Healing Power

Healing PowerTen Steps to Pain

Management and Spiritual Evolution

Dr. Phil ShapiroFounder and Director

Northwest Institute for Healing Power

Integrative Medicine

Separate tracks Healing principle in health care

Community Psychiatry Healing principle in religion

Spiritual Seeker Single track

Dr. Herbert Benson• Integrative Medicine• Mind-Body Medicine

Personal, private spiritual experience becomes medically relevant


Biological high-tech medicine Has great power but alone can be

reductionistic, often leading to symptom management without getting to the root causes of disease.

Integrative medicine Includes biopsychosocial and spiritual

aspects. Look for the root causes of disease

and healing here.


Four evidence based healing universes1. Biological

a. Traditional Medicineb. CAM: Complimentary and Alternative

Medicine

2. Psychological3. Social4. Spiritual

a. Mind-Body Medicine

Mind-Body Medicine

Mind-body Medicine The spiritual aspect of cognitive-

behavioral therapy Belief systems impact disease and

healing. The mind can be used for:

1. Expansion of healing power2. Pain control3. Spiritual evolution

Mind-Body MedicineEvidence-based: The Data

People with an active faith or belief system have better outcomes in medicine, surgery, mental health, and addiction Includes cancer, coronary artery disease,

cerebrovascular disease, hypertension, asthma, COPD, infections disease, kidney disease, and more.

Lower medication rates Lower length of stay Higher quality of life Much more

Mind-Body MedicineEvidence-based: The Data

Suggested reading Herbert Benson M.D., Timeless healing Jeff Levin PhD: God, Faith and Health David Larson M.D. Larry Dossey M.D. Dale Mathews M.D. Harold Koenig M.D. James Gordon M.D. Deepok Chopra M.D.

Mind-Medicine Evidence Based: The Data

What the data tells us: There is no separation between mind

and body. The mind is connected to every cell in

the body through electromagnetic and chemical waves.

In some yet to be determined way, thoughts have leverage in the inner workings of our cells having to do with disease and healing.

Mind-Body MedicineThe Mechanism

Community: support from like-minded people Behavior: good habits such as no smoking,

drinking, or drugs; healthy diet Thought: the power of positive thought--faith,

hope, belief, optimism, and much more Feeling: the healing power of positive emotion

—peace, love, joy, compassion Spiritual practice: expansion of healing power

from yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and prayer

Mind-Body Medicine Principles

The scientific connection between spirituality and healing has been made.

Spiritual belief systems have a role in healing mind, body, and soul.

When we activate or intensify our spiritual belief systems, healing power expands.

There is healing power on the table.


Healing Power Healing Power A magnificently intelligent healing

power operates every cell in the body. It is incomparably brilliant. We know how to make it grow and

shrink. We know where the leverage points

are. The key leverage point: how we

manage our pain.


Pain Management Skillful pain management To tap into the expanded

reservoir of healing power, we must become more skillful pain managers.

How we manage our pain determines whether we move forward, backward, or stay stuck in this life.


Pain Management Pain Management The fear factor: we are afraid of

suffering, disease, disability, the unknown, and death.

This mental distress slows down healing and makes the pain worse.

When disease persists, we can teach people to slow down and relax so they can stay in charge and get their lives back.


Pain Management Pain Management Often we cannot take disease away but

we can always help with pain management.

Pain is both physical and psychological. All pain is experienced in the mind and

can therefore be modulated by the mind. We can contain and reduce or expand and

magnify the pain. We can control pain so pain does not

control our lives.

Mind-Body Medicine Principles Spiritual

Evolution Spiritual Evolution If we manage our pain skillfully,

healing power expands and we evolve spiritually. Spiritual qualities such as

compassion, understanding, forgiveness, patience, peace, love, and joy grow.

We feel better. We become better people.


When we activate or intensify our spiritual belief systems, we harness the untapped power of the mind for: 1. Expansion of healing power2. Pain Control3. Spiritual Evolution

This is very good news but there are many barriers.

Problems Entering the Spiritual Domain

We don’t work with Spirit. We are not comfortable talking about religion. We have no language or map. We ignore or refer to spiritual counselors. Lack of training. Belief systems are personal, intimate, complex. Many have a traumatic religious history. Fierce feelings and defensiveness. Fear of unravel to the abyss (The Cheeseburger) Enormous variation and level of commitment. There is no time-brief appointments, paper work. How to enter without losing life, limb, or property.

