Drink more water
Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish priest who, while founding the Jesuit Order within the Catholic Church in 1540, also produced a classic work on spirituality called The Spiritual Exercises. While his attitudes and motivations were clearly hardcore Catholic this should not prevent us from applying his ideas about spirituality to our own path, today. It is a very interesting book…
For example, he identified that there were three types of people who step forward toward – yet simultaneously resist – spiritual growth.
First there are the postponers, those who genuinely wish to overcome their difficulties and move forward, just not today. Second are the negotiators, who are again sincere, but who try to strike a bargain with the Universe in order to do the parts of the work that they like, avoiding the parts they don’t. Lastly there are the genuinely open, who will do whatever is required, whenever it is required to purify their Soul, and as he would say it, move closer to God.
Well, such is the situation of our world that I think we are running out of room for postponement of the work, or negotiation with it. Of course, it is both human and natural to postpone and negotiate so it can scarcely be criticised, but spiritual progress only ever happens through complete surrender. Certainly, I know, from my own experience, that trying to strike a bargain with the Universe can be a pretty fruitless exercise. So perhaps we can come up with an exercise to help us through this?
Well, as the great philosopher and spiritual teacher Bob the Builder said, yes we can, and in order to fulfil his promise I delved deeply into history, unearthing the following:
Take a glass of cool spring water and imagine that this water can be magnetised. Obviously, I do not mean magnetised in the normal sense of the word. I mean that the water can be turned into an attractant, that draws thoughts and feelings to it. How do we accomplish such a feat? Easy, through imagination.
Take the glass in both your hands and concentrate. Ask, direct, instruct or command the liquid to draw from you all negativity, fear and illusion. Do not ask for it to give you anything, but instead to remove from you all falsehoods and lies. Using the power of your mind, cause the water to be magnetised such that, when you drink it, it draws these things from you and then, when you visit the toilet, out of you. Then drink the water, in gentle sips, and do not cease your concentration until the glass is empty. Repeat every day, and steadily, over time, you will find that the water fulfils its true purpose of cleansing and purifying, but this time on a much deeper level than normal. Note: do not try to use this to remove things or people from your life. If you do then you will get what is technically known as ‘blow back’ 😊 Also, take care not to mix this in with other manifestation/transformation practices. The one who chases two hares at once catches neither….
Now, I mentioned that I reached back into history for this exercise, and indeed I did. Some will recognise this exercise as being connected to the late Dr Masuro Emoto’, but this is not where it comes from, for the principle behind it is far, far older.
Quiz: the first person who can tell me where this technique originates, or what it is based upon gets a signed copy of my upcoming book (when it’s ready!) Clue: it is very old. I will also be extremely impressed if anyone can answer this, for what that is worth.
Clearly the secret to nailing this technique is focus and intensity. How deeply can you concentrate on your intention without being distracted? How much can you commit to and really believe in the desired outcome? This is what makes the difference between a soft, feel good New Age practice and a powerful technique of personal transformation. Of course, if you think that this exercise is nonsense then of course you are right, that is exactly what it will be, for you. But exercises such as this are valuable, for ridding ourselves of negativity and freeing our minds of illusion are going to be very important in the coming world, and essential for all who wish to become Soul Strong.
Photo by Linus Nylund on Unsplash
