Twelfth Insight by James Redfield - Book Summary

James Redfield: The Twelfth Insight: The Hour of Decision (Bantam Press, UK, 2011)

Another fictional novel from James Redfield - The Twelfth Insight - provides more interesting observations on the hidden powers of the human body, mind and energies.

Following up from The Celestine Prophecy (The Nine Insights), The Tenth Insight and The Secret of Shambhala (The Eleventh Insight), this book is set in California and continues with the general themes of intuition, synchronicities (lucky coincidences), travelling in the spirit body, auras, the spiritual awakening of the human mind and the ability of nature to lift and enhance human energies and spiritual powers. The Twelfth Insight also discusses divine guidance, eating clean food, and experiencing vivid perception.

James Redfield is clever to put his message across in the form of fiction - and also to claim that the spiritual awakening is unfolding gradually, putting no deadline on it. He only maintains that from 21st December 2012 the influence of the higher vibrations/ God consciousness will increase, helping to awaken more and more people.

Personally, I think the purpose - and the main value - of his books is not to prophesy or be 100% accurate about these matters, but to provide some food for thought and to inspire the subconscious mind into believing that such powers are possible in the human experience. Many spiritual teachers say that our minds and bodies are very powerful, but that disbelief in those powers stands in the way.

What makes these books also very interesting is the practical approach and the attempt to explain the spiritual side of our being as an everyday experience, demystifying and bringing a level of 'reality' into the conversation, which is otherwise often esoteric and difficult to put words to.

Highly inspiring reading, although biased on the Western perspective. Perhaps this bias, however, helps to reach more people in the Western world, and starts to open their understanding up to the fact that our bodies might not currently be functioning optimally and that there might be more to life and nature than we have been led to believe by the quasi-scientific corporations and governments.

I don't, personally, agree with everything Redfield writes but on the other hand I also believe that he uses his fiction writer's 'artistic license' very well, allowing him to communicate his own personal ideas/ experiences - and rationalisations of those - freely and openly, without the need to provide proof.

A telling quote is printed just before the first chapter:

"In a time of universal deceit, truth-telling becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell

Summary of the Plot in the Twelfth Insight

The Hero in the book realizes that stakes are becoming high for the human spiritual evolution, and that both political and religious idealists are becoming more and more extreme. In the story a group of people with different religious and spiritual backgrounds - through conversation and through experiencing the 'Twelve Insights' - come to an agreement about the sometimes symbolic, sometimes literal meaning of the various old prophesies. The message is that for the world to know peace, all religions will have to open to discussion with each other and to collaborate.

An individual and a group evolution in consciousness must take place simultaneously, Redfield explains. The twelve insights show how one can use powers similar to the Law of Attraction, where you focus your mind on expecting synchronicity. With that - and with eating pure, clean food - you will be guided, and good luck will follow you... as long as you remember to keep the expectation up.

In the end, the Hero in the story experiences a spiritual awakening with a group of people, which catches on to other people in different parts of the globe as well. He describes the feeling as being protected and connected to both the Afterlife and to what he calls the Presence of the Divine.

The story explains that there is an awakening underway and since the spring of 2011 the presence of God consciousness has been increasing in the world. This, according to the story, will gradually open the minds and spiritual abilities of all or most of the people, culminating in what Redfield calls the final Step of Creation. Afterwards, an ideal world will be created. Even those who don't awaken - despite the help of angels, relatives in the Afterlife, other people and spirits - will eventually learn to open up to the higher consciousness and the new ideal world.

What follows are some snippets of inspiration from the book, and examples of Redfield's captivating writing style. If you like these, please buy the book and also show your support on his website.

Beginning of the Adventure/ Remembering Synchronicity

"... I recalled how quickly word of the first Nine Insights of this Prophecy had circulated around the planet. Why? Because they made sense in a world too shallow and materialistic. The message of this Prophecy was clear. Being spiritual is more than merely believing in some deity in the abstract. It entails the discovery of another, entirely different dimension of life, one that operates solely in a spiritual manner.

