IN THE LAST CHAPTER we talked about the importance of visualization. There you learned that visualization is quite literally the "steering wheel" that your Immortal Spirit uses to steer through the roadways of creation and manifest the life you live. It is not an exaggeration to say that, all other things being equal, visualization has the potential to determine the things that manifest in your life and the direction your life is going. If you want something to happen, or not to happen for that matter, then put a nice detailed visualization of it in your head and intend that thing to happen. When you do, the energy of the universe begins to flow into the vision you have in your head and the work of manifesting that vision begins.

In this chapter, I want to move beyond breathing, intent (i.e., the things that get your car/body started), and visualization (steering) to talk more about what you have to do to stay "safe on the road."

It is an important topic.

Spiritual "road safety" is important for pretty much exactly the same reasons that regular road safety is important. When you get behind the wheel of that 3-D vehicle of yours (i.e. your car), you have to remember, you're not the only driver on the road. When you drive your car you have to drive responsibly. You have to avoid "bumping into things" and you have to drive defensively to prevent others (who may not be paying attention, may be sleeping at the wheel, may be drunk, or otherwise operating with diminished capacity) from bumping into you and causing you bodily harm.

It's the same way when you get into your body/vehicle. When your consciousness "steps into" the body/vehicle, fires it up, and gets it rolling, you have to try to avoid the bumps. Not only that, you have to remember you're not the only one on the road. Not only do you have to drive safely to ensure you're not hurting others but, because you never can tell the "state of consciousness" of the other drivers on the road with you, you have to drive defensively to avoid any bumps from others who may be still "sleeping at the wheel."

So how do you do that? How do you drive safely and defensively while your Spirit is driving around in your physical body?

Well, as with all things spiritual, it involves ideas. Remember the "sacred principle" I introduced earlier, as above in consciousness, so below in matter. Remember, we use this principle to remind ourselves that what we think affects the world around us, including our bodies.

It's an important spiritual principle to remember.

Energy follows thought.

Visualize something, and the energies move to make it so.

Now, we already know to visualize and intend in order to move our individual vehicle around, but now, as we fire up our vehicles, and later, as we turbo charge them, we need to also understand that the ideas that we have in our head, the visions that we have in our mind and that we use to direct our vehicle through life, affects the world of others as well. "No man [sic] is an island," as John Donne said. If you have negative thoughts about your neighbors, for example, or if you go around wishing that your enemies get hurt, you are giving energy to the manifestation of these ideas and increasing the probability of their occurrence. The truth is, if you give enough energy to these ideas, and there are no counteracting influences, they'll eventually happen. In effect, you are using your soul's physical vehicle to bump others around on the road.

Now, you shouldn't do that.

Bumping others around with the thoughts in your head isn't good road etiquette. It's not "safe driving" so if you're doing it, stop.

It's easy.

If you want to stop bumping others around on the road, just stop thinking bad thoughts about them. That's all. You don't have to go around loving everybody if you don't want to. No flower power, granola eating necessary here. It is okay to not like someone; but, if you don't like them, don't think about them. Just push them out of your consciousness and don't consider them. That is all you have to do. If you do that, you'll be following good spiritual road etiquette and you will avoid mucking up the driving experience of others.

Now, of course, driving is always a two way street. There's always others on the road with you. A good driver recognizes this fact, takes it into account and drives defensively. I mean, you can never tell the "state" of the drivers around you right? It would be great if the other people on the road would follow good road etiquette, drive safely, and not muck around with your driving experience. But you just never know. Unfortunately, while most of the people on this earth stay sleeping, you can't really trust others to be polite drivers. For one thing, most people still don't have a clue about as above in consciousness, so below in matter and so wouldn't think twice about having (sometimes extremely) negative thoughts about you. For another, your friends, your family, your co-workers, your colleagues, and even your older kids can really put a monkey wrench in your driving plans when they are not thinking and controlling their own negativity. You can't blame them. They don't know better. However, at the same time, you want to stay mostly out of their way to avoid any unfortunate bumps or crashes.

