A few people have asked me what I mean by the Divine or Universe. I’ve talked about this in my books and audio programs, but since it keeps coming up, I’ll also address it here. I’ll use one person’s recent questions as the kick-off, and I’ll end with a surprise gift for you. Here goes:

1- Is the “Universe” the same as the “Divine”?

For me, yes. Many self help authors say “Universe” when they really mean unconscious mind. I remember being on one radio talk show when the host declared the universe doesn’t know the difference between imagination and reality. She meant the unconscious mind doesn’t know the difference. This is a common mistake. It leads to a lot of confusion. For me, the unconscious mind is below your conscious awareness but basically runs the ship. It doesn’t know the difference between what you dream about or what you actually see, and because of that, you can embed intentions in it. The Universe, however, is the totality of everything. It ain’t dumb. It knows the difference between imagery and reality. It can also be called the Divine.

2- Do you consider the Universe or Divine to be God?

Yes. I don’t say the word “God” too much because so many people have baggage associated with it. God can be seen as an old man in the sky to some sort of other conceptualized being. God isn’t that to me. It is the background Witness of life. I say Divine to be politically safe. I started using the term a lot more after hanging around Dr. Hew Len, who addresses the Divine all the time when doing ho’oponopono.

3- If we are Divine, as you’ve said, then are people God?

Yes, but don’t tell anybody. People are Divinity expressed in physical form. I talk about this at length in my program (now also a book), The Awakening Course. We don’t know we are Divine because we are supposed to awaken to that fact. That’s the purpose of life. But as Bill Murray said in the movie, Groundhog Day, “I’m not the God. I’m a God.”

4- Exactly how does the Divine attract money?

It doesn’t. You do. But you do it best when you are in your passion, when you are connected to the Divine flow of life and you don’t have any internal limits on receiving it. Said another way, money is Divine and the Divine is money. It doesn’t need to attract money. It is money (as well as everything else).

5- If YOU, Joe, write a book while connected to your Divine/Universe/God within, does my Divine/Universe within instantly know this and make ME more likely to buy it from you?

Not exactly. I believe the book I coauthored with Dr. Hew Len, Zero Limits, was Divinely guided. I wrote it in two weeks. I felt like a stenographer for the Divine. But that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone. Your inner Divinity will tell you what’s next for you. It may or may not be anything I write. (It may not even be a book.) There are hundreds of thousands of books out there, and many of them might be a better match for you at this time in your evolution. I like what Jerry and Esther Hicks (Abraham) have said: they offer their material to those who are wanting it. Period. Look at it this way: the Divine guides me to write a book and the right people are guided to read it. Nothing more. Nothing less.

At the risk of sounding promotional, most of the questions I get are answered in my books and audio programs. I know at least one author who refuses to answer questions at all, saying “Go buy my books!” I won’t go that far or be that harsh, but I have to at least suggest you look into my latest program, The Abundance Paradigm.

Of course, it’s also okay with me if you skip it. 🙂

Finally, here’s a gift for you:

Recently I answered many questions on a private call for buyers of The Abundance Paradigm. I never planned to release the call to the public, but so many people praised it, that I felt I should share it with you, too.

You can listen to the entire call, download it, and/or read the transcript by going to:

https://secure.theabundanceparadigm.com/checkout/abundance-call.php

Enjoy!

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Heads up: I answer questions every month on a private call for the students in my Miracles Coaching program. I’m just saying.

Member BBB 2003 – 2011

Recently a person commented that I was just after “the dimes.”

When I said I was actually just following the Divine, somebody else said it was clear I was just after “the dollars.”

The two comments got me thinking about money, motivation and perception. I decided I would share some of my insights here with you. I think you’ll find it interesting, and it contains at least one lesson for you, as well. Here goes:

First, money is good.

Most people think, at least unconsciously, money is bad. You hear this sort of patter from “spiritual people” who haven’t fully embraced all of life.  They still think poverty will get them into heaven. They still think money is evil. They still think dimes and dollars are not the Divine. I’ve exposed the fallacy of this kind of thinking in my book, Attract Money Now (which is still free to read online). Anyone who thinks money taints you, doesn’t realize money can save you. It’s a tool. It’s a hammer that can build salvation. It is a concrete form of the spiritual.

