The Path to Self- Mastery
By Luminessa Enjara
Living in today’s world seems to be for me, a day to day challenge. Now I am not saying that this is a bad thing, it just is what it is. I have over the past year referred to the term, “self-mastery” which has meant that I am able to master those aspects of my personality that sometimes seems to override my intuitive or higher mind.
I know that I chose to master this life in many ways. I knew from a very early age that I was on a spiritual self-mastery path. What this meant for me was that my soul set up all of the experiences in this life; the family I was born into and all of my life circumstances that would provide for me the catalysts I needed to master myself.
Mastery has many elements to it. When I first learned of self-mastery, through reading Autobiography of a Yogi, I thought it was about bi-location (being in two places at once), manifesting things from thin air and what are often called ‘the tricks of the trade.’ It is true that these things are things that some masters have done. But they are not primarily what self-mastery is all about.
“What I learned much later was that true mastery is about being able to learn the lessons you create for yourself and to master them.”
It is about taking full responsibility for everything in your life, whether you consciously created it or not. This taking responsibility is just a matter of saying to yourself, “I know how powerful I am and I know that with complete integrity, I accept that I have created the reality I live in.” This means that regardless of how you or others may judge that reality, it was a product of your thoughts, beliefs, lineage etc. And yes, you created it.
“We are here, I believe, to be God in a body, God having a human experience, thus we can create and re-create ourselves and our lives anew each moment.”
Mastery comes from learning how to master one’s own tendencies to be anything less than are really meant to be which is whole, complete, powerful co-creators with each other and with life. So for me this translated into; learning how to stay centered, cultivating inner peace no matter what was occurring in my world or in the world, grounding myself in my SELF, (the still ever present “isness” of all existence), quieting my mind and emotional body and learning how to stay centered by not giving way to the ‘story’ about anything. This meant that I drop the story that I have identified myself with, what I have or have not accomplished and what that means, what my family did or did not do and how that affected me, and to stop judging myself for judging myself. I had to learn how to focus on the present moment.
This may sound easy but in my experience focusing on the present moment, or being mindful, takes true commitment and vigilance. I had to learn how to master my thoughts, my attention and my negative self-talk and any tendencies to feel sorry for the story of me. I had to make being present and feeling peaceful more important than the story, or being happy or being distracted by my outer circumstances. This living as a master right now requires a huge commitment and is no small thing. It is a continuous moment to moment unfoldment of becoming more and more of who you really are.
If you have read any of my articles on Tantra you will know that Tantra is not just about sexuality, but includes a way of living life fully, being present moment to moment and learning how to become masterful in making the choices that are in alignment with your highest good in any moment. Once again, it is about learning how to discern what is true for you and what will serve you in the highest way. When you learn how to do this you learn how to listen to the soul of your heart and to follow without question what your intuitive nature is telling you.
Developing your intuitive abilities is just another part of becoming a master. Learning how to live more from the inner voice of guidance and trusting that what you hear, read, sense or feel is your soul giving you the guidance you asked for.
The following are a few ways to develop self mastery.
- Learn how to “synchronize” or align yourself with life. This means, get in harmony with life as it is occurring for you rather than resisting what is happening. Relax, breathe, smile, and just go with the flow. In harmony is about discerning which attitudes, choices and experiences will foster or perpetuate your harmonic relationship with life itself. “You can’t get out of life, but you can get in harmony with it.”
- Immerse yourself in the moment, and notice how one moment becomes another and another and……Practice daily what the Buddhists call mindfulness. Become alert to all that is around you; noises, sounds, smells, and whatever you are doing, do it with all of your attention.
- Commit to the harmony of what you can become. Commit to becoming all that you can
- Love yourself, all of who you are and everything you have created without judgment.
- Say positive and uplifting things to yourself like, “Good things flow to me, wealth, opportunities and relationships.” Do what you need to do to clear your negative subconscious beliefs so that you can live what you say you want. (Try Psych-K or EFT or BEST for this).
- Surround yourself with like-minded people. Put yourself in places that feel good to you, and uplift your overall vibration. Become more attuned to the energies that don’t uplift you and choose not to align with them. Don’t watch the news every day or read the paper. Remember as a master you create from what you are thinking and feeling. So train yourself to lighten up and notice the difference.