"Once one makes this discovery, one realizes the universe is filled with all sorts of fortuitous encounters, intuitions, and mysterious coincidences, all pointing to a higher purpose behind our lives, and in fact, behind all of human history. The only question, then, for the seeker who wakes up to this reality is how does this mysterious world really operate, and how does one begin to engage its secrets." (p. 16, The Twelfth Insight)

"As I looked out at the hills then, their fall colors now bathed in the light of an amber-tinted sunset, I realized I felt exactly that way: more alert and alive. All these thoughts had somehow induced a greater energy level in me, lifting me to a place where I was attending to every detail - the sunset, the landscape whizzing by, the thoughts entering my mind - as though everything was suddenly more important somehow. [...]

- p. 18, The Twelfth Insight)

"'When we enter a flow of Synchronicity, clarity and aliveness is what we get. When we fall out of the flow, it is what we lose.' [...]
"'What does [the Document] say about staying in Synchronistic Flow?' I asked.
"'It says all we have to do is remember.'
"'Remember what?'
"That this flow is possible! That it exists!' [...]
"'In practice,' Wil clarified, 'it boils down to consciously expecting the next Synchronicity to come, which means we should go into a posture of 'expectant alertness,' a mood that is not so easy right now, because we always think we're behind, with too much to do. But staying in this state of alertness helps us immediately, because it has the effect of 'slowing down' time.'" (p. 30-31, The Twelfth Insight)

"Moments of Synchronistic discovery [...] feel like we are in just the right place at the right time to receive important information. Yet if we observe more closely, we can see that these Synchronistic moments are preceded by an intuitive urge that directs us to go somewhere, or say something, that results in the Synchronicity. Following such guidance has happened all through history at moments of great discovery and accomplishment. But it has happened more or less unconsciously." (p. 167, The Twelfth Insight)

"'I think that many people know,' he said, 'that somehow Synchronicity is calling us together to do something historical. The world is a mess, but we can fix it if we stay alert and keep our historical context in mind. We have to stay awake and help each other stay awake.'
"Wil was looking at me with determination, and in that moment, I felt a full elevation into the clarity of the Second Integration. How many people out there, I wondered, have noticed the same quickening? Were we already influencing one another to wake up to Conscious Conversation...?" (p. 63, The Twelfth Insight)

Telling the Truth/ Conscious Conversation

"... telling the truth of one's situation, whatever it happened to be, kept the flow going - and primarily because it kept one centered in the clarity of one's own deeper life experience. [...] "'if you want to follow through with finding the Integrations, you have to start by concentrating on telling the absolute truth, to yourself and others, about what is happening to you - no matter how esoteric it gets." (p. 33, The Twelfth Insight)

"'Remember,' Wil offered, 'carry the attitude of expecting Synchronicity all the way into the conversation. I like the movie analogy. Synchronistic Flow feels as though you are slowing down and increasing your feeling that you are the center, or star, of your own unfolding movie. Keep this centered clarity and you'll know what to say.' [...]
"'The document says,' he added, 'that if you commit to holding your truth, it includes all the ideas that come up intuitively to say to him, even if you've never thought of the ideas before.'" (p. 35, The Twelfth Insight)

"'When human communication is done while in centered, Synchronistic truth, this process of exchanging world-views is lifted into full consciousness. [The Document] called this more aware interaction Conscious Conversation.'" (p. 42, The Twelfth Insight)

"'[The Document] says we're waking up from a five-hundred-year-long preoccupation with the material and secular world, wanting to know what life is really about.'" (p. 49, The Twelfth Insight)

"'... anyone who sustains Synchronicity, and remembers the context of awakening, will be guided into a flow of Conscious Conversation. And hence will become part of a worldwide consensus-building process to discover the truth of our spiritual nature.'" (p. 50, The Twelfth Insight)

"'Just remember that it is easy to stay in truth when the Synchronicity is flowing to help you. It's much harder to maintain the habit when the economic stakes get high.'" (p. 72, The Twelfth Insight)

"'Once you elevate your clarity and energy in an authentic way, then it's pretty dramatic what happens when you lie about something. It's an immediate crash.'" (p. 74, The Twelfth Insight)

"'During the Modern age, we've been bending the truth for our obsessive personal gain, or to further some political end. That's why, as we wake up, we see corruption and greed everywhere. "'But as you can see, at higher levels of consciousness there's no such thing as a lie or a distortion that is okay. The Law of Truth is absolute. If we don't stay honest, to our best awareness, it hurts everyone: us individually, because it collapses our energy and clarity; and others because we fail to give them the benefit of our truth and positive influence.'" (p. 75, The Twelfth Insight)

