0:00

Hey, it's me, your coach, your

0:02

host and friend, Paul Shepard. And

0:04

thank you so much for joining me

0:06

on the Ultimate Mindset Change podcast. It

0:09

truly means a lot.

0:11

And I'm excited, very excited

0:13

for this interview today

0:15

because isn't the world a mysterious

0:17

and wonderful place? And

0:20

have you ever wondered where you

0:22

came from before you were born? Have

0:25

you ever sensed that there's something

0:27

beyond this reality and that there's

0:29

something that whispers to you that

0:31

you are part of something much

0:33

greater than you currently can see? Well,

0:36

today's guest, author Stephen Daniel,

0:39

has some fascinating answers for

0:41

you. Because since childhood, Stephen

0:44

has been experiencing different realms

0:46

of the spiritual world and he's

0:48

gathered his profound insights into

0:50

an incredible book called Brighter Realms.

0:53

So if you've ever been curious about

0:55

spiritual dimensions and how they could

0:57

transform your understanding of life, then

1:00

this episode is perfect

1:02

for you. So let's dive

1:04

right in. Welcome, Stephen. Hi,

1:07

Paul. Pleasure to be here. Thank

1:09

you. Thank you so much.

1:11

It's great to connect with you.

1:14

I've been looking forward to

1:16

this interview because I really do

1:18

believe it's a subject which

1:20

can be quite life -transforming when

1:22

you hear other

1:24

people's experiences of

1:27

awakening and the

1:29

spiritual world. So

1:31

I thought that we would dive right in with

1:33

one of those meaning of life questions. Why

1:36

do you believe we're here?

1:39

And what is going on? What is

1:41

all this really about? Well,

1:45

I think that we all sense

1:47

that we are a part of

1:49

something much bigger than ourselves. We

1:51

look into a mirror, we see

1:53

our physical identity, we recognize

1:55

our personality, ego,

1:57

our vast intellect, the

2:00

ways that we interpret

2:02

our world are through the

2:04

experience of being physical. And

2:07

yet we also sense that

2:09

there is another part of

2:12

us that is not as

2:14

distinguishable. It's a characteristic

2:16

or feature of us that tunes

2:18

us into the subtleties of

2:20

our world and enables

2:23

us to feel and see

2:25

with our essence. Or

2:27

rather, I should say, our essence is

2:29

that part of us. I call it

2:32

the essence. It's just a label. It's

2:34

a name that I give it. We

2:36

have many different names that

2:38

we use to identify with what

2:41

spirituality means, about who we

2:43

are, where we come from. and

2:45

how we can

2:48

experience this larger

2:50

realm that we sense. I

2:53

call it our larger identity and

2:55

our connection to other worlds, the worlds

2:57

that we come from before life

2:59

and return to someday. So

3:02

to answer your question in a very

3:04

roundabout way, and I think that we'll talk

3:06

more in depth about this, we're

3:08

here to have experiences and to learn

3:10

and to grow. and to

3:13

unite with that larger

3:15

identity that I call our higher self.

3:17

So as an essence, we are an

3:20

extension of our higher self, and our

3:22

higher self is what I might term

3:24

the core essence. And

3:26

we have split off from

3:28

this aspect of us to

3:30

experience other environments or rather

3:32

multiple environments, because while we're

3:35

here, we're still interfacing with

3:37

non -physical worlds, for example, when

3:39

we dream. when we

3:41

may have a vision

3:43

or an insight and intuition.

3:46

Insight and intuition and

3:48

creativity are clear signs

3:50

that we are gathering

3:52

resources from our non -physical

3:55

origin, from our higher

3:57

self, our energetic family

3:59

in non -physical worlds, the

4:01

worlds as I say that we came

4:03

from and returned to someday. And

4:05

here we are in physicality trying to

4:07

figure out what it all means. Why

4:10

are we here? What's the point? So

4:13

for myself, I'll give you

4:15

a little bit of history. I think

4:17

it's appropriate at this moment. I

4:20

had unusual experiences

4:22

as a child

4:25

and they continued throughout my adulthood

4:27

to this day out of body

4:29

experiences. But for many years, the

4:31

experiences seemed so trivial to me

4:33

because they were so common and

4:35

I really didn't understand them in

4:37

my world. My parents, people around

4:40

me, would look through me if

4:42

I dared to open up on

4:44

these subjects. They would stare through

4:46

me with blank looks on their face. So

4:49

I felt alone. I felt

4:51

unsure what this meant. And

4:53

I put it aside

4:55

to degree throughout

4:57

my life. But really

4:59

in my childhood, there was an event

5:02

that happened, and it was a TV

5:04

commercial. And it showed an

5:06

animated form. rising above

5:08

their bed, and

5:10

the walls dissolved, and suddenly

5:12

this animated form takes off

5:14

into other realms. And

5:16

you hear this wonderful, linen -red

5:19

grave -like voice, soothing female

5:21

voice saying, if you've ever

5:23

had experiences where you were flying

5:25

during your dreams, then you're

5:27

not alone. And at

5:29

that moment, I understood, wow,

5:31

other people experience this. I'm

5:33

not alone. I felt this

5:36

sense of camaraderie with other

5:38

humans and I was a

5:40

part of something much bigger.

5:42

This was the first indication

5:44

that I was not alone, that there

5:46

were other people that were aware of

5:48

what I was experiencing. And these

5:50

were the first television commercials for

5:52

transcendental meditation. The end

5:54

of the commercial ended with the

5:56

letters TM for transcendental meditation. And

5:59

that always stayed with

6:01

me. Into

6:03

my 20s, I began

6:06

learning meditation techniques, and

6:08

through meditation, I was

6:11

able to sort of

6:13

re -establish some of this

6:15

awareness of what was

6:17

transpiring in non -physical worlds

6:19

and why I was interfacing

6:21

with them. Yet, I

6:23

was still very uncertain what it

6:25

all meant. I wasn't able to

6:27

put it together in a cohesive

6:29

whole understanding for myself. And

6:32

then in my

6:34

early 30s, I began

6:37

to explore different belief

6:39

systems, and I went

6:41

through a tremendous study

6:43

of different systems, and I found

6:45

that they all had a relative

6:47

theme that connected them

6:49

to specific values

6:51

of support and

6:53

caring and a

6:56

unification

6:58

of communities.

