Mind is indeed the Builder . . . what is held in the act of mental vision becomes a reality in the material experience. We are gradually builded to that image created within our own mental being.

- Edgar Cayce Reading 906-3

The search for deep and lasting happiness is, and always has been, universal. You know that happiness is not about houses, or cars, or electronics, or the amount of money you have, but about how much you feel connected, peaceful, and joyous inside. As long ago as four hundred years BC, Democritus (460 BC ~ 370 BC), an influential Greek philosopher, said that happiness does not reside in possessions or in gold, but in the soul. Why is it then, that people still want to accumulate and surround themselves with more and more material goods, thinking that happiness lies in the owning?

It is not easy to define what makes for lasting happiness because it is a state that changes from year to year, from day to day; sometimes even from hour to hour. By its very nature, happiness is transient, ephemeral. Even as you become aware of happiness, it changes its form into something else. Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus (1999, p.393) offers 47 different alternatives for happiness, ranging from high spirits, to euphoria, peace, satisfaction, and contentment; even including optimism and prosperity as synonyms. For someone who has just come through a not easy time, happiness is defined as quiet and peace. For someone who is leading a sedentary life, happiness might be wild, active participation in an adventure. Happiness, in its broad definition, is simply fundamental needs being met in an active or passive way. The Russian dramatist Maxim Gorky commented towards the end of the nineteenth century that “happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is.”

How easy is it, then, to discover and attain the treasure trove deep inside that can release daily happiness as a way of being? While happiness may always be changing focus externally, it is entirely possible to connect with inner happiness regularly. Autogenics is the term given to the concept of self-therapy or self-control and proficiency in self-direction is the highest form of self-actualization. The good news is that the ability to stay constant in an inconstant world is something that can be learned. The study of self is the beginning point of all esoteric and metaphysical practices, enabling the student or initiate to become the adept, with eventual free access and entry into a state of being called core consciousness. The word core comes from the same Latin root as the word heart (cor, cordis), so, in effect, happiness is the ability to stay in the heart of oneself, while everything else is in a state of flux. The ability to connect at will with this sacred space inside is the true meaning of happiness.

My childhood was one of physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse, so my belief in a higher power was tested many times. Happiness eluded me. My sister died of cancer when she was eleven and I was thirteen. I then began my lifelong journey to find a meaning to life. I first learned about how to focus on my inner self by studying Meditation when I was 18 at university in Leeds, England, but I had much subconscious exposure to inner worlds previous to that from my grandmother Emily Jackson. In 1953 Emily, who was a gifted healer, started a spiritualist church in Longsight, Manchester, England. From babyhood I heard about spirit and what wonderful healings were happening there. Grandma Jackson often did hands on healing on us when we became unwell. She told us that when you went to heaven you would be able to simply imagine something and it would materialize. She was a great believer in manifesting miracles with positive thinking. 

Emily joined the Britten Memorial Spiritualist Church in Manchester, playing the piano and doing weekly hands on healing (we call it Reiki or Therapeutic Touch these days!). They brought in the top psychics and healers from all over England and every Good Friday all the healers would spend the day there healing for free. Emily’s goal was to freely give as much healing and love as possible to anyone in need. Like Edgar Cayce, who was always struggling to make ends meet, she was someone who believed in putting her own needs last. 

We get to heaven leaning on the arm of someone we have helped. 

- Edgar Cayce Reading 4389-1 

I often heard Emily say that she wanted to visit the Association for Research and Enlightenment and that she would have loved to meet Edgar Cayce, who was well known in England from his books. I did clairvoyant readings for all the old biddies in the Spiritualist Church when I was a teenager –now I AM one of the old biddies and I still love doing readings (Clairvoyance, Palmistry, Tarot and Numerology)!

I became a teacher and traveled all over the world: South Africa for three years, Italy for three years and Portugal for two years, where I sold real estate. It was when I was 36 years old that I came to Canada that I started truly working on myself. I did talk therapy, gestalt therapy, rebirthing, scream therapy, EMDR, meditation and every other therapy I could get my hands on to make me feel better. Everything worked for me to keep my emotions in check for a while. What I had not realized is that I had to clear the root cause of my issues, which were established long before I had conscious memories. 

I finally came to the conclusion, like Carl Jung, that, “All that I have learned has led me step by step to an unshakable conviction of the existence of God. I only believe in what I know. And that eliminates believing. Therefore I do not take his existence on belief – I know that he exists.” 

I discovered Hypnosis in my thirties and for the first time began to be in control of my thinking and emotional state. It was wonderful. From there I went on to study NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or what we are now calling Neuro-Linguistic Psychology) and realized that I could simply delete the old negative emotional files and replace them with new, positive files. In less than a few minutes! My life completely opened up. I still remember events, but I have no emotional charge with any of the memories. I was inspired to write a best-selling book about Mind Power (Every Word has Power, now in eleven languages), earned my PhD in clinical hypnosis and was given many outstanding contribution awards for my pioneering work. The rest is history. I’m happy to pass on my work to as many people as possible so that they can benefit from what I went through to come to a different and happier place in life. 

I love the A.R.E. and especially love the type of open minded people it attracts. You remind me of my early years with the complete acceptance and unconditional love I received from members of the Spiritualist church. You are my soul group. I’m looking forward to teaching at the A.R.E. again September 19th-22nd 2019.

On a side note, I was first invited to teach NLP Certification at the A.R.E. quite a few years ago and was thrilled to be able to witness Edgar Cayce’s legacy. As I walked into the building for the first time, I said aloud, “This is for you Grandma Jackson.” I know she was smiling on me. 

For you grow to heaven, you don't go to heaven. 

- Edgar Cayce Reading 3409-1