By Cathy Eck

Desires Aren’t the Enemy

According to the ancient initiates, when we live from our True Self, our desires and our thoughts/beliefs become so perfectly congruent that we easily fulfill desires.  But if we live from a fabricated false self, then we try to follow beliefs and fulfill desires of others.  We aren’t naturally equipped to fulfill desires that aren’t our own, so we need hard work or willpower.  It’s our free will choice which way we live.

Most people have a belief system of some sort, and they fulfill desires pretty well if they follow their belief system to the letter.  If we like our beliefs and aren’t harming others, there isn’t a problem with having a belief system.  Overzealous believers, however, often erroneously think their beliefs are the truth.  If others (who aren’t in power) feel damned or stuck in an unsatisfactory life experience when they can’t follow or obey, the believer has gone too far.  They’ve confused beliefs with the truth.  That’s where letting go comes in to save the nonbelievers.

A good way to find out what you still believe (and it might surprise you) is to ask yourself:  “How do I fulfill desires?”  Here are some popular answers:

Sky God

Is an outside God in the sky the grantor of your wishes and keeper of your destiny?  Some treat God (or Jesus) like a concierge.  If God deems them deserving, they fulfill desires.  If sky God is your answer, then the next question to ask is how does God decide if you’re deserving?  Often when people answer this question, they realize that God’s rules are exactly like their parent’s and early authority figure’s rules.  This belief also becomes transparent when you realize that atheists tend to fulfill desires too.

Hard Work 

Most westerners have some hard-work ethic in them.  If we believe that hard work fulfills desires, then we can’t do something we love and get rewarded.  We have to make everything hard or convince others that we’re suffering enough to deserve a reward.  Also, we discover that some things can’t be created or fixed with hard work — we reach the limit of our belief system.  Hard work doesn’t create great ideas.  No amount of hard work can cure something labeled incurable.  The True Self creates in ways that are simple and easy.

Positive Thinking

When people realize that thoughts fulfill desires, they’re usually horrified at what they’ve been thinking.  They’ve accepted lots of beliefs.  They see that their mind is conditioned to accept things that feel terrible without discriminating.

Occultists and magicians realized long ago that emotional people were easy to deceive; they used that to their advantage.  Those in power still create problems to generate emotion in others.  While everyone is distracted in their emotional confusion, the people in power do whatever they want.  Pay attention, you’ll see this pattern wherever problems exist.

Karma

In the west, we say, “What goes around comes around”  — the western version of karma.  Originally, karma was based on the understanding that when you create in the illusion, you get both sides of duality.  Pretty and ugly, rich and poor, or war and tolerance go together like two sides of a coin.

Even when we only identify with one side of duality, we get the other as a bonus unconsciously.  The side we’re not identified with is projected out on to others, and it does come back to us in time.  Other people eventually return our projections.  Letting go resolves karma because it gets rid of projected duality.

Obedience, Being Good

Some believe that if they are good or obedient, they’ll get what they want.  They’re often very frustrated when they see that others aren’t good (by their standards) and they, too, fulfill desires.  When we obey authority or another’s belief system, we’re disobeying our True Self.  When we let go, we come to see that our True Self fulfills desires, not authority.

Magical Thinking

There are all kinds of magical belief schemes to fulfill desires from four-leaf clovers to mind games.  Some people actually worry to fulfill desires.  Others think they protect themselves with fear.  There are superstitions, guardian angels, and fairies.  All of these are mind tricks that work sometimes when you believe them because they are long-standing thought forms.  But they aren’t foolproof and most people don’t know why they work when they do or why they eventually fail them.

Willpower

People use willpower to fulfill desires in any number of physical or mental ways.  Willpower overpowers strong beliefs.  Old-fashioned willpower benefits from the group mind — mafia, KKK, or religion.  But visualization or affirmations are also forms of willpower. Underneath the use of willpower of any kind is the belief that one lacks real power.  They need to force their desires to manifest.

What’s the Answer?

Everyone has a unique mix of how they fulfill desires.  Religion, upbringing, culture, personal history, and teachers all give us beliefs.   Beliefs tend to be unpredictable keeping us in a state of confusion.

If you’re an atheist, God isn’t part of your answer.  Some cultures treat willpower as crucial to fulfill desires; others find it rude.  If you believe in the luck of the Irish, a four-leaf clover is an asset.  If you’re raised on superstition, you’ll create problems by breaking a mirror.  In the illusion, beliefs rule; and those who know and follow their own belief rulebook do well.  Those who let go do better.

There are also some belief trump cards like being born to royalty.  Being told you’re chosen is like winning the lottery of beliefs.  When we let go, even these wide-standing beliefs don’t limit us.

The Great Equalizer

The great equalizer is the power of letting go.  According to the ancient initiates, when your mind is clear or virgin, you think a desire once; then you fulfill it by following your inspiration.  When no beliefs block our desire fulfillment process, we’ve returned to the Garden of Eden.