Ben Ralston

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Dec 11 2012

Why Life is So Difficult in the World Today (and Mankind in Such a Mess).

Photograph: ‘Eight-Tear-Year-Old Woman’ – www.paulprescott.com

You are pure consciousness. Perfect, sacred, divine. This is the essence of your being and it is the essence of all being.

Whether the being of a stone, stream, star, or an animal, all is consciousness. The universe itself is built with building blocks of consciousness but no microscope will ever be strong enough to see it.

It can only be felt.

Our ancient ancestors felt it. That is why they said that stones and streams and stars had their own spirits. They felt the spirits of the stars through the core of their own being, their own spirit, and they gave the stars names.



We have become separated from our own spirit.. And so we no longer feel the spirit of the world around us, even though that is why we are here – in this body, on this earth, at this time. We are here to experience relationship. To know the spirit of the world around us through our own sense of being. That is the purpose of this life, truly. To Be, but to Be in relationship to the world around.

A few choose the path of renunciation (renouncing worldly pleasure in favor of the search for enlightenment) – as did I, until I met my beautiful wife. Some choose a life partner while others have many partners along the way. For most of us choices include children, friendships, and professional relationships. We also have relationships with the Earth, our animal neighbors, the stars above.

Ultimately this is the true test of our skill in life: are we able to truly be ourselves even whilst in relationship to others and the world around us?

It’s quite a test. Let’s be honest – most of us are failing miserably! Most of us barely manage the first part – to know ourselves deeply.

Why is this? Why is it that we feel so alone, disconnected, and lost? Why have we been making the same mistakes – history repeating itself – again and again, generation after generation? Why is the divorce rate higher than ever; more war than ever; more fear and stress and crisis?

The answer is very simple: trauma. Mankind experienced a very specific trauma, the trauma of separation (this is what the biblical story of the Garden of Eden is about), and since then has been stuck in the belief that we are indeed each of us separate beings. As long as we believe ourselves to be essentially alone, we have to fend for ourselves – and then fear, greed, and corruption are born.

How and when we first experienced this trauma of separation is almost impossible to say. Perhaps it coincided with the development of our highly advanced neo-cortex brain (the tree of knowledge): the part of us that is unique amongst all these species here on Earth. As we became more ‘intelligent’, so we lost touch with our essential selves and our sacred relationship with nature. Our Egos were born in all their terrible, petty, controlling glory. We then – using our newfound intelligence – began to birth our children in unnatural ways and our sense of separation was confirmed and compounded.

But the real question is not why this happened, but what are we going to do about it?

Positive thinking, when you have a deep subconscious fear, does nothing. Energy healing can be a temporary ‘band-aid’, but without removing the cause, the problem persists. The psychological approach is highly inefficient because the problem is not ‘in our heads’ – it’s in our bodies. It’s felt as a concrete, very real, physical sense of separation. We sense that we are deeply disconnected – not only from the world around us, but – more importantly – from our own spirit.

What can we do about it?

Well, first of all, the fact that you have read this far into this article is encouraging: you are interested in your own Self. You want to know true love and be done with fear. You want to do more than just survive; you want to thrive. And you want to experience the whole of your being, not just a limited perception of it.

So please, keep reading. Keep investigating yourself. Continue to search.

But know that ultimately what separates you from the truth and freedom and love that you yearn for is just like a shadow – insubstantial. And just as easily as you walk through your shadow, so too can you let go of subconscious blockages. In my next article here on Naturala I’ll explain how.

Subconscious blockages have no substance. They are not permanent, and therefore not real. They are like emotions, thoughts, feelings – they can be experienced, but they do not define you. They are not you. They seem real – but they are not.

What is real, what is permanent, is consciousness. And it’s the same consciousness that is in every living being, and every corner of the universe. You are not alone or separate. That illusion could not be further from the truth.

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: alternative healing, grounded spirituality, healing, personal development, trauma, Uncategorized

Feb 22 2012

My first video! About social media, and the new (spiritual) business paradigm…

Got a stinking cold, -10 degrees outside, seminars to teach tomorrow, sleep deprived for the last 15 months, and Diane Ferraro goes and tempts me with her PJ’s. What’s a guy to do… 

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: grounded spirituality, spirituality, Success, Uncategorized, video

Jan 17 2012

Newspaper interview re: RPT

I was interviewed recently about Reference Point Therapy for a national newspaper. The journalist asked some excellent questions, so I decided to write up the transcript of the interview for a blog post.
Here it is:

