply letting life flow over you. What I mean when I say acceptance is being able to look at what's actually happening right now and acknowledging that this is the present moment. The author talks a lot about the dead past and the imagined future, and those phrases reverberate through me. The dead past and the imagined future. Two things that perpetually haunt me, two things that pull my attention away from what actually is happening right now. So much of my suffering comes from gritted teeth and looking away and denial of what is and prevention of what I don't want to be.
What this book does really well, what this book does that almost nothing else that I've interacted with does well, is that it understands where I am. So many self-help or spiritual or mental health books will point you toward where you want to be. They show you the destination. But so often they fail to meet someone where they are in their journey. And I don't know about you, but I have a really hard time updating and making a change if the person giving me advice doesn't make it clear that they understand why I'm doing what I'm doing in the first place.
But Ken Keyes Jr. knows intimately what it's like to be stuck in a place of fear and anger and every tight little bundled up emotion. He offers one example after another of how a situation might go down, why you might respond the way you do, and highlights exactly how that leads to a result that you don't want. And then he'll take that same situation, offer an alternate approach, and meticulously lay out how this different approach will get you what you actually want.
This book is clearly the culmination of years of self work and work with other. It has clear models and clear techniques. I've tried all the techniques and I'm getting significant gains from them. So if this interests you, I definitely recommend checking out. The e-book is available for free online.
Acceptance of what is is a major theme here. And it's important to define what I mean by acceptance. I don't mean liking everything that happens. I don't mean letting go of preferences. I don't mean giving up and simply letting life flow over you. What I mean when I say acceptance is being able to look at what's actually happening right now and acknowledging that this is the present moment. The author talks a lot about the dead past and the imagined future, and those phrases reverberate through me. The dead past and the imagined future. Two things that perpetually haunt me, two things that pull my attention away from what actually is happening right now. So much of my suffering comes from gritted teeth and looking away and denial of what is and prevention of what I don't want to be.
What this book does really well, what this book does that almost nothing else that I've interacted with does well, is that it understands where I am. So many self-help or spiritual or mental health books will point you toward where you want to be. They show you the destination. But so often they fail to meet someone where they are in their journey. And I don't know about you, but I have a really hard time updating and making a change if the person giving me advice doesn't make it clear that they understand why I'm doing what I'm doing in the first place.
But Ken Keyes Jr. knows intimately what it's like to be stuck in a place of fear and anger and every tight little bundled up emotion. He offers one example after another of how a situation might go down, why you might respond the way you do, and highlights exactly how that leads to a result that you don't want. And then he'll take that same situation, offer an alternate approach, and meticulously lay out how this different approach will get you what you actually want.
This book is clearly the culmination of years of self work and work with other. It has clear models and clear techniques. I've tried all the techniques and I'm getting significant gains from them. So if this interests you, I definitely recommend checking out. The e-book is available for free online.
April 10, 2019
Found this book in the Black Rock City library :) it is full of wisdom and great ideas but they are all portrayed in a very complicated language. The author make interesting points on how improve your happiness levels, yet many of them look dogmatic - “do this and you will be happy forever”. Also my feeling was that the author was preaching to the choir trying to explain things that people on a higher consciousness level understand anyway. My call - a nice self help book to skim through & remind yourself about the importance of gratitude & positive thinking
June 5, 2023
A mind blowing book on the emotional programming that drives our whole lives. At first I was skeptical about much of what the author was talking about but the more I read, the more it made sense.
Written in the 1970's, this book encourages reprogramming of your habitual, emotionally-backed reactions/responses. Unknowingly we accumulate ego-based behaviors throughout life which create unnecessary stress in our lives. A direct and rapid way to find happiness is through using your negative emotional feelings to show you which parts of your biocomputer need reprogramming.
"I always remember that I have everything I need to enjoy my here and now -- unless I am letting my consciousness be dominated by demands and expectations based on the dead past and the imagined future."
Diamonds discovered:
- We see things not as they are -- but as we are. Take full responsibility here and now for everything I experience, for it is my own programming that creates my actions and influences the reactions of people around me.
- I act freely when I am tuned in, centered, and loving, but if possible I avoid acting when I am emotionally upset and depriving myself of the wisdom that flows from love and expanded consciousness.
- Unexpressed feelings act like a cancer in your brain that malignantly spreads -- warping your perceptions and bringing you alienation and suffering. When you repress, you do not express what you are feeling because you are afraid of the consequences.
