By Jonathan Parker
You may have seen people on TV or elsewhere who say they are able to communicate with spirits or people who have died. Others who are psychic seem to be able to attune themselves to receive answers to questions about themselves and others, and some are able to receive helpful information about the future. Perhaps you have noticed how they seem to be tuning in to something that no one else can see or hear. In this article you will learn how to attune to reliable inner guidance yourself as well as what some of the most common sources of inner voices are and how to discern what you are receiving.
In addition to receiving psychic and intuitive impressions, the skill of inner listening is and important part of your spiritual practice. A major part of your spiritual path is to listen to the inner guidance that comes from your higher self and divine source. Sometimes this inner guidance is referred to as “a still small voice.” The nature of attuning to the subtleties of the inner voices requires practice to discern the voice you want to hear from the other voices that chatter in your mind. The biggest obstacle is hearing extraneous messages or more than one voice. This can create confusion and cause you to give up the process and end up confused.
The clearest messages come out of stillness, rather than through analytical thought, so it is important to quiet your mind as much as possible first. Close your eyes and put the palm of one of your hands over the upper center of your chest. This helps bring your attention to your spiritual center and helps you tune into your higher self. Take several slow deep breaths and relax your mind. There is nothing else that you need to do or think about while you are tuning in, so it is safe to let other thoughts go for a little while. This part of the process may take several minutes but it is quite important to let go of anything your mind has been occupied with through the day or you will find those thoughts contaminating the guidance you are seeking. If you need additional help with this be sure to read my article on meditation obstacles which gives suggestions on how to diminish and eliminate mind chatter.
The Secret to Receiving Guidance is in Carefully Wording Your Questions
Once you have settled in to a meditative state then ask a question. You may find it helpful to ask questions that can be answered “yes” or “no” at first. After doing this for a week or two, move on to simple questions such as choices of what to do in any particular situation—such as what to eat, what to purchase, or where to go. At the beginning of your day resolve to trust your inner guidance for the decisions and choices you will make that day. You undoubtedly have multiple decisions that must be made every day, so utilize your intuition to guide you. Such questions as, “Which shirt should I choose to wear today? What choices should I make today for lunch? What foods would be best for me today? Should I have a sandwich or soup? Which phone call should I make first? What type of car should I buy? Does this serve my highest purpose? Should I go to bed at 9 o’clock or 10 o’clock?” Make the choices you feel prompted to make. If you are unclear on your guidance keep asking questions that will give you deeper insights into the choices to make. The more clear and specific your questions, the more clear and specific will be the answers you will receive.
Wait for the answers to arise out of the quietness rather than paying attention to a cascade of rambling or conflicting thoughts. If you receive more than one response ask which one can you trust the most. The more you practice this with lesser items of importance, the greater will be your trust and confidence when faced with more important choices and decisions.
Once you are practiced and comfortable with receiving and trusting guidance on these lesser important issues, you will find you are also able to receive insights and direction on more important issues. You will become more sensitive to the inner promptings of your higher guidance and your life will begin to flow with greater ease.
Do not underestimate the importance of staying with practicing these simple questions for several weeks. If you immediately jump into asking more complex questions without successfully mastering discerning answers to the more simple questions you will end up frustrated and will probably quit. I have been teaching this subject to many people for over 30 years and I know what works and what doesn’t. Be aware that this is a skill like learning a new language or a musical instrument and you must practice to become good at it. Some experts say it takes 10,000 hours or more to excel in any field, so be patient with the process and you will be richly rewarded.
How to Go to the Next Level
When you have practiced getting good inner guidance on simple questions for several weeks, then you can move to questions whose answers will give you more information.
For instance, you may desire to be shown the next important understanding that will take you to the next breakthrough or to your next level of spiritual growth. You may have questions about business or relationships. You may ask, “What would be helpful for me to know at this time?” Additional questions that can help open you to deeper insights into spiritual realizations are, “Who am I? What am I?”
An effective technique to make this process easier is to ask your questions as if you sitting across from an all-wise being who has all the answers. If you were talking with a trusted friend you would calmly ask a question and then be quiet and wait for the answer. Listen, observe and be open with the intention of receiving a response. This inner listening is what opens your receptivity to spiritual insights.
If there is a question you are wanting clarity on or more information on, make all of the other preparations for meditation. Be in a place where you will be undisturbed and relax and quiet your mind. Continue breathing in a calm, connected and relaxed manner. Be in a place of openness and willingness to receive. Hold no judgments on anything you receive, nor judgments on yourself if you don’t receive a great deal in this particular session.
