Affirmations

Affirmations are thoughts that are repeated in order to dissolve a mass of psychological conditioning that blocks feeling and understanding an inner truth. They are not meant to convince oneself that something is true, but to "make firm" something that has been assailed by doubts. Affirmations are like mantras, but they are usually repeated in the ordinary language of the person doing the affirmation, rather than the languages of chanting, like Sanskrit, Tibetan, Latin, Hebrew, Itanami, and Aramaic. Ideally, they are repeated while placing attention at the 3rd Eye. Thought is a power, not as vast as radiant awareness, but in a sense more accessible to people. The problem with Dzogchen level awareness work is that people are not always able to shift beyond all the obscurations which prevent them from resting in the primordial state. Sometimes, after doing affirmations, it is easier to make this shift. Not all positive thoughts have a basis in deep truth. Sometimes they are only conventionally positive, like affirming that one will get a promotion at the job one has. These positive thoughts may still be able to manifest and be useful, but like getting extra money at work from a promotion, they can still have a trace of attachment to success and fear of failure behind them. Whereas, trusting the universe to take care of you, and affirming this, may lead to the same manifestation and also release the fear behind the desire to get the promotion.

I would recommend that before doing an affirmation that one center in the breathing, expanding the lungs as fully as possible without strain on the inhale, inhaling deeply and fully, and then have the exhale be long, soft, and smooth, with the feeling of relaxing and letting go without strain. Be conscious of the inhaling and exhaling, but without bringing in the observing inner critic. Do not worry about doing the breathing correctly. Just be aware of how the breathing feels and, if possible enjoy the breath, feel how wonderful it is that you can breathe and be alive. There was a time when I had a severe bronchitis and did not know if I was going to survive the night. Every breath was an effort and I just concentrated on each inhale and exhale one breath at a time. Since then I have not taken breathing for granted and feel that each breath is a gift. If you are consciously aware of each breath, then you will draw in vital energy from the life that surrounds you, from the larger world, from the larger consciousness that we all abide within. You will make a connection with this larger life and feel your oneness with this. It does take a little bit of time. Usually some new feeling about this arises after just 20 conscious breaths and becomes a significant feeling after 1,000 conscious breaths.

Once grounded in the breathing, it is good to do some affirmations. We are not always aware of what we are thinking. Sometimes our minds have a lot of thoughts flowing within them. They sometimes flow so fast through our mind that we do not always see what they are doing to our life condition. But they can be gently tamed by deep, full, and relaxed conscious breathing, by placing attention at the 3rd eye, and then mentally affirming the inner truth of life. I do recommend that you try at least 10 repetitions of an affirmation before letting it go. It is an interesting experience to consciously repeat a deep thought and hold it in relaxed attention for a sustained time. If you repeat long enough, usually somewhere between 10 and 20 repetitions, you will feel an emotional shift happen, like a surge of inner peace. Sometimes the obscurations are so strong that it may take longer than this, possibly even 1,000 repetitations. But rarely more than this. Sometimes there is a deep issue that is blocking this process. If there is a deep karmaic issue arising for you and it does not shift so easily, then you may wish to get some help with a skilled meditation oriented and process oriented hypnotherapist. Releasing afflicted samskaras, mental impressions embedded in the subconscious mind, can produce a deep healing for a lot of people that even affects them physically. I had witnessed some miracles in my own healing practice when a person has worked through a samskara and released it completely. One person had a repressed the need to grieve for the loss of a loved one and when this person completed the grieving a full body athritis went away. When we do not let ourselves feel the emotions within us, we unconsciously inhibit our breathing and underbreathe. Our blood stream gets too acidic and starts iritating the inner tissues and cause all kinds of ailments. When our breathing normalizes, then our blood stream is constantly being alkalized and can heal itself of many illnesses.

Here are some affirmations worth experimenting with:

Everything is unfolding perfectly.
Everyone is where they should be.
I relax into the flow of life.
I trust life to take care of me.
I relax into the support of life.
I radiate compassion toward everyone.
I forgive everyone for everything.
I open up to the wonder of simply being alive.
I relax into the safety of the now.
I do whatever needs to be done without strain.
I trust the process to heal me.
I accept everything as it is.
Just being myself is enough to enlighten me.
Letting others be themselves is enough to enlighten them.
Whatever I truly want is already coming to me.

Below is the Great Dharani of the Heart Sutra, translated with some poetic license, with an immortalist spin, and expanded to bring out some deeper meanings, given as an affirmation script:

I am letting go, letting go,
really letting go, totally letting go,
letting go of any effort to let go,
moving beyond clinging,
moving beyond resistance,
moving beyond
anger, fear and struggle,
fully grieving and letting go,
no longer defending myself,
being okay with dying,
being okay
with whatever wants to happen,
resting within the flow,
awakening to this joyful moment,
feeling an eternal now,
radiating love freely again,
feeling my cells heal
and move beyond
aging and death,
being here now
shimmering with energy,
fully alive.