Stages of Working with issues

By George A. Boyd ©2023

Q: I feel completely absorbed in my suffering and misery. How can I break free to meditate and begin feeling fully alive again?

A: There are seven major stages of working with your issues:

  1. Complete absorption in the issue – There is full identification with the issue; the issue governs your choices, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors.
  2. Separation of attention from the issue – This is the first sense that the issue is not your identity; your attention observes it.
  3. Monitoring – Your attention observes the issue running like a tape; it notices the choices, beliefs, emotions, and behavior of the issue arise and pass away. This is the stage of Vipassana.
  4. Inner work – You regard the issue from the standpoint of your attentional principle. You are able to use Process Meditation, Affirmation, Mandala Method, and Rainbow Technique to work with the issue to gain insight, release, and breakthrough.
  5. Self-control – Your Self begins to overrule the issue and command alternate behavior, countermand the choices embedded in the issue, and refute erroneous beliefs.
  6. Grace – You are able to call down the Light of Spirit to attune with the issue, which grants emotional comfort, healing, and reconnection with the Soul; additionally, your Self receives guidance and direction.
  7. Surrender and detachment – You surrender the issue to the Soul, the spiritual Master, and God, and you abide in obedience to the Divine Will; you carry this out each day.

You start the process with taking these steps:

  • Your first challenge is moving from identification with the issue to observing it. With further practice, you can start to observe the issue arising and passing away—at this stage, you are capable of doing Vipassana.
  • Once you are able to shift to the perspective of your attentional principle and your Self, you will begin to be able to work on the issue and wrest control from it.
  • As you are able to tap into your spiritual core, you will begin to bring in the Light of Attunement and the Soul’s transpersonal will to help you overcome the issue.

We teach the techniques for inner work in our intermediate meditation classes: the in-person Mudrashram® Master Course in Meditation and the by-mail and online Accelerated Meditation Program. Having the ability to work on the issue from a place of clarity can catalyze inner movement; eventually you will fully overcome the issue.

Exercise to Explore These Seven Perspectives

You can do an exercise to experience the different perspectives on your issue. Identify with what issue you want to work. Then ask the following questions for this issue:

  • How do I experience my issue when I am fully identified with it?
  • What does my issue look like when I detach my attention from it?
  • What do I notice about this issue when I monitor it in the present time?
  • How does my attentional principle view this issue? What tools do I have to work on this issue from my attentional principle?
  • How does my Self view this issue? How does my Self interface with the issue? From this higher standpoint, can I begin to control the issue’s behavior and beliefs, and overrule its choices?
  • If I call in the Holy Spirit or my spiritual guides or Masters, what attunements can I send to work begin to heal this issue?
  • How does my Soul regard this issue? What abilities, love, and knowledge does it have that can change and ultimately overcome the issue?
  • If I surrender this issue to the Divine, what do I need to do live with the issue until I am freed from it?