"'... the Connection we have with one another. It's built into our brains. The Document says that because we're all connected, we sense what others are feeling and thinking. [...]
"'And this sensitivity,' Wil went on, 'increases as our consciousness increases. Humanity is reaching the point where you'd better not lie, even a little bit, because if you do, there will be more people every day who will be able to sense it. Lying is just not going to work much longer.'" (p. 78, The Twelfth Insight)

"... we should try to find a higher truth with others, even in uncomfortable encounters." (p. 175, The Twelfth Insight)

Importance of Eating Pure Food/ The Twelfth Insight

"Just before noon, I stopped at a gas station and filled up the Cruiser with gas. Unable to resist, I bought a packaged apple pie from the counter and ate it slowly as I drove. It tasted really good, maybe too good. Within twenty minutes my head began to hurt and I felt a sudden drop in energy. The funk lasted for several hours. When Wil finally woke up, I told him what I'd done.

"'Let me get this straight,' he said. 'You, the disciple of Blaylock, ate a mass-processed pie right off the shelf. You know better than that.'

"I knew he was talking about the problem with glutamates that Blaylock railed against. Glutamates, MSG-type substances resulting from the processing of various proteins and oils, are often added to processed foods, mainly because they, like MSG itself, are taste enhancers. They don't have a taste themselves, but the first bite sends immediate signals to the brain that you are eating the tastiest thing in the world, despite what are probably very bad ingredients.

"The food industry says they are not harmful, but according to some experts, glutamates have been proved to inflame the brain and disrupt other organs, contributing to a myriad of modern diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's, and especially obesity.

"'Let me guess the symptoms,' Wil said. 'Maybe a little nagging headache, tired eyes, low energy, absolutely no inspiration to do anything. All for a small initial hit of taste euphoria.'

"He shook his head. 'Eating is one of the most obsessive things we do in the Modern world. If your particular feel-good distraction is food, it by definition has to taste really good, because otherwise it won't give you that pacified and satisfied feeling that comes when glutamate receptors in the brain are activated. The food makers find a way to artificially do that for you with glutamates.

"'The big problem,' he went on, 'is not just the health impact. It's how it affects your consciousness. You can't keep your energy up and stay alert spiritually if you are drugged.' "He stopped and looked at me.

"'What?' I asked.

"'The Document states that keeping our energy up is important to developing influence.'

"'Yeah, I remember.'

"He glanced over and caught my eye. 'Food is the first level of energy we allow into our consciousness, so it's basic to integrating a higher mastery over life. And the ironic thing is that real food, the kind that is organic and pure, and freshly picked, stimulates those same receptors in the brain, and gives us just as much natural euphoria - without bringing us down later." (p. 52-53, The Twelfth Insight)

"... Wil was becoming hypervigilant about finding clean food.

"'You getting poisoned,' he said to me, 'was a reminder.'

"Every time we stopped for gas, he'd ask for the location of organic food stores and farmer's markets, and we were able to shop at several. At each mealtime, we'd exit at a truck stop and fire up the lightweight propane cooker Wil carried in his pack. In fifteen minutes we'd have enough steamed vegetables for a great, nutritious meal. After twenty-four hours of this, I felt incredibly energized and clear thinking. I could even see with greater acuity." (p. 54, The Twelfth Insight)

Sedona/ Secret Mountain/ Mount Sinai, by James Redfield

"Entering the Sedona area was always a reminder that some places are pure power spots. If you're clear enough to sense it, driving through the little town of Oak Creek, and then up into Sedona proper, is a journey into a higher world.

"It feels like pure aliveness and clarity, and as you gaze out at the spectacular hills and formations surrounding the small town, you immediately feel a change in your perception. Everything around you stands out more, and the Synchronicity literally explodes in frequency, just by virtue of being in this place." (p. 55, The Twelfth Insight)

"All around the area, many believe, are special locations that have a particular uplifting effect on people." (p. 61, The Twelfth Insight)

"I should have been apprehensive about our sudden flight into the wild, but the deeper we penetrated into the wilderness, the more energized I felt. And instead of the spooky feeling I had experienced the last time I was in Boynton, I was now feeling the opposite emotion - a sense of being at home somehow, and trusting that whatever might happen here was going to be beneficial.