Guidelines for Approaching Belief Systems

1. Access: we need models that give us safe, efficient, and effective access to the territory of belief systems. Map: how to get there. Language: how to talk to each other and

our patients about religion and spirituality. Keys: to enter the territory of belief

systems so we can get in and out safely and effectively.

An efficient delivery system: so we can help our patients learn how to do this work when we are already too busy.


2. Universal and inclusive Look for universal or near-universal

spiritual healing principles, methods, and qualities.

Design models that can work for as many as possible.

Include atheist, agnostic, religious, and spiritual persons.

Guidelines for Approaching Belief

Systems3. Individualize Stay in religion of origin and expand

practice Build your own program Cafeteria of options

4. Root cause and solution Look for root causes and solutions to our

deepest suffering.

5. User-friendly Remain user-friendly and non-invasive as

possible


6. Biopsychosocial-spiritual We think of high-tech medicine as real

and mind-body principles as touchy-feely. This is reductionistic and wrong.

We are biopsychosocial and spiritual beings. A disturbance in any one of there leads to a disturbance in the others.

Therefore, comprehensive treatment planning includes biopsychosocial and spiritual interventions.


7. Self-help and Skills Training There is an explosion of knowledge and models

having to do with healing in each of the four domains: biopsychosocial and spiritual.

There is no time to do it all: managed care, fifteen minute appointments, paper work and so on.

How can we activate healing power in all four domains given the limitation of time and system problems?

Good news: it can be done through skills training and self help.


Self-help: much of the healing in the psychosocial-spiritual domain is self-help.

Skills training: classes, groups, books, manuals, tapes, CD’s, DVD’s, Internet

Self-healing: we can teach people how to increase healing power while in the comfort of their own homes or during the day while performing their routine activities.

There are many ways to do this. No one way works for all people.

Universal Spiritual Healing Models

I will present two models1. Brutal Reality and the Illusion of Safety,

Security, and Immortality (1980)2. Healing Power: Ten Steps to Pain

Management and Spiritual Evolution (2005)

Personal Spiritual History

Before discussing the models, a brief personal history

From personal to universal To enter the spiritual domain, we need to

learn how to move with facility from our personal religious or spiritual experience to the universal.

In that light, I will share with you a very brief history of my religious-spiritual journey as it relates to professional work.

As you listen, find yourself and your patients in these stories and models.


Seventh month of fetal life: an early introduction to brutal reality

Conservative Judaism The dynamics of unraveling a belief

system The Cheeseburger The Chess game: The King goes down. The Abyss: the unknown, the great

mystery of life


Whether we stay in our religion of origin or not, belief systems remain monumentally important. The meaning and purpose of life Story and metaphor Cultivation of spiritual qualities Inspiration Protection and guidance Truth Healing Community and service Much more


The Seeker Mining the great religious fields for pearls Studies in Christianity, Hinduism,

Buddhism, Judaism, Native American Spirituality, others

Review the lives of saints, sages, teachers, masters, gurus

The scientific method in metaphysics: direct personal experience

Develop a spiritual practice: meditation, mindfulness, affirmations, prayer

The Scientific Method in Metaphysics

We can decipher spiritual fiction from fact. How to do this without lab tests or x-rays? We can put profoundly important questions

to the test of direct personal experience in the laboratory of life. Does compassionate service to humanity give us

peace of mind and strength? Does meditation work? Do higher states of consciousness actually exist? Does the body-temple harbor the God of the

universe?

The Scientific Method in Metaphysics

1. Test a theory by practicing a spiritual method.2. Assume the agnostic position.

Do not accept of reject the theory. Stay open and receptive.

3. The body is the test tube.4. The experiment is on the life force itself,

consciousness, energy, thought, feeling, desire, and behavior.

5. Prove or disprove it to yourself through direct personal experience.

6. If a method or concept works, we keep it and teach it to our patients. If not, discard it.

7. We trust our ability to tell the difference.

Brutal Reality and the Illusion of Safety, Security, and Immortality

Dual Diagnosis process group at Harlem Hospital

The emergence of a model Criteria

Brutal reality and higher states of consciousness

Connect the dots between pain and healing AA meetings and psychotherapy

What do you do when you are in pain? Healing power: where is the leverage?

