QUESTIONS ABOUT "HOW
TO HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD"
1. Tell me about people who
are able to hear God speak to them.
2.
What are the commonest questions
and what kind of answers does God give?
3.
How do I know I'm not making
it up when I try this?
4.
Will God tell me next week's
winning Lotto number?
5.
How does a person learn to hear
God's voice?
6.
Can everyone do this?
7.
Are there spirits out there that
one can hear instead of God?
8. Is this the same voice
that, say, Joan of Arc heard?
9.
Why would I want to do this?
10. What kinds of things has
God been telling you?
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
AUTHOR'S BOOKS:
Q: What do you mean
by "Divine Revelation" and why did you write a book about it?
A: "Divine
Revelation" means learning how to listen to the "still small voice" of intuition
within, receiving divine messages, healing, wisdom, and inspiration from that
intuitive voice. Also, how to tell the difference between the true voice of
Spirit and other voices in your mind. I have taught meditation since 1970
and intuitive methods since 1985. So many people had such amazing experiences
from my seminars that I decided to write a book so that more people could
benefit from these techniques. The book Divine Revelation is now in its 10th
printing with Simon & Schuster.
Q: What is your second
book "Exploring Meditation" about?
A: It is about
exploring the inner realms, becoming an inner space explorer. Through the
book you will learn how to meditate and practice yoga postures and yoga breathing.
The book also covers ESP, prayer, Eastern wisdom, and spirituality.
Q: Tell us about
your third, COVR award-winning book, called "Exploring Chakras."
A: To write
this revolutionary, unique look at the human energy system I delved deeply
into the ancient scriptures of India and uncovered the hidden mysteries of
the ages. Until now, much of this wisdom has been locked in secret hiding
places in the forests and caves of India. Therefore, you will not find the
information in this book anywhere else. "Exploring Chakras" uncovers new understandings
about the subtle energy field that, until now, have not been revealed.
Q: Tell us about
your fourth book, called "Exploring Auras."
A: This unique book contains many healing methods not found in any other teaching
or book. It offers dozens of techniques for reading, measuring, cleansing,
and healing the human energy field. It includes information about psychic
sponges, psychic bondage and coercion, energy vampirism, healing entities,
dowsing, yogic practices, color and sound, psychic nets, webs, clamps, plates,
jails, hooks, tentacles, environ-mental static, and much more.
Q: Tell us about
your fifth, COVR award-winning book, called "Miracle Prayer."
A: This book will help anyone fulfill their desires and achieve their goals
through the power of intention through affirmative prayer. Everyone creates
their own destiny through their own thoughts, words, and deeds. And everyone
is fully responsible for their life. This book teaches you how to word your
prayers with a simple 9-step method that anyone can do and get powerful results.
Q: What is a "psychic
sponge"?
A: This is an overly empathic person who is vulnerable and susceptible to
vibrations in the atmosphere, and who absorbs those vibrations as a sponge
soaks up water. They complain about people who sap their energy, and they
get drained, especially by being in proximity to people who are ill or distressed.
So you want to know how to NOT be a psychic sponge?
Q: What do mean by
the term "psychic bondage"?
A: Undue attachments or repulsions to any person, place, thing, organization,
situation, circumstance, memory, experience, or addiction that influences
a person adversely. These are also called "psychic ties," and they need to
be severed and dissolved. Many people are reluctant to cut them, because they
think that intimacy would be lost. But cutting psychic ties will increase
intimacy and create deeper "love ties." Do you want to know how to cut psychic
ties?
Q: What is an energy
vampire?
A: Someone or something that has a draining effect on your energy field, such
as a needy person who constantly seeks your attention, or someone who tries
to manipulate or corece you. Psychic sponges are particularly susceptible
to vampirism. Do you want to know how to prevent psychic vampirism?
Q: What is an astral
entity?
A: A discarnate being, earthbound spirit, poltergeist, or ghost that lives
in an invisible dimension more dense than the spiritual plane. Often it is
is a lost soul, wandering and confused. You hear about near-death experiences,
in which a person goes into a light after death? Some people, for various
reasons, do not go into that divine light. They get stuck or stranded in the
astral plane. Many reputable psychiatrists believe that entity possession
or oppression is a cause of psychosis. Do you want to know how to send entities
packing?
Q: What is the subtle
energy field, and how does it relate to chakras?
A: The energy
field is also called the "aura," a subtle body that permeates and surrounds
your physical body. Life energy circulates throughout your auric field along
specific pathways, called "nadis," which are conduits of energy. The chakras
are vortexes of subtle energy where several nadis intersect. The word "chakra"
means "wheel" in the Sanskrit language, since the chakras are round vortexes
that have a hub (confluence of energy) and spokes (radiations of energy).
Q: What is kundalini?
