What if I told you . . .
. . . that the core of who you are is wellness, peace, and connection?
Does that sound too good to be true?
My life transformed effortlessly after a series of insights.
Your life could become more wonderful than you can even imagine. This change can even take place without discipline and hard work.
Too good to be true?
What if it is true?
An Obvious Choice, Right?
There is a story that George Pransky tells about when he first started to use the 3 Principles in his therapy practice. He called it “High Mood Therapy” and the results he was seeing amazed him. Clients were improving their mental health more rapidly than he thought possible.
A company referred clients to him and each person they referred came back with glowing feedback. By law, the company had to give two options, so they added another therapist.
George offered High Mood Therapy as a form of therapy that would take a handful of sessions and would not take effort of discipline. It would even be enjoyable.
The other therapist the company offered a program of therapy that would be challenging and extensive, requiring years of sessions.
To George’s amazement, most of those who were offered this choice picked the other therapist, even though it would be more difficult and time consuming. They just couldn’t believe that it would be possible to solve their mental challenges so easily.
It had to be too good to be true.
Don’t limit yourself with your own beliefs. As you read this article, set aside any preconceived ideas about what is possible. Entertain the idea that life transformation can become a reality for you too.
My Transformation
In November of 2022, I discovered an understanding that changed my life. After years of searching for the next shiny spiritual object, I was ready for a change.
Wanting to be my best and more contented self, I explored and experimented. I read books on mindfulness, spiritual wellness, stoicism, philosophy, and therapeutic approaches. I tried yoga, meditation, qigong, tai chi, ho’oponopono, affirmations, gratitude lists, cold showers, and more.
Yet none of that hit me like the inside out understanding of the 3 Principles. When I first encountered these Principles, it was like my world flipped upside down.
I remember listening to a free course offered by Michael Neil in the backyard on a sunny day.
What I thought I knew about self improvement and happiness turned out to be wrong. This new approach felt like the truth even if I couldn’t grasp it intellectually.
As I explored the 3 Principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought, my life started to change without effort. This blew my mind because I thought transformation took hard work and tireless discipline. To my surprise, habits started to fall away, and life took on a more vibrant quality.
Over time, the following changes took place in my life:
Mental Peace
I have more mental peace now than when I was meditating 3 times a day.
A Marriage Saved
My marriage was in rocky territory before I found the 3 Principles. I had been drifting away from my beautiful wife for the last few years. We lost connection because I became obsessed with working on myself and the relationship. I thought I was creating positive boundaries, but I was only focused on what was wrong. We were on the verge of divorce.
After the 3 Principles, I began to take our problems less seriously. Conflict started to dissolve. Without my insecure and fearful thinking, I became more connected. Now, there are times when I think about her that I can hardly contain my bursting heart. What a gift it is to see her clearly.
Ebbing of Emotional Waves
I used to feel like I was drowning in a stormy sea of emotions. I fought to break the surface and catch my breath only for another wave to send me tumbling.
Waves of emotions are still there, but I have realized how much bigger I am than my feelings. The emotional waves now feel like they only come up to my knees. They aren’t so overwhelming anymore.
Peaceful Slumber
Before the 3 Principles, I had a lengthy bedtime routine. I didn’t look at screens for two hours. To calm down before bed, I did qigong, soothing meditations, and restorative yoga. I then read for 30 minutes. Even with six different medications and supplements, I still struggled to fall asleep.
I do take one medication for sleep, but I now fall asleep easily. If I wake up, I don’t get in my head about it. For the first time in my life, sleep isn’t a fight. I am beyond grateful for the absence of bed time stress and worry.
Wellness, Peace, and Connection
I discovered that the core of who I am is wellness, peace, and connection.
Natural contentment is the default state of each one of us. We so often innocently take ourselves away from this joyous set point.
I can see when I am using the power Thought to cover up this innate wellness. When I realize I am doing this, I relax, allowing more of who I really am to come through.
Realizations
After discovering the 3 Principles, I had a series of four life changing realizations. These powerful insights allowed me to experience life in a new way. Although I encountered wisdom in other forms, I was never able to see so deeply into spiritual truths.
Life is Still Life
It is not like I have reached some transcended state.
