Frederick Dodson

[Dandelion]

This month the book I borrowed from Amazon's Prime Lending Library was "Intuition Training."  I've read another book by Frederick Dodson (Parallel Universes of Self) which I found interesting but had some reservation about, although I can't seem to find the notes I made to make any specific comments about it.  Based on the "sample" and my current interest in intuition, I decided to give this one a try.  Since his books are so expensive, making it difficult for people to decide whether they're worth buying, I'll share my thoughts as I read it.

One reservation I have is that he tends to create numerical "scales" for things (levels of consciousness, levels of energy) though that may not be a problem in this book.  I don't particularly like books that do that or ones that try to put everything into artificial and arbitrary categories.  Another reservation is his word choices.  I tend to be very conscious of words, how they're defined and how they're used.  Some (like Seth) resonate with me.  Some like this book seem a little off or even jarring at time.  Maybe it's just a personal thing, but it does make it more difficult for me to relate to the message.

Chapter 1  Living From Intuition

Intuition is defined—that instant knowing that occurs before thinking.  Innate or inner knowing.  "Intuition is spontaneous, playful and ego-less.  It tends to fade away under expectations and mind scrutiny."

Separated from instinct which are impulses from the physical body.  Separated from "projection" which is a reaction based on emotions (fears and desires, etc) and beliefs.

Chapter 2  Intervention From Higher Sources

Has lots of stories about intuition mostly from his life and some from other people.  Differentiates between intuition and psychic data.  Psychic information is often darker in content, felt in the forehead, and may come as "thought flashes" rather than feelings.  Intuition is mostly light and joyful, sometimes felt at top of head or in chest.

[Sena]

Dandelion, thanks for bringing this author to our attention. I downloaded "Lives of the Soul" by him. I'll let you know how I get on with it. One quote from the preface:
"What happens between incarnations is actually more interesting than what happens in 'past lives' ".

[Dandelion]

I'll be interested in what you think about the book, Sena.  So far, I haven't gotten that much out of the one I'm reading, although I'm only about 30% into it.

[Sena]

I am about half-way through Dodson's book "Lives of the Soul", and find it very interesting. Dodson makes positive comments about channelling, but does not specifically mention Seth or Jane Roberts. It appears that he has acquired his knowledge mainly via out-of-body experiences, and in that respect he is similar to Robert Monroe. He does refer to two of Monroe's books. There is not much startlingly new in the book, but Dodson does present the material in a new light.

He has outlined some practices which could help the reader to have an OOBE, but also states, "The ability to have out-of-body experiences is actually obstructive (!) to the mission of most souls because it means bypassing the self-imposed amnesia barrier."

I find Dodson's account of the role of the Soul-Guide very interesting. This topic is mentioned by Seth, but I think with much less emphasis. I had a vivid dream recently (several days before reading this book), in which I met an individual who I now think may be my Soul-Guide. She was a nice middle-aged lady who was helping me to overcome my depression (I have suffered from depression in the past). Although I am now well past middle age in physical reality, it seemed that in this dream I felt I was younger than this lady.

According to Dodson, it should not be too difficult to recognize one's Soul-Guide, because it is quite possible that one may have known this person in many incarnations and in-between incarnations perhaps for millions of years! Dodson writes: "There are no known cases in which a soul does not have a Guide.....Re-connecting with one's soul guide adds an additional dimension of warmth, creativity, and safety to your earthly life. It is not planned to have frequent contact. But since you are reading this information it means that you were meant to read it, you were led to it. And maybe your Soul Guide led you to it, so that you get back in touch for an update or two."

"Soul guides are enigmatic, mysterious beings and decide for themselves which pieces of information they give you and which they withhold....The soul guide is pure loyalty. Earthly concepts of "giving up", "leave someone", "deny support" and "not liking someone" do not exist for it."

Instructions are given to help achieve lucid dreaming, but Dodson states, "Learning lucid dreaming is not a requirement for spiritual growth."

[Deb]

"There are no known cases in which a soul does not have a Guide.....Re-connecting with one's soul guide adds an additional dimension of warmth, creativity, and safety to your earthly life. It is not planned to have frequent contact. But since you are reading this information it means that you were meant to read it, you were led to it. And maybe your Soul Guide led you to it, so that you get back in touch for an update or two."

