The new age distortion of manifestation

Cosmic play versus spiritual ego game

Humanity has made some incredible leaps in awareness and self-mastery. Because of this, the powers and dimensions of reality we can access have grown exponentially in just a few years. And, as I believe Spiderman’s Uncle Ben once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

I see spiritual influencers selling manifestation as a means to become a millionaire or to attract the partner of your dreams. Sure, it can be fun to play at manipulating energy. But without a connection to the interdependent web of existence, we might fail to apply the restraint of grounded maturity. Then we’re at high risk of playing ego games for personal gain, and calling them by spiritual names.

Again, it’s the same old salad, with new age dressing.

How are we using mind mastery or sexual vitality or energy wizardry? Are we using power to contort circumstances into a shape that pleases us personally?

There is an essential understanding that I think is missing from a lot of so-called “manifestation training” that’s out there. And that is the basic understanding of what manifestation is, at its core.

Manifestation, a definition

Manifestation is not about making something happen; manifestation is about making something apparent. Before it got co-opted as a trendy new age technique for manipulating reality to our liking, manifestation in its purest form was about revealing reality as it exists already.

(We find clues in older definitions of the word manifest: “clearly apparent to sight or understanding; obvious;” adjective; or “to make evident, to reveal;” verb.)

How to use manifestation responsibly

The nature of reality is triadic. When we understand how reality is constructed based on these three pillars, we can use that knowledge to shape reality according to our personal design, extremely accurately and efficiently. But here’s the rub. Whatever we choose to manifest, if our design is not aligned with divine design, the result will feel unsteady and its impact will ultimately be unsatisfying.

We might define “misaligned magic” as any magic that is done with the intention to contravene the free will of an individual being. I would suggest that there’s a lesser-known matching corollary for “misaligned manifestation” — defined as any manifestation that is done without consecrating it to the benefit of all living beings.

Proceed with caution. Misuse of power here can easily accelerate a downward spiral for collective consciousness, rather than uplifting it. If we are doing manifestation primarily for personal gain, we’re still running on the same wheel of suffering. Only now with new power tools, we can go nowhere faster than ever.

There’s nothing at all spiritual about using our manifestation superpowers to get better at extracting money and energy from those less aware. In fact, there are karmic consequences to this.

Alright. Now that you’ve read the warning label for the responsible use of this information, let’s talk about the architecture of manifestation: the foundation of Desire, and the three pillars of Masculine, Feminine, and Union.

The foundation of desire

As we are learning and experimenting with manifestation techniques, perhaps the most important thing to do is to check the foundation.

Desire is the foundation of manifestation. We need to get clear and specific about the felt experience that our soul wants to have, and see how that experience supports our growth and expansion in this lifetime. Here it is very important to distinguish the difference between soul-sourced desire and ego-driven desire.

Surrender the details

When we have a clear, soul-sourced desire, we then have to release any attachment to the form, appearance, object, timing or channel of its delivery. Getting fixated on external attributes of a desired experience prevents energy from flowing.

It is totally human to have preferences about how our manifestation is packaged. And these features can support a visualization process that enables us to access the felt experience. However, holding on too tightly to the details of an imaginary story is probably the most common block to manifestation.

Now that we have clarity on our soul’s desired experience, we have a strong foundation. Next we can look more closely at the triadic structure that holds up our manifestation as it is dynamically generated. Two of these exist as balance points within 3D reality (the realm of duality); the third is the unity point in 5D (non-duality). I have assigned masculine and feminine labels to the poles in 3D — but it’s not hard to imagine how these labels could be reversed.

The masculine pole of action

We take aligned action, knowing our desire as already fulfilled.

Our mature inner masculine feels worthy to be held by the loving nourishment of Life. From there, we can choose our path with courage and conviction.

As the sperm, we embody direction by choosing how to move. We trust our inner guidance system and we go after what we want without fear and without shame. In Regenerative Purpose, this is the domain of direction commitments.

The feminine pole of boundary

We say “no” to anything that is incongruent with our desire.

Our mature inner feminine feels safe to trust in the abundant provisions of Life. From there, we can let go of control and surrender to nature’s movements with ease.

As the egg, we embody selection by boundarying a space. If there is expired energy in our environment, we shed it on a regular basis to make space for new energy that is life-giving. In Regenerative Purpose, this is the domain of selection commitments.

The unity vertex of energy

The third pillar might be the most difficult one to grok, from our normal way of perceiving things. That’s because it requires a non-dual view of reality.

When we are present in the body, we can feel how the energy of any desire fully resonates with the energy of fulfillment of that desire. It is only the concept of linear time that creates seeming separation between a desire and its fulfillment. When we collapse the dimension of time perception, that distance evaporates. We see desire and fulfillment as one and the same in the world of energy; there is no difference.

Most modern manifestation teachings focus on this third pillar, the unity point of energy. Maybe it’s because this one is the most sexy and exciting. Or maybe it’s just the most novel re-discovery in new age consciousness technology.

The unity point of energy is what the techniques of visualization, affirmations, and somatic anchoring are all pointing us to. But they are only pointers. They can drive us to the right neighborhood, but they won’t get us through the front door.

Why practice manifestation

Ultimately, the reason that we practice these manifestation techniques is not in order to achieve some material result. We practice in order to encode a deeper knowing of universal truth into our system. Increasing our coherence with this Truth frequency makes us more useful as stewards and channels for universal energy.

When our whole system — mind, body and soul — starts to agree with the deeper truth that these techniques point to, then manifestation no longer feels like something that we are doing. Manifestation starts to feel like a happening.

It feels effortless and fun, like having epic energy sex with the Universe. It’s no longer an activity. It becomes an awe-inspiring, built-in feature of reality.

We feel blessed to touch a tiny fractal of the unseen interconnected nature of a magical existence. We witness miracles in and around us daily. We enjoy both playing, and being played as an instrument of the divine, simultaneously.