I’ve said repeatedly that if you want to make a difference in the world, learn how to attract money and then direct it to where it will do the most good. I’ve given tens of thousands of dollars to causes I believe in. I’ve given tens of thousands of dollars to strangers as well as close friends. I’ve bought new cars for family members. I’m not saying this to brag or seek your approval. I’m saying this to expand your mind;  to illustrate the freedom and power you get to do positive things when you allow money into your life. Money is a powerful solution. No wonder great saints, such as Mother Teresa, raised millions of dollars and used it as they felt directed. Money is good.

Second, the key to success is following passion.

I have never taught or been motivated by money alone. That’s a fast track to unhappiness. The direct route to success is in following your passion, while using money as a scorecard that enables you to keep following your passion. That’s what I do. That’s what billionaires such as Donald Trump and Sir Richard Branson do. Since I’m writing these blog posts for free, the only thing compelling me is the passion to do so. I’ve told several friends recently that this blog is my pet project. I love it. My recent writing and thinking goes here. But I rarely focus on anything you can buy direct from me. Usually I simply get excited about something and can’t wait to share it with you. That’s not being money directed, that’s being passion directed.

That said, I also have bills to pay, just like you. If I charge for a book, it’s because a lot of people were involved in its creation (editors, printers, publishers, etc) and they all have bills to pay, too. My Miracles Coaching program, for example, has about 300 people involved in running it. Obviously I can’t give it away for free. Those 300 people also have bills to pay. Likewise, you need to charge for what you do, as well, if only to be able to live and work in the world. But the whole issue of money becomes an after thought if you first focus on following your passion.

Third, life is an ink blot test.

Basically, what you see in what I or anyone else does is a projection of your own unconscious beliefs. You have no idea what my (or anyone’s) internal motivation is, so you’re left to guess. Lots of room for error there. My fans will see that I’m sharing what I love; my critics will see that I’m selling what I like. Which is it, in reality? Am I serving or selling? It depends on the lens you look through. You have a choice. For me, I promote what I love and think will be of value to you. It’s of the purest intent. But I can’t control what you think, and I don’t want to even try. I do the best I can, based on my passion and my connection to the Divine. Sometimes I remind myself of what Abraham Lincoln said when he was hounded by people who didn’t understand what he was doing:

“If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how – the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what’s said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”

The lesson here for you is to insulate yourself from people who belittle you and what you do. Get clear on your passion, get clear of limiting beliefs about money, and take action to make a difference in the world.

There will always be critics. It’s easy to be one. Just sit back and find fault with others. That’s a no brainer. But to actually do something worthwhile with your life, there’s the challenge and the thrill.

I end most of my emails to my list with the 16th Century Latin phrase, Aude Aliquid Dignum, which translates as,  “Dare Something Worthy.”

Follow the Divine, be true to your heart, dare something worthy, and let the critics squabble.

And if anyone questions you in a negative way, remember what Mark Twain advised:

“Keep away from those who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you believe that you too can become great.”

Now go do something good.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Recently when I promoted my latest audio program, The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation, I asked people if they thought I should charge for it or give it away for free. The overwhelming vote was to charge for it. Even my customers knew the value of the product and the fairness of exchanging dollars for it. Follow your passion, charge for what you do, and use the money to make a difference in your life and in the lives of those you care about. By doing so you aren’t chasing dollars or dimes, you’re instead honoring the Divine. Sounds worthy to me.

Member BBB 2003 – 2011

Around 1994 my life was changed by a book called Spiritual Politics.

It helped me see the big picture of global conflicts and gave me an elevated view of what was happening. It delivered a fascinating analysis of the cosmic, karmic and metaphysical reasons behind politics, world affairs and current events.

It revealed that I had to work on myself to make a difference in the outer world. It’s a large, detailed, and exhaustive work on the hidden reasons behind the superficial news and talk show bantering. It’s all about change as an inside job. I never forgot the book.

Recently the same authors came out with a new book, The Practical Visionary: A New World Guide to Spiritual Growth and Social Change. I was so eager to read this one that I bought the Kindle edition from Amazon and instantly started reading it on my iPad. I liked what I saw so much that I went back to Amazon and bought copies of the paperback to give as gifts. I then reached out to the authors, Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson, to interview them.