7:01

and bringing people together to

7:03

explore and experience who

7:05

they are beyond their physical

7:07

self. And I understood

7:09

that many different belief systems

7:11

were a way to

7:13

bridge the physical world with

7:15

non -physical worlds to create

7:17

a cohesive understanding of

7:19

our relationship to our life and

7:21

to worlds beyond us. But

7:23

there was still a missing ingredient

7:26

because I also observed that

7:28

these same belief systems could have

7:31

fragmentary effects in our society. People

7:34

of different beliefs didn't identify

7:36

with each other. We

7:38

saw our differences rather than

7:41

our similarities. And what

7:43

makes us similar is our capacity

7:45

for empathy, compassion, and love. Our

7:47

capacity to be intuitive, to

7:49

be insightful, to be

7:51

creative. And this is something

7:54

that we all share in common, no

7:56

matter who we are, where we come from. a

7:58

father and mother loves their

8:01

child here just

8:03

as they do there. There

8:05

are many more similarities that

8:07

unite us and yet our

8:09

world has, to various degrees,

8:11

become fragmented. Me

8:15

from you, black from white, my belief from your

8:17

belief, and on and on, this fragmentation

8:19

forms a function that divides us

8:21

from the undivided wholeness of

8:23

ourselves. So what I was

8:26

learning through my experiences was

8:28

connection. And something that

8:30

you shared with me before

8:32

we began this discussion today was

8:34

your experience with connection. And

8:36

I think that we all, or I

8:38

should say many of us, I

8:41

would like to think that we all,

8:43

but many of us certainly have

8:45

this sense of connection to a larger

8:47

whole. And that is what I

8:49

write about in the book. That's what

8:51

I'm trying to explore in these

8:53

conversations with you is that

8:55

sense of connection and wonder and

8:58

the experience of

9:00

unification that brings us

9:02

into a sense

9:04

of balance, a balanced

9:06

mindset, and a self -awareness that

9:08

we are more than our

9:10

body, that we are more

9:12

than the parts that we perceive

9:15

in this world. And

9:17

through that, we find great

9:19

satisfaction and fulfillment. We

9:21

do. We do. And I want

9:23

to go back with you because there's

9:25

a lot to unpack. in

9:27

regards to what you've experienced, and you're

9:29

right. You know, I just touch

9:31

upon what you said at the end. You

9:34

know, connection is everything,

9:36

you know, about not

9:38

just in regards to

9:40

the people around us, but our

9:42

connection with ourselves and who we

9:44

truly are, what we truly are, to

9:47

see beyond the ego and

9:49

the stories and the

9:51

beliefs that, as you mentioned

9:53

earlier, form an artificial

9:55

form of reality. Which

9:57

is i believe is a right

9:59

of passage for us to

10:02

beautifully begin to break

10:04

through and to recognize the

10:06

truth not anyone else's truth

10:08

but our own truth and

10:10

that's you know it's so

10:12

great to have this conversation

10:14

with you. Go back to

10:16

young steven who's a

10:18

boy and. He's

10:21

experiencing something quite profound and i can

10:23

relate to some of the experiences

10:25

you've talked about in your book but

10:27

what was that first experience you talked

10:29

about the tv and the animation. What

10:32

was what was happening for you. Dreams

10:36

i would have a

10:38

during during my early years

10:40

a recurring dream and it

10:42

would seem to reoccur very often and

10:44

i would be walking on a path. through

10:47

a forest and I would come to a

10:49

little footbridge and I would cross the bridge

10:51

and I would come to a house made of

10:54

screens and I

10:57

would take off a pair of wooden

10:59

sandals and place them to the

11:01

right and I would step up to

11:03

the left and Here was a

11:05

door in front of me, but in

11:07

my childhood I never entered the

11:09

door and the door was a threshold

11:11

that I could not see past

11:13

and The dream

11:16

happened with such frequency

11:18

and duration that it was

11:20

a very central part of

11:22

my young self. And

11:24

yet I had no recognition

11:26

of what it meant. I could

11:28

not identify with anything about

11:30

the dream from my physical world,

11:32

from my life with my

11:34

family, from the books I read,

11:36

the teachers in school. Nobody

11:38

could give me any clues

11:40

about how to investigate that dream

11:42

further. consider what

11:44

it might mean. And it

11:47

was only in later years that

11:49

I began to see the dream

11:51

as a, you know, and as

11:53

I began to explore it,

11:55

I began to try to assign

11:57

an origin to the dream.

11:59

Did I see it in a TV

12:01

show? Did I read about it in a

12:03

book? Was there a movie that I

12:05

saw that gave me

12:07

some psychological

12:11

imprint that I was then

12:13

returning to that memory. But

12:16

it only began to make

12:18

sense when I began as I

12:20

explored the dream as a past

12:22

life memory. And

12:24

this didn't happen until years later,

12:26

you know, we talked about

12:28

how we have experiences, transcendental

12:31

experiences and we may not understand

12:33

their meaning and that's okay. It's

12:35

best not to try to interpret

12:37

them through our vast intellect. You

12:40

know, it's better to allow

12:42

us to, in fact, accept the

12:45

dream or accept the

12:47

circumstance and try to tune

12:49

into the feeling around it

12:51

and then let go because that

12:53

enables our essence to connect

12:55

with our energy system, our higher self

12:57

with other worlds. And then later

12:59

we may find a unique awareness

13:01

we didn't have before. And

13:04

so the dream was a

13:06

past life that I experienced.

