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Lewis HowesEVERYTHING You Know About Manifesting Is WRONG! (Do This Instead) | Lewis Howes
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Chapter summaries
Death, Energy, and Remembering Life Is Temporary
Lewis Howes asks what physics and spirituality say about death. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar describes the spirit as energy that continues, compares death to a deeper sleep, and says remembering life is transient drops unnecessary entanglements and brings purposefulness.
- •Matter and energy can't be destroyed, so the spirit as energy stays on
- •Death compared to a mini sleep with more awareness; near-death accounts described as pleasant
- •Neither fear nor excitement: just take death as it is
- •Remembering you're in a 'transit lounge' makes unnecessary things drop off
Confusion, Intuition, and Handling Big Demands
Asked what to do when you don't know what you want, Sri Sri says confusion signals growth and a phase between two steps of progress. He recommends living in the present and resting to tap intuition, and explains he stays unbothered by demands and outcomes.
- •Confusion is a lucky sign of growth and a momentary phase
- •Intuitive power reduces confusion
- •Present-moment focus, nature, and doing nothing for a few moments open space for intuition
- •He trusts he has the capability for whatever is asked and isn't bothered about outcomes
Worrying Big and Why Serving Others Prevents Depression
Sri Sri says the only worthwhile worries are big ones like the planet, environment, and violence, which energize and motivate. Focusing only on yourself brings less satisfaction and more depression than service does.
- •Worry about the planet, environment, and violence instead of small things
- •Seeing the world with a wide-angle lens is self-motivating
- •Thinking only about yourself is a 'formula to get depressed'
- •Service activity makes depression hard to sustain
Understanding Doubt and Fear of Failure
Sri Sri defines doubt as low prana (life force) and suggests breathing exercises. He argues we only doubt positive things like honesty and love, never negatives, and that fear of failure comes from being conscious of one's image.
- •Doubt is low prana; breathing exercises lift you out of it
- •We doubt love, honesty, and happiness but never hatred or depression
- •He says he has never doubted himself when asked to help
- •Fear of failure stems from image-consciousness; do your best and give 100%
Facing Prejudice with Patience
Sri Sri names prejudice as the biggest challenge of his adult life, recalling how meditation and yoga were seen as weird 40 years ago. He says he met it with patience and perseverance, and believes it's lessened thanks to information, media, and awareness.
- •Prejudice of race, religion, culture, language, and gender is a hindrance everywhere
- •Meditation and yoga were once viewed as weird and not for the mainstream
- •Response: patience, perseverance, and not letting it preoccupy you
- •Internet, media, and more aware young people have reduced it
Abundance, Giving, and Spiritual Wealth
Asked about manifesting abundance, Sri Sri says there's nothing wrong with wanting more but not to postpone happiness, and that the joy of giving is stronger than that of getting. He says abundance is also an attitude of mind, and he stresses balance and a perpetual state of wow.
- •Go for abundance but don't postpone being happy for a future date
- •Joy in giving is a mature happiness, bigger than the joy of getting
- •You can't give from an empty bowl; a sense of lack eats up joy
- •Balance work, social, and personal life; meditation taps enthusiasm and a state of 'wow'
Loving Those Who Cause Harm
Lewis asks how to love people who cause pain without being abused. Sri Sri says you can't love them straight away; first see the culprit as a victim crying for help, then move through forgiveness, understanding, and compassion to unconditional love, citing prison work.
- •See every culprit as a victim inside crying for help
- •Offer compassion rather than condemnation
- •Work in prisons with about 800,000 prisoners led to transformation
- •Steps: forgiveness, understanding, compassion, then unconditional love
The Soul, Reincarnation, and Meditation's Wow
Lewis asks when the soul enters the body and where it is. Sri Sri describes the soul as energy or light, compares bodies to radios tuned to frequencies, and explains that it leaves with strong impressions and can take other forms. He also says every meditation is a wow he cannot put into words.