"We were now walking through an area of juniper and mesquite interspersed with huge red boulders and outcroppings. A sky of brilliant stars made the flashlights almost unnecessary.

"'Why,' I asked Wil, 'do the Hopis believe this place enhances purification?'

"'Because of its impact. It repels anyone who isn't ready for a breakthrough of some kind. But when you are ready, the power of this place helps you.'

"You mean energetically helps?'

"'Yes. According to legend, if you go far enough in here, say at least a couple of miles, it inevitably tests your assumptions about life and inspires a reanalysis of how you forge your way in this world. Again, it makes perfect sense that we are being led into this canyon to study the Laws of Spirituality." (p. 68, The Twelfth Insight)

"'Native peoples have always seen mountains as sacred places that lift us above the common awareness to glimpse the sacred spirit. This spirit is now seeking to come closer. The Maya knew this and came to this world to bring the message of the Calendar to us."(p. 194, The Twelfth Insight)

An HDR photograph by Mohamed Moustafa (http://500px.com/mmaregy)

Quickening of Karma, according to Twelfth Insight

"'What did the Hopi tell you about Karma?' [...]

"'The Document says that it's real, and in our time, it responds to our actions more quickly than ever before.'" (p. 81, The Twelfth Insight)

"'Because Karma is speeding up, the consequences from an untruthful manipulation come back very quickly.' [..]

"'... when enough of us realize this is the way Karma works, it's going to lead to a new era of Integrity to replace the corruption we have now.

"'And there is more. It's important to see that the Law of Karma is designed not for punishment, but to affect a positive correction. It apparently works this way: the Universe is set up spiritually to support and encourage our spiritual growth. If you center yourself in truth, then your Synchronicity will soar. If you participate in untruth, then you draw into your life a person who does the same thing to you, again not as punishment but to show you how it feels, so you can move back toward truth.

"'What happens,' I asked, 'if we don't get the message?'

"'The Document says the response of Karma gets more extreme in an effort to get our attention, something, again, that we can also prove to ourselves at this moment in history. All we have to do is pay attention to what happens in relation to our own behavior.'"

"'Okay, what if one is randomly selected and murdered by a serial killer? Is that payback for something we did earlier?'

"'No. Remember, Karma has nothing to do with payback. It reflects back to you what you're doing. [...]

"'The problem is that some people just use the Karma as an excuse to keep the same behavior going, thinking everyone is doing it to me, why shouldn't I do it to them as well? They are missing the fact that they are being shown something so they can change.

"'When someone becomes the victim of a serial killer, unless the person is a serial killer himself, it's a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's the result of chance, not Karma, and happens because of the current state of the world's imperfection. We know psychologically and genetically what's going on with serial killers, from studies of childhood trauma and genetics. In the ideal, someone would have noticed these factors and intervened with the person early, so he wouldn't have been able to hurt anyone. Unfortunately, we just aren't enlightened enough to institute those kinds of interventions yet. Hopefully, one day we will be.'[...]

"'My Hopi friends told me that these kinds of random accidents and mishaps aren't supposed to happen. The Document says that, as spiritual consciousness rises, we will learn how to detect the hunches and premonitions that allow us to avoid impending accidents and attacks.'" (p. 85, The Twelfth Insight)

"'... at higher consciousness, there's no justification for a Cycle of Revenge, no possibility for it. The truth is that we have to allow everyone to have the ability to change, to be redeemed in the blink of an eye.'" (p. 156, The Twelfth Insight)

The Law of Service

"'It's called the Law of Service. [...] ... it's built into the way the Universe operates and how our minds are designed. We somehow know what others around us need, and when we act in response, we fall into alignment with this law. All you have to do is think, 'How can I be of service?' And something will always come to you. All the resources you need will be provided in order to help, and you'll feel like you're always in the right place at the right time to make a difference.'" (p. 88, The Twelfth Insight)

"... once you begin living the best truth you know and see that being of service to others and setting a good examples are the best things you can do for yourself, well, everything changes. You move into Alignment with the way the Universe is designed to operate. You stop manipulating, and so you no longer draw manipulators into your life.

"'In fact, the opposite occurs. When you seek Alignment and think how to be of service, you begin to draw people into your life who are there to help you. And then your Synchronicity and your dreams really take off.'" (p. 89, The Twelfth Insight)

James Redfield on How to Open Your Mind

""Once we're able to stay in Alignment, in truth, we will see how pervasive some systems of untruth are in the world.