13:09

And during that period,

13:11

I was a soldier. And

13:14

I was

13:16

involved with two people, my

13:18

wife and a child. And

13:21

it was not a happy time for me. And

13:24

it was a very, very difficult

13:26

and painful experience. So it was

13:29

understandable why I could not see

13:31

past that door. And

13:33

only in later years did I, as

13:35

I began to investigate and look

13:37

more closely at the dream, one day

13:39

the door was open. I

13:41

didn't open it, it was

13:43

just inexplicably open and it was

13:45

inviting me to enter. I

13:48

had a choice. I

13:50

could avoid entering that world

13:52

and continue on my life and

13:54

things would have been fine, but there

13:56

was an underlying current of pain

13:58

within me. from lifetime

14:00

that I had yet

14:02

to rectify, to deal with.

14:05

And so by not entering the door,

14:07

I would have continued to hold

14:10

on to my attachment to the pattern

14:12

of sadness and pain

14:14

and trauma, really,

14:17

from the experience of that period

14:19

in my life. And

14:21

the trauma was not something

14:23

that I was introduced by my

14:25

wife and child. But it

14:27

was introduced by the situation

14:30

that I was in with

14:32

war. I was a soldier

14:34

and involved in various campaigns.

14:37

And war is a very traumatizing thing.

14:40

And I brought that pain

14:42

home to my wife and

14:44

child. So they experienced

14:46

my trauma inadvertently from the

14:48

experiences. But I'm talking

14:51

about an extreme circumstance here. There

14:53

are many other lighter circumstances. that

14:55

I can associate from my early

14:57

life. And that's just

14:59

one of them. I don't

15:01

know that we need to go

15:03

down that path right now. But

15:05

it's interesting to see what you've experienced

15:08

and what is, you know, these

15:10

are like a powerful dream. What

15:12

led you to not see it

15:14

as a dream, but to begin

15:16

to explore that it could be something

15:18

else like a past life? It

15:21

was an awareness

15:23

that came through

15:25

years of curiosity

15:27

and a desire to

15:30

know myself. And

15:32

it really was an

15:34

intention that I set

15:36

at some point in my life. And

15:38

then through meditation

15:40

and through just an

15:42

interest and curiosity

15:44

in the subject, I

15:47

began to acquire

15:49

insights. and an awareness, and

15:52

this came to me

15:54

in the form of information

15:56

that I was

15:58

able to access by tuning into

16:00

my essence. That part

16:03

of me that is a bridge

16:05

to my non -physical origin. And,

16:07

you know, Can let me ask, can I

16:09

just ask a question is in regards to,

16:12

you know, it's absolutely fascinating. If

16:16

there's no such thing as linear time, Do

16:20

you think that you

16:22

are accessing not a

16:24

past life, but

16:26

a life that's happening

16:28

currently and you're

16:30

able to connect with that? In

16:33

other words, so it's not like a, I

16:35

don't know what year was this

16:37

for you in regards to the

16:39

past life experience, but do you

16:42

think it's happening, it's like still

16:44

happening at the same time? There's

16:46

no linear time but you're

16:49

able to access your experience

16:51

well that's very interesting idea

16:53

because yes in fact we

16:55

are in a linear world

16:57

where we perceive space and time. As

17:00

constructs of the environment and

17:02

we have to follow these

17:04

rules and yet there's another

17:06

part of us that's plugged

17:08

into this timeless aspect this

17:10

timeless awareness so that by. having

17:13

the experiences from a

17:15

previous lifetime that occurred hundreds

17:17

of years ago and not

17:19

having fully rectified

17:21

and severed from those

17:24

experiences because they didn't serve

17:26

me the trauma didn't serve me

17:28

in the pain from that period didn't

17:30

serve me certainly there were lighter

17:32

aspects of those experiences that stayed with

17:34

me and that was my essence

17:36

okay so the essence is timeless it

17:38

remains outside of that trauma outside

17:41

of that conflict and yet By

17:43

having those ties to that previous

17:45

lifetime, I was maintaining

17:47

and continuing with

17:49

the pattern in my

17:51

present lifetime. So

17:53

yes, the past was

17:55

innately connected via

17:57

these links that were

17:59

unsevered. And that by

18:01

becoming aware of the past, I was

18:03

then able to make a conscious

18:05

decision to sever ties. And now I'm

18:08

left with the memory of the

18:10

past. and yet the trauma

18:12

and the experience there I

18:14

was able to sever from and

18:16

I've opened a new chapter

18:18

and new pathways yet fantastically the

18:20

memory is still there and

18:22

the memory is still there

18:24

it will never go away

18:26

and that's fine because I'm no

18:28

longer attached to the experiences in

18:30

that memory that had a negative

18:32

or detrimental effect on me and

18:35

what's fascinating about this is as

18:37

you were saying Because that

18:39

lifetime existed and because

18:41

the experiences existed there, I

18:44

can still go back there and take

18:46

a look around. I can

18:48

still connect to those

18:50

experiences. If I want

18:52

to, if I need to, but frankly, I don't

18:54

really need to, there's nothing there left for

18:56

me. I've kind of earned the value

18:58

from those experiences. And

19:01

I've taken what is useful and

19:03

what is important for me to

19:05

move into to be present and

19:07

move into the future, and

19:09

yet the past still has a

19:11

role in who I've become and

19:13

where I'm going. Yeah,

19:15

I'm looking at this as in

19:18

regards to, in a sense,

19:20

if you hadn't experienced that past

19:22

life, the way

19:24

that it was, then would

19:26

you have had an awakening as

19:28

Steve and Daniel? Well,

19:30

I think that a

19:34

very good question. The past

19:36

life memory, as

19:38

it was, has made me who I am.