Brutal Reality and the Illusion of Safety, Security, and Immortality

1. People2. Activities3. Belief System4. Self-knowledge5. Brutal Reality6. The Illusion of Safety, Security, and

Immortality

Belief Systems

Spiritual, religious, political, national, cultural, racial, familial, psychological, personal

Mechanism of perpetuation in health or disease Thought repetition with denial and repression of

conflicting data The Cheeseburger Effect: a single countervailing

thought or action has the potential to unravel an entire belief system, thrusting the individual into the unknown, the abyss. This is equivalent to psychological annihilation or death.

Belief Systems

Defense and resistance The Living Room

Simple fixed belief systems Eclectic synthetic belief systems The abyss between simple fixed and

eclectic synthetic systems Intra-psychic battle for healing

A Universal Prescription for Any Problem, Pain or Symptom

Tell your patients they can enhance healing when these four domains are active and positive: People Activities Belief System Self-knowledge

You can prescribe these with confidence. Each is evidence based.

A Quick Assessment for the Busy Practitioner

A quick, efficient, and safe entry into the psychosocial and spiritual domain for the busy practitioner:1. People: Who is in your life that you can really

talk to?2. Activities: What is your day like?3. Belief system: Do you have a spiritual activity

such as church, prayer, personal system, etc.4. Self-knowledge: How do you handle emotions

such as anger, depression, fear, and guilt?

Brutal Reality and the Illusion of Safety, Security,

and ImmortalityExercise

1.Describe how the six components weave the fabric of your life.

Focus on how you use people, activities, belief system, and self-knowledge to shift from brutal reality to a feeling of safety. You might want to use the handout to help you diagram your story.

2.Describe how the six components drive the lives of patients, family, friends, strangers, and enemies.

Mind-Body MedicineHerbert Benson M.D.

Conference in Chicago on spirituality and healing in medicine

Day one: science Day two: religion Day three: applications


Day one: scientific proof People with an active faith or belief

system have better outcomes in medicine, surgery, mental health, and addiction.


Day two: religion Rabbi, priest, Hispanic Pentecostal,

Florence Nightingale mystic, Tibetan Buddhist PHD—former secretary of the Dalai Lama, Islamic professor and teacher

Each discussed healing principles, methods, and qualities from their great faith traditions.


Day three: application Extract and organize healing principles

from the great faith traditions into cognitive behavioral or mind-body medicine practices. Practice these ourselves and teach them

to our patients.

Cascadia: Spirituality and Healing Group

Clinic survey Create a group and manual using the

criteria described earlier. Two groups:

One was consumer run The other is ongoing at the Northwest

Institute for Healing Power The Ten Steps

Healing Power: Ten Steps to Pain Management and Spiritual

Evolution1. Deconstruct: religion into discrete pieces2. Eliminate: dogma, ritual, and other non-essentials.3. Extract: the wisdom of the ages—the elegant

essence of religion.4. Organize: into doable practical steps and tools

• Ten steps, 12 methods, 100 spiritual qualities• Cafeteria of options

5. Any person: atheist, agnostic, religious, spiritual6. Anywhere, any time: home, work, play7. Any problem: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual8. Self-help9. Self-Healing

Healing Power: Ten Steps to Pain Management and Spiritual

Evolution Some advice as you listen Take what you need and leave the rest. Nuke offensive language and substitute

your own. The Higher Power as you understand it God, Buddha, Consciousness, Mystery

Stay in your own lane. Do not proselytize. Discuss without debate. Reform yourself, not others.

The Ten Steps

Ten Steps

Ten Steps

Follow the pain Pain management is the swing point

between descent and ascent. How you manage your pain

determines whether you move forward, backward, or stay stuck in this life. Turn the tables on the pain: use the

pain to heal.

Step 1: The Core Drive

We want: Unlimited peace, love, joy, and

safety No suffering Immortality: more time

This is our motivation whether robbing a bank or serving the poor.

Step 2: Duality and Brutal Reality

Life on the physical plane is dual and brutal. Duality

The ups and downs of life Pleasure and pain, good and evil, health and

disease, success and failure, wealth and poverty, gain and loss, praise and blame, joy and sadness, love and hate, war and peace, and so on

Brutal Reality Death, pain and suffering, and the unknown The down side of duality

Step 3: The Compromise

There is a collision between the core drive and duality.