–       RPT is the fastest and most efficient method in the world for healing trauma. On what is it based?
It is based on two things – the science of epigenetics (which has proven that ancestral trauma directly affects our own life), and the ancient wisdom of many spiritual traditions, which assert that the essence of the human being is pure consciousness.
–       What kind of traumas can be healed in this way? Is this specific traumas – like car accidents or death – or can there also be subconscious traumas that block the individuals development.
Well, so far it seems that any kind of trauma may be healed with this method. The only kind of trauma that we have no experience trying to heal yet is the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of soldiers returning from combat (we simply didn’t have the opportunity to work on this yet). But car accidents, grief, serious abuse trauma (sexual, physical, emotional, etc), childhood abandonment and neglect… I have not come across any kind of trauma yet that was not healed with this method. And yes, subconscious traumas do block our development, and it is the very purpose of RPT to unblock our development!
–       Do you perhaps know the answer to the question “ why some people are more prone to accidents / bad things happening to them”. Is this perhaps to do with subconscious blockages, energy which attracts these things?
As a matter of fact, I do! The human being is made up of energy (consciousness). When we experience our highest potential (pure consciousness), we vibrate energetically in ‘tune’ with the world around us. But when our experience is blocked by the effects of unresolved trauma, we vibrate at a much lower level – and there is no ‘flow’. Being ‘in the zone’ is a well known expression – some people live in the zone. Others experience is fleetingly, but we all understand that it is possible. Ultimately, the extent to which we are able to live in the zone is the extent to which we have resolved our trauma. So yes, it is very much to do with subconscious blockages that attract ‘negative’ experiences. Although life is messy, and there will always be experiences that we would choose not to have – but a person who has a high level of consciousness will cope much better than someone who has many unresolved issues.
–       How does the session look? How long is it on average? How is it different from other therapies, which are recommendable for eliminating traumatic events, (for example classical psychotherapy).
The session is entirely talk-based. On average it is 90 minutes, but this depends on the therapist. It is most notably different from other types of trauma therapy in that the actual trauma (what happened) is not ‘relived’. The therapist only needs to know that something happened (trauma). The nature of the trauma is irrelevant – because actually, we cannot heal the trauma itself (we cannot make it go away – because it happened, and we can’t change that!). What we can change is how it makes us feel now (the consequences of the trauma). Another notable difference is that unlike many other methods that take a long time to heal trauma (for example classical psychotherapy), RPT is very fast. Trauma can often be healed permanently in just one session – this is because we get right to the cause of the problem. And the cause of the problem, in case you are wondering, is survival instincts.
–       People often are not aware how traumas from the past define us. And they can’t even put them into words. In what way does the therapist pull out trauma from a client which he isn’t even aware of.
First of all, part of the training of an RPT therapist is in the development of intuition. So in the rare case that a client really has no idea what causes their problem, I am always able to tell them! However, I find that almost every client knows just as much as they need to know in order to heal themselves (with my help). If something is forgotten, it is because it is no longer needed. And RPT gives us the precise tools to be able to access exactly what we need to access in order to heal our problems and raise our consciousness.
–       Can you perhaps give an example of the positive effects of the therapy (of course without names) or maybe in general. How does the person who came to the session with deep trauma feel when it’s no longer there. How perhaps does his thinking change, and his behavior?
One client had a 20-year history of clinical depression, and had attempted suicide. When she came to me she had tried countless different types of medical and alternative healing / therapy, including pharmaceutical drugs. Nothing helped. After one session she was healed (the cause had been childhood abuse trauma), and when I saw her again 18 months later (recently) she remains free of depression. I also found out that she had been diagnosed (18 months ago) with a serious thyroid problem that required surgery. After our session, her thyroid was also healed, and remains so to this day, as evidenced by regular medical check-ups. This is just one example of many such ‘miraculous’ cases. It seems miraculous on the surface, but actually, when you understand that trauma is responsible for most of our problems, it is no miracle at all!
How does the person feel after healing – lighter, less burdened. The feeling is usually subtle (no fireworks or hysteria!), but there is a definite transformation. They will notice that the change is apparent in every area of their life: relationships, self-esteem, clarity of thought, emotional reactions… because what has changed is the person themself. They are more themself now. So everything changes, in a subtle, but powerful and positive way – and most importantly, the change is permanent.
–       Some people, on certain points of their lives, can no longer go on. They are controlled by fears, for which they don’t have a reasonable explanation. Can these blockages have as their source, unconscious trauma.
Almost all subconscious blockages are caused by the effects of unresolved trauma.
–       The therapy is based on the science of consciousness. Does it work in spite of the fact that the client does not believe in it.
It is not necessary to believe anything for RPT to work! Any therapy that requires belief on the part of the client in order to be successful relies on the placebo effect. RPT recognizes the placebo effect, and is far more successful than placebo based therapies. One of the reasons for this is that with RPT we also recognize that a person can only heal a problem when they take responsibility for it – in fact, taking responsibility is the first step (and the hardest). So taking responsibility is what is necessary, and actually, it is the opposite of belief!
–       Can we help ourselves with this therapy also with physical problems.
Yes, because the physical body is also an expression (albeit, a material expression) of consciousness. Problems that manifest in the body are almost always first experienced on the mental and emotional level, but we suppress them. The body then has no choice but to show symptoms on the physical level. All aspects of us are made up of consciousness, and when we heal the subconscious blockage, all aspects of us are healed – mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual.
–       In what way can we use the method in our profession and maybe also in general in more positive way of living or acting?
This is a very good question. Really, you are asking whether this technique is only for people with ‘problems’, and the answer is emphatically ‘no’! Despite enjoying wonderful physical, emotional, and mental health, I continue to practice this method on myself. Why? Because as we raise our consciousness by becoming more aware, and by releasing our fears, we enjoy greater levels of joy, inner peace, and abundance. For me, RPT is much more than a therapy. It is a unique method of personal development and spiritual growth.