This really caught my attention, made me feel a little relieved for some reason. You both have me interested in reading something by Dodson. I've had company (a family with young kids) staying with me on and off for the past few weeks, have had time for nothing more than food preparation, driving and entertaining. Once that's over, I'd love to find a book like one of these and spend some down time in a hammock doing nothing but reading.

I'll keep watching this topic to see which book gets the better "reviews."

Update: His books are very highly rated on Amazon, almost all 5 stars (or close to it). That's very interesting and encouraging. I don't see that very often. I'm surprised I haven't heard of him before. And his books are relatively expensive. I'll check my library as well.

[Dandelion]

According to Dodson, it should not be too difficult to recognize one's Soul-Guide, because it is quite possible that one may have known this person in many incarnations and in-between incarnations perhaps for millions of years!

Does Dodson offer any suggestions or exercises to help one connect with one's Soul-Guide?  About 5 years ago (?) before I "discovered" the Seth books, I was reading a book that had a visualization exercise for meeting one's guide.  I don't remember the specifics of how to do it, but I do remember visualizing myself walking on a path through a lightly wooded area.  When I came to a clearing, I saw a campfire in the middle of it with a man standing next to it.  He looked a lot like the painting Rob did of Seth, but of course, I wasn't aware of the similarity at the time.  He looked up at me as I approached and said, "What took you so long."  I don't think that means that Seth is my own personal guide, but it could have been a message from my guide, trying to nudge me in the direction of the Seth material.  At the very least, it might have been a way to establish a preset signal to help me recognize the importance of the Seth material.  I probably could have used a stronger nudge because it still took me a couple of years before I finally discovered Seth. 

I'll keep watching this topic to see which book gets the better "reviews."

After I finish "Intuition Training," I'll try to put together a review for Dodson's "Parallel Universes of Self" as well.  It might take a while though.  I'm generally a slow reader when it comes to these kinds of books, plus I've got some major distractions going on in my life, too.

[Sena]

Does Dodson offer any suggestions or exercises to help one connect with one's Soul-Guide?

Dodson does give an exercise to help one recognize one's "soul mates", but I could not find an exercise specifically to find one's soul-guide. I did skim through parts of the book, but my understanding is that your soul guide will find you when he/she knows that you are ready for an encounter.

He looked up at me as I approached and said, "What took you so long."

It seems pretty clear that this was in fact your soul-guide. You may have taken a few thousand years to recognize him, considering your previous incarnations!

[Sena]

From "Parallel Universes of Self" by Dodson:
"Loosening the concept of 'linear time' also frees the world-self from the rigid belief in the continuity of reality.....actually you are not following linear evolution. Sometimes you experience highs and sometimes you experience lows.....No matter how much you have 'progressed' you can fall back into your worst version anytime. The good news is though: As quick as you fall into something undesired, just as quick can you access your highest version again....Continuity is an illusion. Every passing moment is another chance to turn it all around."

Dodson agrees with Seth that it is possible to change one's past as well as one's future, and he gives an explanation for this: "Once you enter a parallel version of self you might assume you have the same 'past' but you don't. You are on a parallel timeline, with not only a new future but also a new past."

"As you continue to ease your grip on 'linear time' some other side-effects may occur. Things may happen at 'just the right time'."

Dodson suggests this exercise: "Imagine a wise, more expanded, loving and powerful version of yourself in the future (1000 or more years)......identify with this version of you right now. No need to wait a thousand years."

[Dandelion]

I'm glad you're sharing some comments about "Parallel Universes of Self," Sena.  I'll still add some thoughts about it later, but now I feel less pressure to do so.

Here are my notes on Chapters 3 and 4 in "Intuition Training."

C3  How to Discern Truth

Ironically, there were multiple things in this chapter about discerning truth that I either disagreed with or only partially agreed with.  Of course part of the problem may be the way the material is presented and the limitations imposed by the book format.  The writer can't include everything and can't always delve into the material as deeply as a reader might want.  For example, I partially agreed with some of what he said about simplicity.  One quote:  "When you drop over-thinking and micro-controlling, and just trust that life will figure most things out for you, you become calm and life becomes simple."  Sort of true, as far as it goes, but simplicity is more of an ego goal because the ego (which he usually refers to as "mind") is easily overwhelmed.  The inner self (his word for it is "soul") can accept and understand that which is more complex.  Even though he is implying that by saying don't over-think it, just trust life, he doesn't really take the next step of explaining it.

