Years ago, in the late 70’s, I chanced across Wayne Dyer’s book Your Erroneous Zones
Abraham Maslow
There was another book in my life that was conducive to showing me what I could become, and I didn't chance across this one until I saw it in a bookstore in Geneva in May of 1989, now in my thirties. I had done what I'd like to call much of the psychological work, perhaps less of the spiritual work, until I saw what could be in Gary Zukav's second book The Seat of the Soul
So what this is really about is the fact that growth can sometimes be infinitely accelerated if we see what is possible; if we see what we can become.
But this goes way beyond the little boy who wishes to emulate his policeman or fireman father, or the little girl who wants to be a doctor or lawyer like her mother. This is about what is possible from the point of view of inner freedom, of becoming totally responsible for the self, of taking responsibility for one’s own happiness, of learning how to make conscious choices, and of becoming aware of the self.
So when you meet someone who lives in an inner place that you find wonderful (even though it may seem light years from where you find yourself), or when you read about someone who does so, or when you read about an ideal you can aspire to, and you see that this is showing you what you could become, then use it as a map. Because you can also go there.
P.S. and in case you are curious, since then - since the experiences recounted above - there has been much fine-tuning in my life, much re-visiting of areas and issues that needed greater work, as I know there will continue to be until the day I pass, and much of the fine-tuning came about through other books, and also through human beings I've been fortunate enough to meet or observe or study, but the essential bits were put in place through those two early books by Dyer and Zukav.
An absolutely fabulous post! I'm a HUGE fan of Dyer's work and though I have yet to read "Your Erroneous Zones" (I began my reading with "The Power of Intention" and have purchased other books but not this one.) I have felt some of what you discuss here. Thanks to you I'm going to go out immediately and purchase that book! Thanks for posting this. OH! I LOVE your blog! :o)
ReplyDeleteHumbly,
Michael Stagg
My II Sense.com