19:40

Certainly, that past life has made me who

19:42

I am. We all

19:44

come from some place.

19:47

We've all been a part of something. Nobody

19:50

escapes the reality.

19:53

As you were saying, do you

19:56

feel that you're living the past

19:58

in the present well we don't become

20:00

anything because we already are yet we

20:02

always create now that didn't come from

20:04

me that came from my mentor and when

20:06

he said that to me years

20:08

ago thirty years ago it gave me

20:10

this tremendous insight and it's what we

20:12

create that demands our attention and

20:15

responsibility and therefore that past life. I

20:17

had a choice of whether or

20:19

not to enter that door and I

20:21

could have kept the door closed

20:23

or I could have closed the door

20:25

and walked away from it. But

20:27

in fact, there was still some lingering

20:29

loose ends back there. For me,

20:32

in this case, and by going through

20:34

that door and learning about the

20:36

experiences that I created in that environment,

20:38

I was able to effectively then

20:40

decide to sever from

20:43

them, close the door and open

20:45

a new chapter. And here I

20:47

am. But indeed, it's

20:49

It's being responsible. Being

20:52

responsible for ourself means tuning

20:54

in, paying attention to where

20:56

we came from. That

20:58

doesn't mean we need to go

21:00

create circumstances that are going to

21:02

leave a tremendous imprint on our

21:05

being and therefore we're going to

21:07

have to resolve them and we

21:09

tend to do that anyway because

21:11

we're human. But in

21:13

my case, it was a

21:15

great sense of satisfaction to eventually

21:17

be able to close that

21:20

door once and for all. But

21:22

this was a stage. The

21:24

way that I view these circumstances,

21:27

our experiences and other lifetimes are

21:29

our present, my experience with you.

21:32

This is a stage and

21:34

this stage has been created

21:36

by a

21:38

vast intelligence and

21:40

organization of my

21:42

energetic system and specifically

21:44

my higher self. My

21:46

higher self as I see it sets

21:48

the stage for me, the actor

21:51

to play my part. And

21:53

here we are, actors on

21:55

a vast creative stage, playing our

21:57

parts, you know, and having

21:59

our experiences. And when we

22:01

have loose ends like that, like

22:03

a past life, it can be

22:05

important for us to not

22:07

to dwell in the past, not to

22:10

go there and relive it for the

22:12

rest of our life, but to go

22:14

back there just enough to see what's

22:16

necessary to perhaps close the door

22:18

and move on. I

22:20

love and I do a lot

22:22

of trauma work and it's interesting

22:24

that trauma ceases to be trauma

22:27

just by a change of perception with it. Interesting.

22:31

Yeah it's interesting to

22:33

see people change their

22:35

perspective of what they've experienced and you

22:37

know you have to be gentle with

22:39

this but when a person realizes that

22:41

it was happening for them not to

22:43

them and again just like what you

22:45

went through um with

22:47

your past life memory i can't

22:49

help but think it was

22:51

happening for you as dark

22:53

as it was because it was

22:55

also part of a larger picture

22:57

that seemed to be extending beyond

23:00

what we would call space and

23:02

time to another life where steven

23:04

daniel was relating to that experience

23:06

so he could awaken you know

23:08

and it's you know you often

23:11

wonder how big exactly. It's exactly

23:13

true. Paul,

23:17

it's endless, right? I

23:20

mean, we have such

23:22

a limited view, look in

23:24

a mirror, and we have such a limited view

23:26

of our larger identity, who we are, where

23:28

we've come from. And yet, as

23:31

we begin to pull back the

23:33

layers, we discover it's a

23:35

infinite Pandora's box of discovery. That's

23:38

the thing, isn't it? I know. It's

23:40

from awakening is that I am

23:42

you. You are me. We're

23:45

one. And but your

23:47

experiences appear to be separate. That's

23:49

the that's the beauty of

23:51

this. And that's what makes this

23:53

quite the adventure. That's why

23:55

we can do the actors on

23:57

the stage side of things

23:59

because of the illusion of

24:01

separation. And that's

24:03

it's fascinating, isn't it? Absolutely.

24:06

It is fascinating and.

24:08

That's part of our experience,

24:10

part of what our

24:12

agreement was to come here,

24:14

to experience this individuality, this

24:17

appearance of separation in

24:19

a sense. Look,

24:22

could it be an illusion,

24:24

certainly, but it's an illusion

24:26

that has enormous intrinsic value.

24:28

But in fact, it really is reality,

24:30

and it's a reality that has

24:33

enormous intrinsic value because we are

24:35

grounded in this environment, And

24:37

by learning to put a foot

24:39

into both worlds, the physical

24:41

and the non -physical world, we

24:43

are gaining a balanced perspective of

24:46

who we are as energetic

24:48

beings in a physical body. And

24:51

so the goal, for example,

24:53

of the book is to offer

24:55

insights. And I think the

24:57

goal of this discussion is to

24:59

offer insights about the meaning of

25:01

having a foot in both worlds

25:03

and acquiring a balanced perspective.

25:06

Yeah. Let's have a look at

25:08

that for a moment about the, you know, struggling

25:10

two worlds. Before

25:12

we press record, you're telling

25:14

me a story about

25:16

the LA fires, which I

25:19

think, in a way, encapsulates,

25:21

I mean, what's, you know, what

25:23

is the purpose of being able

25:25

to be spiritual? How could it

25:27

really benefit us for someone who

25:29

believes that they're a separate individual,

25:32

you know, physical human being? Can

25:35

you describe the story that

25:37

you were telling me and what

25:39

happened for you because of

25:41

your spirituality? Of course.