A: Kundalini
is a mysterious, dormant, potent, force within your subtle body that, when
awakened, can bring spiritual enlightenment. The word "kundal" means "curled-up."
So kundalini is often compared to a coiled-up serpent at the base of the spine.
The purpose of Kundalini Yoga is to raise kundalini up the spine through the
chakras to the top of the head. My book "Exploring Chakras" provides
easy, step-by-step methods to help you begin to gently awaken kundalini energy
in a safe, reliable, systematic way. These yogic practices, yogic breathing,
and meditation methods are traditional, reliable, field-proven practices.
By learning from sources that have stood the test of time, you can be assured
of deeper comprehension and better experiences.
Q: How many chakras
are there, and what is their function?
A: Hundreds
of chakras have been located in your subtle body. These were all mapped out
by the ancient sages thousands of years ago. The entire medical science of
acupuncture is based on this map. Since the chakras have not been located
by dissection or by conventional photography, scientists do not believe they
exist. However, without the chakras, there would be no energy in your body,
you could not breathe, and you would not be alive.
Q: Which chakras
do you cover in your book "Exploring Chakras"?
A: In my book
"Exploring Chakras," I delve deeply into the seven major chakras: 1) at the
base of the spine, 2) in the sex organs, 3) at the navel, 4) in the heart,
5) in the throat, 6) in the forehead, 7) above the head at the crown. In addition,
there are seven others: 8) in the lower area of the heart, 9) in the uvula
at the soft palate, 10-11) two in the middle of the head, 12) one at the top
of the skull, 13-14) one just above and one just below the crown chakra. Total:
fourteen chakras. There are details about these chakras as well as illustrations
of the chakras and chakra deities in the book.
Q: How does your
book "Exploring Chakras" awaken your spirituality?
A: The tools,
tips, techniques and illustrations in "Exploring Chakras" help you open to
subtle energies, understand your subtle nervous system, and verify your inner
experiences. With a complete roadmap to chart your course, you can begin to
navigate through the inner realms and master these energies. You can attain
genuine spiritual experiences and achieve your spiritual aspirations. In this
book you learn about your subtle bodies and energy field, how prana functions
in your body, mind, and spirit, how kundalini functions, details about the
energies and purpose of each chakra. The book also contains easy meditation
techniques to awaken kundalini, healing affirmations to heal blockages in
your subtle body and maintain health of your energy field. You also learn
gentle yoga practices and breathing methods specifically designed to safely
awaken kundalini energy.
Q: How would you
define spirituality?
A: Spirituality
means being attuned to Spirit with a capital "S." It means having direct experiences
of your true nature of being, your own higher self, and the God of your own
understanding. As a result of this inner connection to Spirit, you become
more loving, kind, patient, compassionate, happy, fulfilled, satisfied, guileless,
joyous, innocent, responsible, and wise. Spirituality means inner peace, divine
love, and well being.
Q: What is your definition
of meditation?
A: Meditation
is a way to bring quietude to your mind and stillness to your body. The goal
of meditation is to attain what is called "samadhi" in Sanskrit--"sama" means
evenness and "dhi" means intellect. This is the experience of "sat-chit-ananda"
--absolute bliss consciousness--pure awareness in transcendental consciousness.
However, there are many other experiences that meditation can bring. During
meditation you can contact your higher self and many aspects of divinity within
you. You can ask your higher self questions and get practical answers to solve
everyday problems.
Q: There are so many
books about spirituality. What is unique about your books?
A: My books
help anyone open to spirituality through meditation, prayer, yoga, and affirmation.
They also help anyone attain genuine spiritual discernment. That means being
able to tell the difference between that true voice of Spirit and whatever
else is in your mind. You can test whether your intuition is the real thing
by using 10 tests to prevent psychic deception. I call this "becoming spiritually
street-smart" and "practicing safe spirituality."
Q: How can a person
learn how to meditate, and why should they?
A: My books
give step-by-step methods for anyone to learn to meditate and to practice
yoga. I teach what I call the "do-nothing program," which is a simple meditation
practice that anyone can do. Meditation has been proven through scientific
research to provide untold benefits, from reduction of stress and prevention
of heart disease to better academic performance and reversing the aging process.
Q: What are some
ways a person can receive intuition?
A: There are
3 basic ways to receive intuitive messages: clairvoyance-seeing inner visions
with the inner eye; clairaudience, hearing with the inner ear; and clairsentience,
getting inner sensings, like gut feelings. Everyone has one particular sense
developed more than others, so each person receives intuition in his or her
own special way. Some people get messages in other ways, such as through dreams,
premonitions, omens, divination, dowsing, or even angelic visitations.
Q: How can people
overcome blockages that prevent getting clear intuition?