We can’t get everything we want on the physical plane.

We compromise by creating the illusion of safety through relationship and activities.

In the compromise, we may feel comfortable and safe.

Step 3: The Compromise

However, suffering is unavoidable. Often we do not accept the

inevitable suffering of life. Instead, we make a desperate

attempt to eliminate all of our suffering through faulty mechanisms such as the cultivation of bad habits.

Step 4: Habits

We seek eternal love and safety in a world where impermanence and limitation are the rule.

In a mighty but misguided effort to eliminate suffering, we develop bad habits.

Bad habits have a profound effect on our health and our response to health care interventions.

Step 4: Habits

WorkCodependencyActivityMaterialismComputers/

InternetTVFoodShopping

AlcoholDrugsSexPowerGamblingMoneyViolenceCrime

Step 5: Tools Become Barriers

We use six tools to achieve the core drive

While these tools are useful in helping us find some measure of peace, love, safety, and pain relief, they become problems themselves and add to our suffering.


The six tools are:1. Mind2. Emotion3. Desire4. Body5. Activity6. Ego

Step 5: Tools in Alignment

1. Mind: when positive, calm, and focused, it is brilliant at solving problems and shaping meaning.

2. Emotion: a source of self-knowledge3. Desire: health, prosperity, and love4. Body: engage life, the doer of all of our

activities, the source of our potential liberation and enlightenment

5. Activity: work, recreation, culture, hobbies

6. Ego: establish our place in the world of work and relationships.

Tools Become BarriersThe Ego

The ego is the CEO of physical plane consciousness.

It’s job is to satisfy the core drive. To do this, the ego surreptitiously takes

over the control rooms of thought, feeling, desire, body and activity.

It uses these tools in its desperate search for unlimited peace, love, joy and safety, more time, and no pain.

The search is in vain however as the ego runs into the brick wall of limitation and inevitable suffering on the physical plane.

Tools Become BarriersThe Ego

But the ego does not give up so easily. It counters with an insatiable desire for

success, power, money, recognition, and things.

The ego’s desperate attempt to achieve the core drive on the physical plane is like driving a car into a ditch.

It tries to get out by pressing harder on the accelerator which only serves to heat up the motor, spray mud around, and dig a deeper rut.

With the ego in charge, the tools go out of alignment.

Step 5: Tools out of AlignmentReactivity

The six tools out of alignment=reactivity.1. Mind: restless, relentless, a life of its own2. Emotion: high emotional reactivity3. Desire: excessive material desire

resulting in attachments and bad habits.4. Body: heavy, tired, hurts, disability, death5. Activity: hyperactivity6. Ego: separation, selfishness, territorial,

self-important

Step 5: Tools Become BarriersThe Ego The six tools out of alignment:

The universal problem: does anyone not have this?

Fixation: pin us to the mat of the status quo

Root cause: the root cause of much of our suffering

Add on: the suffering that we add to the inevitable suffering of life


Getting the Tools Back in Alignment

We can get the six tools back in alignment by developing a spiritual practice (step 9) This is where the leverage is. We do the work here. Spiritual backbone-spinal column Spiritual chiropractor Day to day, hand to hand combat (9 to 5) Grind it out spiritual work Soul qualities slowly replace the ego.

Summary of Steps 1-5

Two levels of suffering The inevitable suffering of life:

steps 1-3 The six helpful tools spin out of

control: step 5 We cannot control duality and

brutal reality—the inevitable suffering of life.

Summary of Steps 1-5

However, we can control how we respond.

We can intervene at step 5. A comprehensive program must

address step 5. The great religions tell us how. This is very good news as we add a

lot of suffering to the inevitable suffering of life.

Step 6: The Seeker

Step 6: The Seeker The two layers of pain comingle. Our pain deepens. We may develop symptoms that invade

functioning. Our suffering leads to a period of

questioning. We recognize the need to get help. We become seekers.

Step 6: The Seeker

Our search takes us to spiritual belief systems.

World religions delve into the heart of the mystery of life and suffering and emerge with a prescription for our difficulties.

We can heal ourselves, religion teaches, if we learn how to manage our pain more skillfully by developing a spiritual practice.

