The 3 Principles

The 3 Principles is something I've been introduced to over the last few months, which has totally changed the way I think and the way I coach.

Like most things related to psychology and the way we think, the concepts can be abstract, but once you have an understanding, your world will be transformed. It's a way of living and experiencing the world in a way that most people don't. It's a sense of freedom.

In the way that primary colours are responsible for creating every other colour. The 3 Principles are responsible for creating all our human experiences.

Let me start by outlining the 3 principles one by one.

Mind

I've been an atheist for the last 34 years. I totally respect everyone else's religious viewpoints but have been mainly focussed on science-based evidence for things that happen in the world and the universe.

However there, was a time when I was in my late teens when I used to attend a Pentecostal church (the happy, clappy type of church). I went as far as getting baptised there, with the head under the water routine. That was meant to invite God into my life, but in all honesty, I felt nothing and that's when my faith started to leave me.

Fast-forward 34 years later and I still don't believe in an all-powerful being as such, but over the years I've been feeling that life, nature, earth and the universe itself are far more complex than we can comprehend. I believe there is an innate intelligence to all life, be it animal, plant or human and that we're all intricately connected in ways that are unfathomable right now, but that science is starting to slowly shed light upon.

I see Mind as an intelligent energy behind all life. It's how an acorn knows how to grow into an Oak tree. It's how the birds know how to migrate in the winter. It's how when you get a cut your body automatically goes to work creating a scab, without you having to do anything.

It's what we're all connected to and connects us all. If we can quieten our minds enough to listen then Mind will provide us with the answers we need, when we need them.

You can call it God, or the Universe or whatever it means to you, but to me, Universal Mind works just fine.

Consciousness

Our Consciousness is the gift that gives us a way to experience life. It gives us a way to experience the world around us and all its wonders. It's a way to experience our five senses.

I believe there are infinite levels of consciousness. By quietening the mind we can experience higher levels of consciousness and when the mind gets noisy we experience lower levels of consciousness.

A way to think of consciousness is to imagine an elevator that runs along the outside of a tall building.

When you're at basement level, it's barren and bare, with nothing to view but stark concrete walls around you. You feel restricted and possibly a little claustrophobic. Your view of life down here is very limited. This is compared to being at a low level of consciousness. You're restricted in your view of life and nothing in life feels very pleasant, in fact, everything feels a bit hopeless.

Imagine, then going up a few floors in the elevator. Now you're on the outside of the building and your perspective has totally changed. You can see much more, there is more light and a variety of things to view. Your view is still restricted by other buildings though to a degree. Again in consciousness going up several levels, life and it's experiences open up more to you and you begin to see and experience life differently and clearer.

Now imagine, you went right to the top of this skyscraper in this lift. Wow, your experience is totally transformed. You can now see out with an unobstructed view. You can see much more in front of you, spread out, which you couldn't see when you were lower down, which again totally changes your perspective. At this level of consciousness, your mind is focussed and clear and you are totally in the present moment. You can now see opportunities in front of you, that you never knew were there when you were in a lower state of consciousness because you just couldn't see them.

Have you ever had the experience where everything seems to be going wrong for you and one disaster piles on top of another? This happens when we're in a low conscious state and we can't see the bigger picture, because our mind is not quiet and we're focussing on all the negative things happening to us. When you're in this state you're likely to feel anxious, helpless, frustrated and maybe even angry.

Conversely, have you been in a state when everything just seems to go right, almost effortlessly, and you're in a flow state. This is when you're in a higher state of consciousness.

The idea being, that we want to be in a state of higher consciousness as much as possible or at least going towards it.

Thought

Thought is the gift that allows us to think about and appreciate the world around us. However, although thought is amazing it can be a double-edged sword.

I believe all our thoughts are completely random, in as much as I can't predict what I'll be thinking 5 minutes from now, let alone, at 7:35pm tomorrow evening. We have thousands of thoughts a day and a lot of these will be subconscious (we're not aware of them). So trying to control thoughts as far as I'm concerned is a hopeless task.

I believe all thoughts are neutral, in as much, as they don't have an agenda and we can freely choose what thoughts we focus on. So if a thought pops into your head that doesn't serve you well, just let it drift past, like in a stream, and only hold on to the thoughts that you enjoy or empower you, like catching a fish in the stream. As a human being, you have free will to enable you to do this.

Unfortunately, we may get in a low mood from time to time and this is when we tend to dwell on thoughts that aren't serving us. So when you're feeling in a low mood, take a step back and examine what you're thinking about and focussing on. By letting go of these troubling thoughts, you can change your state and calm your mind. After all, these are only thoughts, they have no power in and of themselves, only the power you give to them.

What we're thinking and also the speed of our thinking will affect our state of consciousness. With a quiet mind (slow thinking) and enjoying thoughts that empower us, then our conscious state will be good and we're more likely to be in a state of flow. We'll also have better access to our inner wisdom (Mind).

Whereas when thoughts are constantly running around your head, you'll struggle to maintain focus and your mind will be very busy, causing your state of consciousness to be lower. At this point, your inner wisdom (Mind) can't be reached as your thoughts are getting in the way. Imagine your inner wisdom as a blue sky and your thoughts as clouds passing over that sky. When your thoughts get too busy you cloud completely over the blue sky so it can no longer be seen.

The good news is that we know that thoughts are transient, they're not permanent, they come and they go. So eventually those clouds will clear again and you'll be able to see the blue sky once more.

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The 3 Principles were discovered over 40 years ago by an unlikely character. His name is Sydney Banks a Scottish welder, who had an enlightenment experience that changed his life and those around him.

My Awakening programme is based on the 3 Principles, but I'll also be adding elements of it to my day to day coaching.

https://www.mgperformformancecoaching.com/Awakening

I hope you've found this article interesting. For other ways to work with me, see the link below:

https://www.mgperformancecoaching.com/work-with-me