The Serenity Solution: How to Use Quiet Contemplation to Solve Life's Problems (23 page)

170 Twelve

In summary, when we learn to stay in calm focus, we operate in the zone of optimal performance and many opportunities open up to us that we would not be afforded otherwise. In this calm zone, we have access to a larger awareness that flows into our thoughts and actions, guides us with wisdom, empowers us with choice, and makes things happen. We are able to move with grace above the chaos and transcend our normal limitations.

Glossary

Autofocus
: A habituated process of perceiving.

Awakening
: A significant insight or revelation occurring as a result of expanded awareness and contact with a universal intelligence.

Broadening focus
: Attending to the larger aspects of a situation.

Calibration questions:
A combination of closed and open questions that ask for confirmation of an inner response.

Calm focus:
A form of attention that is balanced between relaxation and alertness (relaxed alertness).

Central factor:
The factor in a problem situation with the most influence—the dominant theme.

Closed question:
A question that requires only a yes or no or one-word response.

171

172 Glossary

Cognitive overload:
A condition of confusion and stress that results from attending to numerous stimuli.

Collective unconscious:
The term used by the psychiatrist Carl Jung to denote a universal subconscious mind that underlies the connection of all individual minds.

Concentrating (narrowing) focus:
Attending to the smaller details of one area in a situation.

Confirmation bias:
A tendency to seek information from a situation that supports a preconceived notion or belief.

Contemplative prayer:
A receptive form of calm inner focus in which one asks for insight from a larger intelligence.

Cosmic consciousness:
Expanded awareness arising from making contact with the larger, universal intelligence.

Current problem state:
An emotional or physical reaction to a present difficulty.

Decoherence:
The process by which quantum waves become

progressively entangled with each other and trigger the collapse of multiple-state possibilities into single-state possibilities; the spread of information.

Detection markers:
Subtle emotional or physical reactions that indicate the presence of a narrow, limited view.

Divine guidance
: The reception of insight from a larger awareness or intelligence as result of relaxing and broadening focus.

Evocation:
A triggering of an emotional or physical reaction as a result of immersing in vivid detail.

Glossary 173

Expanded or nonlocal awareness:
Knowledge of things beyond the limits of the physical senses (extrasensory perception).

Explicate Order
: The manifest world of ever-changing form.

False self:
A sense of personal identity based solely on the external, sensory-physical world.

Fixed focus:
A persistent way of perceiving.

Flexible focus control:
The ability to shift one’s viewpoint on command.

Framing:
Capturing the right view of a situation with the least words (getting clear and concise).

Habitual reaction points:
Common areas where tension arises in response to one’s current view.

Hologram:
A three-dimensional imaged produced by shining a laser through two-dimensional wave patterns; analogy to explain how

the three-dimensional universe is produced by two-dimensional,

quantum wave interactions.

Hyper focus:
Emotionally-charged attention to a single target or stimulus.

Immersed mode:
A state of mind characterized by absorption in detail.

Implicate order
: The deeper, hidden dimension of reality that gives rise to the manifest world. (
See
explicate order).

Inner dialogue:
A creative technique to elicit spontaneous responses from the subconscious or inner mind.

Intention
: A determined desire for a specific outcome to manifest. (
See
also
confirmation bias)

174 Glossary

Lateral thinking:
A nonlinear approach to problem-solving; looking at a problem from multiple angles to derive a solution.

Life goal:
A life-long pursuit that is an expression of one’s true self and which provides deeper meaning and purpose.

Mindfulness:
A state of mind in which one has transcended conditioned thought and can see clearly things as they are. A stated of pure or direct perception; an observant or awakened state (
See
observer mode
and
situational awareness)

Mindfulness meditation:
A form of calm inner focus in which one is aware of multiple stimuli at once (i.e., an open focus).

No focus:
Wandering attention; the total absence of focus control.

Nonlocal space:
The outer-dimensional location of the quantum vacuum where matter waves exist beyond this space-time and

particles exist in potential.

Observer effect:
A quantum phenomenon in which one’s observation affects the behavior of subatomic particles.

Observer mode:
A state of mind characterized by a detached perspective; perceiving a situation as a whole.

Omega point:
A term coined by the Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to refer to the end state of the universe where there will be optimal order.

Open focus:
Attention to several targets at once. (
See
mindfulness meditation)

Open question:
A question that requires more than one word to answer or an elaborated response.

Glossary 175

Optimal zone of arousal:
An area of mental performance in which there is a balance between relaxation and alertness and which one

functions at one’s best (a calm focus).

Petition or asking prayer:
A form of calm inner focus in which one seeks a single outcome from the universal intelligence.

Pilot waves:
Quantum waves that underlie and influence matter particles.

Premature focus:
A hasty commitment to a single target (e.g., jumping to a conclusion).

Quantum entanglement:
The process by which quantum waves interact and share information. Thus, two or more particles may remotely

and instantly influence each other (signal-less communication).

Quantum information:
Information about the state of a particle that is embedded in a particle’s waveform; wave patterns or differences in wavelength or frequency.

Quantum sea or vacuum:
The ground floor of the universe where tiny energy fluctuations wink in and out of existence and produce matter waves.