"'We can't go forward until we understand these growing ideologies and how dangerously they are polarizing. Only then will we know how to separate ourselves from this untruth... and break through to a place where we can stand up to it.'" (p. 90, The Twelfth Insight)

"The old Prophecy had predicted that, at some point, humanity would heighten its perception of those inner impressions long classified as intuitions, hunches, and so-called gut feelings. After years of emphasizing rational thought and logic during the dominance of the material and secular worldview, it predicted we would finally take seriously the treasure of information coming from the right hemisphere of the brain: the part that gave us a sense of knowing, without being aware exactly how we knew." (p. 161, The Twelfth Insight)

Insecurity

"'The Old Prophecy predicted that this selfish insecurity could be resolved only when one found true security: a spiritual connection inside, where seeking the truth and being of service were more important than winning.'" (p. 102-103, The Twelfth Insight)

Being Guided

"'According to my Hopi friends, the Third Integration says that during the time of transition such as were in, when economies are faltering and people are acting crazy, we'll all be shown a new way of getting our worldly needs met.'" (p. 69, The Twelfth Insight)

"It is time, the Document continued, to wake up and bring the intuitive part of Synchronicity more fully into consciousness. The key to doing this is to broaden our habit of expecting Synchronicity to include expecting the intuitions that are part of this process. And in order to do that we must adequately identify such guidance by learning to distinguish our 'guiding' thoughts from ordinary 'ego' strategy thoughts. [...]

"The key to becoming fully conscious of these thoughts is to stay as much as possible in this state of alertness for the next guiding intuition to arrive. [...] One tip for being on the alert for guidance was to constantly ask yourself, 'Why did I think that now?'" (p. 168-169, The Twelfth Insight)

"... when facing a decision whether to go somewhere or not, we can just imagine ourselves already travelling to the place and arriving there. The point of this method is to see how easily the journey can be visualized. If you can see yourself going there easily, then that means it's a good idea. If the desired images are difficult to see, or fail to appear altogether, we should take precautionary measures. [...] The Document reiterated that when we see the right course of action, there is a corresponding elevation in energy, or an 'urging' feeling, as though one is 'inspired' to take the action." (p. 169, The Twelfth Insight)

"'If you are honorable over little you are given much.'" (p. 177, The Twelfth Insight)

Awakening

"'Remember that other cultures have awakened in history in the same way we are now. These cultures have always been smaller, but they have always discovered the same basic spiritual principles that operate in this Universe.'" (p. 71-72, The Twelfth Insight)

"Taking a breath, I looked out at my surroundings, waiting, and then, just as in Peru, something began to change. Without investment, I watched as my consciousness suddenly enlarged and reached out to everything around me, giving me an odd feeling of familiarity as though I was recapturing a natural part of myself that had been lost.

"Instantly, my perception was filled with everything I hadn't noticed before: Small moths and flying insects circled around my head. Crickets, or perhaps grasshoppers, sang their song from the trees and rocks. I became aware of a large bird, perhaps a hawk or owl, awakened by my rude intrusion, which cried out and flew away. I could hear each thump of the wings, as if it was flying off in slow motion.

"Above me, the sliver of moon that had guided my way was now hanging lower in the sky. As I looked at it, I felt another expansion of my being, one I also remembered from before. [...]

"... everything was suddenly thrown into greater relief, a kind of super three-dimensionality that enhanced the presence and realness of everything in my perceptual field, from the small insects close to my face all the way to the galaxy of stars behind the moon. [...]

"Everything around me became alive with overwhelming beauty and majesty. The rocks and trees virtually glowed with color as every reflection of light outlined their contours and crevices with multi-colored reflections. The large pine tree that bordered the ledge to my right seemed to explode with a thousand variations of red and blue highlights.