25:45

A few weeks ago we experienced

25:47

a fire event in Los

25:49

Angeles that affected multiple communities.

25:52

My brother and friends of mine,

25:54

many people I know in

25:56

the Pacific Palisades lost their homes.

25:58

It was a tragedy on

26:01

an unprecedented scale. And

26:03

as the events were unfolding, my

26:06

partner and I

26:08

noticed near our home, less than

26:10

a mile away, we saw

26:13

smoke rising as tall as a

26:15

20 -story building. And

26:17

the first thought is, oh

26:20

my god, it's happening here,

26:22

and we could be overrun

26:24

by flames within the hour. And

26:27

what do we do next?

26:30

A feeling of fight

26:32

or flight enters your body

26:34

because that is a normal

26:36

human response to a. A

26:39

situation on this scale you're seeing

26:41

it you're seeing it unfold

26:43

around you and you know that

26:45

you are in the cross

26:47

here but then you make a

26:50

choice you either remain in that

26:52

panic state. or you accept

26:54

the circumstances that you're in. And

26:56

as I was saying to you earlier, a

26:58

friend of mine commented that my acceptance was an

27:00

act of surrender. And by

27:02

surrendering or by accepting those

27:04

circumstances, I was tuning into a

27:07

deeper part of myself that

27:09

remains outside of the conflict, what

27:11

I call my essence. And

27:13

by tuning in there,

27:15

I was able to connect

27:17

to immense and valuable resources

27:19

from my energy system.

27:21

from my non -physical

27:23

identity, my higher self

27:26

from the non -physical. And

27:28

this provided with me with

27:30

a tremendous sense of peace

27:32

and calm. And within

27:34

a few minutes, I

27:36

was in this state of

27:38

measured peace and calm

27:40

and organizing how to get

27:43

out of the situation

27:45

quickly. And

27:48

she did the same thing she was tuned

27:50

in tuned in with me and we

27:52

were just both on the same page and

27:54

We assessed our situation and we

27:56

decided that we had enough

27:58

time to rent a van And we

28:00

we booked it picked it up

28:02

brought it back to the

28:05

house very quickly and we had

28:07

it ready to load and As

28:09

it turned out the wind was pushing

28:12

the flames away from us. We had

28:14

a stroke of good luck So

28:17

we didn't have to leave our house

28:19

Yeah, I know that why I

28:21

want to do to tell that story

28:23

was again, it's because Sometimes people

28:25

think that the spiritual world and belief

28:27

systems can be a bit frivolous

28:30

In regards to they don't really

28:32

often sometimes translate into real

28:34

-world experience And I think

28:36

what you know just listen

28:38

to your story it really

28:40

does show the power of being

28:42

able to access

28:44

your higher self and

28:47

experience the full benefits of

28:49

that you know paul it's

28:51

remarkable to me. How

28:53

many people i've met

28:55

who have access to

28:57

these resources unknowingly they're

28:59

accessing this ability to

29:02

become peaceful in the face of

29:04

challenge to become resourceful to

29:06

tune in to be connected and

29:08

likewise many people who i've

29:10

met along during my life. who

29:12

do not have this access

29:14

and i'll give you an example

29:16

i had a business partner

29:18

and we were buying and selling

29:21

trucks and i invested in

29:23

his company and we actually formed

29:25

a company together but after a

29:27

year of working with him

29:29

i discovered fraud i discovered that

29:31

he was embezzling the earnings

29:33

from the company and they were

29:35

just disappearing and i had to

29:37

confront him and one

29:40

morning i found him In

29:42

an apartment i had investigated him

29:44

for three days he disappeared

29:47

basically when i pressed him. For

29:49

questions about the business found

29:51

his probation officer another state

29:53

i did this whole investigation

29:56

and found an apartment i confronted

29:58

him. And he

30:00

said okay let's go to the bank you know

30:03

he had no way out and i went

30:05

out in the car and i was waiting for

30:07

him to come out to the car he

30:09

was getting dressed and. His roommate

30:11

had left the house

30:13

three or four minutes earlier with

30:15

something wrapped in a blanket, put

30:18

it in his trunk in a towel, put it

30:20

into the trunk of a car, silver sedan,

30:22

and drove away. And three

30:24

or four minutes later, my partner

30:26

comes out and he's panicked. And

30:28

I've never seen him behave this way.

30:30

This guy was always cool as a

30:32

cucumber. collected, he could look in

30:35

your face and deceive you. And

30:37

in this moment, he had utter panic

30:39

in his eyes. I'd never witnessed this before.

30:41

And he had a note in his

30:43

hand. And it was a suicide note left

30:45

by his roommate on the front door. And

30:48

the roommate was going to

30:50

the church to commit suicide. And

30:53

I had met the roommate earlier

30:56

that morning. He let me in, showed

30:58

me the door. to his

31:00

to his roommate who

31:02

is my partner and he

31:04

was in a panic and

31:06

he would not calm down he

31:08

didn't know what to do

31:10

and i said to him get

31:13

in the car and we went

31:15

off and tried to find the

31:17

roommate before he got to the church

31:19

and i drove wildly and i'm

31:21

driving through rush hour traffic in the

31:23

morning in los angeles And

31:25

I hit a line of cars, and it was like

31:28

that feeling of a bad dream. You're trying

31:30

to get somewhere very quickly, but you're moving

31:32

in slow motion. So

31:34

within 15 minutes, we had

31:36

caught up to the

31:38

roommate on the freeway. And

31:40

what am I going to do? How am I going to

31:42

take a gun away from a guy who's intent on using

31:44

it? Suddenly, I spot a highway patrol.

31:47

All these synchronicities just come into place.

31:50

I tell the highway patrolman what's going on.

