A
Description of the Basics
of Ascension
FIRST
THUNDER
Chapter 8
by MSI
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A New Attitude
Lila smiled. "So, gentlemen, what do you know about Ascending?"
Dave and I looked at each other; he said, "Not much. There are
Twenty-seven Techniques to experience the Ascendant, divided into
Seven Spheres; each Sphere is said to be more powerful than the one
before. When does one graduate to the next? When one masters the
previous?"
"Yes, but not exactly. Full mastery of any of the Seven is probably
impossible until all are mastered, but there are general guide-lines
of progress. We'll talk more about that later... And why are you
interested in Ascension?" This was to me.
"My life wasn't working. I couldn't stop shooting myself in the
foot. I'm tired of that! If by settling down my mind, I can rewrite
the old destructive programs in there, that'd be great -- and if not
that, even having the deep rest I've seen when Sharon ascends would
be wonderful. If it works for me."
"Oh, it will. Ascension produces rest about twice as deep as sleep
even for a beginner; this allows stress to be thrown off gracefully
by the body. Properly practiced, it will work for anyone, because it
is based on the natural functioning of the mind and body, not on
belief."
"So you're saying," commented the doctor, "Ascension taps
us into a
natural but unusual operation of the nervous system?"
"Yes! Everyone is already Ascending all the time, to some extent.
Today you'll learn how to make it systematic."
"So we can Ascend at will," I said.
"Exactly. Whenever life becomes hectic or crazy or you feel stressed
out, you can Ascend -- with the eyes opened or closed. And from
Ascending, return to silence, to peace, to innocence."
"Like a child," breathed Sharon. "Life in the present
moment. No
worries about the future; no regret for the past."
"Lots of potential in such a mind," observed Doctor Dave.
"Yes!" Lila beamed at them. "Because the baby hasn't been
caught by
the past or the future, the power of its mind is awesome. This is
what Ascension gives back to us: the innocence and power of life in
the present."
"I see," said the doctor. "The adult, abstracted away from
the
present, is often caught by self-defeating beliefs and habits. And I
suppose we learn those from our family, our friends, our schools,
our society -- from all life experience."
"Precisely; and these habits freeze life into patterns which are
beyond conscious control."
"Yes," he agreed thoughtfully. "The problem is: some of the
beliefs
we've adopted are useful, some habits serve us, but many do not.
It's useful to remember how to read. It's useful to remember who our
friends are. It's useful to know our names. But so many of these
internal programs serve no one in any way. So many of them are
damaging. So what do we do?"
"We learn how to use the mind differently! Instead of incessantly
thinking, chattering away, never ever stopping for rest, thinking
the same thing we thought yesterday and the day before and the day
before that, over and over and over again, pointlessly noisy, going
nowhere -- instead of all that, we rediscover silence inside. We
learn to experience the present. We stop regretting the past, we
stop worrying about the future. We begin to be Here and Now. Then
the full power of the mind is available every moment."
"I think I'm with you," I commented. "You're saying the
mind is like
a pond. Thoughts are like waves in the pond. We've all dropped a
single stone into a quiet pool -- it creates gentle, beautiful
ripples across the surface of the water. This is like having only
one thought moving through the mind, isn't it? The mind is coherent,
it is orderly, it is powerful. But if several stones, a whole
handful, fall into the water? Chaos. The waves become choppy. Some
trough are on top of crests; many get canceled out. This is like the
mind when it is caught by those continually running internal
programs. It keeps going and going and going and nothing comes of it
except fatigue."
"Exactly! And further: a clear mind creates a healthy body. Your
body is already creating trillions of chemical reactions every
second, did you know? For example, when your mind is tense, anxious,
nervous, your body produces tense, anxious, nervous molecules."
"Like adrenaline and noradrenaline," agreed the doctor.
"That's so.
And when the mind is calm and peaceful, the body produces calm and
peaceful molecules -- like Valium. The body is already producing
chemicals similar to any I can prescribe, but it is doing it without
the side effects. When my body creates Valium, it means I feel
tranquil but don't also feel spaced-out. When our bodies produce
immune-stimulating agents or anti-cancer drugs or anti- aging
hormones, these have no damaging side effects. Our bodies do this
all the time, when we're not stressed... So that is the effect of
Ascending. This I can understand! So, how do we learn?"
"Simply," said Lila, smiling affectionately at him. "And
soon. But
first, I have three requests to make of you, three requests Alan
says are necessary to ask anyone desiring to learn Ascension.
