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"Bí ojú ò bá fọ́, ẹsẹ̀ kìí ṣìnà. " If the eyes do not go blind, feet will not lose the way. In other words, as long as you continue to seek, you will find your way. You may be lost from time to time. But it won't last forever. Just keep looking for the way.
What is the way? It is a metaphor for all of the experiences you must accumulate in order to become fully aligned with your destiny. Which way it best for you? Is it Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism? Is it Santeria, Vodoun, or Candomble? Until you are willing to proclaim your path, you cannot focus upon it. As the Haitians say, a dog has four legs but only walks in one direction. So, you must choose, which is particularly difficult when your identity is not strong. West African drummers will say you have sweet ears when you can play your part very well without other drums playing, but when you hear another drum you start to play their part instead of your own. But once you've internalized your part, you will enjoy the other parts without deviating from yours. It's a fitting analogy for life. Choosing your path and focusing on it actually creates freedom. No longer distracted by the constant flow of external stimulus and internal chatter, you are free to relax more fully into the path before you and how to travel it well. The best part of relaxing into choosing your path is that it helps you to spend more time in a state of mind where almost anything is possible. That is, the more proficient you become at consistently choosing to solve problems and create opportunities according to your true path, the more definitively you will know what you're capable of. This process gradually forms the basis of your Personal Priesthood. Here, I would like to share with you Four Habits of Inner Vision that will help you to focus on the path of your Personal Priesthood:
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In Order to Change Your Life You Must Change Your Thoughts: 3 Golden Keys of Meaningful Change11/18/2015
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A couple of years ago, I stumbled upon a video of Krishnamurti delivering a lecture entitled, "Why Don't You Change?" And while I do not recall much of the lecture itself, the title really challenged me to search for a meaningful answer to that very simple question; Why don't you change? What I have found is that biggest hinderance to personal progress and change is fear of our thoughts and emotions.
The mind is a lot like an iceberg; you only see the tip, which represents the conscious mind. The greater portion of the mind is the unconscious. This is the source of your ideas and motivations. Dreams, for example, come from the unconscious mind. And very much like dreams, you cannot control the unconscious mind. You can learn to interpret it. You can increase your awareness of it. You can learn to anticipate it, too. But the unconscious mind is characterized as a force that transforms you without allowing itself to be changed. Because the unconscious mind is so powerful, your relationship to it has a very significant impact on your ability to change. As a matter of fact, your ability to engage your unconscious mind may very well be the most important gateway to complete transformation. Here. I am going to share with you Three Golden Keys of Meaningful Change. With these Golden Keys, you can unlock the limitless potential hidden in your unconscious mind:
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Ogbe look back
All eyes on earth cannot replace ones own All ones biological children cannot predict ones thoughts Both men and women cannot be in love to the extent of knowing where their bodies itch Cast divination for Stand Up and Do Not Take Too Long Before You Return Home Maybe a visitor has come home Quickly stand up and look back If you send someone home in your place Part of your message will be lost or exaggerated Ogbe you better look back, maybe a visitor is at home Ogbe quickly go and look back Do not doubt the secrets of the mystery Do not ever say: Is it not only Ifa at home? Ogbe go back home - Holy Odu OgbeIwori I was taught that progress means never going back to ideas, places and people once I had "moved on." Not that anybody ever had to say it explicitly; fashion, music and computer technology all reinforce the idea that what happened yesterday is no longer useful. And so, we have become a disposable culture that seems to think that the only way to note forward is to throw something away. No wonder we make up only 5% of the world's population but consume more that half of the world's resources and generate more than half of the world's waste! Our addiction to superficial change is killing us. We rearrange our furniture, change our wardrobe and our profile picture and call that change. But the journey is incomplete until you return home. That is, it's not until you are willing to face yourself - your beliefs, your mental habits, your weaknesses and your strengths - and truly evaluate the ways in which you have helped to create your reality, you will blame other people or circumstances for your problems. This only empowers external forces, while disempowering yourself. So, until you are willing to return "home" to the source of your beliefs and behaviors, you'll be doomed to repeating the same mistakes again and again. Here are four habits of self examination that will facilitate real change in your life. They're pretty simple, but very powerful. I want you to try them all within 24 hours and let me know what you experienced:
Your belief system plays a pivotal role in how you view and live your life. Ultimately, your sense of reality is largely the result of your beliefs because they act as the lens through which you interpret the world. So, when Ifa says "Ogbe look back/All eyes on earth cannot replace ones own," it is affirmation that your ability to grow, to change and ultimately be happy all depend upon your ability to look at yourself honestly. Learn more in the 16 Essential Traits of Personal Priesthood.
