“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” –Carlos Castaneda

This quote, ubiquitous in 1990’s and early 2000’s motivational posters, actually comes from a much richer context in Carlos Castaneda’s work, “Journey to Ixtlan.” In the scene where this line appears, Don Juan, a Toltec teacher, has taken Castaneda to a hilltop in the late afternoon to meditate in a place of power. Castaneda writes, “the soothing feeling of peace and plentitude that I experienced in that mysterious place aroused some deeply buried emotions in me. I began to talk about my life.” 

After Castaneda detailed the disorienting effects of living among the technocratic elite of 1960’s America, Don Juan said, “‘You don’t know what well-being is, because you have never experienced it.’ … he continued arguing that well-being was a condition one had to deliberately seek.” Castaneda writes, “He said the only thing I knew how to seek was a sense of disorientation, ill-being and confusion… in order to accomplish the feat of making myself miserable I had to work in a most intense fashion, and it was absurd I had never realized I could work just the same in making myself complete and strong. ‘The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.’” 

The imagery of being up on that hilltop, watching the sun set over the Sonoran Desert, feeling the sense of peace and plentitude, and hearing Don Juan’s words about cultivating well-being and stopping the blind pursuit of disorientation and ill-being, stayed with me and still impact me. I believe that image sums up the heart of New Age teachings about the Good Life.

The Nature of the Human Spirit is Joy

New Age teachings, and the ancient wisdom that they are based on, consistently emphasize that the human spirit’s true nature is joy. Buddhism describes this true, original state of the spirit as Bodhichitta, “an open, empty, clear, spacious, and luminous clarity of mind that is beyond concepts, ideas, or sensations.” It is this state we try to reach during meditation, as the suffering of living in the world distracts us from it. Western Gnostics and Neoplatonists talked about an inner part of us that still has union with God, and this innermost core of our being is our True Self. 

The Nous, as they called it, was believed to have fallen in love with the Earth from its home in the Heavens, and became bound to it. On its way to incarnating on Earth, the spirit must descend through the seven spheres, gaining a power from each planet but becoming less free with each one gained. These powers allow the soul to act on the material plane, the World of Action, but they also bind it to the material world. As we become closer to the physical plane, our mind becomes less spacious and clear. In Spiritualism we often hear about a “veil” that separates the incarnated beings from the discarnate, causing incarnated spirits to forget their real home in the spirit realm. Buddhism, Gnosticism, and modern Spiritualism all teach about the spirit’s original uncorrupted state, which is obscured by concerns of daily living.

The Trick is in What One Emphasizes

How do our spirits fall from their divine origins all the way down to the suffering of the “real world?” As Don Juan told Carlos Castaneda, “the trick is in what one emphasizes.” Not only are our brains hardwired for survival, emphasizing signs of danger, our social conditioning often encourages us to focus on the negative. Don Miguel Ruiz another Toltec teacher, explains it beautifully in “The Four Agreements”, when he talks about the “domestication” process that all humans go through growing up in their communities. 

According to Ruiz, we all come into the world with unfiltered views of reality, but in order to communicate with others we need to agree on symbols, or words. These symbols are more easily manipulated and distorted than pure reality, but because we rely on symbols to get along with other humans, we live in a world of symbols that have become our reality. Our reality becomes colored with the opinions, agendas, and judgements of our families, friends, and community leaders because that is the nature of symbols. When others begin to define us by those symbols, we agree to this without knowing better, and we forget who we are. 

Don Miguel calls this phenomenon “the Dream of the Planet”, because it is not reality but a shared illusion, a dream the entire planet is in but cannot wake up. The dream encourages us, in Don Juan’s words, to work in a most intense fashion to make ourselves miserable. 

Other New Age teachings go to another level, the Astral Plane, to describe how we make ourselves miserable. The Law of Attraction states that whatever we continuously think about becomes our reality. If we think positively, positive things come to us. If we are negative, we attract more negativity. We are constantly creating thought forms on the astral plane whether we are aware of it or not, and these thought forms become the basis of our physical reality. Unfortunately, so much fearful messaging surrounds us in society that we are often thinking fearfully and filled with negativity. It is exhausting.

We Can Choose to Make Ourselves Complete and Strong

The good news is, like Don Juan said, we can work just as hard to make ourselves complete and strong—and New Age teachers have given us a plethora of ways to do this. In my opinion, the single most important way to make ourselves stronger is meditation. I have heard many people say they cannot meditate, it just doesn’t work for them. There are many kinds of meditation practices, and on reflection I wonder if the people who have said they can’t meditate are trying to do a practice that is not right for them. Traleg Kyabgon in “The Practice of Lojong” describes meditation as “resting in the natural state”, referring to the luminous, spacious state of bodhichitta. Meditation is our soul’s natural state.

How one gets there can be different for everyone who meditates: some people (myself included) use visualization, others use mantras, some use breathing, open monitoring meditation uses all the senses. Walking meditation even incorporates movement. Spiritualist channels and mediums practice a “listening meditation” where they listen in their minds for messages from the other side. The important part of any meditation practice is that it lifts us above the chatter of everyday life and reunites us with the perspective of Spirit. Temporarily, we remind ourselves of our true divine origin and oneness with God, and we take this perspective back into our daily lives once we are done meditating. If we do this as often as possible, we can change our whole outlook on life. Think of a really positive, upbeat friend who can change your sour mood into a sunny one after you spend time with them. Spending time with your own Spirit reunites you with your true joyous nature. 

If you are so inclined and properly prepared, connecting with allies in spirit (spirit guides, angels, nature spirits, animal totems, ascended masters) can also lift your perspective and strengthen your resolve. This can be done through guided meditation, tarot or oracle cards, nature walks, or (again, with proper preparation) channeling and mediumship. The many energy healing modalities also open our psychic centers and expand our awareness: chakra healing, crystals, essential oils, and sound therapy are all gentle ways to gradually bring us back to harmony and wholeness. 

Creative activity of any kind opens the lines of communication between the spirit and the physical, allowing us to express our inner natures and let them shine. Even if you don’t think you are creative or don’t think you are good at arts and crafts, consider trying one you think you would like. You might be surprised. 

One last very important way to make ourselves complete and strong, is to spend time in nature. Nature is the best healer, teacher, and friend to humans since the beginning of time. Just being in green spaces has immediate psychological and spiritual benefits to us. It recharges our auras, reduces stress, and encourages an open and creative style of thought. You can even meet nature spirit allies when spending time in nature. 

New Age literature is full of ideas for how to make ourselves complete and strong, which in turn encourages growth so we may become who we are meant to become. We can orient ourselves to the original desires of the Spirit, honoring life and becoming the best versions of ourselves. Everyone’s path will be different, but here in the 21^st Century we have all the building blocks at our fingertips. Listen to the voice of your Spirit and do whatever makes it sing. The important thing to keep in mind is that we all have a choice: will we make ourselves miserable, or will we make ourselves strong? The amount of work is the same.