But first, we must define the nature of the soul and spirit.

Step 7: Soul and Spirit

Soul or Higher Self Spiritual qualities: religious traditions

point to spiritual qualities as the nature of soul and Spirit and recognize these as the goal of all spiritual work.

Spiritual alphabet Periodic table of spiritual elements


Soul or Higher Self Extract the essence from the texts and

stories of the sacred traditions and summarize in one-word qualities

Perfume: The Elegant Essence of Religion

Call it Love, Truth, Power, Wisdom, Knowledge, Soul, The Buddha, Atman, The Image of God, Higher Self, Spiritual Qualities, or whatever you prefer

Spiritual Alphabet

Spiritual Alphabet


You have an army of 100 spiritual qualities.

The jewels of this life The habits of a sage The healers Broker and buffer the pain USA: unconditional, spontaneous,

automatic As these slowly grow to USA, the locus of

control shifts from outside to inside.


Spirit or Higher Power• Atheist, Agnostic, Spiritual, Religious

1. The God of your understanding• Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent• The God of Love• Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Rumi, Bal

Shem Tov• The Infinite Mysterious Unknown• Many other concepts, images, aspects

2. Higher states of consciousness3. Higher or true self 4. Higher meaning and purpose

Step 8: The School of Life

Turn the tables on the pain and make it work for you.

When pain comes, school is in session: 1. Life is school.2. Pain is the teacher if we let it be.3. Lessons have to do with the

cultivation of spiritual qualities.

Step 9: Spiritual PracticeExternal

Synagogue, church, mosque Rituals Sermons, singing, chanting Organizational work, committees Social gatherings Community service

Step 9: Spiritual PracticeInternal

1. Affirmations2. Habits3. Breathwork4. Progressive

muscle relaxation5. Contemplation6. Meditation

7. Prayer8. Mindfulness9. Practicing the

Presence of God10.Service11.Yoga12.The Transformation

of Emotion

Spiritual PracticeStep 9

Recall the purpose of spiritual practice• Reduce reactivity

• Getting the six tools back in alignment1. Mind: positive, calm, strong2. Emotion: self-knowledge3. Desire: contentment, satisfaction4. Body: a temple housing

God/Consciousness5. Activity: stillness, silence, serenity6. Ego: replaced by soul qualities

• Discipline, life long practice• Persevere and the reward is great

Step 10: Spiritual Experience The Promise: Spiritual Experience

• Cultivate spiritual qualities• Feel better• Become a better person• Negative → Positive → Stillness → Higher

States of Consciousness• Conquer the inner world• Become master of yourself

Step 10: Spiritual Experience

Expansion of spiritual qualities in four stages:1. No change is noticeable. Spiritual qualities

are expanding but the increase is subtle and imperceptible. Many people quit here.

2. You feel better. There is a tangible experience of ever-expanding peace, love, strength, courage, compassion, and other qualities from the spiritual alphabet.

3. Transformation of consciousness: the peace that surpasses understanding pure love, ecstatic joy, intuitive wisdom, a feeling of oneness with everything, and other wonderful expressions of Spirit.

4. Mastery: a sustained state of superconsciousness.

Key Principles of the Ten Steps

Steps 1-3: We want permanent love and safety in an uncertain world where suffering is inevitable.

Steps 4-5: We manage our pain poorly and make it worse.

Steps 6-7: The wisdom of the ages found in the world’s great religious traditions offers a solution to this dilemma.

Step 8: Religions teach us how to use the inevitable suffering of life to cultivate peace, power, and strength.


Step 9: Pain is the route to healing if we develop a spiritual practice.

Step 10: Spiritual qualities such as love, compassion, courage, strength, and humility are the healers. They help us broker and buffer the pain of this life.

Steps 1-10: Through a series of painful lessons, life teaches us that the peace, love, and joy we seek in the outer world, can and must ultimately be found within.


Spiritual work results in a shift in the locus of control from the outer world of people, places, and things to the inner world of peace, power, and strength.

Skillful pain management (step 8) and spiritual practice (step 9) lead to the discovery of the soul and Higher Power (step 7) as the peace, love, and joy we crave (step 10) (Universal Wheel).

Step 10 is The Core Drive resurrected, but now we understand that getting the peace, love, and joy we crave, necessitates a shift in the locus of control from outside to inside.

