Some form of ‘All the answers are within you,’ was a mantra I had often heard over my many years of searching. Yet I had no idea how to access those answers. It seemed like many people had a much better handle on life than I did. Then one day, in a very ordinary, concrete carpark, when I had nothing much on my mind, I had an insight: ‘If you want to have any quality of life you need to listen to your inner voice.’ And from then the answers became a lot more accessible for me. Out for a walk, or on a long drive, or doing housework or in a bath, fresh thinking would come through, which was always clear and helpful. Many people have found that learning about the 3 Principles leads to more insights and more wisdom.
At a recent training, the facilitator* described how Syd Banks – discoverer of the 3 Principles – was often pointing his students in the direction of their inner wisdom. Syd rejected the role of guru and would say, ‘what you need is in you, not in me.’ But because they could see that he had accessed that wisdom while they were struggling to do so, they kept coming back to him for answers. I totally got why that would be the case.
The question of how to access this wisdom sometimes arises in coaching sessions. A client might say, ‘I’m fine when I’m here, but on my own the old anxieties resurface.’ Yet this is just an example of misunderstanding the role of thought. The wellbeing someone experiences during a coaching session is being generated 100% within them, not within me. If it seems difficult to access that inner voice at other times, it may simply be that other beliefs [thoughts] are operating slightly below the surface, such as ‘I can’t do this alone.’ Such beliefs have no more substance than any other thoughts, and can disappear at any moment. The client’s capacity to realise wisdom and wellbeing has already been experienced; it’s just temporarily overshadowed by thought. As a client sees this insightfully, it is almost inevitable that their capacity to access their own internal solutions will grow.
Occasionally clients are innocently comparing themselves with a thought-created fantasy of what they think life should be like, or what they imagine the lives of others are like. Coming back to the present moment, perhaps by asking, ‘Where do I think my experience is coming from, right now?’ can cut through this maze of thought, allowing the person to default to clarity.
Whenever I am having an experience of distress, I have almost certainly forgotten the role of Thought in creating that distress. If I remember to ask myself, ‘Am I taking into account the power of thought?’, some space is created to see the ‘problem’ more clearly. At times there is no actual problem. Maybe I was just worrying about a fantasy future. Where there is a genuine circumstance I am able to see it more objectively and be more effective in my response. [Speaking for myself, I’m seldom at my most efficient in a state panic.]
As soon as I, or anyone else, wakes up from the illusion of thought created turmoil, those elusive answers automatically begin to reveal themselves. If you are curious about the 3 Principles or would like to experience more insight and clarity, do get in touch for a conversation.
*Ken Manning, co-author of Invisible Power: Insight Principles at Work