- Find a teacher or Soul Mentor to support you in your spiritual growth and unfoldment.
- Remember only you create our own reality from what you choose to believe about yourselves, and the world around you. Period. If you do not deliberately & consciously choose your own beliefs, you are unconsciously programmed. You will mindlessly absorb them from your 3d culture, schooling and surroundings. If you are accountable and responsible for your actions, how can you afford NOT to question your beliefs?
How you define yourself, and the world around you, forms your belief, which, in turn, forms your reality. Once you fully comprehend that your beliefs form reality, then and only then are you no longer a captive of the events you experience. You simply have to learn the mechanics & methods.
You are NOT at the mercy of your circumstances, but that belief is, interestingly, the reason you erroneously think you are. Take a moment to consider that. It is the Law of Belief.
Here are some suggestions that will help you to feel more masterful in your life. They were taken from the Kantipur Forum.
1. Sleep less. This is one of the best investments you can make to make your life more productive and rewarding. Most people do not need more than 6 hours to maintain an excellent state of health. Try getting up one hour earlier for 21 days and it will develop into a powerful habit. Remember, it is the quality not the quantity of sleep that is important. And just imagine having an extra 30 hours a month to spend on the things that are important to you.
2. Set aside one hour every morning for personal development matters. Meditate, visualize your day, read inspirational texts to set the tone of your day, listen to motivational tapes or read great literature. Take this quiet period to vitalize and energize your spirit for the productive day ahead. Watch the sun rise once a week or be with nature. Starting the day off well is a powerful strategy for self-renewal and personal effectiveness.
3. Do not allow those things that matter the most in your life to be at the mercy of activities that matter the least. Every day, take the time to ask yourself the question “is this the best use of my time and energy?” Time management is life management so guard your time with great care.
4. Use the rubber-band method to condition your mind to focus solely on the most positive elements in your life. Place a rubber band around your wrist. Each time a negative, energy sapping thought enters your mind, snap the rubber band. Through the power of conditioning, your mind will associate pain with negative thinking and you will soon possess a strongly positive mindset.
5. Always answer the phone with enthusiasm in your voice and show your appreciation for the caller. Good phone manners are essential. To convey authority on the line, stand up. This will instill further confidence in your voice.
6. Throughout the day we all get inspiration and excellent ideas. Keep a set of cards (the size of business cards; available at most stationary stores) in your wallet along with a pencil to jot down these insights. When you get home, put the ideas in a central place, such as a coil notepad, and review them from time to time. As noted by Oliver Wendell Holmes: “Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.”
7. Set aside every Sunday evening for yourself and be strongly disciplined with this habit. Use this period to plan your week, visualize your encounters and what you want to achieve, to read new materials and inspirational books, to listen to soft soothing music and to simply relax. This habit will serve as your anchor to keep you focused, motivated and effective throughout the coming week.
8. Always remember the key principle that the quality of your life is the quality of your communication. This means the way you communicate with others and, more importantly, the way you communicate with yourself. What you focus on is what you get. If you look for the positive this is what you get. This is a fundamental law of Nature.
9. Stay on purpose, not on outcome. In other words, do the task because it is what you love to do or because it will help someone or is a valuable exercise. Don’t do it for the money or the recognition. Those will come naturally. This is the way of the world.
10. Laugh for five minutes in the mirror each morning. Steve Martin does. Laughter activates many beneficial chemicals within the body that place us into a very joyous state. Laughter also returns the body to a state of balance. Laughter therapy has been regularly used to heal persons with various ailments and is a wonderful tonic for life’s ills. While the average 4-year-old laughs 500 times a day, the average adult is lucky to laugh 15 times a day. Revitalize the habit of laughter. It will put far more living into your life.
Remember “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are! (Joseph Campbell) So why not commit to being that fully and wholeheartedly right now!
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Luminessa Enjara is the co-founder of Women Talking Sex and the founder of The School of Womyn’s Mysteries and of Soul Support. She has been a teacher of Sacred Sexuality, Women’s Sexuality and New Thought Metaphysics for over 25 years. Luminessa has a B.A. in psychology, B.S. in Ministerial Science, and is an ordained minister and priestess and certified Shamanic Counselor.