"One. It is necessary to make a commitment of time. Ascension is
powerful but subtle; it may take a few days or even weeks of regular
practice to notice the benefits overtaking your life. So, will each
of you do this?"
"Of course," both the doctor and I declared willingly.
"Very good. Two. Ascension works best if we are innocent with it.
Believing in it is not necessary, nor is it necessary to expect any
kind of experience when we are Ascending. In fact, even the
slightest expectation slows down the innocent inward movement of the
mind. Belief is not required, it is positively not required. So, to
the best of your ability, no expectations, OK?
"And three. I have to ask you to keep this confidential until you
are trained to teach it. Ascension is delicate; the First Attitude
is so simple, it seems anyone could do it. And anyone can, yet
without proper instruction, it could be misunderstood. If you give
it to people before they are ready for it, not only will they not
appreciate it, they will criticize it and condemn you for practicing
it. They will judge you and reject Ascension without ever giving it
a chance. So: do you agree to keep this technique confidential until
you are trained as Teachers of Ascension?"
"Absolutely," I agreed with complete sincerity.
The doctor said again, "Of course."
"Great... I want you to know, I'm so pleased you're doing this, I'm
so happy you've come all the way to Patmos to learn this age-old
Science. You're going to love Ascension.
"Please understand: this is quite ancient. It's not an invention
from some recent person's mind. I believe it came from Isha, the
Christ, through his Apostle John. But you don't have to believe
that; you don't have to believe anything. I'm just putting it in an
historical context for you.
"These Twenty-seven Techniques were preserved throughout the
centuries by the Ishaya monks, but the understanding that this
Teaching is for everyone became confused. Somewhere down the long
centuries, the monks began to consider the average person unworthy
of Ascension. In order to learn, it was required to become a recluse
and devote one's entire life to the practice.
"But Ascension is and always has been completely natural. Ever since
humans have existed, we have had the ability to rise in our
thoughts, to Ascend. It is easy to imagine this Teaching coming up
at different times in different parts of the world, when anyone
realized it must be simple and natural to return life to the
innocence of the child, to life in the present moment."
"Sure," the doctor agreed. "Examples of Ascending can be
found in
all cultures by people of all ages and all religions. Since this is
so, Ascension can't require belief of any kind."
"That's right! People have experienced it jogging, staring at the
stars, at the beach, while praying, during childbirth, over a full
desk on a crowded day -- everywhere throughout the full range of
human experience. Ascension comes to people at any unpredictable
time. So it must be something built into the fabric of the human
nervous system. Anyone anywhere at any time can and does Ascend. As
I said, we're just making it repeatable and systematic.
"OK." She paused a moment as if gathering her mind. "So,
let's
begin. Most of the Twenty-seven Attitudes have three parts: one for
the heart, one for the mind, and a focus for our awareness.
"According to modern science, our emotions are centered in the right
hemisphere of the brain. In most of us, the right brain is spatial,
holistic, intuitive, creative, artistic, emotional. Of these, it is
the emotions that most cause us to Ascend -- or descend. Negative
emotions, for example, cause a lowering of our life, a descension."
"That's undoubtedly true," agreed the doctor. "Anger shuts
down the
brain and internal organs so more blood can go to the muscles. It
speeds up the heart and increases blood clotting factors. This is
the classic 'fight-or-flight' response. Once it was needed -- when
you were about to be eaten by a saber-toothed tiger, for example.
You don't need to be digesting lunch if you are about to be someone
else's! Fight for your survival or run away. Useful response. Still
is, when faced by a crack addict with a switchblade in a dark alley.
But the problem is: fight-or-flight is turned on all the time in our
modern world -- when someone cuts us off on the freeway, when our
boss yells at us, when we miss a traffic light. Our blood pressure
goes up and stays up; the internal organs remain shut down until
they fail."
"Precisely!" Lila beamed at him again. "But there are also
built
into everyone positive emotions; these cause Ascension."
"Such as love," said Sharon, gazing at me. I blushed.
"Yes, and it is love that is the most powerful of the Ascending
emotions. This is why almost every culture in the world has said,
'God is Love.' Love is the most powerful way to Ascend."
"I've often believed that," said Dave. "Whenever we feel
love, our
minds function more effectively, our bodies respond by producing the
molecules of health."
"Yes," agreed Sharon warmly. "And you don't notice surface
imperfections when you're in love. Your vision is broader. Happiness
is greater. If you stub your toe when you've fallen in love, you
hardly notice it. But break up with your boyfriend and then stub
your toe! 'Why is God so cruel to me! Life is hell!'"