He lists some "Divination and Truth Testing Methods."  (A two-finger muscular response technique, a second muscle testing technique, the pendulum, dice, "ask and let go," Wikipedia & Google searches, an Attention-Immersion exercise, intuiting truth, and receiving answers.

He talks about the difference between perception and judgment.  He covers 3 levels of distortion in the media (filtering of content, distortion created by the viewpoints of the reporters or the organization, and deliberate fabrication).  Quote about filtering and the media's tendency to focus on the negative versus the positive:  "If the proper balance was kept, the audience would be more involved in healing of darkness, rather than becoming desensitized and apathetic by it."  He discusses paranoia versus intuition.  When trying to sense truth intuitively, he says, "Closing the eyes symbolizes not taking what you see as your first point of reference."

C4  Intuitive Consciousness

Levels of consciousness:  1) Animal/Survival/Reactive    2)  Intellectual/Mind/Mechanistic    3)  Spiritual/Higher-Self/Intuitive

"Anything you quietly observe without rigid focus, over-expectation, or a hidden agenda, you intuitively understand to its fullest." 

"Fear is not a problem if you don't act upon it.  You let it subside before you act."

Some interesting stuff about meditating:  He stopped meditating because he was not transferring the bliss to daily life, so he went through a process to transfer that state of being mindful and aware to his life, along with having no resistance to "bad states."  There were some useful tips for those who don't meditate like myself for applying meditative principles to situations.  Trick for emptying the mind:  put attention on empty spaces (between objects/events).  While focusing on something specific, expand awareness to include the empty spaces around.  This can be used for multiple situations like reducing or dissolving pain or coping with situations (like feeling socially awkward).  Equilibrium is the balance between tension (focus) and relaxation (awareness).

Other topics in chapter:  short-term versus long-term (in the context of making decisions). Goals versus path.  Your Inner Critic.  Guilt-tripping.

Interesting exercise for discovering your real passion:  Imagine you already have everything you've ever wanted.  From that position ask yourself, "What would I like to do now?"

Quotes about projecting inner issues outward:  "Whatever is present but suppressed in oneself, is projected onto the external world."  "You see the world as you are."

Another way to look at levels of consciousness:  1) Having  2) Doing  3) Being 
(Note:  later he mentions his book "Levels of Consciousness" which further separates it into a thousand levels.)

[Sena]

He stopped meditating because he was not transferring the bliss to daily life, so he went through a process to transfer that state of being mindful and aware to his life, along with having no resistance to "bad states." 

Yes, Dodson has interesting things to say about meditation. He stresses that it is important to take "time out" from the rush of everyday life. This could be done by meditation (e.g. focusing on your breathing), by contemplating the beauty of nature, by listening to relaxing music etc. I think for Dodson meditation is something that could help you in Reality Creation, whereas for instance in Buddhism meditation is an end in itself.

[Batfan007]

This month the book I borrowed from Amazon's Prime Lending Library was "Intuition Training."  I've read another book by Frederick Dodson (Parallel Universes of Self) which I found interesting but had some reservation about, although I can't seem to find the notes I made to make any specific comments about it.  Based on the "sample" and my current interest in intuition, I decided to give this one a try.  Since his books are so expensive, making it difficult for people to decide whether they're worth buying, I'll share my thoughts as I read it.

One reservation I have is that he tends to create numerical "scales" for things (levels of consciousness, levels of energy) though that may not be a problem in this book.  I don't particularly like books that do that or ones that try to put everything into artificial and arbitrary categories.  Another reservation is his word choices.  I tend to be very conscious of words, how they're defined and how they're used.  Some (like Seth) resonate with me.  Some like this book seem a little off or even jarring at time.  Maybe it's just a personal thing, but it does make it more difficult for me to relate to the message.

Chapter 1  Living From Intuition

Intuition is defined—that instant knowing that occurs before thinking.  Innate or inner knowing.  "Intuition is spontaneous, playful and ego-less.  It tends to fade away under expectations and mind scrutiny."

Separated from instinct which are impulses from the physical body.  Separated from "projection" which is a reaction based on emotions (fears and desires, etc) and beliefs.

Chapter 2  Intervention From Higher Sources

Has lots of stories about intuition mostly from his life and some from other people.  Differentiates between intuition and psychic data.  Psychic information is often darker in content, felt in the forehead, and may come as "thought flashes" rather than feelings.  Intuition is mostly light and joyful, sometimes felt at top of head or in chest.

