Rapid Network

Core Transformation is a technique that can be systematically applied to the recognition, understanding and removal of negative feelings, memories, beliefs or situations that are causing you or others to suffer. For greater clarity I recommend the book, authored by the creator of Core Transformation, entitled: "Core Transformation - Reaching the Wellspring Within," by Connira Andreas.

The main, companion article to "Core Transformation - A core tool in Rapid Enlightenment," is "Rapid Enlightenment - A rapid guide to lifelong happiness" which is the core article introducing the simple and powerful, three step process of Rapid Enlightenment (To Recognize, Remove, and Relearn) your way to lifelong happiness. Core Transformation is just one of the three essential components to the practice of Rapid Enlightenment.

The central assumption of Core Transformation is that all individual behavior, whether it is labeled positive or negative, has, as its end goal, the purpose of achieving happiness. If we continued to ask someone why they did what they did they would eventually respond with something like, "Because it makes me happy."

But the thoughts and behaviors we exhibit to get to this state of happiness can range from perfectly innocent to downright twisted and everything in between. For example, the police officer asks the suspect why he stole the car. We'll assume the suspect is ready to be entirely honest and create what we will call a "Belief Ladder" that could go like this:

Officer: "Why did you steal that car?"
Suspect: "Because I needed the money."
Officer: "Why did you need the money?"
Suspect: "Because I needed to buy drugs."
Officer: "Why did you need to buy drugs?"
Suspect: "Because I'm going into withdrawal."
Officer: "Why do you not want to go into withdrawal?"
Suspect: "Because I don't want to feel pain."
Officer: "Why don't you want to feel pain?"
Suspect: "Because I want to feel good."
Officer: "Why do you want to feel good?"
Suspect: "Because I'll be happy."

As we can see, even individual behavior that is judged unacceptable by society has, as its root cause, the purpose of being happy. Being happy is certainly a good and appropriate cause worth pursuing. But problems arise when we engage in negative and destructive behaviors, to ourselves and others, in our quest to be happy. To various degrees, we all do this. Whether we are insulting another in order to feel momentarily better about ourselves or carrying out a grand, financial scam that will ultimately destroy thousands of lives, we are doing so to be happy.

In the end, we suffer from unhappiness or cause others to suffer from unhappiness, when suffering exists within us. Core Transformation allows us to recognize, to learn from, and to eliminate the destructive thoughts and behaviors (the negative and false thoughts, ideas, and beliefs) that we engage in to seek happiness. We do this by asking specific Core Transformation questions.

To understand how to practice Core Transformation in your own life we will use one detailed example of how CT works. These are the basic steps for one very specific behavior - the bad habit of binge eating late at night. But CT is meant to be adapted (by you) to fit any negative or destructive thought, belief or behavior that is causing you or others to suffer. Some examples of Core Transformation questions:

The problem: An overworked employee who just can't say "no" to other people's requests.
What she wants an answer to: "Why didn't I say 'no' to Jim when he asked me to take on that new project when I am already swamped with work?"

The problem: A sarcastic, know-it-all, who can't help but put others in their place.
What he wants an answer to: "Why did I have to tell Mary her report reminded me of my six year olds book report instead of just holding my tongue?"

The problem: An obsessed Facebook user who is spending more time online than in the real world.
What she wants an answer to: "Why can I not stop spending my time 'farming' when I really want to go outside and enjoy the real sunshine?"

Anything, anything at all, so let's get to it...

John is an overweight and chronically unsuccessful dieter. He hates himself for binge eating at night before he goes to bed, even when he knows he is on a strict diet. It is eleven o'clock at night and John is stuffed to the point of nausea having eaten an entire pizza he just bought at his local convenience store. John is now feeling miserable and pathetic over his apparent lack of will power. Despite being "good" all day, he had, at this late hour, an overwhelming compulsion to purchase and consume thousands of empty calories. He feels hopeless and destined to always be overweight. "Why even diet," he asks himself, "when I can't even stop stuffing myself this late at night with junk food?"

Tonight will be a turning point for John as earlier he learned about asking Core Transformation questions. Feeling desperate, guilty and just a little worthless he decides to take a shot. Dare he hope, to get some control over his compulsion to binge eat late at night? John settles down in a quiet area of his bedroom with a small notepad and begins...

John: (with his mind's voice asks...) "Body, why did you feel compelled to eat that entire pizza right now? Right before I go to bed and when I'm supposed to be on a diet? Specifically Body, please tell me what parts of me want to binge eat like that?"

