The Shift: Taking your life from Ambition to Meaning
by Dr. Wayne Dyer
The Shift is Dr Wayne Dyer's latest book and it is a companion to an innovative film which is a hybrid documentary/dramatic-narrative. Since the word "shift" looms large on my search engine hits... I love the title!!!
Disclaimer: Hayhouse sends me free review copies of new releases that relate to my web content.
The Shift: Chapter One: From...
This is a little book, and it has only four chapters. Chapter one is about where we come "from" before we are born.
Wayne doesn't assume he knows where we come from... it is unknown of course... however, he does attempt to describe what it might be like.
"To write about non being as the place we originate from requires me to imaginatively speculate on what the spiritual world of non being is. The way I do this is to imagine a Divine consciousness who's in the business of manifesting from out of nothingness."
What I take out of this is we are going "to... " where we came "from... ", the point of coming from is not getting to the destination, but growing, and playing on the journey.
The key points of where we come from are described below:
1. Nothingness
Where we come from (and where we are going to) includes no things. It is the void of just awareness. We are still there in a way, we are merely experiencing a perceptual shell that allows us to limit ourselves and believe that THINGS exist.
Wayne suggests the shift includes practicing mediation in silence in order to reconnect with our true formless nature.
2. Oneness
The shift also includes a remembering that our true nature knows we are ONE with all that there is (and all that there isn't).
Dr. Dyer suggests to focus your efforts on your inner world instead of trying to control or change things in your external world.
3. Surrender
The shift includes the practicing the art of surrender. Said another way, this is to "let it be" or accept the truth of the situation "AS IS". That is not to say you can't work to change the situation, but step one is acceptance versus denial (it's not just a river in Egypt!!).
Once you accept or surrender to the moment you can remember that you are co-creating your life with your soul that is still in the void... and you are always free to choose again... in every moment of your life... you are FREE to choose what you think, say and do.
You can't really control anything in the external world (dream, projection)... All that you have power over is your thoughts, words, and actions.
The Shift: Chapter 2, Ambition...
Dr. Dyer describes the first part of our lives as the ambition phase, which begins at birth and lasts until we about 30 or 33 (ish).During this phase our lives, we take on what Dr Dyer calls a "false self" or an "ego" in which we "Edge God Out".
Our false self is created by first our parents, who help us discover that we are (not really) separate from others.
I find it fascinating that studies show that for about the first two years of life on earth, infants cannot perceive themselves as separate from their environment...
The again, when you come "from" timeless eternity of nothingness, oneness and surrender, and show up here in the realm of things, separation, and attempts to control... One can see that it would take constant effort for a spirit to comes to grips with what the hell is going on!!!
Then one day the infant experiences the self-other split... when they realize that there is another person out there (not really) that will respond to stimulus and interact with them.
The false self or ego then must create an identity in order to play a variety of roles on earth... we learn to know that we ARE:
- Separate beings (NOT!)
- Separate from things that are "missing" in my life (NOT!)
- Separate from God or Source or Spirit...(again... NOT!)
- Bodies, and subject to death aka not being (we can't "not be")
- Our Stuff (...you get this now right?)
- Our Job (yikes!)
- Our Roles (Who are you?... Who who... Who Who...)
- Our Reputation (... But you made ME FEEL (insert negative emotion here))
- The voices in our heads (shhhhh....)
Another aspect of the ambition phase is that is dominated by "doing" are rarely "being". We are taught by the culture around us to "stay busy" and keep doing something.
This is why it is difficult for most people in the ambition phase of life to meditate or be comfortable doing nothing and just being. We are taught to fear silence.
Thought of another way, one could think of the Ambition Phase as the "doing" phase or the Yang phase of life...then the meaning phase would be the "being" phase or Yin phase of life.
This is a necessary phase of life, if you are in it... embrace it!!! This is your time to play the false self game...play as long as you like... someday you may feel like it's time for the shift...
The Shift: Chapter 3, To...
"Thoroughly unprepared, we take the next step into the afternoon of life; worse still, we take this step with the false assumption that our truths and ideals will serve us as hitherto. But we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the programme of life's morning; for what was great in the morning will be little at evening, and what in the morning was true will at evening have become a lie."
-- from The Stages of Life, by Carl Jung
This is the transition phase "to" meaning, being, YIN... Again the shift "happens" to us... We don't have the ability to choose whether or not the shift occurs... Our choice is how we respond to the shift.
Dr Dyer suggests that we embrace the "To..." transition phase by:
Making the U-Turn
The first step in making the shift is just a change in direction:"The direction we take in life is far more significant than the place ego parks us in, in the present moment. For example, inquiring about what direction we're headed is more valuable than focusing on how much we weigh or when we had our last cigarette. Making a commitment to change a self-sabotaging way of life is making a commitment to change direction, and then we head toward weight-loss or addiction control. Heading toward something more purposeful and meaningful is even more significant."
Signposts of the U-Turn
- We become less interested in always doing and having more stuff- We become more comfortable with "being" and "doing" less
- External approval and validation give way to humility
- Thoughts of separation are slowly replaced with thoughts of unity and oneness
- We come to realize we are really connected to what we thought was missing in our lives
- We begin to trust... ourselves, others and the source of all that created us.
...there are more great insights in this chapter, but for the sake of brevity I will move on to...
The Shift: Chapter 4, Meaning...
The last phase of life moves us toward meaning, being, YIN (versus ambition, doing, YANG)."Life is not meaningful... unless it is serving an end beyond itself; unless it is of value to someone else."
-- Abraham Joshua Heschel
The shift to the meaning phase of life represents a return to where we came from... cool thing is that we don't have to die to get there. We can live a life of meaning here on earth.
Dr. Dyer points towards four virtues that will help us accept, enjoy and even flourish during our meaning phase of life.
The Four Cardinal Virtues of our Original Nature
1. Reverence of all life2. Natural Sincerity
3. Gentleness
4. Supportiveness
The shift finally finds us home on earth in a body being what our soul intended to be.
Here are three things to watch out for in this phase of life:
1. Shift from Entitlement to Humility
2. The Shift from Control to Trust
3. The Shift from Attachment to letting go
This book is basically a concise summary of the entire of theme of "shift your consciousness"...how perfect is that???
This is my second free book from Hay House... If I ever write a book, Hay House will be my publisher of choice.
Thanks for the free book hay house, and thank you Dr Dyer for the wonderful book and movie. Both showed up in my life in the "ta-dah" nick of time...
...but then again... Dr. Dyer would not surprised by that fact at all :D
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Return from The Shift to Inducing Consciousness
Return from The Shift to Shift Your Consciousness