A: Negative
influences from our own past and also from the environment prevent us from
receiving clear intuitive messages. In my books I offer powerful methods of
spiritual healing that help to overcome these blockages. Some of these are
a thought-form healing affirmation, a "psychic-tie cut healing, an astral
healing, and an affirmation of self-authority and protection. Do you want
me to teach one of these healing methods now on your show?
Q: What is the "inner
genius," and how can we develop it?
A: Everyone
has an inner genius that can be developed. Anyone who has made a significant
contribution to the world was touched by Spirit. For instance, Beethoven,
Schumann, and Mozart said they didn't write the works themselves. They "heard"
the music and then simply transcribed it. Einstein said he received sudden
flashes of insight that inspired his theories of genius. Similarly, anyone
can learn to listen to the "still small voice." Ordinary people can become
great poets when they receive divine inspiration from deep within themselves.
In my books I talk about 9 Divine Ecstatic Expressions"--9 ways to express
inner genius.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
AUTHOR'S LIFE:
Q: How did you get started
in the field of spirituality?
A: As a hippie "love
child" of the 1960s, I participated in all the be-in's and love-ins-from the
Fillmore Auditorium and Avalon Ballroom to the disastrous Rolling Stones concert
at Altamont. At that time many college students were interested in Eastern
philosophy and meditation. I read Paramahansa Yogananda's "Autobiography of
a Yogi" and Alan Watts' "The Way of Zen" and was inspired to find a "meditation
guide," as Watts called it. Soon I found myself on the banks of the Ganges
River in Rishikesh, India in the Himalayas, studying with a famous East Indian
spiritual master named Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, guru of the Beatles and Deepak
Chopra.
(I have been privy to the Beatles secrets about why they left Maharishi and
the meaning behind the lyrics of the songs they wrote while they were in India.)
Q: You were on the personal
staff of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for 7 years, and you studied with him in the
Himalayas, Alps, and other secluded places for 21 years. What was that like?
A: I used to meditate
up to 20 hours a day. I would go into my room and not appear for 8 weeks at
a time. I would go into silence and not speak to anyone for 4 months at a
time. I was an introvert. And that is definitely an understatement. Living
in the presence of a spiritual master was an amazing experience. It was a
continual seesaw between heaven and hell. Maharishi had a particular talent
for inspiring people around him to attain their full potential and become
all that they could be. I was quite young at the time, and he helped me to
strive for excellence in my endeavors.
Q: Why did you leave
Maharishi's ashram? Was it because of his sexual indiscretions?
A: At that time,
I was unaware of any sexual indiscretions by Maharishi. I left the ashram
because Transcendental Meditation is a very strict organization, and I was
teaching another form of meditation that I call Divine Revelation. My methods
help anyone listen to the "still small voice" within and have direct two-way
conversations with the divine and develop their spiritual connection. The
TM organization didn't like that.
Q: Where have you lived
since you left Maharishi's ashram?
A: Since 1989 I
have lived in a motor home (alone) and travel all over the North America,
conducting seminars and lectures. I have no home base. As a sort of Western
female sadhu or gypsy, I have emulated the "traveling sanyasi or holy person"
model followed by so many in India, yet here in America. Now I conduct retreats
in Mount Shasta, Sedona, and the Tetons, and I take people on tours to India,
Peru, and other sacred destinations.
Q: In January, 2001,
you took a group of 30 people to India for the largest gathering in human
history, the Maha Kumbh Mela. What was that like?
A: 100 million people
on the banks of the Ganges River, it was the largest gathering in the history
of humanity, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. In a profound
act of faith, millions of Hindus travel for hundreds of miles to this event
that has taken place every 12 years like clockwork, as long as India has existed.
Many of those pilgrims travel on bare feet. At this festival all the holy
men and women who live in the Himalayan caves come down to bless the people.
There were at least 5000 holy men and women in 1000 religious organizations
at the festival. We were lucky to meet many of these holy people. It was an
amazing, life-changing experience.
(An entire interview can be done on just this one subject).
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCES:
Q: You claim that you
listen to your inner guidance, and that you are led by Spirit. What do you
mean? What happens when you follow your intuition?
A: Sometimes it's
challenging to listen to the "still small voice" within-your divine intuitive
voice-and to trust its guidance. But when you follow it with faith, miracles
can happen. I listen to that inner voice daily and allow it to guide me. I
live completely on faith.
For example, I followed
that inner voice during each step of writing the book Divine Revelation
and getting it published. The book seemed to write itself. After I finished,
I asked my divine voice how to get it published. My inner voice told me to
do research at the public library and find a literary agent. I got a gut feeling
about one agent--Jeff Herman. However, it made no sense, because he agents
business books, not spiritual books. Yet I knew he would be the best agent
to represent me. I did not have enough faith to just send my proposal to Jeff,
however. I sent it to 30 agents. Amazingly, the very first one to answer was
Jeff. He responded within two days after receiving my proposal. I signed with
Jeff, and he attempted to sell my manuscript to several publishers, but he
got some rejections. Suddenly I received a letter from the Jeff Herman Literary
Agency: "We are very sorry but we have had a staff shortage in our agency
and we can no longer represent you." I was devastated.