- Even if life gives us 90 percent of what we want and protects us from 90 percent of what we dislike or fear, the remaining 10 percent will nag our consciousness, dominate our perceptions, perpetuate the churning of our rational mind to “solve the problem,” and otherwise keep us from experiencing the state of happiness. Right now, you are not being criticized, not being beaten up physically, not being starved -- and the fact that these things are not happening results in no feeling of either disappointment or pleasure since your consciousness is not preoccupied with the matter.
- Addictive programming triggers your thoughts, ideas, and words in a persistent and dominating way. Most of the programming that directs the activity of our emotions consists of antiquated patterns that we programmed during infancy and early childhood when we were not sufficiently conscious to clearly evaluate the addictions of our parents, teachers, etc.
- Most of the people in the world are addicted to these three lower Centers -- the Security Center, the Sensation Center, and the Power Center. They developed for survival in the jungle phase of the evolution of our species. The automated priority of awareness in an animal is to first check incoming information for its security aspects, then its sensation (food or sex) possibilities, then its threats to the power boundaries with which the animal identifies.
When you are operating on lower consciousness levels, you have no choice. You tend to immediately utter every “urgent thought” that comes into your mind -- even if it means interrupting another person. As you grow into higher consciousness, you are able to simply observe the computer-like, automated “printout” that is taking place in your rational mind.
- A subtle addiction does not get you upset emotionally -- but with a subtle addiction your consciousness is preoccupied with the addiction for a period of minutes, hours, or days. We may kid ourselves that we are thinking profoundly and continually about a subject, but we’re actually churning away most inefficiently and ineffectively -- and diverting energy and consciousness that could be more optimally used.
- As you grow into higher consciousness, you can love everyone regardless of what he or she says or does. Even if someone attacks you fiercely through words or even hits you, he is simply playing out his addictions. He is trying to get you to act differently so that his addictions will not trouble him when he interacts with you. If someone does something that “hurts your ego,” you will grow fastest if you consciously regard him or her as your teacher, who is enabling you to discover which addictions you will have to reprogram.
- You can regard others as actors on the cosmic stage who are here to
make you aware of your addictions. They are helping you by creating
situations in which your emotions reveal the hiding places of your addictions.
- It’s often better to give other people space to find their own
errors or to let the natural chain of events in their life show them where they have to change. Arguing at every opportunity in order to convince people that you are right and others are wrong simply means that you are trapped by your rational mind and are unconsciously and mechanically acting out your security, sensation, and power addictions.
- Everyone is on the road to awakening. We learn to love others by accepting and loving ourselves -- and vice versa. Whenever you are in doubt about whether to do something or not, just ask yourself whether it makes you feel more separate from people or more loving toward people.
- When you are emotionally upset, you then have a superlative opportunity to reprogram your addictions by using the Consciousness Focusing Method. It can only be used effectively at those moments when your existing emotional programming is creating in you feelings of duality and separateness and destroying your capacity to love. Whatever you tell yourself at this time is absolutely crucial. So be sure to blame all of your uptightness on your addictive programming.
Method of Consciousness Focusing
1. Explore the suffering.
review the bare facts of the incident that triggered your fear, anger, jealousy, or other disturbing feelings. Then let yourself experience the suffering that you are creating inside of you. Notice how your body feels. “What is it that is bothering me the most?” “What is the worst thing that could happen?”
2. Pinpoint the addiction.
The cause of the suffering will always be an emotion-backed program in your head. If you did not have this addictive demand, the outside events would be powerless to trigger what you are now
experiencing. At the time of the incident, how did you want things to be? What programmed attitudes or models did you have of how you should be, of how others should be, of how the drama “should” have been played? “In this situation, exactly what am I addictively demanding?”
“What do I think I have to have in order to be happy?”
3. Reprogram the addiction (Select your reprogramming phrases)
Do you see how this addiction makes you act like a robot that responds automatically?
Can you see the repeated pattern of suffering that this addiction has created in your life?
To change the old programming, choose one or two short, pithy reprogramming phrases that counteract specific demands. To counteract the demand for approval, the phrase “I don’t need approval”.
Prepare to reprogram by replaying the scene and re-experiencing your emotions. Really get in touch with the suffering your addictions have caused you and with your determination to get free.
4. Focus your consciousness on reprogramming (The suffering stops)
It’s your determination and will to be free of the addiction that really accomplishes the
reprogramming -- not the noise.
Put yourself back in the same scene -- this time with the new programming in operation. Reaffirm the new programming by visualizing yourself responding to the situation with new positive responses and feelings based on your new programming. Reaffirm that you can be free of old programming -- free to be how you really want to be in order to enjoy all of your life
5. Welcome the people/situations that can help you become more clearly aware of your addictions.
Usually you carefully protect yourself from people you “just can’t stand.” Try never again to retreat from any person or any life situation as long as it makes you aware of your addictions. You welcome and honor that situation, for it provides you with a continuous input from the outside world that makes you aware of emotional programming you must change in order to uplevel your consciousness.