31:52

He pulls over the roommate. takes

31:55

the roommate into protective custody

31:57

and saves his life. The

31:59

point of the story is the entire year

32:01

of events brought me to that

32:03

precise moment, a year of being

32:05

deceived by a man who I

32:07

thought had my best interest in

32:09

mind, brought me to that precise

32:12

moment where together we could form

32:14

a new partnership to save somebody's

32:16

life. And that was the point

32:18

of our relationship. But to answer

32:20

your question, my partner was in

32:22

a state of utter panic. And

32:25

had I left him there, he

32:27

would not have known what to

32:29

do. He wasn't thinking. He saw

32:31

somebody that he cared for was

32:33

about to commit suicide and he

32:36

unraveled because he had no sense

32:38

of connection to himself. He had

32:40

no ability to connect to those

32:42

resources because he was living his

32:44

life unfaithfully. He was living a

32:46

dishonest life and he wasn't honest with

32:48

himself. He hadn't really done the

32:50

work to tune into himself. So he

32:53

was left with panic. and

32:55

an inability to cope

32:57

under those circumstances. Fortunately,

33:00

I saw what could be

33:02

done and I was still, to some

33:04

degree, tuned into myself, even though

33:07

my lifestyle at that time, I

33:09

wouldn't say was really cultivating a

33:11

sense of inner peace and inner

33:13

awareness. You know, I was living a

33:15

fast lifestyle. I wasn't feeling connected,

33:17

but in some odd way, I was

33:19

still connected. And that's what I

33:21

mean by we can still live in our

33:23

lives with a connection to

33:25

our wholeness and have no awareness

33:27

of it. Not be conscious

33:29

of it at all. And

33:31

that's okay. People will spend

33:33

their entire lives unaware or what

33:36

do they care? But when

33:38

a moment comes and they're pressed to

33:40

the point, they can tune in. They

33:42

know how to do that. And yet my

33:44

partner did not possess that ability. And

33:47

he unraveled and I took control and

33:49

we saved this guy's life together

33:51

because There's a very good chance. This

33:53

was before cell phones. This

33:55

was in the 80s,

33:58

basically, a time

34:00

when we had no ability to

34:02

communicate with the church. We would have had to

34:04

pull over to a pay phone. It was

34:06

early in the morning. Likely nobody would have answered

34:08

the phone at the church. We needed an

34:10

authority there. I didn't want to deal with a

34:12

guy with a gun on my own. But

34:15

the Highway Patrol was there in a

34:17

timely way, and it's like all these

34:19

synchronicities just came into place. Highway

34:22

Patrol took the man into protective custody,

34:24

and that was it. Six

34:27

months later, my partner called

34:29

me. I was working at a company,

34:31

and he said, how

34:33

are you? And I said, I'm doing

34:35

great. How's that guy? How's he doing? And

34:38

he said, he's with his family, and he's doing

34:40

better. And then he pitched me on

34:42

a business opportunity. My partner

34:44

puts me on a business opportunity

34:46

and I said, no, thanks. But who

34:48

knows when our paths might meet

34:50

again. Yeah, yeah. I think,

34:52

again, it is interesting, isn't it?

34:54

When you do tune in

34:56

to your, you know, you call

34:58

it the essence, I call it the signal. And

35:01

it's when you do the

35:03

synchronicities that begin to appear.

35:07

Precisely. Precisely. yeah

35:09

the guidance that you

35:11

can receive and the

35:13

wisdom and intelligence and

35:15

intuition and yet it's

35:17

so criminally and i think

35:20

that for dramatic effect it's so

35:22

criminally uh underutilized because

35:24

people's egos are

35:26

so loud and noisy and we

35:28

live in such a distracted

35:30

world that uh people are not really

35:32

tuning in So that brings me

35:34

to my next question for you, Stephen,

35:37

is what do you do to

35:39

cultivate, connect into your essence? Cultivating

35:43

the connection to the essence

35:45

is really very simple. I

35:47

take a walk with my dogs

35:49

every day. I

35:51

read a book. I

35:54

might meditate. You know, life

35:57

is a meditation. How

35:59

we meditate, whether we're reading

36:01

a book, taking a walk, standing in

36:03

a sunset, playing

36:06

with a child, laughing

36:08

with our partner. And

36:10

all of these are a

36:13

form of connection that we sense.

36:15

And we thrive on this

36:17

connection. But in a more determined

36:19

approach to connect, I simply

36:21

have become so attuned and so

36:24

sensitive to the hidden layers

36:26

of my inner life because I

36:28

have the intention and

36:30

the determination, the desire to

36:32

experience that part of

36:34

me. And it

36:36

really sounds very simplistic and

36:39

it's not complicated. We all

36:41

have this capacity to tune

36:43

in. It begins with a

36:45

desire and we already do it

36:47

in so many ways. But

36:49

to have a more determined stance,

36:51

I might really separate myself a little

36:53

bit and it's ironic. that to

36:55

separate, I mean, I go into a

36:57

room, I close the door, I

36:59

lie down, and I do an exercise.

37:02

I breathe deeply. I

37:04

relax the cells in my

37:07

body. I focus a

37:09

little bit, then I let go

37:11

of focus, but I'm just sort

37:13

of interfacing and learning to feel

37:15

and see with my essence, learning

37:17

to identify the world around

37:19

me through that innate part

37:22

of myself. that is outside

37:24

of the world around me.

37:27

And so I may have a question and

37:29

I'll take that question inside and I

37:31

won't try to answer with my intellect and

37:33

I'll just let it go. And

37:36

a fantastic thing can happen

37:38

is that that question can circle

37:40

back with a unique perspective.

