Three Steps

There are three seamless steps to development.

Step One is based on our conditioned sense of self. It is life as experienced by the left hemisphere of the brain. It is based on goals and logic and data. We proceed from past to future. We have a plan.

But occasionally, we have moments of timelessness, in which we notice we are just "here," with no demands. We don't know what to make of these moments at first.

In Step Two, we begin to notice and cultivate these moments of timelessness. We see that unconditioned happiness does not come from the to do lists that the left brain produces. Unconditioned happiness is life as experienced by the right hemisphere of the brain. We begin to spend more time here, to enjoy these "vacations" from life and the healing they can bring. This is a dangerous time in our development. It can be tempting to spend more time here and less in our conditioned life, to engage in "spiritual bypassing," to think that these right brain experiences are better than the left brain ones.

But we are not just the right brain or just the left brain. We are both.

Step Three is to bring these right brain experiences into our daily lives. To loosen the grip of the left brain. To see the union of left and right, of time and timelessness. To take a balanced view.

We can fret about this, and worry if we are doing it correctly. This is what the left brain tends to do. Or we can accept whatever is happening as a perfect expression of the moment.

We'll probably do both of those things. We'll have good days and bad days. But now we're committed. There is no going back. This work will become our path, integrated with everything we do. For the rest of our lives.

Jeff