I went into meditation and
received a really strange message from my "still small voice": "No, Jeff Herman
is still your agent. Don't sign with another agent and don't try to sell the
book yourself." This message made no sense whatsoever. I could have signed
with another agent, or could have gotten a small publisher. Yet I trusted
this strange message and knew it was true. So I wrote to Jeff: "My intuition
says that you would be the best agent to represent me." Months went by with
no response. Suddenly I received a letter from the Jeff Herman Agency, just
as anyone would expect: "We are very happy you have so much faith in us--but
we still cannot represent you."
I went back into meditation;
strangely, I got the very same message: "Jeff Herman is still your agent.
Don't sign with another agent and don't try sell the book yourself." So I
sent Jeff a second letter, "My intuition still says you would be the best
agent for me." Months rolled by. Meanwhile it was too late to go back to the
other agents. My manuscript sat on the table, gathering cobwebs and dust.
It was extremely challenging to follow my inner guidance. I am not the kind
of person to willingly sit around and do nothing when I want to get something
done. Yet I had blind faith that my inner message was right. I knew it and
trusted it. All of a sudden Jeff Herman telephoned me out of the blue: "We
are very impressed with your perseverance. We have decided to represent you.
Come to my office and meet my partner. We are going to handle your book."
Jeff sold the book to Simon
& Schuster. Anyone who knows anything about publishing will realize it is
a total miracle that a first-time unknown author got a book published by Simon
& Schuster. And what's more, I don't know anything about writing. I never
studied writing. Yet my editor said it was the very best written book she
had ever edited since she started working for Simon & Schuster. As a result
of listening to my "still small voice" and trusting its guidance with faith,
many miracles have taken place in my life.
Q: We often regret when
we don't follow our gut feeling and get into trouble or miss opportunities.
What happened to you when you did not listen to your inner guidance?
A: I live in a motor
home right now and have no home base. I used to live in an Airstream trailer.
At one point my trailer was parked in an industrial park that had 24-hour
security. I received inner guidance to get a job as a security guard there.
If you know anything about security, you will realize that security guards
don't have a whole lot to do. So I brought my computer to the guardhouse,
where I edited my book during my daily shift. This job served me well for
about one year. Then I started receiving the inner message: "QUIT THE JOB."
Yet I consciously rebelled against this inner guidance and kept the job. After
a few weeks I began to call my friends and tell them, "I keep getting this
inner message to quit my job, but I'm not going to quit, because I am living
in fear. I am terrified that if I quit my pathetic minimum wage job, I won't
have enough money to survive and will starve to death."
Six months later one afternoon
at work my relief didn't show up. I called the security office to report it.
Now, if you know anything about security, you know that you have to wait for
your relief. My supervisor said that a relief would come in half an hour.
I waited for an hour. No relief. I called the supervisor again and said I
had a meditation class to teach that night with students waiting for me, and
I had to leave. To make a long story short, I abandoned my post. Now, in a
security job, if you leave your post, you are fired. The next day, when I
called the security office, I was told I was terminated. Immediately, my higher
self, God within me, my angels--whatever you want to call it--started having
a party! Balloons went off. There was cheering, singing, dancing, music, and
reveling. "She finally got rid of that job!" In the midst of this celebration,
I rebelled. I phoned the supervisor and begged for my job back! Believe it
or not, he gave it back to me! He told me to go back to work the very next
day.
My very next day at work,
at the end of the day I went around the property, closing and locking the
big truck gates. At the back entrance there was an eight foot tall huge wrought
iron gate, which I pulled on. It didn't close. I tried again. It wouldn't
budge. I couldn't figure out why. All of a sudden this giant gate toppled
over on top of me. It hit my head, then my shoulder, and, as I tried to run
from it, it knocked me over and caught my legs. I was pinned under the gate,
screaming bloody murder. Luckily, a man pulled up in his truck to this abandoned
area near the back gate. He had forgotten something at work and came back
to retrieve it. This man heard me yelling at the top of my lungs. He tried
to lift the gate from my legs. It was so heavy that he could only lift it
a few inches. Thank God, he told me "Don't move," while he called the EMS
and police. The EMS came and shuffled me onto the ambulance. It turned out
that my leg had nearly been severed in half. It was hanging on by a few sinews.
All totaled, I had four
hospital stays, two operations, and over a hundred thousand dollars in hospital
bills. Nearly a decade later, I still have not recovered from this injury!
The moral of this story: Listen to your intuition and follow its guidance.
Otherwise gates may come crashing down on your head!