"As if pulled on by my growing sense of beauty, I then felt myself expand at the emotional level into a profound feeling of love and Connection with everything around me. Something in the area of my heart burst outward, and I knew without a doubt that I was now home and cared for, and absolutely - I couldn't believe it - Protected." (p. 123, The Twelfth Insight)

"It was like suddenly realizing that some Divine force had been behind me all along, without my fully knowing it - and now was suddenly jumping from behind the curtain, yelling 'Surprise!'
"Only it was more deeply heartfelt than that. To understand, at this level of illumination, that I was part of something larger and older and longer was almost overwhelming in its impact." (p. 124)

"The Document says that once one has experienced the Breakthrough to a God Connection, then one has completed the Foundation of Spirituality, a plateau of stable consciousness from which we can proceed, if we want to, with the remaining Integrations - a journey it calls a Rise to Sacred Influence." (p. 145)

The Mayan Calendar

"'According to the Maya,' he said, 'we will enter a time when enlightenment is more readily available, but it will not be imposed. We must realize that the quest shared by all those alive today is to access the unknown part of ourselves from which this consciousness springs.'" (p. 151)

"The Calendar predicts another Step of Creation,' the young man continued, 'one that is already coming and can be felt. It is intended to bring in an ideal world.' [...]

"'My tribe believes,' he pressed, 'that this last step will not be imposed on us. Enough of us must learn how to tune in to the next level of creation. And to do that, we must first receive the consciousness the Integrations speak of...'" (p. 197)

Being Protected

"... 'the first element of this Connection was a sense of over-riding well-being and love, the feeling of having rejoined a lost part of myself, and of being cared for and protected.'" (p. 155, The Twelfth Insight)

"... the Fifth and Sixth [Integrations] showed us a glimpse of how deep our Connection with the Divine could become, where we find love and, most important, Protection, and an awareness of mission. We realized we have a part in helping one another move through the rest of the Integrations." (p. 176)

The Art of Tuning In

"'Now, since you're so good at tuning in to your guidance, you can learn something else. [...] You can learn to tune in to people." (p. 179, The Twelfth Insight)

"I reminded myself that the Eighth Insight of the old Prophecy has predicted we would learn to uplift others in conversation by intending to connect with and uplift their higher self or soul. This uplifting was intended to lift the other person into a higher consciousness, where, along with getting more insight into his or her own life, the person would be more likely to provide Synchronistic information that we individually needed.

"At the time, there was some confusion about the mechanics of this procedure, but most times merely the intention worked. The people being uplifted would suddenly become more alert and seemingly gain access to an unconscious part of themselves. They would often preface their remarks by saying, 'I don't know why I'm telling you this, 'or 'I've never thought of this before, but...' And then the information they presented would often be exactly what we needed to hear at the time.

"I looked back at the pages in my hand and moved to the next passage. It seemed to be saying that this uplifting could now be expanded, in light of the other Integrations, by consciously merging minds with the higher self of the other person." (p. 181)

"We could initiate this merging [of minds] by applying what [the Document] called the 'Oneness Intention'.

"This term [...] meant much more than the abstract idea, voiced by many religious traditions, that we are all one. It defined an entirely new way that humans could relate to one another, the effectiveness of which could immediately be proven to oneself. [...]
"The Oneness Principle [...] was to go to every human interaction with the intention of joining higher minds." (p. 183)

"...the joining is not of egos but of the higher mind, which is linked to the Divine. [...] when two people merge in this manner, both feel enlarged because they have access to not just their own higher self but to the other's higher consciousness as well. The net effect is to feel more guidance and clarity overall." (p. 184)

"... we found a small lodge nearest to Mount Sinai, and by the time we walked into the tiny office to check in, the pace of travel had taken its toll. My energy had fallen substantially, so I went through my mental checklist of Integrations to get centered: expect intuition and Synchronicity, stay in Alignment, and come back to a love Connection. Now, I added one more: intend Oneness." (p. 188)

"'Hold your energy,' I shouted, trying to focus.

"Coleman grabbed my shoulders. 'We aren't strong enough! We haven't yet gained the consciousness we had on the Secret Mountain! [...]

"Immediately, I thought about the point of Connection we'd experienced on Secret Mountain, and in a flash I seemed to feel it again. I looked at Coleman and his expression told me he was feeling the same thing. Tommy, obviously sensing it too, rushed over.

"'This is the Connection we had', he yelled. 'We have to hold this, build on it.'

"As soon as Tommy made that statement, we couldn't feel the point of Connection anymore. It had completely disappeared.

"'What happened?' Tommy asked.

"I was struggling to remember my earlier experience.

"'Wait,' I stressed. 'You can't force it. You have to allow it or have faith in it or something.'