And you know, it is not just the people who you normally drive around with that you have to worry about. People on the opposite side of the world can have ideas about you that have a profound impact on your driving experience as well. This works at the personal, national, and international levels. I certainly wouldn't want to be living in a nation that everyone else is coming to hate and fear. You just know that in conditions like that, and according to the principle as above in consciousness, so below in matter, sooner rather than later all that negativity is going to lead to a bump or two.

And you know, it's not just the people you drive around with, and the people who don't like you, that you have to worry about. You also have to consider that some people out there have weird ideas about how the world works. As you know, there are people out there who actually believe in evil, for example. There are people who believe in sin. There are even people who believe in divinely sanctioned hierarchy, poverty, and war. Heck, there's people who think that during the "end times," God is going to come flashing down in order to rain fiery death and destruction on the "unworthy" of this earth.

I know...

It's absurd, but people believe it anyway.

In fact, many people believe.

Indeed, enough people on this earth currently believe in that nonsense to manifest it (as above in consciousness, so below in matter). Now, I don't know about you, but I don't want to be on the same road as them when they manifest that nonsense. In fact, I want my family and I to avoid that energy altogether. Frankly, I don't want to have anything to do with it and, good news, I don't have to.

The truth is, I can totally avoid that stuff if I want to.

I can avoid the negativity of my friends and family who don't know better, the hatred of my enemies who are "out to get me" (even if only in their thoughts), and even the crazy ideas people have about the way the universe works if I just build a little white energy barrier around my life.

It is very easy to do.

Here's how.

To do it, to block out the little black energetic "slings and arrows" that people send at you inadvertently with their gray and black thought patterns, simply visualize a white ball of energy, a halo of light, surrounding your body about five inches away from your skin. Keep in mind the following ideas while you do it. This halo that you create by visualizing is an impenetrable energetic barrier of light. Its purpose is to allow positive and life affirming energies in, but to keep all negative energies (no matter where they come from) away from your creative spaces, thereby protecting the integrity of your these spaces. The barrier is impenetrable to all negativity. Nothing that is harmful to you or the ones you love gets in. Everything energy that is supporting to you and uplifting of your creative spaces, passes through unhindered.

This is all there is to it.

Visualization and intent.

Now, considering how many people there are out there with weird ideas and negative thought patterns, it is wise to spend some time each day building up and strengthening your barrier. There are a couple things you can do to do that. For one thing, you can strengthen the protective action of the barrier by visualizing the protective action of the barrier. Simply see little black energy streams, like little black thought arrows, bouncing of the barrier of light without any effect. Don't stop there either. Visualize the opposite action as well. Visualize little white thought arrows (positive and supportive thoughts and energies) penetrating the barrier in order to strengthen the reality you choose to manifest. It's that easy. Combine these two visualization strategies into an effective and powerful safety mechanism. You'll be amazed at the results.

Another way to strengthen the action of the barrier is to actually build the barrier up. To do that, simply take a deep breath and, as you exhale, see little sparkling white energy nodules floating around your body and entering into your halo. Breathe in and draw the infinite, whisperous tendrils of white energy that surround your body into the halo that you create. As the energy enters, see how the halo strengthens. As you add energy, the halo goes from a pale and translucent white to a thick and solid barrier of energy. Keep building this barrier up by adding energy to it over a few days or weeks and when you are satisfied it is strong enough to protect you, then begin to expand it away from your body to include your close family, your house, your car, your work, and anything else that you want to preserve and keep safe from the weird ideas and negativity of others. Go as far as you want with this. Expand this barrier in the days and weeks ahead as wide and as thick as you care to. Keep in mind that there is no limit on how strong the barrier can be. However, if you want my advice, given current conditions of this world, the stronger you make that barrier, the better.

Building up the barrier and keeping those negative and crazy ideas out will be beneficial for you. It will pay off in the short and long term in ways that may surprise you. For example, you'll find that once you deny the negativity of others into your space, you'll make better progress in anything you happen to be doing, whether it's spiritual awakening, manifesting a new job, fixing your family relationships, or whatever.