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THE LAW
OF ATTRACTION IN ACTION
Number one on the New York
Times best-sellers list, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne has become a cultural
phenomenon. Featured on Larry King Live and twice on The Oprah Winfrey Show,
this movie and book teaches the principles of the Law of Attraction.
Dr. Shumsky's book Miracle
Prayer goes one step further. It teaches readers how to use the Law of Attraction
in a practical way in everyday life to fulfill their goals and create success
through a simple, easy-to-learn, field-proven, nine-step method of intention
and visualization.
What's more, Miracle Prayer
teaches the same techniques and principles that were discovered by Rhonda
Byrne as she researched The Secret. That amazing method is called "Scientific
Prayer", and The Secret is simply a new packaging of an old philosophy called
New Thought.
Although many people are frustrated
with failure, millions of Americans have used the Law of Attraction to turn
their lives around with a proven method that is effective, practical, and
highly successful. Miracle Prayer is a spiritual self-help book that teaches
this extraordinary technique.
Miracle Prayer offers a unique,
ecumenical process of Scientific Prayer, for people of all backgrounds and
religious beliefs, that readers can use to pray for themselves and others
and get the positive results they are seeking. This system has its basis in
the teachings of New Thought, which is, in turn, the foundation of the current
human potential movement.
A non-sectarian metaphysical
philosophy, New Thought was developed in the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries by such luminaries as Ernest Holmes (founder of Church of Religious
Science and author of The Science of Mind) and Charles Fillmore (founder of
Unity Church). New Thought teachings subscribe to the belief that mind is
causative. In other words, we create our own lives through our thoughts and
emotions. Therefore we can change our destiny simply by changing our minds.
The Secret of the Law of Attraction
is now sweeping the nation. Now readers can use that spiritual law in a practical
way to solve everyday problems, to create positive results, to fulfill their
goals, and to make their dreams come true. Miracle Prayer will show them how.
On your show, Dr. Shumsky
can explain to your audience:
- How the Law of Attraction works
- How they are 100% responsible for their lives.
- Why there are no victims. There are only volunteers.
- How we create mental laws that govern our lives.
- How to overcome the law of karma through the Law of Grace.
- How to discover and fulfill our life purpose.
- How to use the power of affirmation, prayer, and vision boards to fulfill our heartfelt desires and goals.
- Inspiring stories of people who have created miracles in their lives through using the Law of Attraction.
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THE LAW
OF ATTRACTION IN "VISION BOARDS"
In the popular DVD The Secret
by Rhonda Byrne, John Assarof reported that he had cut out a photo of his
ideal home from a magazine and pasted it onto a vision board. When he moved,
he packed his board into a large cardboard box and forgot about it. Many years
later, he opened the box, and, to his utter astonishment, he discovered that
he was living in the exact house that he had pasted on the vision board! Another
star of The Secret, Lisa Nichols, appeared on Oprah Winfrey and displayed
her vision board to the audience. Her board featured a photo of Oprah Winfrey
along with an affirmation stating, "Lisa tells her story on the Oprah Winfrey
show."
Number one on the New York
Times best-seller list, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne is a cultural phenomenon.
Featured twice on Larry King Live and twice on The Oprah Winfrey Show, (with
a response of one million hits on her web site) this movie and book teach
the principles of the Law of Attraction and feature "vision boards."
Millions of people today are
reliving the past through scrapbooking-a three billion dollar industry. Now
that "The Secret" is out, Dr. Susan Shumsky will turn this trend around. She
will provide a fun, easy way for viewers to consciously create their future
through the "Law of Attraction."
A "vision board" or "treasure
map" is a visual representation of goals that viewers want to achieve. Vision
boards help viewers fulfill their desires, because pictures get fixed in their
mind, and visualization is a powerful way to make dreams come true.
Why do people struggle to
fulfill their aspirations? Because they do not know how to focus on their
goals. For instance, they cannot imagine themselves with a thin body. But
they can cut out a magazine photo of a thin person who resembles them. That
photo will help them to envision their body as slender. People cannot see
themselves with a mate. Yet they can find a picture of someone who attracts
them, and that photo will help them imagine a mate. They can download Internet
photos of a home that they want to live in. This will help them picture and
move into the home of their dreams.
Viewers can cut out magazine
photos that represent all categories of aspirations, including financial stability,
profitable investments, ideal employment, harmonious relationships with family
or friends, a desired automobile, well-behaved pets, charitable or missionary
work, health and healing, or world peace.
Dr. Shumsky will show viewers
how to achieve their goals by pasting photos onto cardboard, foam board, into
a binder, scrapbook, or journal, onto your computer's desktop, hung from a
string, into a special box, or even taped to a mirror or magnetized to a refrigerator
door. Looking at these pictures daily and reading the affirmations will help
them more readily fulfill their desires.