The Practical Visionary offers overwhelming proof that every social problem you can name is being addressed by some person or group. There are entire chapters stuffed with resources. It does the soul good to see so much being done in the world to move us forward to unity. In a time when the mainstream media rarely nods in the direction of the good deeds people are doing, seeing all this evidence for the positive is wonderful.

None of this is to say you or I are off the hook. We can’t let others solve all the problems we see. We have work to do. But the best way to do it is to align with your connection to the Universe and do what’s right for you. As you do what you are called to do, you become The Practical Visionary.

Besides all the resources, wisdom, and optimism in the book, another reason I love it are the meditations in it. Early on there is a vivid one about pretending to turn an inner knob to raise the vibration of your energy until it matches that of Spirit. I was a little tired as I began the meditation, but just imagining playing with an inner frequency dial that raised my energy actually did raise it. Nice.

The Practical Visionary reveals eight keys for transforming yourself and the world. It’s not an either-or approach. As you work on yourself, you work on the world; as you work on the world, you work on yourself.

1.    Shift from what’s dying to what’s being born: discover the new world of practical visionaries all around you;

2.    Understand the big picture and the higher evolutionary plan: find your part and get engaged;

3.    Make your livelihood a social change strategy: be a spiritual warrior, an innovator, a reformer and/or an exemplar;

4.    Invoke the magic of your soul: explore the new world within you and make friends with your subconscious;

5.    Turn within to find a source of spiritual strength: develop a regular meditative practice to receive clear guidance;

6.    Clarify your higher purpose and vision: create a mission, practical strategy and right timing;

7.    See money as a spiritual asset: trust in the abundance of the universe—and be practical and wise;

8.    Transform duality and conflict into a higher synthesis: find common ground personally and politically to change the world.

The Practical Visionary is a mind-expanding and soul-enriching book that helps move you into a new paradigm. You might even call it The Abundance Paradigm. 🙂

There are some statements in the book that make you sit bolt upright and take notice, such as:

“To progress spiritually, you shouldn’t just go with the flow of whatever is happening, as some people mistakenly advise, as some flows of energy are good and some are harmful.”

And —

“On a deeper, metaphysical level money is concretized energy or prana (life force).”

And —

“Schedule your activities. While planning is an intention, scheduling is a commitment.”

There’s so much more in The Practical Visionary that I just want to keep writing about it. But instead of reading this review, go read the book. I love this book and suggest you read it, share it, and act on it. It’s at Amazon, in book stores, and available from the publisher: Unity.

Remember, The Practical Visionary is you.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Here’s a YouTube video from the authors about their book:

I just recorded my latest audio program for Nightingale-Conant. It’s called The Abundance Paradigm. It explains how to move from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation. It’s a complete course of in-depth clearing, with powerful original processes I’ve never shared before. It’s my most experiential and spiritual program yet. You’ll love it.

I’ll tell you more about it later (it releases late October) but want to share the following insight with you today:

Truth is, once you make the shift to living in The Abundance Paradigm, attracting your highest good is as easy as breathing. It’s natural. It’s your new way of being. You no longer even think about affirmations or visualizations or intentions. You simply live from the new you.

But how do you make that shift?

My new program explains how. It goes beyond The Attractor Factor or Zero Limits or ho’oponopono. It also goes beyond The Secret. It takes you right into the background of life, what I sometimes call The Whiteboard.

Said another way, in the beautiful movie Karol: A Man Who Became Pope, a Russian atheist tells the future Pope John Paul II that there is nothing out there.

No God.

No Divine.

Nothing.

Karol replies by saying, “What you call nothing is what I call everything!”

And there’s the secret to attracting abundance through higher consciousness.

Once you realize the Whiteboard is the source of it all – the everything of life – you are only one step removed from living from it or even as it.

The Whiteboard, you see, is alive.

And that’s where you experience The Abundance Paradigm.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – I have several bestselling audio programs with Nightingale-Conant, including The Missing Secret, The Secret to Attracting Money, and The Awakening Course. Visit their rich catalog of gems by clicking right here.

