“You are mostly living in a trance state of the stories you tell yourselves… You are hypnotized by them and treat them as reality…
Identify the story, find the attachments and pull out of it gently…
The soul embraces mystery. The ego does not like mystery. The great ‘don’t know’ mind…
You are swimming in the great waters of the soul, heart, inviting mystery; being guided into changes that celebrate life.”

   Micciah: Well, we do want to say a word about altered states.
   So, Julie says when she does this kind of work, she is working in an altered state or trance state. But we say to you, you are mostly living in a trance state. You are living in the hypnotic arena of the stories you tell yourselves. And we know you have been working with this in class. Those are hypnotic states, not to mention the collective hypnosis. And in acting consciously, you begin to break apart the collective hypnotic state, the current hypnotic state where there is so much violence and greed. But individually you live with your stories and are hypnotized by them. “Oh no, I can’t possibly be abundant. No, I have always had trouble with money…” or relationships, or whatever the story is. So you have become hypnotized by the stories that you live with and treat them as reality. So then, guess what… The become your reality, absolutely.
   Who is in charge of changing the story? You are. You are. In the consciousness training called Avatar, they talk about creations, your creations, all your stories and they made up a word which is, “You can discreate.” Becoming conscious of the stories you tell yourself. Step one. “Oh that’s a story. Oh, maybe that’s a story I don’t want to live in anymore. How can I go about changing it?” Psychologically? [asks if she hit the microphone (no)] Psychologically? Mostly yes, although there are some times when stories disappear. [claps] Gone. Mostly you need to work with it.
   So you are taking yourself out of the hypnotic trance of your story. Is this a trance? [points to herself] This is one state. But when you are living with the stories you interjected, the stories your culture gave you… Not the loving stories, but the ones that do not support well-being. You then repeat it. It goes into your nervous system, into your brain, and you are deep in trance.
   Interrupting those trance states, of your own stories, is very powerful. You don’t have to be the way you were.
    Does this make sense?
    [class indicates yes]
    Oh well, easy to say. How do you do it? [laughs] Easy for you to say. You first identify the story. Find the emotional attachments to it. Work with them gently and with love, pulling the strings out of attachment to the story, “That’s my story.” You know in English you refer to diseases as “yours.” Your, your whatever. “Everyone in my family…” Julie has said this. We have reminded her not to. “We all have heart disease.” Really? Are you planning to stay with that piece of hypnosis? We do not mean this critically, but as a way of reminding you to look at your own stories, and begin to dismantle them compassionately.
   Maybe there’s a more joyous story.
   The ego does not like change. Except, maybe in the hierarchy of… (Well… But it is never satisfying.) More… What do they say in Est? More, better and different. You get, more. More of the things that the ego wants. Likes those changes.
   But the soul embraces mystery. The ego does not. The ego does not like mystery. The great Buddhist state, the great “don’t know mind.” So, when you are swimming in the waters of your soul, of your love, of your heart, you are also embracing mystery. Inviting inspiration. Being guided into changes that celebrate life.