Dr. Shumsky will teach several
practical methods of fulfilling goals through using vision boards and similar
techniques. For example, one method will teach viewers how to make a "My Best
Year Yet" scrapbook with photos and affirmations representing goals they want
to fulfill for the next year. Specific pages can represent separate goals,
for instance: weight loss, a new home, a relationship, health, financial gain,
and so forth. Dr. Shumsky will show viewers how to compose related affirmations
and positive words to place on these pages.
The method of vision boards,
using visualization and affirmation with "treasure-mapping," has been used
in the New Thought field by millions of people since 1968, when a 64-page
booklet called What Treasure Mapping Can Do for You, by Mary Katherine MacDougall,
was published by the Unity School of Christianity.
Why is treasure-mapping so
potent? Because it offers an amazingly effective way to achieve goals. While
traditional goal-setting techniques focus on left-brain words and endless
repetition, vision boards use imagery-the very language of the subconscious-to
influence both halves of the brain.
Millions of people use scrapbooking
or journaling to celebrate the past. But they have not yet used such methods
as powerful tools to create the future. On your show, Dr. Susan Shumsky will
show them how.
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What happens when a person
gets obsessed with delusional inner voices? According to Mark and Derrick
Thompson, stepsons of Brian D. Mitchell (kidnapper of Elizabeth Smart), Mitchell
began hearing voices of so-called "prophets" who told Mitchell to sell all
his worldly possessions. This began his downward spiral: sliding into fundamentalist
Mormonism, writing his own bible, giving unsolicited sermons, praying every
night for two hours, doing seances with his wife around his bed, and talking
to "God."
When Elizabeth Smart repeatedly
asked Brian Mitchell why he had kidnapped her, he answered, "God has commanded
me to do this."
Dr. Susan Shumsky, expert
in spiritual intuition and author of DIVINE REVELATION, published by Simon
& Schuster, cautions people against opening up to indiscriminately to inner
voices. "Without spiritual discernment people can easily become deluded by
psychic experiences. Having experienced psychic delusion myself, I can say
with authority that hallucinations such as Mitchell's can be prevented. Because
I have experienced the cult world from the inside, and since I am engaged
in teaching others how to overcome spiritual gullibility, I know people can
overcome psychic deception while at the same time develop their innate intuitive
abilities clearly and precisely. Shumsky claims, "With my 'Ten Tests of Spiritual
Discernment,' anyone can learn to develop intuition and spirituality without
falling prey to delusion. DIVINE REVELATION and HOW TO HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD
are the only metaphysical books that provide step-by-step methods for direct
contact with the true "still small voice" within and also has the tests, safeguards,
and healing methods for readers to practice 'safe spirituality.'"
AUTHOR Q and A'S about
Elizabeth Smart Case:
Q: What do you mean by
opening to inner voices indiscriminately?
A: When someone
like Brian Mitchell tries to have spiritual experiences, develop intuition,
or be in contact with "God" without knowing what he's doing, without having
a road map to his inner life, he can easily be deceived. Mitchell opened his
mind to psychic delusion, like someone would open his door to a stranger and
invite that stranger to take over his home.
Q: What happens when
someone like Mitchell does this?
A: He falls prey to negative internal and external influences. Internal influences
include his own negative, delusional beliefs, habits, and traumas from his
own past. External inflluences include environmental influences, such as other
people's negative influences, as well as darker influences from the astral
world.
Q: "Who" or "what" were
the so-called "prophets" that Brian Mitchell was hearing in his head?
A: It is my belief that Mr. Mitchell was either delusional and hearing hallucinations
or that he was in contact with what I call the "Astral Plane." There are four
basis places a person can tap into when he opens to the inner realms: 1) the
Spiritual World, 2) the Mental Realm, 3) the Astral Plane, 4) the Environment.
Since Mr. Mitchell was doing seances and thought he was talking to so-called
"God," he was undoubtedly in contact with what I call "astral entities" on
the Astral Plane."
Q: What are astral entities?
A: Astral beings are dark energies that can attach themselves to individuals.
I believe that Mitchell was being influenced by these entities.
Q: You say that you have
ten ways to test your intuition so you don't fall prey to these influences.
What are your Ten Tests of Spiritual Discernment?
A: It is possible
for a person to develop their intuition safely and not become deluded by psychic
deception. With my ten tests, they can learn how to "practice safe spirituality."
The tests are 1) the Experience, 2) the Inner Knowingness, 3) the Challenge,
4) the Name, 5) the Signal, 6) the Permission, 7) the Awareness, 8) the Quality
of the Voice, 9) the Quality of the Message, 10) the Result.
Q: What is the "still
small voice" that you talk about, and how does it differ from the voices that
Mitchell was hearing?
A: The "still small
voice" is the true voice of your own higher self, the divine voice within.