"As soon as I spoke those words we could feel it again, but it was still sporadic, appearing for a moment and then disappearing.

"'There's something we're missing!' I yelled. 'What is it?'

"Then I remembered. At the height of the Connection on Secret Mountain we had experienced another emotion I had forgotten about: a soulful sense of appreciation.

"I also remembered something I had thought about at the time. Appreciation was the act of acknowledgement that locked in the Connection. Immediately, I felt the Connection more intensely, and as I did, the Agape began to increase in slow increments, almost to the level we had achieved on Secret Mountain..." (p. 275-276, The Twelfth Insight)

Healing Between Men and Women

"'Why are you avoiding me?' she pressed.

"'Because I'm trying to stay in Alignment,' I snapped, wanting to run back to the house.

"She smiled and looked at me as if I was a child.

"'If you had just connected enough to really talk to me, you wouldn't be confused about this. Do you know why I'm here, why I'm trying to reach the real you? This isn't about anything romantic. It's about the Integrations.

"'The Template Agreement is not just for resolving the extreme polarization that's occurring in politics and religious ideology. It's also about bridging the myth and polarization that keep men and women apart.' [...]

"'We all play the game of sex and security. You think you have to be in control so you limit your connection with me, or manipulate it in some way. But the fact is, this habit of closing off to some women is something you've probably always done.' [...]

"'We're all stuck in not fully connecting with the opposite sex - women using their sexuality to manipulate men, men manipulating to get sex. But now, as we figure out how to really tune into each other we're on the verge of being able to blow past sexual manipulation altogether.'

"I was watching her speak, struck by her open, authentic expression of all this. It was done with a deep soul Connection to me - yet it was a connection that meant nothing more than that: deep Connection. [...]

"'This distance between men and women has to be healed. For most of us, it's been romance or nothing when it comes to the opposite sex. And we can't go forward into another elevation of consciousness until this changes.'" (p. 199-200, The Twelfth Insight)

"To completely join minds, [the Document] said, we must intend Oneness, but we must also come back to a love state that totally transcends sexual complexity. It named this emotion Agape. [...]

"Agape was Greek, and it meant a particular kind of love: one of the soul for all creation, but most particularly, a love for other people that is platonic in nature. [...]

"I put down the pages then and walked into the other room, finding Rachel standing in the doorway waiting for me. Our eyes met, and this time I just let myself go fully into her eyes, setting the intention for Oneness and opening to love.

"Suddenly, I felt a perceptible movement in my heart, a surge of emotion that created an even greater centeredness and freedom from apprehension that I hadn't experienced since Secret Mountain. It was right, and totally in Alignment in every way, and never had to be defeated. It was Agape. [...]

"'Look how beautiful it is outside', she said. [...] 'The next step is opening our senses fully to the way the world really looks when we're all connected together in a state of love.'

"For a moment I took in the beauty. But part of me didn't want to go there yet. All I wanted was to experience this level of Agape again.

"I turned around to face Rachel.

"I wanted to ask her another question, but the power of the eyes staring at us from the other room was drawing me to them. [...]

"'I returned their gazes with the same deep Agape I had projected toward Rachel, and without paying the slightest attention to who was male or female. The energy level and Agape with the group exploded within me even more. They all seemed delighted.

"'Wow,' I said out loud.

"'Rachel came around, stood beside me, and looked at the others.

"'Every time,' she said, 'that someone integrates Agape for the first time, it creates a ripple of heightened love in everyone around them, like heat in a greenhouse - or a conversion experience in a crowded country church.'" (p. 201-203)

"I sat down by myself to think for a moment, still high from the Oneness and Agape that had elevated us. The honesty and wisdom of Rachel, I knew, had changed me dramatically, and I knew I would never experience conversations with women the same way again." (p. 205, The Twelfth Insight)

Reaching the Consciousness of the Afterlife

"... to see more beauty is to get closer to the consciousness that exists in Heaven. There, people know how to use the power of Agape with everyone, especially those locked in ideologies. The Document says to reach those in fear and anger we have to do what they do in the Afterlife." (p. 207, The Twelfth Insight)

"...the old Prophecy found in Peru had predicted that one day we would begin to see the world as immensely beautiful and even light-filled." (p. 206)

"The next step is to tune in to sacred nature, open our perception, and get closer to the spirit world. This ability has long been the emphasis of Native peoples. If we pay close attention, the Mountain will show us the way.'" (p. 209)

