The Four Pillars of Manifesting

Discussing the components of successful manifesting beyond just setting an intention.

Transcript

The Four Pillars of Manifesting

I tend to describe manifesting as a bit like couple's dancing. Each of us is an agent of change and creation entering into intimate connection with the manifested world. To facilitate the process and give ourselves a better chance of speedy success, it can be helpful to separate things out into their discrete parts of the process, or what I call the Four Pillars of Manifesting. Because neither we nor the world around us is in complete control of the situation, but instead if we are aware of each other, the music and the moment we can fully participate, becoming dancers weaving the universe into being through their dance. 

Most discussions about manifesting focus on the entirety of the process as a conscious choice or an act of will. However, we are manifesting ourselves into the world in each moment, even while sleeping. It's an autonomic function of our being just like our heartbeat. We are always reaching for or being fed Akasha in its purest form. From our soul book, our higher self or both, we are receiving a stream of Akasha in every moment of every day. Some of it we use as life force to run our bodies, some to get us through the day, and some to help us heal and rejuvenate through the night. 

It is the second wind which gets us through the tough times, the warmth which spreads through us at the sight of our best beloved, and the strength which rises up to help us say "No." Akasha runs through us like a slow-moving river, from the top of our head through our fingertips, from our 3rd Eye to the tips of our toes. As it flows through us the Akasha is changed, transmuted, and formed by who we are and what we do, part of it going out into the world through our words and actions. 

Humans are also able to enter into this process consciously, directing what changes are made and how, becoming artists and creators working with Akasha as the medium to bring new things and experiences into the world. The first part of this is what most people focus on, intention. In order to manifest something consciously we must first work with the energy centers of thought to define what it should or can be. This requires not only inspiration, the desire to create, and the right brain's skill at seeing all the possibilities, opportunities, and dreams, but also the left brain's focus on problem solving and implementation. Bringing all of these together we create the concept of what we want or want to become. 

Having a clear idea, the Akasha is then moved down to the heart. This is where we develop a knowing that what we wish to create wants to be created. We can feel the reality of what it is we want and come to know it is true and will be, hence the saying "I know it in my heart." 

Determination is sometimes described as coming from will power or a mindset, but what I have found is determination emanates from us unshakably when the Akasha moves from the heart into our center core. When we know in our gut we can do something, we can make it happen, or we will do whatever it takes to reach our goal, our arms begin to move into action. We begin to reach out, just as we reach out for a dance partner, gathering to us what we need in information, resources, and opportunities to start the process which inside us has already started. 

And this is where things seem to have a mind of their own. Sometimes the goal of our manifestation moves to meet us halfway, we clasp hands, listen to the music and start moving together flawlessly. Other times we seem to have two left feet, or the manifesting does. We clasp hands awkwardly, can't find the rhythm and, while things move, but it's more work than joy. And still other times there is no music. No one reaches out to meet us. It seems as if instead of being on a dance floor we're standing in the middle of the mall or a busy street. 

The common response is then to start searching for what has gone wrong, what we're doing or not doing to cause the "problem" or to make things go awry.  The reality is, nothing is necessarily wrong. Up until this point, from the head straight through to our gut, the energy is universal and only touched by us. Thinking, feeling, and gut knowing are all contained within us and only visible to the outside world when we express them. It is at the gut, in our core, where the tide shifts and things begin to head outwards, to take on form and connection to what is beyond us. And the feedback/response/reactions which come from this first contact can and should begin to change things.

Understanding there are Four Pillars of Manifesting, rather than just us and the mysterious "Universe" out there, can help us make sense of what's happening and what we can do next.

Pillar 1 – You  

This includes all aspects of the process each of us is bringing to the table including our intentions, energy, willpower, clarity of thought and inspiration, preparation, actions, engagement, and responses. 

Pillar 2 – The Goal to be Manifested

This can be an object, person, place, relationship, job, role, or experience.  It's the partner we have come to dance with.  

Pillar 3 – The Venue

The place and circumstances in which you are working to manifest the goal. These include the area where you live, the resources you have access to, the limitations being placed on you through personal and local circumstances as well as other's opinions, preferences, requirements, and abilities.

This is the park, room, bar, dance hall, concert hall, stadium, gym, or DJ space where you have come to dance.  

Pillar 4 – The Bigger Picture

The interconnected world which all of these reside in. Think country, state/province, geographically distinct area, continent, and organizations like NATO or the WHO or SEATO.  Weather or catastrophic elemental events (lava eruptions, tsunamis, landslides, sink holes, sunspots) can disrupt not only supply chains, but also human connections. The same can be said for wars, political elections, austerity measures, legal actions, corporate takeovers and much more.  

This is the setting for the dance venue which influences whether you'll have to fight for your rights to dance at all, like in the movie Footloose, or you are one of many fully engaged in the same dance, like being at a rave.

Each pillar plays a role or roles in the manifesting process, and we have varying levels of ability to influence them.  The more aware we are of them or are open to learning about them, the more effective our manifesting efforts will be.

While our natural tendency is to start with our own intentions and desires and work to create them, working outwards from us like ripples going out from a stone dropped in water, I find the opposite process, while counter intuitive, makes things flow smoother.  I therefore start with Pillar 4 and work backwards.  