I still have ups and downs that come along with living life. I can get caught up in my thinking and have tough moments. The biggest difference lately is that these times are fleeting. I don’t often get stuck in my experience, and, if I do, I don’t stay there for long. I used to spend days and even weeks in my own fears, judgements, and worries. Now, I see life problems from a new perspective more quickly.
Too Good?
Does this all seem too good to be true? For me, all and more is true.
What if it could also become true for you? You might just discover your own mental peace and life changing realizations. Understanding the operation of our mind creates unique changes in each person.
Read more about the 3 Principles to explore a new experience of life.
The 3 Principles
Understanding the Principles behind life helps us rediscover who we really are. Sydney Banks said that person who understands any one of these Three Principles on a deeper level will be instantly enlightened.
Enlightenment might seem like too big of an ask. Yet, even a glimpse into the Truth of these Principles substantially improves the quality of any life.
These Three Principles are base elements. As the origin and source of our reality, without any one of them, there is no experience of life. When we look toward the principles behind our experience instead of at the experience itself, we see a bigger picture. Instead of being in the middle of the content of what our minds produce, we can take a step back.
Then, we aren’t as caught up in overthinking, insecurity, and fear. Without distorted thoughts in the way, we connect with a bigger Truth:
At the core of each person is an unconditional love that can only be temporarily hidden.
When we understand the principles, we realize our innate wellness.
The Three Principles are Mind, Consciousness, and Thought.
Don’t think you already know what these three words mean. Open yourself to a deeper understanding.
Mind
The Principle of Mind is the energy principle. It breathes life into us. Mind is behind the natural intelligence of the world around us. Nature is an expression of mind.
Every one of us is a physical manifestation of the formless energy of Mind.
The same intelligence that sprouts a seed and sends viney tendrils toward sunlight, is within every one of us. This intelligence beats our hearts, regulates our temperature, and heals our wounds. It does all this and more with ease. At the same time, Mind is profoundly simple and more complex than advanced computing technology.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu
Mind is inexplicable. Because Mind is infinite, we can not encapsulate it into words. It defies explanation.
Mind is pure understanding without judgment.
Mind orients us toward wellness by guiding us to wisdom. Wisdom is spiritual knowledge that comes from insight, an inner knowing.
Without this vibrant energy behind it, life could not exist.
Consciousness
As the awareness Principle, the Principle of Consciousness allows an experience of life. Consciousness is what experiences. Without awareness itself, there is nothing to be aware of.
This harkens back to the age-old question of, “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Without consciousness, there is no experience of sound. So, to us, there is no sound.
Consciousness creates reality by being aware of it.
Consciousness is the “full show.” Consciousness brings our thoughts to life within our mind and body. Our ability to feel emotions comes directly from consciousness.
Consciousness gives us a gift. We feel thought. Feeling is a feedback system that allows us to experience the way we are using our minds. If we believe painful thoughts, consciousness will create pain. If we know how to listen to it, Consciousness guides us back to wellness.
Without consciousness, there is no awareness.
Thought
The Principle of Thought is the creative principle. It creates content in our minds. Every idea, image, and sound that pops into our head originates from the Principle of Thought.
All mental noise is a manifestation of the Principle of Thought.
Although they can sometimes seem consistent and solid, thoughts are fluid and transitory. All come and all go. This is the very nature of Thought. Every thought is a temporary expression of mental energy. When thoughts leave, they are gone, melted back into an infinite creative possibility.
But for the meaning we give thoughts, all thought is neutral. We can use our imaginative ability to worry as easily as to daydream. Both come from the exact same energy.
Thought is our storyteller, our meaning making machine. Without thought, there would be nothing to be aware of.
A Deeper Truth
These Three Principles might not seem like much on the surface. We can understand them on an intellectual level that does not create any life changes.
There is a deeper truth to the Principles behind life. When we see life from our intuitive wisdom, effortless transformation takes place.
I cannot bottle this understanding. If it were possible to make it into a pill, I would make billions.
Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. Everyone who bought it would attribute the wonderful change to the pill instead of to the truth of who they are.
Each person has to discover Truth within them for themselves. You can’t find it with your thinking mind, but you can “feel” the way into it with your wisdom. My job is to point my clients in the right direction.