The Car

Build a car worthy of the spiritual journey.

The Car Body of the car: atheist, agnostic,

religious, spiritual Universal Wheel: problem, method,

quality Traction Devices: the stuff of the

religions.

The Universal WheelProblem, Method, Quality

The Universal Wheel 1. Problem: any problem of body, mind, or soul.2. Method: choose any one or combination of

the 12 methods.3. Qualities: choose any one or combination of

100 spiritual qualities in response to your problem.

Example: 1. I am anxious. 2. I practice meditation and mindfulness. 3. I cultivate peace of mind.

The Universal Wheel

The Universal Wheel The essence of spiritual work Cannot reduce any further Buddhism Necessary and sufficient Roll the wheel

The Universal Wheel

For many the universal wheel is: enough least invasive, threatening, or toxic. there is no theology here. addresses the root cause of much of

our suffering. For others, the universal wheel is not

enough.

Traction Devices

Some people need theological traction devices The stuff of the religions Story, metaphor, language Concepts, images, aspects Rituals

Traction Devices

Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresence

The God of Love A personal God as Father, Mother,

Friend, Beloved, Teacher, Guide, Protector, Confidant

Saints, sages, masters, teachers, and gurus

Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Rumi, Bal Shem Tov

Traction Devices

An impersonal God as peace, love, joy, power, wisdom, or other combinations of spiritual qualities

Nature, reason, the subconscious Collective unconscious and

archetypes The Mystery

Traction Devices

Karma and reincarnation Grace Mystical experiences: eternal peace,

pure love, ecstatic joy, intuitive wisdom, protection, guidance, prophetic dreams, many others

And more

Inclusion and Individualization

One person’s traction device is the next person’s gag reflex.

Take what you need and leave the rest.

Don’t let language knock you out of the game. Nuke offensive language and substitute

your own Inclusion: all of the options cited above

are referred to in the ten-step model.

How to Use the BookOverview

The book is an instruction manual for developing a spiritual practice.

There are ten steps, 15 methods, and 100 spiritual qualities.

10 qualities have their own chapter. The first 89 pages set the stage for

the rest of the book. Chapter 3-6: The Ten Steps

Getting Started

Chapter 7: eight suggestions p. 50 The ego versus the soul p. 27 & 53

A battle between the ego and the soul for control over thought, feeling, desire, body, and activity

Getting Started

The Serenity Prayer

Will and Surrender p. 59 Will: How to develop will power—

from spark to bonfire p. 60 Surrender: learning to live with what

we cannot change p. 67 Managing problems with will,

surrender, and a combination of both p. 70

A Universal Method

A ten-step method for working with any pain or problem p. 75

Will and grace The mystery of evil and suffering

4 options p. 83 The formula for success p. 85 Define your Higher Power p. 85

Install the image for duality and brutal reality

A constant no matter what the world or body does

A Universal Method

One pointed calm concentration p. 87 All your heart, mind, might and soul 24/7 for all techniques

Stay in the present p. 87 Start slow p. 88 Continuous practice p. 88 Pace yourself p. 88 Do your best and leave the rest p. 89

Spiritual Practice

The purpose of spiritual practice Reduce reactivity Getting the six tools back in alignment

1. Mind: positive, calm, focused, resilient2. Emotion: self-knowledge3. Desire: contentment, satisfaction4. Body: a temple housing the actual God of the

Universe or higher states of consciousness5. Activity: stillness, silence, spaciousness,

serenity6. Ego: replaced by soul qualities

Step 9: Spiritual PracticeInternal

1. Affirmations2. Habits3. Breathwork4. Progressive

muscle relaxation5. Contemplation6. Meditation

7. Prayer8. Mindfulness9. Practicing the

Presence of God10.Service11.Yoga12.The Transformation

of Emotion

Affirmations

The power of thought We are always affirming something. Thoughts are like glasses through which

you see the world. Framing and reframing The Subconscious Lipstick on a pig Technique p. 99 Japa Yoga p. 100 Note cars p, 101 One word affirmations p. 34 the spiritual

alphabet

Affirmations

Creating powerful and effective affirmations• Individualize• Visualize• Feel• Intensity• Practice• Persist• Manifest

How To Eliminate Bad Habits Habits rule destiny

Cocaine addict Householder Spiritual seeker Highly conscious sage

Change your habits and you change the course of your life.