37:42

I'm not looking for answers. It's

37:45

the questions that keep us

37:47

young. But the answers, the answers

37:49

That's our ego our ego

37:51

needs to have an answer

37:53

it needs definitive yes. Yes

37:57

so so you know so i

37:59

outline a number of exercises in

38:01

the book for tuning in and

38:03

i think that you know in

38:05

so many ways we already have

38:07

this capacity we do it. And

38:10

yet it's a little more of

38:12

a determined approach to say okay i'm

38:14

dealing with something now i want

38:16

to be able to manage this. situation,

38:19

not allow it to manifest

38:21

itself any further, get

38:23

out of control. And

38:25

how do I tap in? How do I

38:27

tune in? How do I connect? And

38:30

so there we go. That's why

38:32

you're here to help me do

38:35

that. You

38:37

manifested me into reality. Talking

38:39

about manifesting, what

38:42

do you do you believe you can manifest

38:44

on a different level when it comes to

38:46

connecting to your essence? Absolutely

38:50

absolutely and I manifest

38:52

unity I manifest a

38:54

sense of unification with

38:56

myself and the environment

38:58

and that in some

39:00

unique way has been

39:03

there throughout my life

39:05

as it is with

39:07

many people it was

39:09

certainly there with my

39:11

ex -partner with whom

39:13

in those moments We

39:16

were manifesting a unification

39:18

to come together to save

39:20

a guy's life. And

39:23

the synchronicities that followed

39:25

in those moments were extraordinary.

39:28

And it really took me years

39:30

to understand the implications of

39:32

how that unfolded and why it

39:34

unfolded and the meaning of

39:36

that relationship. And I

39:39

didn't question my decision to finally

39:41

sever ties with him. I think

39:43

that was a good decision because

39:45

he still had work to do. And

39:48

it was so interesting that

39:50

driving back from after saving

39:52

this guy's life, he

39:54

was crying. He had

39:56

tears in his eyes. And I thought, I

39:58

had been pushing him a little and

40:00

saying, you know, you deceived me and here

40:02

we are. We did a remarkable thing,

40:04

but you know, I'm still going to sever

40:06

ties with you. We're not going to

40:08

do business any further. But as the tears

40:10

came up, I saw him facing his

40:12

shadows. in some way, and my

40:15

hope was that he would figure it out,

40:17

you know, and get to a place

40:19

where perhaps I could have a relationship with

40:21

him. I don't necessarily see it in

40:23

this lifetime though. But yes,

40:25

I think that, you know, where

40:27

manifestation is concerned, through these

40:29

experiences, I've been able

40:31

to really ground myself. You

40:33

know, the point of

40:35

physical life is not to

40:38

have these lofty concepts

40:40

of spirituality and live in

40:42

the clouds. The

40:44

point is to remain grounded here and now,

40:46

to be in the present. And

40:49

through being present, we

40:51

really attune to this sense

40:53

of awareness for the

40:55

environment and our role. We

40:57

find a deeper sense of fulfillment. It's

41:00

easier to make decisions.

41:02

And this is what is

41:04

meant by manifesting the

41:07

capacity to make decisions that

41:09

continue to to excel

41:11

us, to continue to elevate

41:13

us along this path, not

41:16

decisions that bog us down

41:18

and hold us in situations

41:21

that aren't serving us, but

41:23

rather decisions that free us

41:25

and choices and moving in

41:27

a direction to create outcomes

41:29

that are positive for us,

41:31

that have our best interest

41:33

in mind, like writing a

41:35

book. or writing a book

41:37

that we've always wanted to

41:39

write. I

41:41

have one too. Or

41:47

going out and having a simple

41:49

interaction, being in a positive mindset

41:51

and going into a market and

41:53

running into somebody who's in a

41:55

unique mindset and having an exchange

41:57

and it may be as simple

41:59

as a smile passed between two

42:01

people. It may be as

42:03

simple as lifting somebody's

42:05

mood who is feeling a

42:07

little bit down, and they

42:10

had an interaction with you, and

42:12

suddenly they're looking at the world a

42:14

little bit differently. So

42:16

we tend to make

42:18

a lot of judgments when

42:20

we navigate our world, and

42:23

yet the judgments just kind

42:25

of fade away when we're tuned

42:27

in, when we're connected, and

42:29

we see things with a much

42:31

greater equilibrium. And that's another

42:33

manifestation. Yeah. Do you think

42:35

as well, especially with what you've

42:37

been describing, so many

42:39

people are much more people are

42:42

more interested in manifesting the

42:44

neuroscience behind it. A

42:46

lot of people are looking into

42:48

the spirituality behind it. Do

42:50

you think there is a change

42:52

in consciousness happening with awakening, with

42:55

wanting to connect to something deeper

42:57

within ourselves? Because we live in

42:59

quite a turbulent world. It's very

43:01

interesting. I

43:04

think that's part and parcel,

43:06

personally, of, well, it's

43:08

going to suck for so much and

43:10

make it suffer for so much

43:12

until you go, well, I

43:14

can't change out here. I'm going to

43:16

have to go inwards to do

43:18

some work. And that's where we

43:20

begin to discover the truth of who we are. Do

43:23

you think there's a change in consciousness

43:25

happening or is it always been happening?

43:28

What do you think what your

43:30

thoughts I think that certainly

43:32

since I was born and probably

43:34

going back thousands of years

43:36

there have been changes in consciousness

43:39

and but what I think

43:41

I hear you saying is our

43:43

changes occurring now that are

43:45

leading to a momentous changes a

43:47

momentous change a shift in

43:49

consciousness across the globe and I

43:52

am a believer in this.