"'Now look back at the plant and feel its impact on your emotions,' Tommy instructed. Everything in our perceptual field has more than an appearance, it has an emotional identity as well - what the Ninth calls a Feeling Identity.'" (p. 223, The Twelfth Insight)

"I jumped to my feet and looked all around, realizing that everything was in the same hyperfocus all around me, which created an enhanced, three-dimensional effect. Everything stood out with incredible clarity of color, form, beauty, and existence - all at the same time. And more, it seemed to stretch my consciousness, so that I felt as though I could reach out and touch the farthest cloud or rocky peak." (p. 223)

"... my eyes now seemed to have an advanced acuity in which everything was more clear and lit up, as though I'd suddenly entered an inner-lit wonderland of some kind. And that included our bodies. They literally had taken on a sheen that was more radiant and beautiful. Yet again, it all still felt normal." (p. 224, The Twelfth Insight)

"'So have you been seeing this way the whole time?'
"'Mostly', [Tommy] said. 'But Agape with Mother Earth has to be maintained and treasured. And one has to eat clean food to remain at this level of perception.'" (p. 225, The Twelfth Insight)

"'At this level of perception we are much closer to the other side.'

"'You mean the Afterlife?' [...]

"'Yes.'

"Coleman glanced at Tommy again. 'You think what we glimpsed was a spirit?'

"'Yes,' Tommy replied, giggling. 'But spirits are people, too. And they have something to tell us.'" (p. 226, The Twelfth Insight)

"'You know where we are, right?' she asked.

"'What?'

"'We aren't in Kansas anymore.'

"'What are you talking about?'

"She leaned in closer. 'Remember I told you that I read the Tenth Integration?'

"'Yeah'

"'It says if we follow the Synchronicity, we will be able to learn from those in Heaven in a direct way, and that will elevate us into the next level of consciousness.' [...]

"She paused again and seemed to look past me, and I knew in that instant that we really had crossed the vale somehow. We were in the Afterlife." (p. 232-234, The Twelfth Insight)

"'The idea of communication with the Afterlife seemed too strange at first, and I stopped for a while, but the memory of the experience was so energizing and profound, I gradually began to communicate with her more often.'" (p. 233, The Twelfth Insight)

"'The Document says we can begin to communicate with those in the Afterlife and clear all our resentments and issues with them. All we have to do is use more of our power to tune in and have a conversation. It's never too late. And there is so much more they want to communicate with us.'
"'In fact, my mother said they desperately need to speak with us, right now, at this crucial point in history. They know the real plan for human world, and it's time for us on this side to understand.'" (p. 233, The Twelfth Insight)

"Every person has a Feeling Identity we can detect emotionally.' [...] '... when people close to us die, even when we think we are prepared for it, we are often devastated. What is lost is that feeling that is them, something we've always felt and taken for granted. That's why when a loved one dies, people often say it feels as if a part of us dies, too. They're grieving for the loss of that emotional constant that is no longer there.'" (p. 234, The Twelfth Insight)

"In an instant, I comprehended it. The whole purpose for human existence was to systematically convey the knowledge and consciousness known in the Afterlife into the earthly dimension, so as to bring both dimensions into full condition Unity with each other and with Divine Consciousness. [...]
"My energy level suddenly elevated, and I knew I was experiencing more of the Tenth Integration. It was the awareness that we had the potential, right now in our lifetimes, to pull this Plan fully into consciousness. It would be the culmination of billions of years of creation." (p. 245, The Twelfth Insight)

"'All those prophecies and scriptural references have come into history from people trying to remember what they knew in the Afterlife, but they didn't get it quite right. The truth came to them through the lenses of their own individual religions, which created all this competition. In reality, the Prophecies are all pointing toward something else, one event meant for everyone.'" (p. 249, The Twelfth Insight)

"It was not the idea of a presence, nor an abstract theory about a presence. It was an actual Presence: the Feeling Identity of the Divine - real and personal and with us at this very moment." (p. 280, The Twelfth Insight )

"I found that the emerging Twelfth Insight was in no way just a theory. It was a new level of being that could be discovered and lived by any person, across all cultures and religions. If we keep the Presence with us and stay alert, the means necessary to be of service - and to make the world a better place - would always be provided.

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