How to Eliminate Bad Habits

The thought manifests as word.The word manifests as deed.The deed develops into habit.

And habit hardens into characterSo watch the thought and its ways with

care,And let it spring from love

Born out of concern for all beings.The Buddha

How to Eliminate Bad Habits The needle of attention

• Attention feeds the habit• Activates the brain groove• Releases thought, impulse,

fantasy, feeling, desire, and action.

Brain groove and neurocircuits

How to Eliminate Bad Habits

Habits

Assume a virtue if you have it not.Refrain tonight,

And that shall lend a kind of easinessTo the next abstinence, the next more

easy;For use almost can change the stamp of

nature,And either lodge the devil or throw him out

With wondrous potencyShakespeare, Hamlet

Morning, Evening, and Day Program

Morning and Evening Program

Progressive Muscle Relaxation p 121• Energize and relax the body

Breathwork p. 127• Using the breath to heal mind, body, and

soul Contemplation p. 133

• Letting wisdom catch up with you


Meditation• Stop the world • Stop the body• Stop the senses• Stop the mind• The Room of Stillness• Burn up problems in the Room of Stillness• Wait patiently• The door of stillness opens• The Ocean of Stillness • Ecstasy• Other worlds


Prayer p. 153• Communion with your Higher Power• Will• Action• Surrender• Grace• Peace

Day Program

Mindfulness p. 163• “I am awake”• Ordinary consciousness: mindlessness• Spiritual consciousness: mindfulness• Place the needle of your attention here:

1. Witness2. School3. Service4. Warrior5. Entertainment6. Ritual7. Create your own: focus on any aspect of Spirit

Day Program

Practicing the Presence of God p. 177• A personal relationship• The sacred meaning of story• Phenomenon• Have a conversation with God• Hide and seek• Find and keep• If everything is God, how would you

behave?• If I am Buddha and you are Jesus, what

would change?

Day Program

Service p. 191• Adding our light to the sum of the

light• The Bodhisattva’s Vow• Love and service in a daily routine• Maintaining balance

Day Program

Yoga p. 201• Bhakti Yoga: devotion• Karma Yoga: service• Jnana Yoga: wisdom• Raja Yoga: stillness

• Eight steps of Patanjali• Chakras and prana• Material consciousness: energy down and

out• Spiritual consciousness: energy in and up

Day Program

Yoga• Raja Yoga

• Be still and know that I am God.• God is stillness.• God is in the stillness.• Stillness is the doorway between this

world and the next.• God is beyond the stillness

• The Yogi in the school of life

Day Program

The Transformation of Emotion p. 213 The Guest House: Rumi A technique for converting emotional

pain to self-knowledge• Let the story unfold• Spiritualize the story

Deep Inner Work

The two deepest inner program1. The Transformation of Emotion: Self-

knowledge2. Meditation: stillness

• These two work together• Some cannot do this

Change Your DestinyThe Cultivation of Spiritual

Qualities

Perfume Bottle The elegant essence of religion Wake up a Buddha, Christ, or Krishna

Spiritual Qualities

Change Your DestinyA Balanced Healing Program

When you are in pain, check the alignment of the six tools: 1. Thoughts: repetitive, negative,

relentless, a life of its own2. Emotions: highly reactive3. Desires: attachments and bad habits4. Body: heavy, hurts, tired, disabled,

disease, death5. Activity: hyperactivity6. Ego: fear, insecure, worry, doubt

Change Your DestinyA Balanced Healing Program

Develop a spiritual practice Drive your car up the spiritual mountain Roll the Universal Wheel

1. Problem: any problem of body, mind, or soul

2. Method: any one or combination of 15 spriitual methods Horizontal Axis 1-3 Vertical Axis 3-15 Horizontal → Vertical → Horizontal

3. Quality: cultivate one of a combination of 100 qualities from the spiritual alphabet

Change Your DestinySpiritual Evolution

No matter what the world or your body does, you can respond by cultivating any one or combination of 100 spiritual qualities.

When you fill the body temple with love, compassion, understanding, forgiveness, patience, courage, and peace, You feel better. You become a better person. Negative → Positive → Stillness → Higher

States of Consciousness Superconsciousness: The door of stillness opens

→ expansion → ecstasy

Change Your DestinySpiritual Evolution

Service Quiet anonymous acts of gentle humble

service to all whom you meet Bring your love to brutal reality. Serve there.