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If they move shabbily
And look like a poor person in the community They will be looked upon with disdain People will spread and raggedy mat for them to sit on And offer them water in a useless container These were Ifa's declarations to Olomo-Mimi When going on a spiritual mission to Iwere land He was advised to offer sacrifice He complied The way you appeared was the way you were treated - Holy Odu OseOgbe Pay close attention to the image you project. Be sure that it's consistent with your spirit and that it supports your purpose. Are you hiding your true identity just to be accepted? Too many people misrepresent themselves and then get offended when called upon to deliver on their promise. If you say you can cook and show up looking like a chef, then you had better cook and not make excuses for why you're not cooking. The irony is that school actually obstructs your ability to project an accurate self image. Because Western education is so shallow, broad and abstract, you seldom come into contact with anything you study. And so, school is a world of ideas that never challenge you to test their validity in real life. The longer and deeper you get into school, the more likely it is that you will have a very weak self image. And so it is that educated people seem the most confused and are constantly sending mixed messages. School muffles identity. The good news is that you can rescue your identity and start to be a more consistent contributor to your life and the lives of the people who matter most. Here are three practices that promote a stronger self image:
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![]() "Ọgbọ́n ju agbára lọ." Wisdom is better than strength. It is better than beauty. But strength and beauty can be gateways to great wisdom. The wisdom of strength is prudence, because the strong man who practices prudence will be an agent of justice. The wisdom of beauty is honor because the beautiful woman who practices honor will inspire universal improvement. The experiences you accumulate in relation to strength and beauty inform your understanding of life and how to navigate it well. And so, you will cultivate wisdom to govern the world well. Live the medicine.
Purpose is not a singular block of matter that you put into your pocket or hang on the wall. It's more like a realm of consciousness and action that has many layers. At every layer of consciousness and action, you will find different aspects of purpose. All of these layers and activities emanate from a definitive core, which we can liken to the heart. Here is the deep teaching, however: You must live FULLY at every layer. Once you have penetrated that layer, mastered it or been mastered BY it, you allow it to fall off and die.
In the journey of life, you must prepare yourself to go from being an expert to a novice and repeat that process again and again. Remember elementary school? You finally reached 6th grade and achieved super star status. But it only lasted one year. Then, you were thrust into middle school and reduced to dust... Just like that! The same thing happened when you graduated middle school, and again when you graduated high school and then again when you graduated college. If you're committed to a meaningful life, this pattern of expansion, climax and dissolution will continue endlessly. As you maintain your commitment to living the medicine that will heal your life and heal the lives of the people you're destined to serve, you will be drawn irresistibly into deeper and deeper layers of your purpose. Sounds cool, right? So why isn't everybody living the medicine? Because it HURTS like hell. The layers of consciousness and activity that I mentioned before are fond memories and loving encounters with great people in wonderful place. As they fall away and die, you will definitely feel hurt and varying degrees of loss. Most people stop there and settle into mediocrity. Don't let it happen to you! Here are three practices that will help you experience how penetrating the layers of purpose is pleasurable:
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A man without purpose and direction is like a ship lost at sea. Stated another way, until you define what you live for, your presence will remain shallow and weak. Your purpose is what sets the theme and creates coherence in your life and the lives of the people you are destined to serve. What you eat, how you entertain yourself, who you marry and how you name your children are not only influenced, but actually dictated by your purpose.