The Secret to Life
A story that retired clinical psychologist Dr. Dicken Bettinger tells speaks to this. Sydney Banks, the enlightened Scottish Theosopher who discovered these Principles, mentored Dicken.
One day, a group of therapists were working with Sydney Banks.
Sydney Banks said to them, “Do you want to know the secret to life?”
Everyone around him perked up. When a spiritual leader says they are about to share a secret, then what they say next must be important!
He said simply, “You can change your mind.”
This was the big secret that he wanted to share?
He then added, “but this is where everyone gets into trouble: little mind can’t do it, only Big Mind can.”
Little mind can’t do it. Most of us have been relying on our “small mind” to navigate all our lives. For deeper understanding, we need to set the ego, or intellectual mind, aside.
We are so familiar with using little mind to operate in life, so it can be scary to let go of control. A part of us distrusts the larger, universal intelligence. We think we need to be in charge or nothing would get done. But let’s look at that. Is it true?
What happens when we let go of control and trust in Big Mind?
We think that we have to “work on ourselves ” to cultivate change, but all that effort might actually get in the way of Big Mind.
Relax into presence. Allow Mind to show you the way, and miracles may start to occur in your life. What you thought was too good to be true might just start becoming true.
Explore the Understanding
Sydney Banks has a new website where you can listen to his videos.
When I began listened to him, it was like he was speaking another language. I could sense that he spoke from a deeper truth, but couldn’t understand him at first.
To help translate, I recommend:
Reading other books
Listening to 3P podcasts (Releasing Mental Tension is a great one!)
Meeting one on one with a coach: I know a guy (it’s me)
and then going back to listen to Sydney Bank’s videos.
Reading About the 3 Principles
I found that reading books is a cheap way to connect with a deeper understanding of how my mind works. If I like a book, I get it in audiobook format as well, especially if the author reads it. Many of these books can be re-read many times because they have such depth. Each time is like reading a brand new book!
I will be linking to Amazon for ease, but many of his books can be read for free through your library or on Hoopla. Also, support local booksellers if they can get these copies in.
Sydney Banks claimed to have written more books than he read. He wrote 6 incredible books:
The Missing Link: A slim but powerful volume of wisdom and insight into the 3 Principles. A book to chew on, this is a book I go back to again and again.
Second Chance and Quest for the Pearl: Two books that take place in Hawaii. Follow Johnathan’s journey to more peace and freedom.
The Enlightened Gardener and The Enlightened Gardener Revisited: Two books about a group of therapists who meet an enigmatic gardener during a conference in London.
Dear Liza: A book more for children, this book is under-rated and under-read.
The Relationship Handbook by George Pransky: This book saved my relationship. Each time I read it, it deepens my relationship with my wife. I can’t recommend it enough.
The Secret to Mental Health by George Pransky: The latest installment. Wonderful book. The stories at the end hit me the most, especially the one about sharing from the heart.
The Little Book of Big Change by Amy Johnson: This book is amazing. If you have an unwanted habit or addiction, this is the book for you. I immediately started it again after finishing it.
Just a Thought by Amy Johnson: I loved this book as well. She describes how the mind works with a unique flavor that I found enlightening.
Any book by Michael Neill: I took the Basic Course with Michaeal Neill and knew I needed to read everything he had to say on the subject. His books are witty, funny, heartfelt, and enlightening. Start anywhere.
It’s That Simple: A User’s Manual for Human Beings by Mavis Karn: Wonderul set of letters that share The Principles simply.
Clarity and Results by Jamie Smart: This pair of books describe the 3 Principles well.
Coming Home by Dicken Bettinger and Natasha Swerdloff: There are a couple of parts of this book that hit me in surprising ways.
Any book by Elsie Spittle: While these might not be as polished, reading them feels like a warm hug from grandma.
Thriving in the Eye of the Hurricane by Dr. Joe Bailey: Stories of survival, awakening, and thriving.
Matters of the Soul by Bryan D Johnson: My friend Bryan wrote a book of spiritual quotes. Insightful!
Sydney Banks once said that all you need is one Spiritual Fact to change the trajectory of your life. My experience of life has proved this to be true. Explore this transformative understanding through books, recordings, and coaching.
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If you would like one on one guidance toward your Spiritual Facts, then let’s start a conversation.
And no . . .
. . . it’s not too good to be true!
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