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: alternative healing, consciousness, energy, grounded spirituality, Happiness, health, Reference Point Therapy, Uncategorized

Nov 25 2011

Profound healing: transformation of physical and emotional problems in 1 session. But what about 18 months later?


Last night I gave a presentation near Ljubljana.
Nataša came.
I barely recognized her, but as soon as she said her name I knew which Nataša it was.

 I’d met her 18 months ago, just the once. She came to me for a single healing session. The email she sent me afterwards has been on my website as a testimonial ever since.
She’d been suffering from depression and (to put it mildly) ‘dark thoughts’ for most of her life.
Despite seeking help from multiple doctors, psychiatrists, therapists, and healers, nothing and no one had been able to help her.
When she came to me she had also been having serious problems with her thyroid and was due surgery to have it removed. That was actually the catalyst that led her to me.
The result of that single session: 

total transformation…

 No more depression, and no need for surgery – normal thyroid function.
The email she sent me after the session said this:
“My son never wanted to cuddle me before… now he’s constantly cuddling up next to me, and the light in his eyes when he looks at me says it all.
Thank you.”
18 months later her thyroid is still fine, and she is still free of depression.
One. Single. Session.
Sometimes people accuse me of narcissistic self-promotion, self-aggrandizement, and writing that reads like advertising.
I get that, really I do. Everywhere we look people are trying to sell us something.
And as the son of an advertising executive I’m particularly sensitive to it – the very, very last thing I want to do is come across like that, believe me!
But the thing is, it’s just not about me.
It’s about this wonderful, miraculous therapy: profound healing that actually works (on the causal level), permanently.

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: alternative healing, grounded spirituality, healing, personal anecdote, personal development, Uncategorized

Oct 20 2011

Why healing, personal development and spirituality are really the same thing.

Kiwan and Jai. Masters of Simplicity.
Sometimes, life seems so damn complicated, doesn’t it?! I have an intimate relationship with my wife to maintain and nourish; my child to educate, support, and nurture; my work to soak up my passion and creativity… and all the while the whole world seems to be trying to sell me something!


But lately, more and more, I’m feeling like everything is actually incredibly simple. Because the root of all these various and complex problems is the same – me!
When I get myself in order, everything else falls into place. Life becomes, once again, very joyful.
I used to think that I had to do lots of different things in order to get myself into that joyful space: Yoga; meditation; eat just right; get a balance between work and play; personal development work so that my relationships would work (as long as my partner also did personal development work!)… God, when I look back at what I was doing I cringe…
Now I realize that there is only one thing I need to do, and all the labels I used to apply really boil down, in essence, to this one thing:
Healing is this one thing.
Personal development is the same as this one thing.
Spiritual growth comes about as a result of this one thing.
Healing.
I’m not talking about the word ‘healing’ as it’s come to be used so much – as a kind of band-aid. This healer and that healer who do this and that, and eventually, after a while, you realize that actually, nothing has been healed!
I’m talking about profound, permanent transformation.
The reason why healing, personal development, and spirituality are the same thing: because we are already perfect.
There is nothing to do, to achieve, to get. It’s all there already, right there, inside you.
All we have to do, is let go of what’s blocking it form coming out!
When Buddha said: “Be a light unto thyself”, I’m pretty sure that’s what he meant: ‘just look at yourself, you’re perfect!’
When Jesus said “All these things, and greater, you shall do too”, he was saying that he was nothing special – just an ordinary human being like you and I, who had realized his perfection, and through it, was able to achieve miracles. And that we all can do that too!
We’re all so beautiful, amazing, and perfect. But we don’t love ourselves enough. And that’s the crux of the matter. We simply have to let go of the blockages that stop us from loving ourselves.
That’s healing (and it’s really very simple).
It’s also personal development and spiritual growth.

Written by Ben Ralston · Categorized: alternative healing, grounded spirituality, healing, joy, personal development, spiritual practice, spirituality, Uncategorized

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