"The difference is obvious," said Lila. "How you feel when
you're in
love -- this is the sweet influence of Ascension."
"There's a problem with love," I protested, thinking I saw a
flaw in
her logic. "It's hard to manipulate. You can't turn it on at will.
If I were to tell you and Dave to go out on the verandah and fall in
love -- maybe you would, but maybe you wouldn't... Well, you two
would! But there are no guarantees. Christ said, 'Love your
enemies,' and 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' look what happened to
his Teaching. No one does it, no one can do it. It doesn't work."
"Actually," said Lila slowly, "you're right -- for most
people. Love
is hard to make happen. That is why we don't start with the Love
Attitude. The Love Technique is third. Of the three primary
Ascending emotions, Love is the hardest to create at will. But there
are two others.
"Similar in strength to Love is Gratitude. Thankfulness produces
similar changes in the body and the mind. And Gratitude is easier to
culture than Love -- if I were to give you one thousand pounds
sterling, for example, you would most likely feel some thankfulness
to me."
"But again!" I exclaimed, continuing my skeptic's role. She had
said
belief was not required; I wanted to put this to the test.
"Gratitude has earned a bad name in the world. We've been told to be
thankful so many times when we don't feel it. I so much wanted an
electric train for Christmas when I was seven, and what I got was a
fuzzy ugly olive green sweater -- and then I was told I had to be
grateful anyway! I guess I don't feel thankful very often."
"Well, you're right again! Many of us have been told to be grateful
so much, we would rather eat nails. So even though it's easier to
develop than Love, it's still not altogether easy, which is why
Gratitude is part of the Second Attitude, not the First."
"OK," I said, chuckling. "I'll be good. What's the emotion
in the
First Attitude?" My curiosity was larger than my skepticism.
"Appreciation. Or in one syllable, Praise. Appreciation is almost as
powerful as Love and Gratitude, and it's a lot easier to turn on at
will. You can simply shift your mind toward appreciation instead of
criticism; your body responds by making you healthier as your mind
becomes happier. We can choose to be sad that a glass is half empty
or choose to be happy a glass is half full. It's completely within
our power; it's all a matter of choice. And the simple truth is that
condemnation never helps anyone improve, whereas appreciation always
does."
"I've seen this in action," said Sharon. "With my niece
Liza. One
time when I was staying with them, Liza came home from school with a
drawing she'd made. But my sister Linda was tired, she'd had a hard
day at work; instead of thanking her for it and praising her for her
creativity, she was short with her and criticized her for it. And
you know what? The next day, Liza dragged home from school with a
worse drawing.
"But that day Linda had changed her thinking, decided to appreciate,
and was lavish in her words. And the next day, Liza bounced joyfully
home with a third drawing, by far the best of the three. It was
amazing. Every part her mother had praised was drawn better than the
first day."
"Exactly! Praise works like magic for anybody, for anything, always.
And it's just a choice: a choice for joy and life. It is the easiest
of the Ascension emotions, because it grows from simply making the
decision to appreciate rather than condemn. Our society may have programmed criticism deeply into us, but whenever we find ourselves
moving down that descending path, it's easy to turn upward, simply
by finding something to appreciate. Anywhere, about anything, to
anyone, always."
"So, for the right brain, we choose to appreciate rather than
judge?" I asked. That didn't sound too difficult. "This seems
pretty
simple."
"It is. It's simple and basic. The Cathedral of Ascension is built
on the rock-hard foundation of perfect simplicity, the sign of
unalloyed Truth...
"So, for the right brain, for our emotional side, Appreciation is
the force, the driving emotion, that causes Ascension. OK? Good.
Now, the left hemisphere of the brain also has certain thoughts that
cause Ascension. The left brain is logical, verbal, analytical,
mathematical, rational. Thoughts that cause Ascension here are those
of awe-inspiring wonder."
"Like staring at the sky in January on a moonless night?" asked
Sharon dreamily. "When you think there are as many as four hundred
billion stars in our Milky Way? When you remember some of those
points of light are really distant galaxies and there are as many as
one thousand billion galaxies in this Universe, each one containing
an average of two hundred billion stars -- the whole thing is so
huge? Who wouldn't feel the awe of this?
"And it all proceeds with such perfect order! Who keeps the natural
laws functioning so the atoms don't implode? Why does the ratio of a
circle's circumference to its diameter equal 3.14159265? Such
magnificent order, everywhere! It stuns my mind."