The exercise is worthwhile; and, don't let up on this barrier until either the world is a much better place or you are absolutely certain of the power of your own divinity and therefore absolutely convinced of your immunity from negativity. My advice is, keep this barrier in mind, and teach this ritual to others for at least the next 20 years, maybe a bit more. I figure it will be at least 20 years until enough people have awakened and put aside the crazy ideas and unthinking negativity of their daily round to make it safe to go about in this world "unprotected."

Until that day comes, protect yourself while you are on the road.

Do the visualization daily.

Now I'd like to make one final comment before closing this section off. When you build this barrier, when you build the halo and expand it into a wall that protects your entire life space, you are going to find that "things change" in your life. Relationships especially are going to rearrange themselves in sometimes subtle and sometimes dramatic ways. For example, as you do the protection ritual, you may find that people whom you never would have thought had any negative intent towards you suddenly become "distant." Depending on negotiations at the soul level, and the level of discomfort that these negative influences feel from being around you, they may even bump right out of your life temporarily (while they learn to be less negative or learn to release some of the silly ideas they carry around) or permanently (if they refuse to change).

Don't be surprised when that happens.

I'm telling you now, you may even find that some of your closest friends and family members are suddenly too busy to spend time with you. If that happens, keep in mind the purpose of the protection ritual. Remember, the ritual is designed to give you the space you need in order to manifest the life and the conditions that you want to manifest. In other words, you are doing this for self-preservation and so you can wake up easier and faster, so do not get freaked out by the change. Remember, you initiated the process for your benefit and you have control. If you want, you can always allow these negative people back into your space once you get control of your own awakening process. When you feel comfortable, invite them back in a superficial "Hi, how are ya, how's the weather" sort of way or deeper if you want. However, make a reasoned decision. Never forget that these people are sleeping at the wheel and, because of that, they can be unpredictable and even dangerous. If you are going to go driving around them, for whatever reason, drive with extra caution and protect yourself while on the roads.

Now, if the loss of people in your life bothers you too much, keep in mind that the shifting relationships are not necessarily permanent. Everybody eventually has to wake up so as long as something bad doesn't happen to the sleepy heads while they sleep (accidents, cancer, voluntary exits, things like that), they'll probably come back into your life, only at a deeper and more resonate level, a little later. Be open to that possibility. Don't keep the boundaries so rigid that you permanently exclude, no matter how negative or weird they might have been. In fact, if you want, you can actually help them wake up. Encourage change and awakening in them by visualizing the same process of waking up that you do. I have a meditation designed for this purpose called The Great Purification. It is available at my website at www.michaelsharp.org.

A word of warning though.

When it comes to "helping" others awaken, don't push too hard and, more importantly, don't push at all if you can't see what's going on in their life or how they are reacting. It is fine to help others awaken by visualizing forward progress for them, but if you push people in a direction they are not ready to go in, they will resist, sometimes aggressively and violently. The truth is, you can do damage to them or others (like their children, their spouses) if they react aggressively. You want to avoid that that under all circumstances. It is not right when others interfere with your own life plans. It is even less acceptable for someone who is "in the know" to interfere with the life paths of others. The more you know, the more you must take care of others.

A final word before closing: If you find yourself in the role of parent or protector of others who are weak, innocent, or in need of defense, stand your ground and keep the barriers strong no matter what. If you are by yourself it may be okay to allow some degree of negativity into your space. You may be able to handle it. You may know what to do. However, you are not doing yourself, your children, or anyone else you are responsible for any favors by allowing the negativity into the life space of those you are responsible for protecting. As a parent, it is your job to protect your children and prevent them from coming to any harm whatsoever.

It's your job.

Take it seriously.

If you're protecting others, especially the special children (i.e., the crystal children) being born these days, no compromise is appropriate. When there are little ones involved, get the negativity away and keep it away, period.

Build the barrier.

Keep it strong.