Hi Jamie, I have been meditating since about 1996, and I'm still in the quieting phase. While things have been going well for me, I have had a few what could be called minor setbacks, mostly experiences from which I've learned a great deal. Did I manifest these so-called setbacks? Sure I did. Did the source manifest these setbacks? In partnership, yes, it did. Whether we are aware of it or not, our desires are always manifest in one way or another, and in ways that seem both favorable and unfavorable. When events happen in our lives that 'seem' positive, we are happy and joyful, and we rarely take the time to examine why events unfolded as they did. We're happy, so why question it? Why do we only question life when things seem to be going opposite of what we want? It may be helpful to think that when we find lessons in events that cause us to feel uneasy, there may also be pitfalls in believing that just because 'things are going my way' that events are happening to our benefit. There are countless stories of people who have won lotteries who have gone on to lose everything they won and more, ruined relationships, or have comitted suicide. So yes, sometimes 'getting what we want' may not actually be the best thing, and I know this from first-hand experience. Awareness is awareness is awareness. We don't know what we want, or should I say we don't want to know what we want, because we really have no way of knowing what we want. The only 'thing' that we should 'want' is awareness. Having this awareness opens our eyes to all that is available to us, in any situation. We have the capacity to be misled while on the path of enlightenment. That doesn't mean we should be distrustful, it's merely a reminder to be vigilant, to maintain our awareness. What our awareness tells us is the true meaning behind events, of why things happened theway they happened. This is tapping into the source, this is getting at the root of all that is manifest. The more subtle our awareness, the more sense we are able to make of the most insignificant clues. I started out by saying that I'm still in the quieting phase, meaning that my life is still mostly lived at the gross level. I am still finding ways to tap into the subtle levels of life. Right now, my life appears to me mostly only after the fact, only after introspection. It's like the phrase "Hindsight is always 20/20." Slowly, gradually, I am beginning to hone in on the subtle clues that abound in everyday life. The more I am able to tap into these clues, the less effort I need to put into my life, because the clues will guide me and I will not want for anything. I need not manifest anything because all will be manifest for me.

Thanks Liz for your info! I will have to look into that. Jamie Hosmer