"Right," agreed Lila, looking pleased. "Your left brain is
awed by
such thoughts, which causes a slight degree of Ascension for you.
But it's different for everybody."
"I see this," said the doctor. "For me, I feel awe when I
think of
the order in the human body. Fifty trillion cells, all operating in
harmony. And inside each of the fifty trillion is the wonder of the
DNA molecule -- a molecule so complex that it contains life itself
-- a molecule so compressed that were one from any cell stretched
out, it would be six feet long!
"The exalted mystery throughout the body! You inhale a bacteria, one
of a kind you've never met, but your great-great-great-great
grandmother did, 200 years ago or 2,000 years ago or 20,000 years
ago and your DNA remembers how to educate your defensive machinery,
your macrophages and killer T-Cells and lymphocytes, to destroy it!
Such intelligence there is in Nature! Such brilliance!"
"Yes," agreed Lila again, "these are all examples of left
brain
Ascension thoughts. Do you see how they work? They involve some sort
of analysis of life to create expansion, awe, wonder. It is an
incredible, magical universe; everyone sees this in a different way,
through the filter of his or her own left brain."
"So what I want for Ascension," I said, a little bored by their
examples, "is not any old awe-inspiring thought, but the Ultimate
Thought of my rational side, personally chosen by me for me,
like..." I offered my conception.
"Exactly, yes!" agreed Lila, chuckling at my choice. "Very
good. And
for you, dear doctor..." She helped him discover his private vehicle
for Ascension.
"What if you don't believe this will work?" I asked, playing
skeptic
again.
"No problem! It doesn't matter. We don't have to believe in
Ascension for it to happen. Part of the mind would like to believe
in it, part of the mind would like to reject it; this makes no
difference. Belief is from the surface of the mind, which we Ascend immediately anyway. We're creating your most effective path to the
Ascendant. Ascension is built of a series of individualized
techniques; it's not a belief system."
"Can we change our Ultimate Thought as we're Ascending?" asked
Dave.
"Of course! The idea we choose need not remain the same; it will
change as life experience changes. You've just picked one now to
begin with: it's necessary to have a starting point.
"Now we take these two, appreciation for the right brain and our
Ultimate Thought for the left brain and add one final concept and we
will have our first Ascension Attitude. Remember I said most of
these techniques are built of three parts? The first two parts
together cause a slight Ascending... Do you feel this, by the way?
Some upliftment from these two? I don't mean the words, I mean the
feeling behind the words?"
"Yes, I do," I agreed, surprised that I actually did feel
lighter.
The doctor and Sharon murmured their assent.
"Great. So now, we want to take this Ascending motion and focus it
onto the root stress of modern life. When this happens, the whole
structure of our old internal programming falls apart."
"How does that work?" I asked curiously.
"Did you see any of those wonderful old arches still standing in
Athens? In Greece and Rome, the great arches were created by
building up a huge pile of sand under the stones for the legs. No
arch could stand until the final piece, the keystone, was installed.
When the keystone was in place, the sand was removed; since the
opposing tensions were equal, the arch would not fall; many of these
still stand, 3,000 years later. That is why your Pennsylvania calls
itself, 'the Keystone State,' by the way. They felt they were the
indispensable link in the Colonies' Rebellion.
"Similarly, some of the stresses in our lives are supporting others.
If we can remove the root stress, all the others will leave, for
their support will be gone. It's hard to destroy a building by
shoving it over. But it's easy to collapse it by removing the
foundation. It's hard to break addictive and self-destructive habits
in their own space. But it's easy to undermine them by erasing the
fundamental stress that gives them life. To kill a tree, kill the
root; the leaves wither and die...
"So, what do you think is the root stress of modern life?"
"Separation," answered the doctor.
"The ego," I answered.
"Yes, to both of you! So the antidote to our deepest stress is to
apply the movement of Ascension back onto it..."
She explained exactly how to do that and continued, "These, then,
are the three parts of the First Ascension Attitude: Appreciation
for the heart; our Ultimate Thought for the mind, then a focus back
onto our subjective self. Just this much, no more, no less. We move
upward, we Ascend, then we apply the Ascendant onto the fundamental
root stress, back onto our belief that our lives are separate, ruled
by the ego. We expand to Universality then contract back to
individuality; this dissolves anything standing in the way of our
connection with the Ascendant in the process."
"So," I said slowly, "This First Attitude simply adds one
new triple
thought to the ocean of thoughts we already have."