There is no way Mitchell could have been in touch with this divine voice,
because God would never tell him to kidnap a person or to harm a person in
any way. So Mitchell was deluded by what I call "psychic deception."
Q: How can a person overcome
psychic deception and practice "safe spirituality"?
A: By using my ten-test
system, anyone can safely develop their intuitive abilities and have genuine
spiritual experiences. My two books, DIVINE REVELATION and EXPLORING MEDITATION
can show them how.
Q: Mitchell called himself
Emmanuel and seemed to fancy himself as a prophet. How can a person recognize
a cult when they see one?
A: There are fifteen
basic ways to recognize a cult:
1. There is a charismatic leader who is deified and has absolute power.
2. The leader is the source of all control and manipulates the followers.
3. The followers become totally dependent on the leader for their decisions,
since leader makes followers feel inadequate and incapable of making decisions
for themselves.
4. There is always some kind of ultimate promise that is dangled in front
of the followers, such as God, enlightenment, world peace, or immortality.
Of course, the followers never attain it.
5. There is always an ultimate threat, such as the end of the world, the nuclear
holocaust, the end of the universe, the apocalypse, etc.
6. The cult's purpose is always to attain the ultimate promise and to avoid
the ultimate threat.
7. Fear, coercion, and intimidation are the tools used to threaten the followers
that if they don't follow the rules of the cult, they will be responsible
for the ultimate threat.
8. The leader uses all the known brainwashing techniques, such as repetition,
programming, isolation, and sleep deprivation.
9. Followers are taken to a remote area, far from familiar surroundings, with
no exposure to loved ones, to the media, or to outsiders.
10. Followers have no time to reflect on themselves, since every minute in
their daily life is scheduled, from the moment they wake up until they go
to sleep.
11. Learning or reading outside the cult is banned. Debate and dialog are
discouraged.
12. Followers are told to give all their money to the cult so that they become
completely dependent on the leader.
13. The leader inflates his followers' egos by saying they are superior to
outsiders.
14. Often followers are malnourished, sexual energy is sublimated, and there
is a dress code, all of which instill conformity and passivity.
15. There is tremendous peer pressure to conform and a coercive recruiting
program.
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QUESTIONS
ABOUT PSYCHICS LIKE "MISS CLEO":
Q: With indictments coming
down on telephone Psychic Networks such as Miss Cleo, can a person get psychic
advice without being defrauded?
A: The best possible
way to receive intuition is to consult your own "in-house counselor," rather
than being dependent on psychic advisors or others who are anxious to give
you advice. Not only will you get better advice by relying on yourself. You'll
also save yourself a bundle, since telephone psychics charge $4.99 per minute
(that's about $300 an hour). Not that I am against good psychics getting paid
for their services. Talented psychics should be paid well. However, with most
of these psychic telephone networks, out of the $4.99 that they charge the
customer, only about 14 to 24 cents goes to the psychic. Anyway, ultimately
you are your own best psychic, and you can develop your own intuitive abilities.
Q: Do you think that
telepsychics are real psychics or phony?
A: Some telephone
psychics may have genuine intuitive abilities. However, the company for which
Miss Cleo was used as a spokesperson, Access Resource Services (ARS), and
its sister company Psychic Reader's Network, who faced lawsuits in at least
8 states, were being accused of making false promises of free readings. Also
ARS wasn't particular about who they hired. They gave their so-called psychics
a script to read to their call-in clients. In fact, Nancy Garen, author of
the book TAROT MADE EASY, has brought a $250 million suit against ARS for
using her book for the scripts. Also ARS put up a website for their customers
with material lifted almost entirely from Garen's book.
Q: Is Miss Cleo a real
psychic, or is she a fraud?
A: Miss Cleo, may
be a great psychic. She certainly appears to be in her ads. If her readings
in these ads are real, then she is. If not, then she isn't. But in either
case, she was hired to be a face on television. She doesn't own ARS. Yet she
is being smeared by this lawsuit. Miss Cleo has personally apologized to Nancy
Garen, author of TAROT MADE EASY. Regarding Miss Cleo's origins, the Psychic
Reader's web site claimed, "She's become a household name simply by the sheer
force of her psychic gifts, which she's honed since she was a little girl
in the Caribbean. Born in the Trelawny section of Jamaica, Miss Cleo says
she noticed at very young age that she had unique talents." Although ARS made
a special effort to claim that Miss Cleo is a "master shaman" from Jamaica,
descended from a line of Jamaican shamans, she was, in reality, born at the
City Hospital in Los Angeles. Her real name is Youree Dell Harris.
Q: In your books you
talk about "Practicing Safe Spirituality." What does that mean?
A: Today it's increasingly
popular to open to psychic development and intuition and to practice meditation.