Ask your question and patiently wait effortlessly attentive and relaxed. Be positively expectant but not having expectations. Your answers may come in a flash insight, or in the form of feelings or the arising of new awareness. It is very important not to react to what you are receiving, nor to invalidate yourself by questioning or doubting yourself regarding the information you do receive. This will only squelch your ability to receive clear messages. In time this will be easy for you to do at any time, anywhere, but in the beginning it is important to follow these procedures to be successful.
Sources of Inner Voices
You may find yourself thinking that what you are receiving is merely your normal inner dialog, and it is important to know that there are at least eight possible sources of responses. First, your own rational and analytical mind is likely to make its contributions. You will notice that the nature of these responses is more like thinking and processing the subject matter, rather than merely listening for the responses to arise out of the deep stillness. For instance, if your inner inquiry concerns whether to accept an invitation from some acquaintances or not, you may find this aspect of your mind saying something like, “Well there you go again. Do you think we should go out tonight or not. If we don’t what will our friends think of us, but if we do you know we’ll regret it tomorrow. On the other hand, we do enjoy being with these people, but then again maybe this isn’t the best way to spend our time and money at this time. If we go it could be a big mistake.” The analytical mind will often get lost in loops of thought processing and judgments.
The second source of responses is from your own history. Stored within you are memories of things you have heard, seen and experienced and these may arise in response to your requests for information. The voices of memories may be the voices you have stored from your parents or others you grew up with, teachers or authority figures, or even the casual and unthinking off-hand critical comments made to you by friends or others. These type of voices go something like this, “This line of questioning can only go into dangerous water. You know you need to save your pennies for a rainy day. You clearly know right from wrong, why would you want to get so close to the edge? It would be better for you to just forget all about this and stay with what you’ve been taught. If it was good enough for mom and dad it is good enough for me. Just work hard. If it sounds too good to be true it is.” There can be strong voices that appear to be the voices of conscience, but which are actually the voices of our parents or others, and may not be relevant to the situation you find yourself in today.
The third source of responses is stored emotions. Emotions have a feeling charge that can bring a voice in your mind. For instance a voice might say, “I’ve really had it the way that person keeps treating me. They have no right to do this. How dare he mess with me. I should sue him.” The inner voices of anger can be very destructive and only set in motion the energies that create what is so strongly resisted.
Related to this are also the voices of what is called the shadow self. These are the parts of us we tend not to want to look at, so we keep them in the shadow below our conscious awareness. This fourth source of thoughts is the darkest and potentially most destructive of all voices. It may be composed of all of the previous elements of analysis, memories and emotions but they are bent in a most negative and destructive posture. You may hear an inner voice say, “I’ll kill that person for not doing what I want. How dare they do that to me. They should be made to suffer. I feel so miserable maybe I should just take a bottle of pills and end it all myself.”
Some of these voices come from a fifth area of what is sometimes called the collective unconscious, which houses the passions, drives, archetypes, beliefs, and overriding attitudes of mass consciousness. This includes all the hatred and prejudices of the masses, but it also houses the needs, loves and desires of the masses. So it is a real mixture of drives that have an overall affect on virtually everyone. Depending on how your consciousness is oriented will determine how in tune you are with these energies. Some people are affected very little by these energies, and others are greatly influenced by them.
Many of the inner voices are very defensive for they arise from aspects of the ego. This sixth source of inner voices combine to form sub-identities or sub-personalities which form most of the inner voices you hear throughout the day. The voices utilize many techniques all designed to keep you safe. If, for example, you are inquiring about your relationships or lack thereof, you may hear voices saying things like, “I want to be loved, but relationships are risky and can bring pain, so I’ll let people get just so far with me. I’ll feel safer if I keep people at arm’s length.” These voices indicate some relationship fears, and this represents the areas where a person with these voices will find the greatest chance of being confronted and challenged as well as the greatest possibilities for growth. If the person deals with these voices their relationship experiences will deepen and become rich, but if the source of the voices are not cleared they can represent the greatest potential area for relationship failings.
The seventh source of inner voices can be spirit entities. I am not going into this subject in this article because it is an extensive subject, but it is a factor to be aware of as a possible source of voices.
There is also a voice in the heart. This is the eighth source of inner voices. The voice of the heart and soul or divine source will usually come in through the heart center, although there can also be the voices of grief, betrayals and pain in the heart.
What to Do with What You Hear
The voices that I am speaking of may not actually come in the form of a voice as you know it. You are not likely to hear these voices like a person talking out loud to you, because it is in inner hearing. Sometimes it comes as a knowing, a realization, an image or an experience of sound or sensation. The voice of the soul or divine source will resound with the qualities of trust and love and bring a deep completion and comfort, and guide you into true safety and a deepening awareness of truth. You will receive messages of the reality of love, mercy, and kindness.
