Ivica Baraba

What’s your favourite practice for becoming a better human being? 
Is it praying, exercising, showing compassion or kindness? I find gratitude impactful. A daily practice of writing down what you’re grateful for. Try it out, it does make you see the abundance you’re already living in. 

I’m currently enrolled in an online education programme named Life Visioning Mastery, by Mindvalley, a fun company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The teacher within this online course is Michael Beckwith, founder of the Agape International Spiritual Center. I find his model of the four stages of consciousness intriguing. 

Stage 1: to me
In this stage we perceive life happens to us. Outside forces, such as laws and regulations, the weather, other people, mold us into the human beings we are. We are stuck in a narrow frame of being, one in which we blame others for how we live.

“There is a powerful craving in most of us to see ourselves as instruments in the hands of others and thus free ourselves from the responsibility for acts which are prompted by our own questionable inclinations and impulses. Both the strong and the weak grasp at this alibi. The latter hide their malevolence under the virtue of obedience: they acted dishonorably because they had to obey orders. The strong, too, claim absolution by proclaiming themselves the chosen instrument of a higher power — God, history, fate, nation, or humanity.”
– Bruce Lee

Stage 2: by me
Once we move away from blame and develop a sense of self responsibility we start taking ownership of our life. We start operating with intentions and perceive ourselves as the primary driving force of our own life, the one that manifests and brings things into being. 


Stage 3: through me
Have you ever heard someone say “I don’t know how I achived this, I didn’t even do much about it?”, e.g. a Sales person who is convinced he hasn’t really put that much effort into it but things just started to unfold in mysteriously positive ways. People who are operating from this stage of consciousness surrender, let go of the notion that they need to push and force things into existence. They lack a need for control and let life energy pass through them. They become a vehicle permeated by life force. 


Stage 4: as me
In this stage we realise that the universe is infinite whilst ever evolving and we are part of the infinite! We ourselves are an expression of this life force, it’s not just something outside of us that visits, that touches us, we are part of it. We become free of the illusion that we are separate. 


Anything that resonates with you or you diagree with in regards to this model? Let me know by dropping me a message. Have a great day.