Many people listen to inner voices, channel "spirit guides," contact the "dead,"
or communicate with "angels." Teenagers attempt to find the answers through
drugs. Now it's cool to be a pagan, a "wizard," or a witch. It seems that
everyone's an instant weekend healer, psychic, or "Reiki master." Many follow
gurus, psychics, and other charismatic leaders. But blindly following these
inner and outer advisors can be as dangerous as inviting total strangers to
take over your home. You would never open your door to strangers, so why open
your awareness without identifying and testing the advisors you're contacting?
We need to learn how to "become spiritually street-smart."
Q: What are "spiritual
street-smarts"?
A: It means having
a road map to your life, so you don't get lost and confused in a maze of psychic
delusion. Whenever you drive your car to a new area, you take a map with you.
Similarly, there's a map that can help you navigate through your own mind
and soul. Becoming spiritually street-smart means being as street-wise in
your own internal life as you are in the outer world. When it comes to your
home or property, you are street-smart. You know how to conduct yourself when
walking on the street in a big city or using the subway. Now it's time to
get spiritually street-smart and practice "safe spirituality" in your own
mind, heart, and soul.
Q: Give us an example
of the dangers of psychic delusion.
A: One example is
Margaret Faulkner, a masseuse who owned a health food store in New York City.
She used a Ouija board that purportedly served "the good angel." Clara Hoover,
an heiress to a tanning industry fortune, was coerced by the Ouija to give
various amounts of money, totaling $52,285, in sealed envelopes to Ms. Faulkner,
which she claimed were never opened but transferred to a gypsy named Yuma
in an unidentified church for transmission to "the good angel."
(Many other examples can also be included.)
Q: Tell us more about
the inner road map.
A: There are 4 basic
realms that you can tap into when you open up to meditation or to receiving
intuition--the Spiritual World, the Mental Realm, the Astral Plane, and the
Environment. You might inadvertently visit a "bad neighborhood" in your mind
and get yourself into trouble. Considering that there are so many planes of
existence you might open up to, isn't it a good idea to become "spiritually
street-smart" and to "practice safe spirituality"? Psychics also open to one
of these realms in order to glean information for their readings. However,
anyone can be mentally deluded, and no psychics, even the best ones, are 100
percent accurate--for several reasons.
(These reasons can be explained further.)
Q: How can a person "practice
safe spirituality" by using your ten-test method?
A: In my books I
teach 10 tests to prevent psychic deception. Anyone can use these to test
their own intuition. Also they can tell what type of book, guru, or speaker
they are opening their minds to. There are many people out there looking for
a quick buck, or worse, trying to control our minds. That's why I help people
recognize a cult when they see one and avoid getting trapped in one. Briefly,
the 10 tests are: the feeling or experience test, the inner knowingness, the
challenge, the name, the signal, the permission, the awareness, the quality
of the voice, the quality of the message, and the result.
(These tests can be described further.)
Dr. Susan Shumsky, P.O.
Box 7185, New York, N.Y. 10116, 212-946-5132
www.divinerevelation.org
divinerev {at} aol.com
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Foremost
Authority on Meditation and New Thought
For
7 years Dr. Shumsky served on Maharishi's personal staff in remote areas of
the Himalayan Mountains of India and the Swiss Alps. She often meditated up
to 20 hours a day, never emerging from her room up to 8 weeks at a time. She
often practiced continuous silence, not speaking to anyone for up to 4 months.
She fasted up to 2 months at a time and practiced complete celibacy for decades.
She lived in Maharishi's learning institutions for 20 years. Then she spent
another 20 years studying with other enlightened teachers.
1. Divine Revelation, top-ten selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, now in its 10th printing with Simon & Schuster, also published in German, in Spanish, in Russian, and in India.
Dr.
Shumsky has always danced to a different drummer. One of her most intriguing
qualities is her total dedication. Since 1989 she has traveled extensively
and continually, alone, in her trailer, van, or motor home. Her life on the
open road takes her from truck stops and rest stops to the mysteries of the
Himalayas, the Andes, and the Nile, and exotic temples of India. She is a
spiritual road warrior/ adventurer/ gypsy/ mystic/ yogi/ guru/ enlightening
speaker.
Dr. Shumsky has practiced
meditation and spiritual disciplines for more than 40 years. For 7 years she
resided in remote areas of the Himalayas and the Alps on the personal staff
of the famous spiritual master, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of Transcendental
Meditation (TM). During that time she spent many months in deep meditation
and complete silence. She spent a total of 22 years living and studying in
her teacher's learning institutions. For the past 20 years she has studied
with several other enlightened masters and teachers.
Dr. Shumsky received a Doctor
of Divinity degree from Teaching of Intuitional Metaphysics, founded by Dr.
Peter V. Meyer of San Diego. She is a lifetime member of the International
New Thought Alliance and Ozark Research Institute.