43:54

Yes, I do. I think that

43:56

the changes that are occurring

43:58

now are momentous and they're happening

44:00

individually. Certainly there are pockets

44:02

of negativity and all you have

44:04

to do is turn on the news

44:07

and read a newspaper to observe

44:09

that what's happening in the world. And

44:12

yet the contrast is

44:14

so extraordinarily vivid and yet

44:16

you see people who

44:18

are rising to the occasion

44:21

and making a conscious choice,

44:23

a determination to learn who

44:25

they are, where they come

44:28

from, to become connected, to

44:30

join the larger community, if

44:32

you will. We tend

44:34

to be very limited

44:36

if we're just living in

44:38

the physical world and

44:40

interpreting through this world. And

44:42

yet, when we break

44:44

the bonds of the confinement

44:46

of this world, we

44:48

experience a much brighter realm.

44:50

brighter realms is what

44:52

we're all seeking, we're all

44:54

seeking to expand our

44:57

awareness and understanding, our larger

44:59

experience and our role

45:01

that is not defined by

45:03

the boundaries and limits

45:05

of the physical environment. And

45:07

you look at creative people, they

45:09

may have no concept of what

45:11

we're talking about and yet they

45:14

live their lives with extraordinary creativity.

45:16

And I think of doctors, I

45:19

think of artists, I think

45:21

of writers, I think of a

45:23

mother finding a unique way

45:25

to work with her child to

45:27

help to teach her child

45:29

how to adapt to the world.

45:31

A father, you know,

45:34

offering his capacity to teach

45:36

that child about empathy, compassion, and

45:38

love. These are all creative

45:40

endeavors. And we

45:42

all have this capacity to

45:44

to stand out and to

45:46

grow, learn and grow. And

45:48

I think that that's an

45:50

important part of our purpose, to

45:54

become who we

45:57

already are in the

45:59

undivided wholeness of

46:01

ourselves. I like

46:03

to say. It's the ultimate purpose, I believe. You

46:05

know, it's like, wake up. Exactly.

46:09

You know, my father is such an

46:11

ironic character. He was a doctor. he

46:14

was very good at diagnosing he

46:16

could open the door to his waiting

46:18

room look in a patient's eyes

46:20

and have a very good idea what

46:22

was going on with them then

46:24

he would apply his instrumentation technology to

46:26

confirm or reject his initial intuition

46:28

and yet if i asked him how

46:30

he did that he would say

46:32

i don't know you know he had

46:34

no clue did it really matter

46:36

maybe not. You know he didn't really

46:38

need to know he just did

46:40

it right but on the flip side

46:42

he had a very tragic life

46:45

with his personal relationships he was married

46:47

four times he never had closeness

46:49

with his family. He was abusive

46:51

when I was young. He was abusive

46:53

with my mother, abusive with his children.

46:56

And he never really gained

46:58

an awareness of himself of

47:00

why these conflicts existed or

47:02

why he allowed these shadows

47:04

to manifest and didn't get

47:06

them in check, didn't have

47:08

any understanding of himself. He

47:10

just kind of lived his

47:12

life. with a blindfold on

47:14

and yet he was a great doctor.

47:16

He was loved by his patients and

47:19

the nursing staff and the other doctors.

47:21

Everybody knew him. And

47:23

then he had this flip side

47:25

of contrast where he just was

47:27

unable to really have lead a

47:29

fulfilling life. And I always

47:31

felt that he lived a lonely

47:33

life. I felt that he was

47:35

more isolated and alone and he

47:37

went home and he spent time

47:39

with the things that he collected.

47:41

with his wealth, cars and boats

47:43

and you know his whole lifestyle

47:45

evolved around these objects and yet

47:47

then when my brothers and sisters

47:49

started to have children he really

47:52

made an attempt to get down

47:54

on their level and play with

47:56

them and you could see him

47:58

trying to break the bonds of

48:00

his limits and yet he still

48:02

went home alone you know and

48:04

in the end I felt that

48:06

there was a sadness around that

48:08

and he was a neat guy

48:10

right about him quite a bit

48:12

in the book and are to

48:14

degree parallel journey and how I

48:16

was able to then depart from

48:18

that. Loneliness and isolation

48:20

and discover myself. So

48:24

welcome to the end of the interview I could talk to you for ages. We

48:27

can keep this going but you know

48:29

where can people find out more about

48:31

you Steven. Well, I

48:34

have a website. It's brighter

48:36

realms .com The book is

48:38

available on any sales platform

48:40

Amazon, etc And in fact,

48:42

I have a second edition

48:45

of the book coming out

48:47

in about six weeks and

48:49

the second edition includes about

48:51

25 more pages with

48:53

additional stories contacts and exercises

48:55

so i'm very excited about

48:57

the new edition of the

48:59

book because i think it's

49:01

really going to fill in

49:04

where this current version leaves

49:06

off and add so much

49:08

more valuable valuable information to

49:10

my readers there you go

49:12

so i'll put the details

49:14

into the show description. Thank

49:17

you so much. And by the way,

49:19

Paul, I just want to say that

49:21

if anybody would like a free copy

49:23

of my new edition, they're welcome to

49:25

email me and I will send them

49:27

a PDF. It's my

49:29

pleasure. Yeah. I

49:31

love that. I love that. I will

49:33

put your details into the show's

49:35

description and they can contact you and

49:37

ask for a PDF or, you

49:39

know, make inquiries in regards to, you

49:42

know, any of the content. Sure.

49:46

It's my pleasure. Amazing. I

49:49

want to say thank you to the audience.

49:51

Thank you for joining me and Stephen Daniel for

49:53

this wonderful awakening interview. If you've

49:55

got any questions for any of

49:57

us on this subject or you can

49:59

contact us through the show's description

50:01

or you can post a review. We

50:03

will get back to you. Please

50:06

make sure you subscribe to the show so

50:08

you don't miss out on any of the

50:10

new episodes coming your way. There's some powerful

50:12

stuff on its way, so don't miss out

50:14

on that. And Whatever

50:16

you're up to today, make sure that

50:18

you have a wonderful, peaceful and

50:20

present day. You