Author's explanation: The emotions you are feeling are occurring in specific, emotional areas in your body. It is these areas, these "parts," that you want to address for the remainder of your specific question, not the whole body itself. Be specific and be polite. You're best friends with your body so you can treat it accordingly. When you ask your unconsciousness anything, it will reply. Just sit patiently and wait for it to respond. Don't try to force or judge it. Just ask and quietly wait for an answer.

John's Unconsciousness: (John's intuition seems to indicate that it is his stomach that wants to binge eat late at night. John remembers this answer and directs all his future questioning to this 'part' of the body.)

John: "Thank you body for telling me that it is my stomach part that wanted me to eat that pizza this late at night. So tell me 'part' (addressing his stomach), why did you want me to eat that pizza this late at night, especially when you know I am on a diet?"

John's Unconsciousness: "Because it tastes good."

John: (Scribbles down "tastes good" on his note pad - you can use any kind of recording device or your memory) "Thank you part for telling me that it 'tastes good.' So part, knowing this, tell me what is so important about it tasting good? What is even 'more important than' it tasting good?

Author's explanation: You want to imagine with all your senses eating that large meal (or whatever action or thought you are working on). In this case it's a pizza. Imagine how good this pizza tastes as you are eating it. The crucial part of this exercise is the phrasing of "more important than." You want your unconsciousness to continue to go deeper into the internal motivations that drive your thoughts and behaviors.

John's Unconsciousness: "Feeling really full."

John: (Scribbles down "feel full" underneath "tastes good") "Thank you part for telling me that it 'makes you feel really full.' I feel real full now, part (imagine feeling full). Knowing that I feel really full, please tell me, part, what is more important than feeling really full?

John's Unconsciousness: "Feeling good."

John: (Scribbles down "feel good," underneath "feel full") "Oh thank you part! Thank you for telling me that it makes you 'feel good.' I feel really good now, part (imagine and allow yourself to feel really good). So tell me part, now that I feeling really, really good, what is even more important than 'feeling good?'"

John's Unconsciousness: "Being happy."

John: (Scribbles down "be happy" underneath "feel good") "Thank you part! Thank you for telling me I will feel happy. I feel happy now. Completely happy, part. Incredibly happy. Now that I feel happy, part, tell me what is even more important than being happy?"

Author's explanation: As in the previous steps, allow yourself to feel completely happy. Allow your entire physiology to feel happy. This could include a big smile on your face and any other kind of 'happy' body language you can imagine. The body is in complete connection with the mind and hugely influences the mind. Use that knowledge. As we know, the desire to be happy is the motivating factor behind all behavior. And now John knows that eating an entire pizza before bed is his attempt to be happy. Now that John feels happy, he wants to know what is even 'more important than' being happy.

John's Unconsciousness: (A powerful sensation begins to originate from within his body)

Author's explanation: When you feel happy and ask your unconsciousness what is 'more important than being happy' you will experience a new state that is unmistakable in sensation. It is a sense of light, of warmth, a glow of positive energy that will begin to spread throughout your body. Whatever this sensation is, do not fight it but welcome it, embrace it. Imagine this sensation filling up your whole body - every appendage, every organ, and every cell - with its positive, warming energy. You can call this state of feeling anything you like but for this example we will refer to it as 'glow.' It is this 'glow' state that you want to keep flowing at full strength throughout the remainder of this exercise. Your 'glow' state is your deepest core of being which neither wants nor needs anything.

So now John understands the chain of beliefs that leads him to binge eat and is now fully immersed in his glow state. His belief ladder (steps to happiness) reads like this:

> tastes good
> feel full
> feel good
> be happy

Now John will begin the second half of this exercise. While fully experiencing his glow state he will now work his way through his belief ladder list, but only this time, in reverse, as in:

> be happy
> feel good
> feel full
> tastes good

John: "I can feel this glow (or whatever you want to label it) spread throughout my entire body. It feels wonderful part. Part, with this feeling of glow I am experiencing in every cell of my body, how does it 'transform or enrich' my feeling of 'being happy.'

Author's explanation: Remember the phrasing "transform or enrich." Our mind's voice is a powerful bridge to, and director of, our unconscious mind. Tell it what to do!

John's Unconsciousness: "It enhances my feeling of happiness. I can feel this way even without food."

John: "Oh, thank you part. Thank you for telling me that you can feel this happiness anytime even without food. That's wonderful to know. Now part, with this incredible feeling of glow, illuminating my entire body, every cell (continue to feel your glow throughout yourself), how does it 'transform or enrich' my feeling of 'feeling good?'"