"Like a needle in our hand to remove all the old painful
thorns,"
commented Sharon.
"Like a catalyst to precipitate out our stress," added the
doctor.
"One new thought with three parts to replace the 50,000 thoughts we
normally think throughout the day. And, since the mind can only do
one thing at a time, if we continually introduce this new thought,
we replace all the old thoughts."
"You've got it!" exclaimed Lila. "By choosing over and over
again
for the Ascension Attitude, all the other thoughts race away. This
becomes the new root thought in the mind; all the small and mean and
false thoughts are erased. The Ascension Attitude is like the big
fish in the pond. When the big fish comes, all the little fish run
away. You feel lighter, clearer, calmer, more peaceful."
"I've been finding," said Sharon, "every day, at each and
every
moment, I always have a choice, which kind of thought I wish to
have. I introduce my Ascension Attitude all the time; I'm
discovering silence, coherence and peace where I never thought I
would. I may never understand why life happens as it does; but I've
realized that's not my job. It is my job to make the most out of
every moment; Ascension is the key for me to do that."
"That's the way it works," agreed Lila. "That's why you're
ready for
the Second Technique; the First has become a deep groove in your
mind. Since you've been Ascending any time you remember to, it has
been rewriting your outmoded judgments, beliefs and habits. Well
done!
"Now, the greatest value of Ascension comes from taking it inward,
to use it as a tool for inner exploration. This makes the new
paradigm stronger in the brain and rewrites the old programs more
and more quickly."
"Isn't that hard to do?" asked the doctor. "Many people
have written
it's difficult to Ascend. They've stood in ice water up to their
necks in the middle of winter. They've bent their bodies into
pretzels. They've sat between four fires with the summer sun burning
golden overhead as their fifth. They've forced their minds eighteen
hours a day to experience the slightest degree of Ascension! It is
hard to do, isn't it?"
"No, its the simplest thing you'll ever do! It takes less effort to
Ascend, not more. Those who think it's difficult believe the mind is
like a monkey, jumping from branch to branch. They believe the only
way to stop its erratic jumping is to beat it and whip it and force
it to be still. But this tires the mind and raises the metabolic
rate. It is not and never will be effective for Ascension."
"That makes sense to me," I said. "If I have a dog I want
at my back
door, I could chain it there, but it wouldn't like me much. It would
howl and moan and complain all the time and bite me if it got the
chance. Forcing the mind seems like that to me. I don't want to do
that."
"But suppose you open the door from time to time and put out dog
food, the dog will never leave your porch!" exclaimed Sharon.
"And
he'll be your best friend for life."
"So, what's the favorite food of the mind?" I asked. "No, I
already
know. It's the Ascendant, isn't it?"
"That's right," agreed Lila, smiling at us. "You see, the
mind is
like a monkey, jumping from branch to branch, but it jumps because it's seeking an Ideal Banana. The mind jumps because it's seeking an
Ideal Experience. Only the Ascendant is capable of satisfying this
wanderlust of the mind, for only the Ascendant is the home of all
intelligence, happiness, energy, and wisdom."
"The mind follows its bliss, as Joseph Campbell put it," said
the
doctor. "You're saying that the bliss is already there, deep inside;
Ascension points the way to it."
"Yes, this brings us full circle back to the Ascension
Attitudes,"
agreed Lila. "Each of the techniques of Ascension has a meaning on
the surface of the mind. But because of their Source, each also has
the unique quality of being more true and more enjoyable at deeper
levels of thinking. Because this is so, the mind is drawn inward
effortlessly.
"Therefore, no effort is required to Ascend! In fact, even the
slightest effort, even the slightest desiring for the experience to
be like something, or to be specific somehow, will slow down this
process. From our side, we must always be innocent about Ascension.
This is the first and most important rule. In fact, it's the only
rule. We never, ever try to Ascend.
"So, you're prepared. Now we'll do it.."
I felt a little silly and self-conscious at first, but only for a
moment. Gradually, I sank deeper and deeper into Silence. A few
thoughts came up, but the comfortable repetition of the Ascension
Attitude soon banished them. I slipped effortlessly inward on a
soft, warm cloud of golden light.
I had come home for the first time in my life; I was alive and well
in my soul, more so than any time since I was a tiny, tiny child.
I was a stranger no longer. I was no more lost and alone. I had come
home.
If you'd
like to know more about Ascension,
visit our website at www.ishaya.com
or call
The Ishayas Ascension at
1-888-ISHAYAS (474-2927).
To
order First Thunder call us at the number below.
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