Superconsciousness → Service → Superconsciousness → Service →Mastery

Mastery Even-minded under all conditions Ocean/Wave: In the deep still ocean no

matter how stormy the waves

Summary

You do not need a religion or theology. All you need is a spiritual practice. Drive your car up the spiritual mountain

and you will Expand healing power Become a more skillful pain manager Evolve spiritually Shift the locus of control from outside to

inside Negative → Positive → Stillness →

Superconsciousness Quiet anonymous acts of gentle humble

service to all humanity

Conclusion

Healthcare professionals: can teach the ten steps to their patients in hospitals and clinics.

The ten-step model supplements the healing practices of all medical specialties.

Self-help groups: The model is suited for self-help groups in the community.

Individual Study: we do not need a group or teacher. We can do this work at home alone.

Group Rules

We do not promote a particular religion. We do promote your individual approach. We have respect and tolerance for the

great variety of ways to understand and practice spirituality.

We do not proselytize. We engage in discussion without debate. Take what you need and leave the rest. We avoid giving advice or trying to fix

other people’s problems. We are not here to change others. We are here to change ourselves.

Exercise: Finding Yourself and Your Patients in the Ten Steps

1. Are you satisfied with your spiritual life?

2. What is the next step in your spiritual development?

3. Are you ready to take that step?4. Are you willing to do some work?5. What is your core drive?6. How does step 3, The Compromise,

play itself out in your life?7. What are some examples in your life of

how desire led to attachment and a bad habit or two?


8. Would you like to be able to control your mind but don’t know how?

9. Do you fill your waking life with continuous activity?

10.Do you have built-in periods of retreat and solitude for rest and regeneration?

11.Describe how your ego gets you into trouble.

12.Has your suffering led you to search for meaning and purpose.


13.What is the meaning and purpose of your life?

14.Describe how your belief system gives you meaning and purpose.

15.What is your concept of soul or higher self?16.Do you have a Higher Power?17.What is your concept of Higher Power?18.If life is school, how would you describe

some of the classes you are in at this time? What lessons are you learning?


19.Do you have a spiritual practice?20.What spiritual methods do you use?21.Would you like to expand your

practice?22.Review the list of spiritual qualities.

Which of these would you like to grow?23.Have you had a spiritual or

superconscious experience?24.Discuss pain as a stimulant for the

growth of spiritual power.


25.Build your own car. Universal Wheel: choose a problem,

method, and quality. Body of the car: atheist, agnostic,

spiritual, religious Traction devices

Where Do We Go From Here?

Healthcare professionals: if not interested of don’t have enough time, refer patients to self-help books or skills trainers.

Those who are interested can follow the data from two sources:1. Scientific studies on spirituality and

healing2. The scientific method in metaphysics:

spiritual practice leads to direct personal experience. These two work together.

Where Do We Go From Here?

“Heal Thyself” The Bag Lady Healthcare professionals and

consumers, seekers, individuals in crisis, all people Develop a spiritual practice Form study groups Follow the scientific method in

metaphysics

Change Your DestinySome Final Advice

Spiritual work is not easy. It takes time to dissolve barriers. Quick fixes are usually not real. However, if you are patient and

diligent, the rewards are profound. For most it takes crisis and pain to start

a practice but don’t wait. Do your homework now. Begin building your morning, day, and

evening program.

Change Your DestinySome Final Advice

Practice one or a combination or spiritual methods every day.

Work on cultivating one or a combination or spiritual qualities every day.

Even if you are very busy, try to read one or a few pages of sacred text every day.

Above all, remain compassionate, patient, and gentle with yourself.

Conclusion: The Great Physician prescribes Love p. 330

Discussion

Integration: personal and professional practice

Cases

Northwest Institute ForHealing Power

This is a self-help model. You can and must ultimately do the

work alone. For those who might want ongoing

support and guidance, consider forming a study group.

You can also attend classes at the Northwest Institute for Healing Power

Northwest Institute for Healing Power

Classes: Monday evening 6:30-8:00 pm

Workshops Personal instruction 1:1 Group supervision Northwest Institute for Healing Power Portland, Oregon PhilipShapiro.com [email protected]

Documents

Healing Power