Multiple voices exist in nearly everyone, and there is an interplay within them at all times, and until you learn how to separate out the higher self and divine voices and choose that over all the others you are under constant pressure to move in the direction of the other voices. This is a very important piece of knowledge. It is helpful to label the voices as they arise. For instance, the voices of doubt, criticism and blame. The voices of inner needs and desires. The voices of pain and struggle. The voices of spirit. As each voice arises inquire with your intention that the underlying voice reveal its needs and desires. What effect do these voices have on your body, mind and emotions? With your intent bring healing light to the source of the voice and hold the intent that the causes and needs that underlie the voice be surrendered and dissolved in the light.
Honor the voices of the feelings and awareness that reveal themselves to you. When voices of doubt and distraction want to take you away from beauty and love return your focus to your heart center and repeat the words that deeply connect you with your spiritual nature and truth. This is one of the more effective ways of dealing with mental distractions.
In time you will find yourself receiving moment-to-moment inner guidance and revelations that will be helpful to you and others. Developing a relationship with your inner guidance will lead you to beneficial decisions and actions, as well as infuse you with realizations and understanding of the nature and qualities of your life and being. This will lead to a life unfolding around you that is inspirational and filled with a deep level of love and trust.
In Conclusion
Sometimes, if not often, the ideas and guidance that come to you do not make conscious sense. This is because your conscious mind does not have access to as large a view as your higher self, and information which is out of range of your five senses can be accessed only by the higher aspects of your consciousness. You may not always understand the guidance and insights your are receiving. In time you will come to trust the process and your ability to interpret what you receive will become more sure. As you receive guidance and you practice trusting that guidance you will find that the accuracy of your choices increases and deepens. This is the beginning of living the miraculous life.
This process is a skill which requires your patience and dedication to master and you may think it would be easier to continue through your day as you always have. However, you would be missing out on much of what life can be if you make that choice. Remembering to practice inner listening takes resolve, but it pays rich rewards. The inconveniences necessary to achieve mastery are worth the investments.
As you surrender your fixed opinions and control to trusting your inner guidance, miracles start happening in your life. You spontaneously move into universal harmony and synchronicity. Since the truth of you at your core essence is always at one with God, trusting your inner guidance puts you in harmony with what is true and this keeps you in the right place, at the right time, doing the right things that are for your best and highest purposes at all times.
Over time your mind and its analysis will diminish because you will have come to a higher level of trust in the process and therefore you will not be as inclined to question and doubt. Your mind will learn that this form of receiving guidance is superior to the questioning and analytical processes the mind has been used to relying on. You will come to have a sense of being on track, living in trust, and knowing what feels right and best for you. Your guidance will lead you to what makes you happy and fulfilled. This is because you will in touch with your core essence which is always in a state of perfect contentment, joy and unconditional love.
There are unique and incredible clearing practices and shifts in your calibrated level of consciousness that make levels of freedom attainable by virtually everyone. Through the CDs, classes and retreats you will learn processes you can work with on your own that will help you with this, but perhaps the most revolutionary practice of all you will experience is applying procedures with another who can help you accelerate your releasing of whatever is limiting or blocking you from reaching clear levels of consciousness. This is just one important aspect of what we address in the CDs, classes, and retreats. The other important class emphasis is to help you attain enlightened states of consciousness.
AN ACCELERATED PATH
In past ages it took decades to reach these high calibrated level of consciousness states, which you can now reach in months or a few years. We utilize some revolutionary processes that help you access high calibrated levels of consciousness states that make the transformations easier and quicker than you might imagine. The methods we use have radically changed the enlightenment process.
David R. Hawkins describes in his book Power vs Force there is a continuum of consciousness from the lower ego drives to the highest states of enlightenment. He describes a process whereby you can calibrate and know where you are on the relative scale of enlightenment. On a scale between 0 and 1,000 most people in North America are between 200 and 300. Those more advanced are in the 400’s, and those who are awakening and experiencing more love and joy are in the 500s. When a person reaches high calibrated level of consciousness states of 600 and above they are living in enlightened states of consciousness all the time. Our training is designed to help you reach these elevated levels and most of those completing our program are above 500 and the more dedicated and advanced students are living above 600.
There are some applications and practices you will learn to apply daily, but the energies and frequencies of consciousness we use will do a lot of the work for you. All you have to do is be open and the tractor beam will pull you home. As long as you don’t fight the light, it will take you home. This is a path of attraction to divine light and surrender to God’s love, wisdom, intelligence and power. When you do that, all the things that torment you will dissolve and vanish from your life. Just be kind to yourself and take advantage of our retreats, classes, phone sessions, Tele-Conference Meditations (TeleMeditations), and audio programs. These programs are all designed so your life will rise to high calibrated levels of consciousness.