The other day a new Ascender came to me; he was experiencing a massive stress release, feeling attacked and bombarded by his thoughts. So I gently said what every teacher says, “Choose for an Ascension Attitude”.

He kind of looked at me in a dazed sort of a way which reminded me of how, once upon a time, when I first learnt to Ascend, I started to experience a great deal of stress moving too. Thoughts would hurtle through my mind, often very contradictory, chaotic and very very self critical. It was painful and tough going. And I can remember teachers compassionately suggesting I choose now and how I wanted to shout at them and say, “You’ve absolutely no idea of
what I’m going through right now, it’s impossible to think an Ascension Attitude!”

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So it’s funny that just the other day, I too had a massive stress release, something of the like I haven’t experienced for years. The old special groove was up and for a short time I was immersed in my mind, listening to the voices again.

Fortunately my experience of the stillness is solid, I know the way back. But I was reminded how much courage it takes, how brave we have to be to make that choice. For many of us we’ve been at the minds mercy for years, caught up in and believing the dramatic and traumatic stories of our lives. Listening to the beliefs that there is something wrong with us. That we are not worthy of love, that we don’t deserve a good life.

So making the choice for an Ascension Attitude, it occurred to me, is rather like the old archetypal tales of the heroic quest that abound in our cultural literature. The brave knight who embarks on the journey to find the Holy Grail, the treasure seeker, the young woman searching for her true love and how so many heroes and heroines had to fight their demons along the way; the moving shadows in the ancient dark forrest, the monsters of the sea, the alluring sirens and sensory desires that tried to tempt them away from finding their hearts desire.

The truth is that these demons and monsters are figments of our imagination, thoughts that seemingly try to block us along the path towards freedom. They were created in an ancient time when we chose to believe something about ourselves that wasn’t true and then let that belief become our story and shape our lives. We’ve let these beliefs attack and torment us and keep us from our peace.

We’ve feared they would destroy us so we took up arms and tried to fight them, to banish them from our universe, reject them, deny them and disown them. But to fight only keeps them in play, what we must learn to do is put down our shiny swords and take off our defensive armours; we must rip away the blinkered helmet that’s covered our eyes. We must learn to surrender and let go.

When we let go of the fight, what’s left is peace, here and now in this present moment. In fact we return to the moment before we created the belief there was something wrong; we return to now. Surrender is not to become weak, it’s quite the opposite, it’s empowering.

Who we really are needs no defence. When we choose, we discover how strong and amazing we are, that we can overcome and transcend the distress and suffering that’s been our story for all of our lives. We get to see that these old habitual thoughts are just the body’s way of releasing stress, that the Ascension Attitudes are actually working really well for us. We get to see that we are gentle peaceful warriors and our quest is for the truth.

Our bravery comes in just being willing to give choosing a go, to just try once in the midst of the chaotic raging battling mind, to choose for an Ascension Attitude. It can take all the courage we can muster, when every fibre of our being wants to stay in the thought, enticed by the drama, listening to the victim’s cries and be lured back into the lonely dark cave. Yet, dear ones, we would not be here, learning how to Ascend if there wasn’t the strength within us somewhere that can do it. That can choose for now. And what we get to see is that after we’ve done it once it becomes easier and easier to do it again and again, moment by moment. Until all the stress is burned up and our stories become like old books stored and forgotten on a dusty bookshelf, and it becomes a simple choice to return to the vast deep ocean of peace within. To transcend all suffering and be free of the mind.

When ever there’s a lot of movement, remember the courageous peaceful warrior within that can rise up and protect your very being. That will never give up on you. That has a clear one pointed desire for freedom.

So next time someone comes to me deep in the grip of some illusionary saga; I will most likely still say, “Choose for an Ascension Attitude” but I’ll also kneel before them humbled by their presence, awed by their courage, inspired by their bravery in this moment not to listen to what their minds are screaming at them. And together we will both choose and dissolve into the eternal infinite still silent truth of who we really are. Magnificent Gods and Goddesses of love; no longer separate, no longer limited or broken, all struggling and questing over, we are just resting here right now, in the heart of God …… happily ever after.