John's Unconsciousness: "I feel so good. I know that this whole idea of a strict diet is ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with eating junk food from time to time. Just not every day. And who would want to? I mean, really?"

John: "Thank you part. I see now that I don't need to completely restrict my diet and I can eat junk food sometimes. It's not fair to ask myself to eat only healthy for the rest of my life. That's no fun and it's too much pressure. So that's wonderful part. So now that I have my glow on. I feel it pulsing through every artery and vein. It feels so good. With this feeling how does it 'transform or enrich' my feeling of 'feeling full?'"

John's Unconsciousness: "I don't really care about feeling full. Like, nausea full. What I want is to not feel hungry. It seems to me that I have gone on so many diets and I always fail. And I feel terrible when I fail. I think I might have just stuffed myself because I'm trying to convince myself that dieting is hopeless. And if I know it's hopeless, I won't even try to diet. Because if I don't try, I can't fail. And if I don't fail than I can't feel like a failure. I think I'm actually trying to spare myself the greater pain of failing on another diet - by disastrously failing now."

John: "Wow, part, thanks for the insight! Thank you, part, for telling me that I'm actually self-sabotaging myself by binge eating this late at night. I'm actually trying to spare myself some greater pain. Wow! That's quite a revelation you have just shown me, part. So now, part, as I'm still experiencing this incredible, blinding, warm, wonderful glow throughout my entire self - tell me, part, how does this feeling of glow 'transform or enrich' my feeling of 'tastes good?'"

John's Unconsciousness: "I don't even care if it tastes good. Not really. I want to be healthy. I want to sleep good so I feel good in the morning. Why would I even eat a large meal before bed? All it will do is start up my digestion and I will toss and turn all night. This late at night I want to keep my stomach near empty. That's for sure."

Authors note: Sometime during the second half of this exercise you may encounter internal objections (we will call them "Roadblocks") which will make it difficult for you to continue up your belief ladder and in your glow state. These objections will be explained further in a moment.

John: "Thank you part! Thank you for letting me know what I really don't like is feeling tired and unhealthy. I'll stop eating when I'm full and I will be just fine. Thank you part! So part, tell me, how does this feeling of complete, glowing happiness 'transform or enrich' my question of 'why did I eat that entire pizza so close to bedtime and when I'm supposed to be on a diet?'"

John's Unconsciousness: "I don't need big meals before bed. And I don't need to be Mr. Strict when it comes to my diet. I need food, subsistence, anything more is a treat. Diets aren't for me. Who needs the stress of a diet? What I believe in is lifestyle."

Authors note: You are almost done now. The final step is to take this glow state throughout the entire timeline of your life. Past, present and future. Apply your glow state to all your past memories of overeating before bed or where you felt careless around food (or whatever you're working on). Imagine a timeline that begins when you were just two cells old, inside your mom's belly. Apply this glow state to those two cells. Now apply your glow state to you as four cells, than eight cells, sixteen, etc. Imagine being a tiny infant and apply your glow state to that little child.

Now continue forward in your life timeline and apply your glow state to each of your younger selves and their experiences with food (or whatever). Bring yourself right up to this present moment. Now, apply your glow state to all your future selves. See all those future selves in imagined situations around food, getting older and in control of their diet (or whatever). Give those future selves and events your glow. See yourself, near the end of your days, happy, healthy and thin (or whatever), still living and breathing your glow.

End of exercise.

What has happened? What did this Core Transformation question do for John?

Old Belief / Understanding / Behavior: (Before CT): John believes he has no will-power and is pathetic because he knows how much this behavior is costing him but cannot stop it. John knows very well that digesting large meals before sleeping will interrupt his sleep but feels helpless to act on this truth. John will continue to binge eat and his sleep, weight, health and self-esteem will continue to worsen.

New Belief / Understanding / Behavior: (After CT): John understands that his late-night binge eating was not about will-power at all. He knows it was actually his own ego (unconscious beliefs) trying to spare him the even greater hurt of failing at yet another diet. Each time John failed at dieting his ego took a painful emotional "hit." So the ego was unconsciously self-sabotaging John's conscious efforts at dieting. His ego made him believe that dieting was hopeless anyways by compelling him to dramatically blow his diet at the worst possible time of the day. The ego's unknown message: stop this pointless and doomed business of dieting so you don't get hurt! (That tricky ego! Don't trust it!)

