Creating Miracles in Every Day life

Wayne Dyer is a much-loved bestselling author and prolific
speaker who, with his friend Deepak Chopra and the likes
of Anthony Robbins, John Gray, and James Redfield (author
of The Celestine Prophecy), has made life transformation into such a
massive contemporary phenomenon. The success of Your Erroneous
Zones (1976) saw Dyer leave respectable academia for the realm of
talk shows and book signings. If that first book was his most fun to
read (the play on the word erogenous is an indication), his most complete
and arguably finest book is Real Magic. Packed full of insights, it
is a self-actualization guide for real life that borrows freely from the
best thinkers of East and West.
What is real magic?
Dyer took the phrase "real magic" from Harry Houdini, the famous
escape artist. Late in his career, Houdini admitted that most of his feats
were performed by illusion, but others he could not even explain to
himself; these he called "real magic." For Dyer, real magic is the paradoxical
truth that anyone can become a magician, a miracle maker in
their everyday lives. This might seem far-fetched, but as Dyer says, it is
simply a matter of changing the way you define your existence. He
quotes Teilhard de Chardin: "We are not human beings having a spiritual
experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience."
The book takes the "impossibilities" in your life and, instead of suggesting
mere goal setting or strong beliefs, shows you how to develop
powerful "knowings" about who you are and what you can do. In this
state of higher awareness, your purpose in life becomes very clear, relationships
become more spiritual, work endeavors begin to "flow," and
decisions are made with ease.
As Dyer sees it, there are no accidents in life. Each experience we
have, no matter how painful, eventually leads us to something of higher
value. When looking back, we can see that everything made sense and
was part of an unfolding plan.
Enlightenment through purpose
The thread running though Real Magic is the need to become aware of
our unique purpose in life. People learn or become "enlightened" about
life and themselves in three main ways:
? Enlightenment through suffering. This might also be called the "why
me?" path. Events occur, suffering takes place, and something is
learned. But when suffering is our only teacher, we shut off the possibility
of the miraculous.
? Enlightenment through outcome. In this path we have goals and
ambitions that make sense of life. While superior to enlightenment
through suffering, we must still be reactive and struggle, missing out
on the higher awareness that creates magic.
? Enlightenment through purpose. Everything in the universe has a
purpose, and by living according to our true purpose we begin to
walk in step with it, magically creating what we want instead of
battling against life.
A good indication that you are "on purpose" is if you lose track of
time while doing your task, if it gives so much pleasure that you would
want to do it even if you won $10 million tomorrow. Dyer remembers
Montaigne's statement, "The great and glorious masterpiece of man is
to live with purpose." Are you merely alive, or are you creating a
masterpiece?
Creating a miracle mindset
Apart from purpose, we create a miracle mindset through:
? Withholding judgment ("you do not define people with your judgments,
your judgments define you").
? Developing intuition.
? Knowing that intentions create your reality.
? Surrendering to the universe to provide for your needs.
Particularly important is the need to separate what we do from any
rewards it may bring. This is hard when we live in a culture of want,
yet Dyer observes the strange-but-true dictum that ambition can bite
the nails of success. We cannot will miracles to happen, but must let
them flow through us when we are fully concentrating on what we do,
not what it might bring. By all means have a relaxed intention about
the future, but do not let it interfere with your task in the present.
Purpose and relationships
Purpose also extends to our love life. Dyer says that all our relationships
are part of a divine necessity; they were meant to be, so make the
most of them. Spiritual partners go beyond what they may superficially
have in common to see that their relationship has to do with the evolution
of their souls. With this basic insight, we treat people as a gift, not
a chattel. We try to be kind, rather than right. We allow people as
much space and time as they need, which renews the relationship.
Lastly, since we know that each person is a wonderful mystery, we
no longer have to understand them. We "honor the incomprehensible"!
Purpose and the prospering self
Dyer is particularly valuable on prosperity. Mostly we worry about
whether we have money or do not have it, but his conception is that
we must not try to "get" anything: "There is no way to prosperity,
prosperity is the way." Prosperity is chiefly a state of mind, just as
scarcity is. It is not about getting, but being. Prosperity consciousness is
about the knowledge of how much we already have in abundance; as
the biblical phrase has it, "To him that hath, more will be given."
In contrast, poverty consciousness is based on feelings of lack, which
are manifested in your circumstances. Dyer echoes James Allen in saying
that circumstances do not make us, they reveal us. This is obviously
a sensitive area, as it could be interpreted that the poor deserve their
situation. But Dyer makes a crucial distinction: While most of us have
had the experience of being broke, "poor" is a set of beliefs that are
strengthened each time we blame "circumstances" for our plight. Living
out our purpose is a sure way to enter the stream of prosperity, as
it involves constant giving. Another way is automatically to give away
at least 10 percent of what we earn, even if that is not much.
Who am I meant to be?
Real Magic also covers personal identity. The chief point is that until
we see that the personality we have now is not set in stone, that we can
reinvent ourselves, we will not have a magic-filled life. The faint intuition
or nagging inside about your possibilities knows more about you
than you are willing to admit—treasure it and let it grow. Instead of
focusing on what we lack, this growth should come from a knowledge
that "we are it all already." Reinvention of our personality simply
means exposing more of our true and greater self to the air.
Final comments
Real Magic also has excellent chapters on physical health, "becoming a
spiritual being," and helping to usher in a "spiritual revolution." Dyer
has the gift of talking about the non-material without sounding too
serious or mystical. He draws on his psychotherapy experience, the
great figures of eastern and western religions, and philosophy and
quantum physics to prove his points, all the while avoiding
intellectuality.
The very personal way in which Dyer speaks to the reader has made
him a favorite to millions. People identify with him as a person who
has managed to combine the spiritual path with the patience-snapping
demands of family life. Indeed, in his public talks he can be very amusing
on this subject, telling once of his teenage daughter slouching
against a door and saying, "Someone at school said you wrote a book
on parenting. Tell me it's not true!"
Dyer's secret is meditation, and he is fond of quoting Pascal: "All
man's miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room
alone." If sitting quietly in a room alone seems an impossible task for
you, a good alternative would be to read this book.