The Divine Exhalation

(Listen to the audio version of this essay here)

When people first discover manifestation, especially if they’re in a bad spot, the natural urge can be to hyper-fixate on manifesting x, or y, or z. We view creation as a discrete or closed-ended practice. I want to manifest this. I don’t have what I want so I’m going to manifest it; then I’ll have it and have it forever. Period. End of story.

This mentality preys on our solution-seeking nature. It is almost as if we view our problems as illnesses and our solutions as medicine. If we’re sick it’s because we don’t have the medicine we need; once we have the medicine, we won’t be sick anymore.

As intuitive as this outlook may be, I don’t think it’s the most productive way to view manifestation. It leads us to think of creation as an act or a series of acts, one after the other. That’s not the reality of things, though.

Creation is not an act. Creation is a process. And, though Neville Goddard tells us, “Creation is finished,” we could just as easily say that creation is not, and cannot be finished ever. Only acts can be completed with a sense of finality or be “finished.” Processes are continuous; Creation is happening now, and it’s happening eternally. You’ll never be “finished” creating, because creation will continue occurring forever.

When we say, “Creation is finished,” that can be taken quite literally. Meaning, creation, the process, is. There is creation. The creative process is in motion. You don’t have to rev creation up or get the process going — it’s already going. It’s been going forever and will continue going unto eternity. And, because creation is — because it, as a process, exists and thus is “finished” — anything that could be created is already ripe to be created.

But I digress.

The point I’m trying to make is that you’ll exhaust yourself so long as you continue trying to conceive of creation as a discrete act or series of acts.

Creation is the divine breath. On exhalation things flow from the potential into the actual — they are “made manifest.” On the inhalation things flow in the opposite direction — they move from the actualized world back into the world of infinite, unmanifest potential.

Trying to “complete” creation is like trying to complete breathing — it’s like saying, “I’ve been breathing every second of every day for my entire life; why am I not finished breathing yet!” You’re not going to finish breathing. Breathing, though it is “finished” in the sense that it’s an existent process that is, can’t be “finished” in the sense that it can be completed.

This idea scares and frustrates people. They want to create something and be done with it. They do SATS or visualizations for days or weeks or months and then break down and say, “This is so stupid! How long do I have to do this for before I get my manifestation!”

If you approach it from that point of view, though, you’re never going to get your manifestation. You’re trying to speedrun breathing. You’re saying, “Alright, maybe if I hyperventilate as hard as I possibly can for half an hour then I’ll be finished breathing once and for all.” Or, “I’ll extend my exhale out as long as humanly possible, and somehow that will let me ‘complete’ the act of breathing.”

Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work like that. Again, breathing is a process. It’s not going to end. If you turn it into a crazily stressful process, you’re just going to make yourself feel like crap and eventually, you’ll pass out. Then, when you do pass out, you’ll go back to breathing how you were breathing in the first place.

If your life isn’t where you want it to be right now, that just means your breathing is a little bit shallow and labored. The issue isn’t that you aren’t breathing. You don’t have to learn how to breathe. You just have to change your breathing pattern.

You aren’t going to do that by diving with enthusiasm into some super intense breathing exercise. Intense practices might be a part of your path to a new pattern, sure, but ultimately they’re just another means to an end. Just because you finished a breathing exercise doesn’t mean you’ve finished breathing — and, if that breathing exercise hasn’t altered your baseline pattern of breathing at rest, then it can’t have an impact on your long-term development.

I know it can seem daunting to not have creation be a closed-ended act. You may be thinking, “Oh God, are you saying I have to do this forever!” But I promise creation being a process isn’t a bad thing.

In fact, you should thank your lucky stars creation is a process. If it were an act, then you wouldn’t be able to change your life. If you could “complete” creation then you’d slip into a negative state of mind and be stuck there forever.

Thankfully that isn’t the case. Your negative state is just a pattern of breathing. You can make it more efficient. And, though it might require some really focused attention to change your patterns of creating at first, eventually the new pattern will feel natural. If your breathing has been labored and shallow for years, you’ll have to remain really conscious of it for a while as you’re trying to adjust it. But a day will come when it’s nice and relaxed without you thinking of it.

Does this mean it’ll stay relaxed forever? Does this mean you’re done breathing for good? No, of course not. You can still start breathing shallowly again, and you’ll never be finished breathing for good. But, once you’ve established a comfortable and efficient baseline, that’ll become your new normal. The process won’t require constant upkeep and attention any more.

So, with all of this said, what can you actually do to change your pattern of creation? Well, quite simply, think of creation like breathing.

Because breathing as a process can never be completed, you might be tempted to say that any individual breath is of no particular importance. After all, no individual breath will “finish” the breathing process for you. But, obviously, this is not true.

All you have is this breath. Think all you want about the breath you’re going to take 10 minutes, 10 days, or 10 years from now, but the fact remains that you have to take the next breath (and every breath after it) before you get to those other breaths.

Manifestation is no different. Think all you want about when/how/where your manifestation will actually come to fruition, but the fact remains that all you can control is whether or not you’re in your desired state now.

A healthy, relaxed breathing pattern is the product of healthy, relaxed individual breaths. A nice relaxed inhale followed by a nice relaxed exhale. Over and over and over again. You don’t get to stop; you have to continue. A healthy, relaxed manifestation process is the product of occupying the state of desire fulfilled over and over and over again. No day will come when you “get to stop” living in your desired state.

You don’t have to do anything crazy or obsess over “persisting” in your state for every waking second of the day. That’s akin to trying to extend an exhalation out forever. With every exhale (every conscious dip into your desired state) comes an inhale (the thoughts/feelings of your desired state flow back to your subconscious). That’s the way of things and is okay.

All you have to focus on is making each individual breath as efficient as you’d like it to be.

As always, good luck.