Written in the 1970's, this book encourages reprogramming of your habitual, emotionally-backed reactions/responses. Unknowingly we accumulate ego-based behaviors throughout life which create unnecessary stress in our lives. A direct and rapid way to find happiness is through using your negative emotional feelings to show you which parts of your biocomputer need reprogramming.
"I always remember that I have everything I need to enjoy my here and now -- unless I am letting my consciousness be dominated by demands and expectations based on the dead past and the imagined future."
Diamonds discovered:
- We see things not as they are -- but as we are. Take full responsibility here and now for everything I experience, for it is my own programming that creates my actions and influences the reactions of people around me.
- I act freely when I am tuned in, centered, and loving, but if possible I avoid acting when I am emotionally upset and depriving myself of the wisdom that flows from love and expanded consciousness.
- Unexpressed feelings act like a cancer in your brain that malignantly spreads -- warping your perceptions and bringing you alienation and suffering. When you repress, you do not express what you are feeling because you are afraid of the consequences.
- Even if life gives us 90 percent of what we want and protects us from 90 percent of what we dislike or fear, the remaining 10 percent will nag our consciousness, dominate our perceptions, perpetuate the churning of our rational mind to “solve the problem,” and otherwise keep us from experiencing the state of happiness. Right now, you are not being criticized, not being beaten up physically, not being starved -- and the fact that these things are not happening results in no feeling of either disappointment or pleasure since your consciousness is not preoccupied with the matter.
- Addictive programming triggers your thoughts, ideas, and words in a persistent and dominating way. Most of the programming that directs the activity of our emotions consists of antiquated patterns that we programmed during infancy and early childhood when we were not sufficiently conscious to clearly evaluate the addictions of our parents, teachers, etc.
- Most of the people in the world are addicted to these three lower Centers -- the Security Center, the Sensation Center, and the Power Center. They developed for survival in the jungle phase of the evolution of our species. The automated priority of awareness in an animal is to first check incoming information for its security aspects, then its sensation (food or sex) possibilities, then its threats to the power boundaries with which the animal identifies.
When you are operating on lower consciousness levels, you have no choice. You tend to immediately utter every “urgent thought” that comes into your mind -- even if it means interrupting another person. As you grow into higher consciousness, you are able to simply observe the computer-like, automated “printout” that is taking place in your rational mind.
- A subtle addiction does not get you upset emotionally -- but with a subtle addiction your consciousness is preoccupied with the addiction for a period of minutes, hours, or days. We may kid ourselves that we are thinking profoundly and continually about a subject, but we’re actually churning away most inefficiently and ineffectively -- and diverting energy and consciousness that could be more optimally used.
- As you grow into higher consciousness, you can love everyone regardless of what he or she says or does. Even if someone attacks you fiercely through words or even hits you, he is simply playing out his addictions. He is trying to get you to act differently so that his addictions will not trouble him when he interacts with you. If someone does something that “hurts your ego,” you will grow fastest if you consciously regard him or her as your teacher, who is enabling you to discover which addictions you will have to reprogram.
- You can regard others as actors on the cosmic stage who are here to
make you aware of your addictions. They are helping you by creating
situations in which your emotions reveal the hiding places of your addictions.
- It’s often better to give other people space to find their own
errors or to let the natural chain of events in their life show them where they have to change. Arguing at every opportunity in order to convince people that you are right and others are wrong simply means that you are trapped by your rational mind and are unconsciously and mechanically acting out your security, sensation, and power addictions.
- Everyone is on the road to awakening. We learn to love others by accepting and loving ourselves -- and vice versa. Whenever you are in doubt about whether to do something or not, just ask yourself whether it makes you feel more separate from people or more loving toward people.
- When you are emotionally upset, you then have a superlative opportunity to reprogram your addictions by using the Consciousness Focusing Method. It can only be used effectively at those moments when your existing emotional programming is creating in you feelings of duality and separateness and destroying your capacity to love. Whatever you tell yourself at this time is absolutely crucial. So be sure to blame all of your uptightness on your addictive programming.
Method of Consciousness Focusing
1. Explore the suffering.
review the bare facts of the incident that triggered your fear, anger, jealousy, or other disturbing feelings. Then let yourself experience the suffering that you are creating inside of you. Notice how your body feels. “What is it that is bothering me the most?” “What is the worst thing that could happen?”
