Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Having a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing sounds easy until you think about how much conditioning has taken place in your life, and how many of your current thoughts were influenced by geography, the religious beliefs of your ancestors, the color of your skin, the shape of your eyes, the political orientation of your parents, your size, your gender, the schools that were selected for you, and the vocation of your great-grandparents, to list only some possibilities. You showed up here as a tiny infant capable of an infinite number of potentialities. Many of your choices remain unexplored because of a hopefully well-intentioned conditioning program designed to make you fit the culture of your caretakers. You probably had next to no opportunity to disagree with the cultural and societal arrangements made for your life.

There may have been some adults who encouraged you to have an open mind, but if you’re honest with yourself, you know that your philosophy of life, your religious beliefs, your manner of dress, and your language are a function of what your tribe (and its heritage) determined was right for you. If you made any fuss about going against this preordained conditioning, you probably heard even stronger voices insisting that you get back in line and do things the way they have “always been done.” Fitting in superseded having a mind that was open to new ideas.

If your parents were Jewish, it’s unlikely that you were raised to honor and respect the Muslim religion, and vice versa. If both your parents were Republicans, it’s improbable that you heard the virtues of the Democratic Party extolled. Whatever the reasons our ancestors may have had for not having open minds, it’s true that they inhabited a much less populated world than we do. In today’s overpopulated world, we simply cannot continue to live with those old styles of closed mindedness. I urge you to open your mind to all possibilities, to resist any efforts to be pigeonholed, and to refuse to allow pessimism into your consciousness. Having a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing seems to me to be one of the most basic principles that you can adopt to contribute to individual and world peace.

Summer is an ideal time to slow down and reflect on all the gifts of a simpler, more peaceful life. Your personal choices can help you align with the tranquil nature of the Tao. For example, why not opt to do without some of the new technology at least some of the time. You can choose to write by hand and feel your connection to your Source as the words flow through your heart onto the paper. You can choose to walk rather than drive as often as possible. You can choose to compute numbers without a calculator, and remember phone numbers as a way of personalizing your connections. Choose to swim or ride a bike for exercise in lieu of using machines.

As part of your simplification routine, you can eliminate some laborsaving devices. Maybe not having email or downloading music is your way of symbolically staying close to the land. You can know what the modern world offers in the way of information and technology, while at the same time being aware of the areas of your life where you want to keep things basic. Recognize when you’re feeling the effects of information overload, too many gadgets, or overcomplication, and switch to an environment that pleases you for whatever amount of time you choose. Simplifying your life can be a way to heighten your awareness of your connection to the Tao.

Here are three suggestions for getting back-to-basics:

Practice radical appreciation – Joyfully engage with the things you take for granted such as your home, garden, meals, clothes, family, and friends. Choose to pay attention by giving thanks and loving appreciation.

See paradise all around you – Rethink your belief that you must travel, be worldly, and experience distant lands and people to have a fulfilling life. Change your view to see the pleasure in what you have, where you’re located, and who you are. Find joy and solace in the simple and cultivate your utopia by feeling the Tao in every cubic inch of space.

Devote a day to food – Appreciate the mysterious intelligence that created food for your health and pleasure, and say a prayer with every connection to it. Going grocery shopping, cooking, planning a dinner, eating at a restaurant, grabbing a snack, or having some popcorn at the movies are just some of the opportunities to consciously explore the food connections that are part of the endless abundant cycle of the Tao.

Consider that all human beings have within them the same essence of consciousness, and that the process of creativity and genius are attributes of human consciousness. Therefore, genius is a potential that lives within you and every other human being. Many people never get acquainted with this inner world of their personal genius. I’d like you to consider what may seem like a radical idea: Genius can show up in as many ways as there are human beings.

With this idea in mind, remember that every person you interact with should feel the inner glow that comes from being appreciated, particularly for the ways in which they express their creativity. Appreciating the genius in others attracts high levels of competent energy to you. By seeing and celebrating another’s creative genius, you open a channel within yourself for receiving creative energy from your Divine Source.

My son, Sands, has a unique way of riding a surfboard unlike everyone around him in the ocean. I encourage him to do what comes naturally and express it with pride. He also created a unique language for communication, similar to my brother David, which others in the family and close personal acquaintances emulate. Creating a language that others use is the work of a genius! I tell Sands this, and my brother, too, whose unique language I’ve spoken for over half a century. My daughter Skye has a distinctive one-of-a-kind singing voice that I love. I tell her so, and point out that it’s an expression of her genius.

All of my children, and yours as well (including the child within you) have unparalleled and unique characteristics in many of the ways they express themselves. From the way that they dress, to the little tattoo, to their signature, to their mannerisms, to their unmatched personality quirks, you can appreciate their genius. Notice and appreciate your genius, too. When you’re just like everybody else, you’ve nothing to offer other than your conformity.

Take the road of seeing the face of God in everyone you encounter. Look for something to appreciate in others, and be willing to communicate it to them and anyone who’s willing to listen. When you see this quality in others, you’ll soon begin to realize that this potential is available to all of humanity. This obviously includes you. Recognizing genius in yourself is an integral part of the dynamic. As Dr. David Hawkins tells us in Power vs. Force:  “Until one acknowledges the genius within oneself, one will have great difficulty recognizing it in others.”

Comfort and luxury are usually the chief requirements of life for your ego—its top priorities tend to be accumulations, achievements, and the approval of others. Consider a new alternative for what makes you happy, one that soars beyond the superficial demands of the ego. The only thing that you need for this state of joy is something to be passionate about. Something that speaks only to you…that gets you tingling inside with excitement…that will not go away…that radiates within you…that sends you into a frenzy of good feeling because it makes you feel purposeful and connected to your Source of being. It doesn’t matter what it is. The only requirement is that you feel intensely about it and are willing to act with enthusiasm, awakening the sleeping God within you.

As Abraham Maslow once observed about self-actualizing people: “They must be what they can be.” Take a moment to think about what you can be, and contrast that with what you’ve chosen to be up until now. So what can you be? Perhaps you have an idea you’ve been carrying around with you for decades, such as a book that you know needs to be written, which only you have the wisdom to create. Can you get so passionate about realizing your vision that you activate the presence of God to assist you in co-creating your dreams? Remember, the mere presence of that passion, nothing more, is evidence that the energy of the Divine creating spirit is alive and well in you. That’s all you need—just the willingness to allow your passion to speak up and awaken from its dormant status. You don’t have to know how to activate your long-buried enthusiasm or precisely what to focus on. What you need is the willingness to say yes to signals from within you, the God within you that wants to be active.

I’ve always treasured the observations of the famous Greek scholar Nikos Kazantzakis, who is one of my favorite authors. In page after page of his wonderful novel Zorba the Greek, Kazantzakis details what a truly passionate man looks, sounds, and feels like, as the title character simply lives his bliss and feels the presence of God in every waking moment. And I’ve had these words by Kazantzakis posted in my home for more than a decade now, yet I still read and contemplate them every day: “By believing passionately in something that does not yet exist we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.”