Of course, knowing your purpose is just the beginning. Then, you have to practice enough discipline, patience and devotion to support your deepest desire and minimize distractions. It can be challenging to balance these impulses - discipline, patience and devotion - but that's exactly how the journey transforms you into a king without compromise. Gradually, experience teaches you the value of your purpose, as well as the absolute necessity for you to pursue it relentlessly. If you're like most men today, you've been educated and socialized to believe that your intensity is uncivilized. Like a rooster in the city, there are actually laws that restrict your ability to raise your voice to signal the new day. You've probably accepted the idea that you have no choice, but to surrender your masculinity in order to be responsible and socially acceptable. I want you to know that this is not entirely true. More precisely, it is important that you get very clear that you do not have to reduce your masculine intensity just to please other people, including the people you're destined to serve. In fact, the moment you compromise your kingship in this way, your wife, children, students, coworkers and community members will actually dismiss you as an eligible leader. If you are not hyper-sensitive and equally responsive, they will unconsciously undermine your authority at every turn. Herein we discover the deep significance of Personal Priesthood. Gentlemen, Personal Priesthood helps you overcome the conditioned thinking that makes you seek fulfillment through gaining the approval of your wife, your work or your community. Instead, Personal Priesthood is a practice through which you EXIST in a perpetual state of fulfillment, independent from how other people feel, think or respond. This is only possible because you are 100% aligned with Ori. Ori is your identity and identity is destiny. And so, Personal Priesthood is the practice through which your work, marriage and friendship are transformed into opportunities to share your natural gifts and talents in order to bring about the Good Condition. Let us consider what Ifa teaches in the Holy Odu OgbeOwonrin: It is one’s house that one should arrange well It is one’s way that one should tread The way that one has never taken may make one to feel strange Cast divination for Seseese ko lori yin, Offspring of Agbonniregun I will be praised for wealth Hundreds are the leaves of ereyin I will definitely have the Orí of praise Hundreds are the leaves of ereyin I will be praised for my wives Hundreds are the leaves of ereyin I will definitely have the Orí of praise Hundreds are the leaves of ereyin I will be praised for my children Hundreds are the leaves of ereyin I will definitely have the Orí of praise Hundreds are the leaves of ereyin I will be praised for all good things on earth Hundreds are the leaves of ereyin I will definitely have the Orí of praise Hundreds are the leaves of ereyin - Holy Odu OgbeOwonrin Learn more about Personal Priesthood in my course, 16 Essential Traits of Personal Priesthood.
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"Ìtàkùn tó ní kérin má wọ odò, t'òun terin ní wọ́n máa jọ lọ. " A creeper that obstructs the elephant will find itself in the stream as well. This is consistent with Newton's first law of physics, which says that a body in motion will stay in motion until force is exerted against it.
Ori is, by definition, a body in motion. Allow yourself to fall, effortlessly in perpetual motion. Let nothing obstruct or derail you. Ori is the stalwart. It cannot be denied, compromised or diluted. Ori is your identity! Be true to yourself in all things. You will be fulfilled and victorious. In the 16 Essential Traits of Personal Priesthood, you will learn to internalize the principles and practices that strengthen your connection to Ori consciousness. Sign up for 16 FREE lessons and find out more today!
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That today is unlike yesterday and tomorrow will be unlike today is what causes the Babalawo to consult Ifá every four days. Most of our fears and anxieties are tied up in the future. We worry about our children, our spouses, our jobs and our own health to the point that we sometimes run the risk of becoming paralyzed by fear. Every thought can turn into a downward spiral into doom and gloom once fear takes root. You will find yourself trapped in the same circular argument for years when fear has gained control. When you're fearful, you will go to great lengths to avoid what seems like inevitable pain.
Personal Priesthood shows you the way out by enabling you to spend less time worrying about the future and devote more energy to actually creating it. Creating the future is a three-fold practice:
Learn more about Personal Priesthood in my online course, 16 Essential Traits of Personal Priesthood. Live the Medicine!
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Live the MedicineObafemi Origunwa, MAThought leader, Ifa priest and author of four definitive books, Obafemi Origunwa inspires metamorphosis through living the medicine that will heal your life and heal the lives of the people you're destined to serve. ![]() Raise Awareness
![]() Internalize Principles
![]() Embody Truth
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