Publisher's Synopsis
Flow is the modern equivalent of the ancient experience of the Underlying Harmony of the world. Based on the principle that "People differ only in their sensitivity to the One," the text uses straight-forward language and exercises to increase our sensitivity to Flow and bring us back into harmony with the current of universal good fortune.Everyone wants good fortune. Few, however, follow the inner path all the way to wisdom's doorstep. Why is this? How have things come to such a pass? Do people believe they deserve good fortune without having developed the judgment needed to avoid misfortune? Are they so distracted by self-centered pursuits that they do not believe they actually deserve good fortune? Does the modern mind no longer believe wisdom is achievable?It's not until we acknowledge that our intentions are not entirely conscious that we set to work on our character with a real sense of purpose. No matter how we try to convince ourselves or others about our trustworthiness, the intentional field cannot be deceived. By really clarifying our character to the core-by which I mean our unconscious desires, aversions, and attitudes-our intentions no longer carry with them the ulterior motives of ill-will and self-interest. Refining our whole character like this, so that it is our sincere intention to benefit the whole, brings us in tune with the underlying harmony of the world. Rather than living in an on-going state of dissonance and frustration, we come to live in an on-going state of resonance and contentment. The longer this goes on, the more trustworthy our intention becomes. As dissonance disappears and resonance increases, the field of spiritual cause-and-effect increasingly nurtures the seeds of our intention and, with time, allows them to bear fruit and effect new causes in conjunction with other causes. Since this field of interdependent causes is the underlying reality organizing the world we perceive with the five senses, harmonizing our intention with the intention of the whole aligns us with its goal of perfection. And because matter is spirit, spiritual causes trigger material effects-although seldom the ones desired if their intentions were contaminated by self-interest and further complicated by interaction with other contaminated intentions. It is the unitary nature of reality that makes possible this translation of spiritual cause into material effect. As such, it is the source of individual misfortune and good fortune, both. This understanding has long been the root of efforts to attune human nature to the underlying harmony of the world. "The Spiritual Basis of Good Fortune: Retracing the Ancient Path of Personal Transformation" is a companion volume to the well-received Toltec I Ching. As its subtitle indicates, it is a course in changing one's fortunes for the better by transforming one's awareness for the better. Re-tracing the ancient path of the spirit warrior, it outlines the practical steps leading to the eradication of self-defeating thoughts, emotions, and memories. Based on an esoteric formula of trigrams of the I Ching, it uses a detailed progression of lessons and exercises to demonstrate clearly the relationship between inner work and outer success.It is a course of self-transformation in the tradition of sudden enlightenment practitioners. It follows in the footsteps of those who empty out their self-defeating patterns of thought, emotion, and memory in order to make a lodging-place for the original uncreated awareness. It points to the shortcut method by which the modern mind of one's contemporaries is permanently aligned with the ancient soul ever-awakening within every form.In all this, it adheres to the ancient teaching of self-liberation, which transcends the separation of spirit and matter by uniting That Which Is Above with That Which Is Below in this very body and in this very lifetime.
