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In
his book Zero
Limits, Dr. Joe Vitale talks
about the three stages of
awakening. I don’t recollect
exactly what he called them or
said about each one, but when I
am tempted to judge someone (or
myself), I find it useful to
remember them.
Stage
One – The Puppet
Except
for some very advanced souls,
everyone starts their life at
Stage One. Many live their
entire lives without ever moving
beyond it. During this stage, we
believe we are victims at the
mercy of every one and every
thing in our life. “They”
are out to get us and no matter
how hard we try, we feel we
cannot get ahead. It’s the
government’s fault; it’s our
boss; it’s the economy; it’s
this or it’s that. When we
fail, we blame the circumstances
or the other guy. And, if we
succeed at something, we did it
against all odds. We are puppets
in a world of bigger and more
powerful puppeteers.
Stage
Two – The Puppeteer
At
some point in our life we may be
fortunate to have an experience
that moves us beyond Stage One
and leave our victim-hood
behind. Something happens to
open our eyes to the possibility
that maybe we have control over
our life. Perhaps we watch a
movie such as What
the Bleep or The Secret, or read a
book, or go to a seminar.
Whatever the prompting, it dawns
on us that we must take
responsibility for our own
reality and we venture into the
world of creation – we become
creators and begin visualizing,
intending, and manifesting. We
have become the puppeteers.
Stage
Three - Puppet and Puppeteer
Many
people have moved into Stage Two
in recent years. But more and
more, however, are
coming to the realization that
this isn’t the whole story and
move into Stage Three. At this
point, we begin to recognize our
own human limitations and acknowledge
that there is a force outside
and within us that’s really in
charge.
Each of us is a cog in
the wheel of evolution. Each has
his or her place in the world
and, as such, has
responsibilities. We learn that
“Thy Will” is preferable to
“my will” and we become true
co-creators as we give up
control and learn to go with the
flow.
Our prayer becomes "Dear
God, please help me to receive
whatever it is You are trying to
give me" instead of the
long list of human desires.
Stages
One and Two are totally
controlled by ego, but in Stage
Three we begin to let go of
egoic wants and
allow inspiration to dictate
what we do and how we do it. We
become the puppet AND the
puppeteer.
Of
course, the transition from one
stage to another does not happen
overnight. It may take years to
shift from one to another. For a
while, we may have one foot in
two stages at the same time as
we fight to overcome unconscious
fears and limiting beliefs
before we can fully embrace our
new values and way of living.
Once
we leave Stage One, our greatest
challenge becomes that of
discernment. How do we recognize
when we are reacting to a
latent, unconscious fear, and
when are we being truly guided?
It can be very difficult to
distinguish one from the other.
But if we look closely, we will see that any
‘negative’ reaction is based
on judgement in some form or
another. And judgement is always
fear disguised as
‘inspiration.’
When
I am tempted to judge someone or
something, I know it’s a fear within me that
creates that judgement. In my
experience, that is always the
source and it then becomes my
job to identify the fear and figure
out where it comes from.
I also
try to remember that we are not
all at the same stage and that
there may be extenuating
circumstances to explain a
particular experience. We
are rarely privy to the whole
picture and we all know what assume
stands for!
How
can we judge someone if they are
doing the best they know how?
When they know better, they will
do better. At this precise
moment, they are where they are
and that makes it impossible for
them to be anywhere else!
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