Editor’s note: This article is so extraordinary that I obtained permission from its author to republish it here.  I suggest that you read it twice, then pause for an extended time to contemplate its wisdom.

A huge part of what is to propel our communal unfolding into a more harmonious society is our willingness to be aware and to be open to new ways of thinking, new possibilities.  So many of us were indoctrinated into believing lies about who we are.  We believed these lies because they were told to us over and over by people we trusted and felt dependent upon.  Consider this alternative way of thinking about a very important subject, please:

Why We Suffer by Wynn Free

Once upon a time you and I were part of God. It’s not that we’re not part of God now, because we still are. The difference is we knew it back then, so because we knew it, we could act like it was so. When we acted like it was so, we were able to have anything we wanted, after all God is the creator, so in as much as we were part of God, so were we creators too. As fast as we could conceive of something, it would manifest and exist. With one exception; since everyone else was also part of God, we couldn’t create anything that would violate someone else’s Godliness.

For a while it was great fun. But eventually it got boring. So we all made an agreement to forget that we were part of God. And since we were Creators, we had the power to do that. We would create a planet, put bodies on that planet and then inhabit the bodies. But we wouldn’t remember we did that, once we inhabited the bodies. Of course, when we died, we would remember, but the way we set up the game was that until we could remember who we were while we were in a body, we would have to keep returning to that planet in new bodies. But there would be endless chances. And as soon as we would remember who we were, we could transform ourselves and have anything we wanted once again, as we reconnected with the power of the God/creator self inside us.

Most of us didn’t remember. We did things the hard way. Nothing came easy. And we suffered. We had long ago forgotten our origins and were living in a state of amnesia. We made up our own rules and did our best, but unfortunately our best wasn’t very good. We got all kinds of aches and pains. There was always this sense of isolation, loneliness, and confusion. But there also were numerous clues. For example, every night we would go to sleep and in our dreams, we would return to that place of original creation where we could, once again, have anything we wanted. And so we did. In our dreams we could have it all. But every morning, we would once again wake up in our state of amnesia and have to do everything the hard way.

So the original creator God decided to give us a little help. Various reminder people were allowed to show up in bodies; people like Lao Tzu, Buddha, Muhammad, and Jesus. On one hand, this violated the original rules of our game, but as a group, we were suffering so much that we petitioned the Big Guy for help and this is how he gave it. These new guys could speak great wisdom. The reminder people told us “why do everything by the sweat of your brow” when you could “put the kingdom of heaven first and all other things would be added.” They were able to remember that they were part of God and could create whatever they thought as long as it didn’t violate anyone else’s reality. And people did listen. And they were inspired. Except, the people kept thinking that these new guys were part of God but they themselves weren’t, so they put them on pedestals and worshiped them, even when they were directly told that “these things I do, you can also do and much more.”

The people continued to suffer because they had very limited ability to invoke their God/creator self. They continued to doing everything the hard way. Oh occasionally they would pray to one of those reminder people who were now exalted on pedestals. But most of them missed the real message. They mimicked the words and lived in the constant fear that they were doing something wrong. And they were going to be punished. The Big Guy had become a wrathful Father, separate from them instead of a loving support system. And that was OK, because eventually they would figure it out. Perhaps not in this lifetime. Perhaps not even in the next thousand lifetimes. But eventually they would tire and pay attention to their dreams and get the idea. They would understand the real message of those who had come to remind them.

If you happen to be one of those people who is still suffering and perhaps don’t believe in God, or entertain the thought that God has abandoned you, or put others on pedestals above you, or live in fear and guilt that you’re doing something wrong, here’s a key to awakening the God/ Creator inside yourself. Act as if it’s so. Assume that it is true and see if there’s a shift in the world around you. You must prove to yourself beyond a shadow of a doubt that it works this way. This is the meaning of faith – acting as if it’s so before you know. Eventually you will get an experience and you won’t have to imagine anymore; that you can think about something and it can occur as long as you don’t violate someone else’s reality. (also you must create the physical circumstances where it has the possibility of happening.

For example, if you want a job, you must make yourself available where jobs exist.) Also, when your wish does manifest, it may not look like a miracle. It might just look like a coincidence. But you’ll recognize it and know what it is. Ask for things to happen that are in “the highest good of everyone concerned”. You were created in God’s image ultimately to be an equal partner with Him. But this equal partner business might take millions of years of training. After all, if you’re going to be equal, you’ll have to know how to create an entire Universe. But that’s down the road. For most of us, loving our wife and kids and earning a living is about all we can handle. But it’s all part of the training. Are you better than your children because you were first? The very first step is faith. Make believe it’s so and see what happens. And be patient. Sometimes it takes a while to break down the patterns that you’ve grown accustomed to. And perhaps, you still really want to do things the hard way. Perhaps you’re one of those who have grown overly familiar with their suffering and would rather stay in the reality, which is comfortable. After all, if you should ever finally succeed, at least you’ll know that you did it all yourself and you can take all the credit, without any outside help from the part of yourself we’ve identified as God.

But if you are one of those who are reaching the point of being sick and tired of your suffering and would like to try a different approach, perhaps a much faster track, try imagining that this story is true. Don’t believe it, but try it on for size. If part of you is also part of God and if you can call on that part of yourself, perhaps you’ll get an answer and something will transform in the physical world around you and you’ll have your own personal validation. Not only will the circumstances of your suffering shift, not only will you be able to see God inside everyone else, but step-by-step you will be able to create a life full of love, joy and miracles. And you might even get to be one of those reminder people yourself. And it won’t be much longer (give or take a million years) that you’ll be out there creating planets, solar systems and universes yourself.