2. Pinpoint the addiction.
The cause of the suffering will always be an emotion-backed program in your head. If you did not have this addictive demand, the outside events would be powerless to trigger what you are now
experiencing. At the time of the incident, how did you want things to be? What programmed attitudes or models did you have of how you should be, of how others should be, of how the drama “should” have been played? “In this situation, exactly what am I addictively demanding?”
“What do I think I have to have in order to be happy?”
3. Reprogram the addiction (Select your reprogramming phrases)
Do you see how this addiction makes you act like a robot that responds automatically?
Can you see the repeated pattern of suffering that this addiction has created in your life?
To change the old programming, choose one or two short, pithy reprogramming phrases that counteract specific demands. To counteract the demand for approval, the phrase “I don’t need approval”.
Prepare to reprogram by replaying the scene and re-experiencing your emotions. Really get in touch with the suffering your addictions have caused you and with your determination to get free.
4. Focus your consciousness on reprogramming (The suffering stops)
It’s your determination and will to be free of the addiction that really accomplishes the
reprogramming -- not the noise.
Put yourself back in the same scene -- this time with the new programming in operation. Reaffirm the new programming by visualizing yourself responding to the situation with new positive responses and feelings based on your new programming. Reaffirm that you can be free of old programming -- free to be how you really want to be in order to enjoy all of your life
5. Welcome the people/situations that can help you become more clearly aware of your addictions.
Usually you carefully protect yourself from people you “just can’t stand.” Try never again to retreat from any person or any life situation as long as it makes you aware of your addictions. You welcome and honor that situation, for it provides you with a continuous input from the outside world that makes you aware of emotional programming you must change in order to uplevel your consciousness.
February 19, 2013
While reading one of my older books by Iyanla Vanzant, I came across the name of this book which she credited as one of the books that helped her in her spiritual journey. I couldn’t find this book online or at my library but luckily, after googling the author’s name, I found a PDF copy of the book online available for download – for free!
If I hadn’t read Eckhart Tolle’s “Power of Now”, I admit that this book would have made no sense to me. Even so, I feel that I will need to read this again and again to really grasp everything the author is trying to convey. Luckily, it’s a good book so reading it several times won’t be a problem.
If I hadn’t read Eckhart Tolle’s “Power of Now”, I admit that this book would have made no sense to me. Even so, I feel that I will need to read this again and again to really grasp everything the author is trying to convey. Luckily, it’s a good book so reading it several times won’t be a problem.
June 24, 2019
This is the best book I’ve read. It give you all new perspective of life, joy, happiness. I’ve a long time answer seeker for one question: How can I handle fear, unhappiness, frustration and all those bad emotions. If you’re struggling with those same problems I used to have, this is the book your looking for. I have a new task now, I most every book I’ve read in the past, because I now have a different perspective. Men, what an awesome book!!!
October 15, 2012
I can't believe I missed this book along the way.
This book is from 1975. Ideas presented predate and are incorporated by Anthony Robbins in Awaken the Giant Within and Eckart Tolle in his books. A precursor for sure.
This book is from 1975. Ideas presented predate and are incorporated by Anthony Robbins in Awaken the Giant Within and Eckart Tolle in his books. A precursor for sure.
February 1, 2019
It is very inspirational and also practical. I felt a bunch of rainbow feelings while reading it. Besides it is exactly a full guide for you to understand you and your life
September 29, 2020
When we turn ideas-addictions (relating to safety, pleasures or control/power) into preferences/options then we start experiencing moments as they are (i.e. living the now). Life becomes effortless, flowing on our path while learning, accepting, letting go, changing, acting all without re-acting, insulting, dividing, hurting. Life becomes quite easy when we realise that attaching feelings & emotions to experiences is optional, suffering is optional, criticizing is optional, division is optional, enjoying life and moments is optional etc. I guess you need to reach a certain level 'enough with this bullshit', life is beyond struggles and suffering, ready to change patterns of perceptions and act accordingly, want to enjoy life... in order to appreciate this book.
October 6, 2023
This is one of the most influential and beneficial books I have ever read (and I have read over 200 in this genre). It was a life saver for me over 3 decades ago. I read it so many times I wore out the first copy, and had to buy another. It revealed to me why what I had been taught and lead to believe about success and happiness was wrong, and most importantly, how to fix it. I cannot recommend this book more highly. But you need to do more than just read it. You need to apply what it teaches, as "to know and not to do, is not to know"
April 30, 2020
I finally finished this book today. I loved reading it- felt really great, especially at the end chapters. Found wonderful information that I will use to remind myself in my daily life to be the best version of myself- not just for myself, but for everyone I come in contact with and in conjunction with humanity as a collective conscious. I feel amazing. I'm healthy, vibrant, blessed, and joyful! I wish this bliss for all of humanity! Love to all! Cheers!
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