- •The soul is energy and vibration, everywhere in the body and yet nowhere
- •Body is like a boombox tuning into frequencies; souls may change during the nine months
- •After death the soul stays a while, then enters a new form, mostly human, depending on the last thought
- •Child prodigies cited as evidence of carried impressions
- •Meditation is going to the space that originates all happenings, indescribable but felt daily
Life as Disneyland and Quick Tools for Stress and Anxiety
Sri Sri says he sees human life as a movie or a perpetual Disneyland, and that everyone is looking for happiness. For stress and anxiety he offers four things: breathing, a bigger perspective on death, thinking of those more needy, and remembering a higher power has helped before.
- •Viewing life as a witness lets you enjoy it
- •Everyone is looking for happiness but doesn't know how to get to that space
- •Attend to the breath with long, deep breaths
- •Remember death, help the needy, and recall that a higher power has helped before
Depression, Veterans, Purpose, and Simple Lives
Sri Sri links depression and suicidal tendencies to low prana and describes SKY programs helping veterans with PTSD and students. He then discusses what happens without purpose and tells those content with a simple life that this is fine, as long as they reach out to those in need.
- •Depression and suicidal tendency come from very low prana
- •SKY techniques helped about 5,000 veterans and are taught in 101 US universities
- •Without inquiry into purpose, people just exist rather than live
- •A simple, satisfied life is fine if you stretch your hand to those in need
Radiating Energy, Negativity, Pain, and Staying Unburdened
Sri Sri discusses how each person can radiate positivity, how negative people tend to be more active, and that creativity can come from any emotion since pain is just energy with a direction. He says meditation protects empathetic helpers from burnout, likening the mind to a mirror that shouldn't hold images.
- •Each person is a fountain of love and joy that may be clogged
- •Negative forces are more active, as with the Colombian peace referendum and Brexit
- •Creating from pain is fine unless it's self-destructive or destructive to others
- •Meditation keeps empathetic people from burnout; the mind should be like a clean mirror
Negative Self-Talk, Opinions of Others, and Meditation
Sri Sri says no one is taught how to handle negative emotions, and describes the seven layers of existence taught in Art of Living workshops. He advises starting fresh, choosing friends who lighten your problems, not obsessing over others' opinions, and says meditation is the answer to thirst for happiness, creativity, and purpose.
- •Nobody taught us how breath, emotions, and body sensations are linked
- •Seven layers: body, breath, mind, intellect, memory, ego, and the self
- •A good friend leaves you feeling your problem is smaller
- •Don't worry what others think, but avoid arrogance as the opposite extreme
- •Meditation shifts a chattering mind to a serene, silent self
Mind, Consciousness, Memory, and SKY Breath Meditation
Sri Sri explains that the mind is a wave and the soul the ocean, with mind as a function of consciousness, and distinguishes mind, intellect, and memory. He says deep impressions can be erased by raising prana through the SKY technique, and describes the program and how he began teaching it in 1981 after a silence.
- •Mind is the wave, soul is the ocean; everything is in consciousness like space
- •Mind perceives through senses, intellect judges, memory stores deep impressions
- •Breathing and meditation work like an eraser for impressions
- •SKY is a 12 to 14 hour program, then 10 to 15 minutes of daily practice
- •Began teaching it in 1981 after a 10-day silence
Love, Relationships, and Staying Centered
Asked about choosing a partner, Sri Sri recommends a common goal, room for mistakes, deeper understanding, and helping each other grow. He says demanding destroys love, and that balance, a broader perspective, commitment to values, and compassion keep you centered.
- •Partners with a common goal are like parallel lines; focusing only on each other leads to crossing and drifting apart
- •Give room for flaws and time to change
- •We excuse our own mistakes but hold others' against them
- •Demanding love, attention, or respect destroys love
- •If you fall short of your values, keep going like a child learning to walk
The Three Truths, Greatness, and Closing
Lewis poses his three truths question and Sri Sri answers simply 'smile', explaining that you came in crying and should exit smiling. Life is a movie and humanity is one ocean. Lewis shares where to find his work, and Sri Sri defines greatness as simplicity and being one with everyone.
- •His truth to leave behind: smile
- •Life is a movie to enjoy without carrying the story; all people are waves of one ocean
- •Find him on his website, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter
- •Greatness is simplicity and being one with everyone
- •Love is something you become, not something you do