The result of John's new understanding has made him aware of the unconscious self-sabotage. Almost miraculously, he has no compulsion to binge eat at night and no longer does. He also knows now that it is Okay to indulge in the occasional unhealthy food. He no longer diets but instead lives a healthier life-style of less processed foods and increased activity. As a result, John is a much happier and healthier person and everyone loves the new John.

HITTING "ROADBLOCKS" DURING A CORE TRANSFORMATION QUESTION

The mind is, to put it not so delicately, a complicated mess. As a result, when you start to tackle long standing beliefs and behaviors using Core Transformation you will most likely reach a common roadblock in the form of resistance to new understandings and insights. Roadblocks are old, deeply held habits and patterns - beliefs and behaviors - that do not want to accept any new insights or understandings that your CT question may present. Unfamiliarity means danger for the ego and if the ego perceives an attack on our internal "status quo" (who we think we are and how the world works) it's going to do whatever it can to compel you to leave things as they are. Even if it's blatant, unconscious manipulation.

Wanting something at one level but resisting it, fearing it, on a deeper level is the genesis of all self-sabotage (wanting something but manifesting thoughts and behavior that work against achieving it). As such, the ego may see new insights and understandings as completely undesirable. Attacks on our very identity itself. It becomes, almost literally, an identity crisis. But there is no crisis as the ego is not our identity. Our awareness of our egos, or rather, our awareness of our awareness of our egos are who we really are. But anyways...

If you are unable to continue with the existing belief ladder - if internal objections are knocking you right out of your glow state - you need to stop and apply a new CT question to the objecting thought or belief that caused the interruption in the first place. In the example above, if the idea of giving up large amounts of junk food left John feeling like he was giving up to much pleasure in his life, he may resist the new and healthy understanding that junk food was fine but only in moderation. The roadblock would be the ego interrupting with its fear of change and screaming, "Who would I be without this one pleasure that has always been there for me? Forget it!" John's belief ladder would be left in a state of uneasy confusion and conflict and continuing would be near impossible.

John would have to stop his current Core Transformation question and ask a new CT question such as, "Why do I feel like I have to eat large amounts of junk food to feel happy?" Once that issue had been resolved he could attempt the previous CT question again and hopefully complete it fully. If roadblocks continued to appear, John (or you) would apply a new CT question on whatever thought or belief had caused a roadblock this time.

THE ORIGINS OF ROADBLOCKS

The mind and its caretaker, the ego, are not created overnight. For every core habit and pattern - belief and behavior - we possess many thoughts, teachings and experiences that created that core belief. These habits and patterns are stuck in the deepest recesses of our minds and form our most strongly held, core beliefs of who we are and what the world "really" (reality) is. But for the most part, this "core belief system," is the formation of a much earlier us. An "us" that is created in each child, long ago, when we were innocently naïve and helplessly dependent on others for survival.

So it may seem taxing, but the more we ask Core Transformation questions on why we suffer or cause others to suffer, the fewer roadblocks present themselves until they disappear altogether. At which point our minds (and egos) are left in a permanent state of wisdom, consistency, independence and harmony. As we are no longer helpless children, we can, and should, challenge ALL of our core beliefs if we wish to be genuinely responsible, free, happy and independent thinking adults. Simply put, the more we apply this systematic approach to all that ails us, the quicker the process is, the less messy our minds become, and the happier we are. This is why it is so worth it!

CLEANING OUT THE EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE OF THE MIND

You cannot ask a sweeping question in Core Transformation to a large and complex issue and expect to no longer suffer from the issue. Though it is possible. For example, a CT question such as "Why am I addicted to pornography?" is an obvious, emotionally charged issue with many, many layers of complexity and no quick fix. Rather, you could ask the question "Why am I addicted to this particular example of pornography (or whatever you're working on)?" The result of this would be a greater self-awareness and understanding of why this question has such control over your thoughts and behaviors; and most likely a significant decline in the need for pornography (or whatever) to obtain your natural quest to be happy.

You could then apply a Core Transformation question (and Rapid Enlightenment) to another example of pornography or to any conflicting thoughts or beliefs that your first CT question revealed. Your CT question could uncover other issues that have, until now, been hidden deep in the egos well of denial. Very rapidly you would come to understand what pornography (or whatever) represented to you. Why you came to acquire the need for it, and what is was attempting to achieve internally (which, of course, is happiness).

Most importantly, you will achieve a new core belief that no longer needs to manifest negative, false and destructive thoughts and behaviors which cause you or others to suffer. It's a triple win! Win for you, win for all your relationships, and win for the world. So go for it!