Mastering Life by Steve Grissom
At the time of the birth of my daughter, it came to me that all the nagging questions of my youth and adult life were still unanswered. I’m referring to those questions that come up from time to time when we are alone or going through troubling times. The common experience of pondering why we are here, what we are supposed to do and with whom, and how to make a seemingly unjust experience be more than just tolerable. With the birth of my daughter came the realization that now there is a little one who would be looking to me to guide her through this voyage of life, which I had not yet figured out myself. Quickly I pushed these doubts away for the times were pressing. After all, I now had a new family to provide for and a place to carve out for myself in the world. So with the emphasis now of my time being placed on a successful family life, I felt that happiness was finally to be within my grasp.
However, as times passed, the sense of fulfillment and deep contentment with myself and the world continued to elude me. Life still seemed unfair, and I found myself happy one day, sad and confused the next. As my daughter grew older, so did my uneasiness, for I could offer her no more than I had myself accomplished. When my marriage suddenly ended, I found myself terribly confused, for not only had I no sweeping answers to happiness, now my daughter would no longer be present in my life much of the time. With this deep sense of loss came a burning resolve. I would find the answers for a happy and purposeful life, one that remained so regardless of how many twists and turns the world offered. I realized that this was the greatest gift I could offer my daughter and the only real help I could offer this tired world. I must place myself beyond any need of help and only then could I be of any real benefit to anyone.
The defining moment came a few years later when I met a Conscious Teacher, that is, one who has mastered both life and death and transcended living at the effect of both. In his presence I, too, even experienced this supernal joy and unmatched fredom that no life experience up to that time had ever come close to offering. The greatest joy was discovering that in my true Self, I already was what I had so long longed for, and that this is true for us all. I had certainly heard this before and tried to believe it, but it did not visibly hold true for me when life was the toughest. For the first time, I experienced this for myself through the simple yet profound tool of Self-Inquiry. To be able to live a life free of stress, worry, upset, doubt or lack, and to be free of the confines of death and its fear, opened my heart like a rose in full bloom, and I longed for this fragrance to engulf the world. I was then ready to share this most lovely Truth with all the people in my life.
would like to learn more about AHAM and its programs and services, call the Center at (336) 381-3988. Inquire about the free Power of Awareness Introductory Seminar which you can take in the privacy and comfort of your own home by way of a special telecommunications bridgeline phone connection, where you can also talk with others who are taking the seminar at the same time. Your only cost is the phone call. Also, the Power of Awareness Introductory Seminar is presented once a month at the Lifestream Center.
The next programs at Lifestream will be Saturday February 8 and March 8, 2003, from 1-4 p.m. You can attend one or both. There is a suggested donation of $20. For more information or to reserve a space, call Lifestream or John Shelor at 982-2838.
However, not everyone that I knew wanted mastery over life, death, and the purpose of existence. Instead, they (like me) only wanted a simple, happy, prosperous and fully functional life filled with worldly success and loving relationships. In my quest for the Highest Truth, I, too, could not ignore life’s responsibilities, and frankly, neither did I have any interest in living in a cave or being celibate. My Teacher also discouraged this very attitude. He encourages us to live fully and function efficiently in the world while at the same time both being and sharing the simple Truth of our Being. To those who found this difficult and for those who simply wanted a happier , more prosperious and easier life, he has also provided the means to achieve our every objective: The Power of Awareness which is utilizing our own inherent power.
Now I know that whatever my daughter could possibly ever want (or anyone else for that matter), I have found the way and means to fulfill every desire, whether the loftiest, like spiritual enlightenment, or just ordinary things like a job, promotion or a healed relationship, This may seem to be a sweeping statement to some, but I have learned not to fall into the mistake of leaving the openess of childhood for the doubt and skepticism of adulthood, which is simply, I no longer deny the reality of my own experience.
My daughter was skeptical at first, yet she could not deny her experience with me. Seeing this transformation for herself, she too now easily and naturally reminds me when to properly use this inherent power of awareness and assumption if I ever express that something is difficult or out of reach. She has also learned The Seven Basic Truths that, when applied with honest intent and repeated effort, yield the abundant, happy and love-filled existence which I once only dreamed of.
These Seven Basic Truth are: 1) Imagination creates your reality. 2) Thoughts are things. 3) What you think about grows. 4) You become what you think about. 5) Your assumptions form your world, so keep your mind on what you want and off what you don’t want. 6) You can change your world by reforming or changing your assumptions. 7) If you cannot change the situation (you are faced with), you can change its effect on you by changing your assumption or your attitude about it; and eventually, you may be able to change the situation.
These Seven Basic Truths and The Power of Awareness along with its uncompromising Law of Assumption, are simple and always effective, and always operate together. Every person right now in his or her life is using them, for we cannot avoid them or their daily use. The mastery of the Power of Awareness is the mastery of life; indeed, it is the mastery of health, happiness, prosperity, love, and all that is lovely in the universe.
My life is now one of relaxed fulfillment, and there is no longer any doubt or concern whether I have served my daughter well, or whether she will live a happy, loving, prosperous life. I am sharing with her these very simple yet most powerful basic principles and processes, and showing her by my own life’s example that they always work 100% of the time! They will also work for anyone else who learns how to properly apply them!
Steve Grissom lives in Mt. Dora, FL, which is near Orlando, and works for a major pharmaceutical company. He makes regular trips to North Carolina to participate in various life transforming programs and workshops offered at the AHAM Meditation Retreat and Training Center in Asheboro. Steve recently completed AHAM’s Power of Awareness Introductory Seminar Facilitator’s Training. If you would like to talk with Steve Grissom, you can call him at (352)385-4671, in Mt. Dora.