For more about Wynn Free, see www.messageaday.net

Note: In my books and articles, I use this pause button icon to show a place where I suggest that you pause and consider or meditate on what has just been expressed.  If you breeze through this article without stopping, you will not get maximum benefit from it.   You might choose to pause for 10 seconds or for an hour, whatever feels right.

Need is a strange and largely useless word.  Yes, it is powerfully used when it is said that we need to feed more hungry people since over 30,000 people starve to death every day.  Even that usage of the word can be a pointless provocation of collective guilt rather than an impetus to dig into our pockets to help feed.

Unfortunately, the word “need” is used much more extensively, inaccurately and unproductively.  Such use sucks the energy from any intent of having higher levels of spiritual empowerment.

Our words and thoughts are powerful.  It is important that we respect this if we intend to spiritually and emotionally mature, to unfold.

Our use of the word “need” is so important, I believe, that I made it one of the four “Things that Matter” in my first book, All That Matters:

Ask for what you intend to have, but choose not to need anything.

Our minds are quite creative, but can be rather stupid.  At a deep level, the mind does not understand negative terms:  Mental stress is created when you say, “I need to find a loving relationship.”   The Universe responds: “OK, he is a person who has defined himself as needing a relationship.  That will be what he continues to be.”  

Similarly, you create anxiety for yourself if you say, “I want to stop smoking” rather than “I choose to be a free breather”.   So expressing or thinking that you do not want something tends to bring that thing to you.  So it’s quite counter-productive to say or think that you need more money, sex or love.  Doing that is a way of ignorantly defining yourself.  It exacerbates anxiety, stress, fatigue and muscle tension.

When you say, “I need” something, the Universe accepts that as a definition: You are a person who needs whatever it is.  This does not become a cue to the Universe to give that to you, but it is a clear signal to the Universe that since you have defined yourself that way, then needy is what you are and will remain until you change your mind

I have great respect for the modern day mystic Darryl Anka who receives channeled wisdom from a being in another dimension, Bashar.   Most of what I hear from him is just so darn wise, that in this rare case, I believe in this channeling.  In this time of mass freak out about money, Anka gets this from Bashar about abundance: He defines it as “the ability to do what you need to do when you need to do it.”

He’s on the right track with this new twist on abundance, yet that little four letter word gets used twice and that takes the guts out of it.  When one says or thinks that they need something and they do not immediately have it, then the mind tends to take that and twist it into something harsh, judgmental and quite crazy-making.

Here is how I would express the Bashar quotation:  Abundance is the ability to do what you are faced with doing when you are faced with it.

What we are faced with at all times is to respond to all of life in a loving way.

When you say that you need something that you do not possess, the mind tends to generate one or more of the following thoughts:

• I am not good enough since I don’t have it
• I am not smart enough
• I am bad
• I am a disappointment
• I am not OK as I am
• I am not worthy (the most ridiculous religious doctrine of all time)
• Since I haven’t had any in a long time, I probably never will

The fact is that in any given moment, you have zero needs that are not fulfilled.

That’s right, nada.  In any present moment, you do not need air.  In any present moment, you do not need food.  You do not need anything.  As you label something as an unfulfilled need, you denigrate yourself.   The Universe gives you an earth to be on and gravity to keep you from flying off into the clouds.  If you can be present, you realize that, right now, you have no needs whatsoever.

Right now, your mind may be objecting, finding apparent but baseless exceptions.  What does that do for you?

Letting go of the phrase, “I need” is a great step to a more loving way of living and becoming what we all came here to be.

Please consider taking a step in your own spiritual empowerment  by clicking on your internal pause button now, and feeling how it feels to be needless.

Note: Many of the first questions in this FAQ are answered on the purple card that comes with the CD. I will be the first to fess up that for many products I have purchased, I skip the instructions and dive right in to figuring it out myself. This may not be the most productive way of approaching the CD!

How often should I listen to the CD?

It is suggested that you move though the CD in 35 to 45 days, taking only one track per day. You might listen to that track more than once, maybe even 5 or 6 times if it feels right to you. As you follow through on commitments, your power grows. So maybe you will commit to doing the practice daily, or maybe Monday through Friday. Choose what you know you can and will do. Following through builds your personal power.

How long should I pause when I hear the tones during a track?

However long feels right to you. It might be 10 seconds. It might be an hour. Trust yourself.

Are there other times that would be good to pause?

There are several times in some tracks where there is an audio quiet stretch of time. It is recommended that you hit your pause button whenever it feels right for you, for as long as you like. Some media players make it easy to pause by hitting your space bar. Please familiarize yourself with the options for that with the equipment that you have.

How do I know when a track is over?

The gong sound you will hear tells you that the track is complete.

I suggest that, if you have a programmable CD player or computer that lets you compile playlists, you tack on one or more of the last two tracks (music only) on the CD to complete your pause session. You might add three or more of those short ending tracks to ensure that you are complete. These music tracks help you to maintain your inner focus.

What's with all the "oomph" sounds on a couple of the tracks?

While these were not intended as part of the original production, they can be seen as gifts: you might see these as opportunities for patience. Since you can easily understand the spoken words, the "oomphs" can be experienced as non-consequential. If you make them important, then you will be distracted. Your choice. I have young children, so there is no time during the day when I can have uninterrupted quiet time.

What should I do?

This may take you a little longer. Some tracks can be completed in less than 10 minutes. Others may take an hour. Take advantages of opportunities to have a visiting friend or mate watch the kids for a little while as you move through a track. Be creative! If you make your spiritual empowerment a priority, you will find many benefits showing up in many areas of your life.