Recently I watched a video on manifestation. The psychic presenting was very good; it sounded appealing, a good idea, practical. As described by her, the idea is to project yourself into the future to where you have what you desire, and by saying, “yes, I have it,” having the energy to do what’s necessary now to in fact achieve it in reality
This morning I woke up and as I lay in bed I said to myself that I was going to manifest today. Afterwards I had a very hard time getting out of bed, which is unusual for me. When I went down to make coffee, I felt somewhat depressed … again, very unusual for me.
Something wasn’t right. When I went to start my morning meditation, I realized immediately what it was. The idea of manifestation runs counter to the very core of spirituality, certainly Buddhism.
It runs counter to being present, releasing all desires that my life be different in any way than it is right now, knowing that I have everything I need inside myself to be at peace and happy, knowing that I will be ok regardless what life throws my way because I have returned home and will always return home to my true Buddha nature and be at peace and happy. It runs counter to wisdom of being patient. Instead it prescribes delusion.
As I sat, I realized that in watching that video, I had been exposed to the devil. It was like offering a child sweets to lure him into your control. Assuming the guise of spirituality, he was in fact undermining the very foundations of spirituality … faith and being present in the moment. And I was taken in, unaware of the devil’s presence.
It was an unsettling moment to realize that I had been exposed to the devil and that he had enticed his way into my mind. And that it was only by the good grace of my Buddha nature and/or my angels that I realized very quickly what was going on.
So obviously no manifestation for me. If you have seen such a video and have likewise been enticed to manifest, think about your mental state since that time. You will undoubtedly discover that you have been overcome with doubt and fear because whatever you manifest, you are very aware that right now you don’t have what you desire and you know you have no control over whether you achieve it.
You have lost the blessed state of being present, of releasing all desire that your life be different in any way than it is right now. You have lost the state described in an ancient Chinese poem, “When faith and mind are not separate, and not separate are mind and faith, this is beyond all words, all thought, for here there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, no today. There is only the present moment, all else is thought.” Let go of all thought of manifestation and return to the present.
A word about the devil. You may be surprised to hear me speaking of him. But I have mentioned the devil in many posts, for example, “Wounded - Our Ego-Mind Becomes the Devil,” and, “Evil - How Should a Buddhist Respond?”
I should note first that in these two articles I am referring to the devil at different stages. In the first, the point was that when we are repeatedly wounded, our ego-mind becomes the devil’s advocate, whispering in our ear the advice of the devil… lacking trust, faith, and consumed by fear; cynical of the world around us. As Flip Wilson’s drag character Ernestine would say, “The devil made me do it!” … but there is nothing cute or funny about it. At this stage, while the devil is in us, we have not become the devil incarnate, we have not lost our soul to the devil. We are still human. We still hear the voice of our true Buddha nature whispering in our other ear; we just tend to not listen to it often.
But when we become so wounded that we unconsciously sell our soul to the devil to find survival and strength, then we become the personification of evil, the devil incarnate. The example of this is someone with, what is termed, “Narcissistic Personality Disorder.” Such a person is totally lost. He is irredeemable. He does not hear his true Buddha nature anymore and is not open to any teaching of self-awareness. For more on the devil, see my next post, “The Devil Is Alive and Well.”
All our life experiences, and indeed we ourselves, are on a continuum from light to darkness. As things become darker, the devil gains more power. When things have reached the far end of the continuum, we or someone has become the devil incarnate. At this point, one becomes like a vampire, living off the life force, the humanity, of others.
This morning I woke up and as I lay in bed I said to myself that I was going to manifest today. Afterwards I had a very hard time getting out of bed, which is unusual for me. When I went down to make coffee, I felt somewhat depressed … again, very unusual for me.
Something wasn’t right. When I went to start my morning meditation, I realized immediately what it was. The idea of manifestation runs counter to the very core of spirituality, certainly Buddhism.
It runs counter to being present, releasing all desires that my life be different in any way than it is right now, knowing that I have everything I need inside myself to be at peace and happy, knowing that I will be ok regardless what life throws my way because I have returned home and will always return home to my true Buddha nature and be at peace and happy. It runs counter to wisdom of being patient. Instead it prescribes delusion.
As I sat, I realized that in watching that video, I had been exposed to the devil. It was like offering a child sweets to lure him into your control. Assuming the guise of spirituality, he was in fact undermining the very foundations of spirituality … faith and being present in the moment. And I was taken in, unaware of the devil’s presence.
It was an unsettling moment to realize that I had been exposed to the devil and that he had enticed his way into my mind. And that it was only by the good grace of my Buddha nature and/or my angels that I realized very quickly what was going on.
So obviously no manifestation for me. If you have seen such a video and have likewise been enticed to manifest, think about your mental state since that time. You will undoubtedly discover that you have been overcome with doubt and fear because whatever you manifest, you are very aware that right now you don’t have what you desire and you know you have no control over whether you achieve it.
You have lost the blessed state of being present, of releasing all desire that your life be different in any way than it is right now. You have lost the state described in an ancient Chinese poem, “When faith and mind are not separate, and not separate are mind and faith, this is beyond all words, all thought, for here there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, no today. There is only the present moment, all else is thought.” Let go of all thought of manifestation and return to the present.
A word about the devil. You may be surprised to hear me speaking of him. But I have mentioned the devil in many posts, for example, “Wounded - Our Ego-Mind Becomes the Devil,” and, “Evil - How Should a Buddhist Respond?”
I should note first that in these two articles I am referring to the devil at different stages. In the first, the point was that when we are repeatedly wounded, our ego-mind becomes the devil’s advocate, whispering in our ear the advice of the devil… lacking trust, faith, and consumed by fear; cynical of the world around us. As Flip Wilson’s drag character Ernestine would say, “The devil made me do it!” … but there is nothing cute or funny about it. At this stage, while the devil is in us, we have not become the devil incarnate, we have not lost our soul to the devil. We are still human. We still hear the voice of our true Buddha nature whispering in our other ear; we just tend to not listen to it often.
But when we become so wounded that we unconsciously sell our soul to the devil to find survival and strength, then we become the personification of evil, the devil incarnate. The example of this is someone with, what is termed, “Narcissistic Personality Disorder.” Such a person is totally lost. He is irredeemable. He does not hear his true Buddha nature anymore and is not open to any teaching of self-awareness. For more on the devil, see my next post, “The Devil Is Alive and Well.”
All our life experiences, and indeed we ourselves, are on a continuum from light to darkness. As things become darker, the devil gains more power. When things have reached the far end of the continuum, we or someone has become the devil incarnate. At this point, one becomes like a vampire, living off the life force, the humanity, of others.
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