Various teachers use labels / levels etc as shorthand for their own work. Which is fine with me if they are consistent in what they talk about.
But at the same time, or in parallel if you prefer, each person, each individual maps out their own probabilities and lines of development, and forges new paths where no path existed before, while treading over old established ground, or moving in a spiral of sorts through progressive labels, old ideas, new concepts, a synthesis of symbols to whatever end they envisions.

So the thing is for me at least to be learn from others, but not be limited by their particular visions, revelations, labels, terminology etc.

It's a thing of language, or at least spoken verbalised language and formalised written word to have some kind of lexicon to express to others that which they may intuit more directly if the author/speaker were directly in front of them talking, story telling etc as has been done for most of humanities history before the written word came along and mass printed materials etc.
To communicate ideas, thoughts, feelings and inner experiences seems to be an ongoing challenge to humanity, and when things are communicated poorly, or misinterpreted some go to war over it.

[Dandelion]

To finish up my notes (which got longer than I expected) on "Intuition Training" by Frederick Dodson:

Chapter 5  The Power of Appreciation

About Forgiveness:  The "benefit" of hate is that it gives the ego power.  "People 'juice themselves up' with hard emotions." Dodson shares 2 similar forgiveness techniques a person can use.

Criticism and pain and suffering:  Criticism from others can help you "peel off layers of victim-mentality and transcend smallness."  Pain is emotion or passing energy; suffering is resistance to pain.

No's (resistance) and Yes's (appreciation) are both ways of focusing attention.  "Savoring things increases your well-being."  "What you put your attention to for extended amounts of time, you become an energetic and vibratory match to."

"When you are no longer attached to the outcome of things, you become fearless and free."

"In any scenario of daily life, there are millions of things to notice.  If you always notice the same things, it's because you are always being the same attitude."

There are also various exercises for practicing appreciation throughout this chapter.

On the importance of humor:  "The presence or absence of humor is a measuring stick, by which you can tell the consciousness level of any group, activity, seminar, relationship, etc."  "...lack of humor indicates that someone is fixed in narrow personalities and rigid rules/formulas, rather than connected with the spontaneity of reality in the here and now."

Chapter 6  Higher-Self and Your Life Purpose

Always chose the option that shines the brightest.  If several shine, just choose one.  "Your soul cares more about WHO you are BEING than what job, partner, and/or life you specifically choose (as long as it's a job, partner, and/or life that shines.)"

He talks about 2 main ways to access the Akashic Records/Library, as well as other ways to access information from your Higher-Self.  When getting info, he says, "Initial language-based thoughts are not the answers.  Answers are packs of energy received as feelings, translated into thoughts."

There are several topics related to the World-Self (ego):  the three different types of ego energy, the need to be right, the need to impress others, conforming and non-conforming coming from the same source, and narcissism. 

Some exercises focus on contacting your Higher-Self, such as a week of writing down all signs, omens, coincidences, name-and-number synchronicities, meetings between people, hunches, etc.  Others focus on finding your life's unique purpose—the job you would be willing to do for free, a lifelong interest, or what you would be doing if you could not fail.

There is quite a bit near the end about being fearless, including personal anecdotes.

Summary

Dodson is a life coach which is reflected in the book, making it a blend of conventional thinking/new age beliefs/practical application.  If one has done much reading in these areas, there's not a lot of new stuff in it, but it's a good "refresher course" on some key points and offers another perspective if there are specific areas one is interested in.  The clarity of the writing is fine, in spite of multiple editing errors (mentioned for those who are bothered by such things), so the information is accessible to anyone, including those who are new to it.  There is quite of bit of information available on his website at http://www.realitycreation.org/

For myself, it was worth the time spent reading it.  Although it didn't delve into intuition as deeply as I would have liked, I did get a number of ideas and confirmations of thoughts/beliefs that were of value to me.  I also appreciated the things he said about mediation and about humor.  And here is a final quote that I particularly liked from chapter 6:

"Resistance from outside is merely a wake-up call for you to become better.  If you are already getting better, then no wake-up call, no adversity, is required, and life will seem easy to you."

[JimK]

I bought the 2007 version of Parallel Universes of Self right after it came out. I liked it because his style of writing was pretty direct and straight forward. I have one note stuck in the book about Magic Pills - placeboes for getting whatever you want or want to achieve. Not sure if Magic Pills was his words or an idea I extrapolated from what he said. Unfortunately I didn't put references on the note. I did like the book but didn't follow one with his others.