Quantum wave theory:
The notion that all matter is comprised of quantum waves of energy and information and these waves interact

to produce everything in the universe.

Real problem:
The central or major influence in a problem.

Resonance:
The state that occurs when two or more waves are in the same phase or frequency and there is a sharing of information.

Scaling:
A numerical rating of one’s sense of closeness to a target goal.

176 Glossary

Scattered focus:
Attention to numerous targets or stimuli one at a time (i.e., sequential target tracking).

Single-point meditation:
A form of calm inner focus in which one focuses on the details of a single target such as a candle flame or the breath.

Situational awareness:
Knowledge of the larger surrounding environment.

Situation overview:
An appraisal of the larger aspects and their interrelationship in a problem.

Solution state:
An emotional or physical state evoked by mentally rehearsing resourceful actions. (See target state)

Superposition:
The multiple-state position a subatomic particle can hold within a quantum wave.

Sustained or repeated focus:
The act of mentally rehearsing resourceful actions over a period of several sessions.

Target actions:
The few most effective actions that produce a target (solution) state. (
See
target markers)

Target biases:
Familiar thoughts and ideas that are favored and habitually focused on.

Target charting:
A method of tracking one’s current position in relation to a target goal.

Target markers:
The distinctive thoughts and actions that produce a target state. (
See
target actions)

Target picturing:
Imagining oneself perform in a target state so as to identify its action components.

Glossary 177

Target resolving or detailing:
Examining the individual thoughts and actions involved in a target state.

Target sighting:
Locating a solution state free of a problem’s influence.

Target state:
An emotional or physical state evoked by mentally rehearsing resourceful actions. (
See
solution state)

Target test:
The act of determining one’s current position in relation to a desired target state through the use of open questions.

Thought streaming:
The uncensored, free flow of ideas from the inner mind.

True self:
One’s essential nature that is connected on a deeper level to everything and everyone (the universe-at-large); uniquely integrated quantum information.

Unified Field:
The most fundamental of all nature’s fields and the wellspring for both energy and matter; the ground of all being. (
See
quantum sea or vacuum, zero point field.)

Universal mind:
The collective intelligence in the universe arising from or expressed by quantum entanglement and information-sharing.

Utilization:
The act of employing detailed memories of one’s own experiences to elicit a resourceful emotional or physical state.

Vertical thinking:
The act of searching for a solution from the first view one’s sees.

Visualization
: The process of concentrating on and immersing in imagined detail so as to create desired outcomes or intentions.

Vortices:
Swirling packets of energy that make up subatomic particles.

178 Glossary

Zero Point Field:
Lowest level of the universe where quantum energy is produced, even in the coldest vacuum’s of space. (
See
quantum vacuum
and
unified field)

Zooming cycle:
One complete shift in focus from a broad view of a problem to a narrow view and back.

Zooming in:
Mentally concentrating on the details of a subpart of a problem.

Zooming out:
Mentally stepping back and observing the larger aspects of a problem.

Research

in Distant Mental Effects

Bohm, David.
Wholeness and the Implicate Order
. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980.

Bohm, David, with B. J. Hiley.
The Undivided Universe: An Ontological
Interpretation of Quantum Theory
. London: Routledge, 1993.

Braud, William.
Distant Mental Influence
. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads, 2003.

Dossey, Larry.
Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of
Medicine
. San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1993.

Lansky, Amy.
Active Consciousness: Awakening the Power Within.
Portola Valley, CA: R. L. Ranch Press, 2011.

McTaggart, Lynne.
The Field: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe
.

New York: HarperCollins, 2002.

179

180 Research in Distant Mental Effects

__________.
The Intention Experiment
:
Using Your Thoughts to Change
Your Life and the World.
New York: Free Press, 2007.

Randin, Dean.
The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic
Phenomena
. New York: HarperEdge, 1997.

________.
Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum
Reality
. New York: Paraview Pocket Books, 2006.

Targ, Russell.
Limitless Mind: A Guide to Remote Viewing and Transformation
of Consciousness.
Novato, CA: New World Library, 2004.

Targ, Russell and Jane Katra.
Miracles of Mind: Exploring Nonlocal
Consciousness and Spiritual Healing
. Novato, CA: New World Library, 1999.

Van Lommel, Pim.
Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-death
Experience
. New York: HarperOne, 2010.

References

Baud, William. “Direct Mental Influence on the Rate of Hemolysis of Human Red Blood Cells.”
Journal of Parapsychology
47: 95-119, 1983.

______.
Distant Mental Influence
. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads, 2003.

Bloch, Douglas.
Listening to Your Inner Voice: Discover the Truth Within You
and Let it Guide Your Way
. Center City, MN: Hazelden, 1991.

Bohm, David.
Wholeness and the Implicate Order
. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980.

Bohm, David, with B. J. Hiley.
The Undivided Universe: An Ontological
Interpretation of Quantum Theory
. London: Routledge, 1993.

Bohr, Neils.
Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge
. New York: Wiley, 1958.

181

182 References

Bucke, Richard.
Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the
Human Mind
. University of Wisconsin: Innes & Sons, 1905.

Chopra, Deepak.
How to Know God: The Soul’s Journey into the Mystery of
Mysteries
. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2000.