Vocal wizard Guy Monroe told me about working with a singing student and urging her to just break all the rules and experiment with her voice. He suggested she do things faster than normal as a way to break limitations.

Guy said, “The faster you go, intelligences appear. This is trust technology. You can out run your brain.”

Why would you want to out run your own mind?

Your mind tries to keep you safe. That in itself isn’t bad. You want to be safe. You want to survive. But the mind can protect you from learning, stretching, growing, and transcending, too. You want to by-pass the mind to learn new skills and stretch into a new you.

The singer did that by leaping off the edge of the known, in terms of her singing skills, and letting trust guide her into developing new skills as she flew.

“Sounds like The Need Zone,” I told Guy.

“The Need Zone? I love it!” he said. “Explain it to me.”

I went on to say you get what you need. For example, I remember almost being in a plane crash. We were flying into Los Angles and apparently hit an air pocket right over the runway, made by the previous jet. Our plane shook and fell, and all time slowed. But I felt as if I were being protected. It seemed similar to the stories of people in crashes who are saved by an unseen hand. There’s at least one book about this (The Third Man Factor).

By extending the logic that you often get unseen help when you need it, you can also get seen help — what Guy called intelligences — when you stretch yourself into needing it.

In the first scenario a possible accident, or an actual one, triggers help; in the second one, your desire for more skill calls help to your side.

This reminded me of what Bobby Birdsall, one of my first prosperity teachers (who I dedicated Attract Money Now to) told me decades ago. He said, “You always get what you need. One way to attract more money is to up your need for it.”

That didn’t make sense at the time. I was already broke. Struggling. I had debt and had filed for bankruptcy. I had need. Create more need? No way.

Today I know that we don’t allow ourselves to have what we want due to deservingness issues. But we usually allow what we need. When you need more, you attract more.

This is a touchy balancing act. Need is an emotion of desperation for most people. So needing anything often just attracts more need.

But there’s a way to transcend need.

You can go a level or two higher by consciously needing more as a choice. In other words, the singer who steps out of her comfort zone now needs new skills. She calls them forth by the “need” for them. As Guy explained, the faster you go, the more you attract those higher or expanded intelligences. It’s not a survival need but it is a perceived “need”.

I know when I considered going to my first coach, I resisted it. It wasn’t until I put my foot down and said “I’M GOING NO MATTER WHAT!” that the chosen need attracted the means to fulfill it.

Another way to explain this is to simply challenge yourself by doing what you feel is impossible or at least a real stretch. As you do, you call forth or attract new resources to you because of this “need zone.”

My singing with Guy is always a high energy adventure. I’m using my voice in new ways. As I stretch to sing songs that seem beyond my reach, I acquire and attract the skills necessary to make it happen.

But this only happens because I have backed myself into a skills corner and “need” to attract new skills to accomplish my new intention.

This works with big dreams, too.

When I decided to end homelessness with Operation YES, I had no idea where to begin. But my new “need” acted as a powerful new attractor.

Within days I ran into Scott Miller and his movement, already working, to end poverty.

Then I ran into a CNN reporter who wants to film me and my work in this area.

Then I attracted more resources, from Mindy Audlin and her “What if UP?” process to the legal staff I needed to become a non-profit.

I also attracted Morty Lefkoe, the man who co-authored, with est founder Werner Erhard, the original proposal to end hunger with the famous Hunger Project.

All of this from entering The Need Zone.

One more example:

Last week in Chicago I recorded my latest audio program for Nightingale-Conant. I went into the studio with no script or book to read from. Because of my “need” to complete a new program that is the most experiential and spiritual of my career, I had to attract the information to record. I did, too, and it may be the most inspired audio set I’ve ever created, but only because I “needed” it.

Maybe ask yourself, “What would you love to do but are afraid to do or have no idea how to do?”

Begin it.

Start someplace.

And do it without over thinking and over planning.

Just jump.

By taking action in the direction of that goal, you’ll attract the people, skills and means — the “intelligences” — from The Need Zone to make it a reality.

In other words, your stepping into discomfort will attract what you need to find comfort again.

Isn’t that comforting?

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — One action step you can take right now is to claim your free 30 minute Miracles Coaching call. Just click on the banner at the top of this page or click right here.