For example: Supply chain and economic issues in China can lead to long delay times in getting components for things such as furniture, computer chips/electronics, or craft supplies.  Or if you can get them quickly, the cost is astronomical. The wars in Ukraine and Gaza are impacting the two main sources for oil and gas, Russia and the Middle East, so supplies are reduced and prices are through the roof. This means the cost of travel is far higher than usual without hope of seeing a change any time soon. And post-Covid pressures on rents and home prices make home ownership or even renting more and more out of reach for the majority of people, which will not change for at least another decade.

These are things individuals have little to no ability to influence, but are the foundation any manifesting process will either sit on or have to work around somehow.  Life finds a way, as Jurassic Park says, but not necessarily easily or elegantly and in the short term we might need to just work with the situation we're in.  

It's also helpful to remember these things are environmental and not necessarily any type of lesson or challenge being put in front of us specifically.  Just because we struggle to climb a mountain doesn't mean the mountain exists in order to make us struggle or to teach us things about climbing.

Pillar 3 is more local and, to a certain extent, more flexible.  Like the fact Amazon.com doesn't deliver to the country of Costa Rica, so if you are in Costa Rica and want to order from them you need to have someone who lives in a country where they do deliver, then have the person mail/send/bring you what you've ordered.  Or the laws/regulations in your county/state/province don't allow what you're wanting to do, so you work to have the laws changed. Or you move to somewhere that permits and even encourages you. Think marijuana dispensary or Ketamine clinic.

A more common Pillar 3 issue for people is the 'where' of it all.  They can't figure out why they don't make art the way they want, and the problem is they can't do it at home with all the people/task/entertainment distractions in their life. So, the remedy is to rent a space outside their home or create the he/she shed which gives them peace and quiet so they can be more regular with their art practice. Alternatively, they may need to stop going to the rented space and instead create an art/work/writing situation in their home so they stop expending their energy focused on the logistics of when and how to get to their space and instead have easy and conducive access so they can focus on creating.

Sometimes we can get so hyper focused on where and how we think a thing should happen, we miss out on the fact it can and will if we allow it to show us where it wants to be. Like someone saying they absolutely have to have their apartment in this particular area, but if they look just a ½ mile away they find the exact place at half the cost. Or if they allow themselves to investigate resources in the next town over, they find everything they need exactly the way they want to work with things.

Pillar 2 is something most manifesting processes talk about in terms of being specific about what you want. Which is true. If we aren't clear with ourselves about what we actually want, if we assume aspects of it are just naturally included, or we leave as negotiable things which are to us non-negotiable, then what we manifest won't end up being what we intended, wanted or needed. The famous example is asking for a partner, but neglecting to specify you want them to be a human being and instead ending up with more and more pets.

At the same time, we need to be open to the response we get to our request(s) or not overly specific. What is meant by overly specific is by narrowing things down so much we can't actually get a response. We've all seen or experienced this as teenagers when they want one particular person to like them. Even if the answer is no, even if there is not a way this will happen, they will throw practically their entire existence into manifesting this outcome and then suffer true torment when the inevitable finally crashes in on them.

This is in part why I liken manifesting to partner dancing. We can and should be clear we're wanting to dance, make ourselves capable of dancing, bring ourselves to the place where the type of dancing we want to engage in happens, then start signaling we want a dance partner. Beyond this we should have some idea of what type of dance partner/dancing experience we want to have. If we are new to this skill, we may want someone who is experienced, kind, and willing to support us through the awkward beginnings. If we are experienced, we may want someone who can match our skills so we can thoroughly enjoy the moment. We may want them to be a certain gender, body and personality type, and more. Which means the person we end up with will fit in those categories, those who don't should be politely turned away, but within all of it there is a great deal of room for variety, surprise, magic, and hilarity.

For another example, a main feature of art and creativity is becoming familiar with the relational, interactive, participatory part of the manifestation process, because the art creates the artist as much as they are creating art. Writers will talk about how they intended a story to go, but it refused to go that way and instead went somewhere else entirely which was just as good if not better. Frustrating, but better. Artists will show themselves attempting to make a sculpture or drawing match what they saw in their head, but as they are working on it the focus changes, the point of view switches, something which was incidental becomes highlighted, and suddenly the manifested piece is responding to the artists intentions saying, "Ok, and now what about this?" which can start the next art piece or exploration.

So, with Pillar 2, be clear, but also be open, just like dancing with a partner. Hold on loosely, but don't let go.

Pillar 1 is us and while this is where we have the most information and ability to influence the situation, it is common for people to struggle with either awareness of underlying assumptions/biases or with empowerment. In other words, we often don't know what we're actually attempting to do or why, or we don't give ourselves permission to try for the things we want or the way we actually want to do them. 

This can be as simple as giving ourselves permission to take something we do as a hobby, small projects done in small amounts of time, and let ourselves give them the space/time/energy they deserve. So instead of a baby blanket, make a queen size quilt. Instead of going on a weekend trip, go for two weeks. Want to know about something? Give yourself 6 months and a budget, then prioritize doing all the research, workshops, trainings, practice and experience opportunities you can get. 

This can also mean giving ourselves permission to throw out all the reasons why, the purposes, plans, and expectations our logic brain attached to what we are manifesting. If we get it done, partially done, or set it in motion and suddenly realize the reason for it wasn't what we thought or we no longer need it, this isn't a failure, but part of unfolding the amazing complexity of our human self.

Which means we are now more than we were before, wiser, more capable and often more clear about what we want, how we want it, and how to go about getting it. So, take a breath, listen for the music and start the next dance.