I recently attended Dr John Demartini’s seminar The Gratitude Effect, in Melbourne. He is an unusual looking guy. In his mid-fifties, he has a mop of dark hair in a style that places him firmly circa 1976. Some publicity photos show a man with a slightly crazed look, which reminds me of the mad religious brother in some old movie.
Onstage, however, he was an engaging speaker who was clearly sincere, often very funny and made complete good sense.
He talked about his own background, entertaining us with many well-thumbed anecdotes, and told us how his purpose in life had been made clear to him through a chance meeting, at the age of 17, with pioneering nutritionist Paul Bragg.
Dr John Demartini said that there are seven primary fears which prevent people from leading authentic lives but that if they ask themselves a series of simple questions, which he has developed as the Demartini Method, this will allow their mind to equilibrate, their fears to dissolve and the door to authenticity to open.
‘In answering these questions people are able to balance their perspectives and their perceptions and to open their hearts. This awakens gratitude, love, inspiration, awe and enthusiasm in life.’
Dr John Demartini, who has clearly retained his own enthusiasm for life, said that our fears produce imbalanced perspectives which hinder our capacity to live a truly fulfilled existence. He believes that this is because of our tendency to live according to someone else’s expectations. He said this tendency permeates all aspects of our lives – from the work we do to the way we conduct our relationships. He used the simple analogy of putting another person on a pedestal and then tossing them into a pit.
‘If we strive to be something we are not, instead of who we are, we are not honouring our authenticity. We end up minimizing ourselves and resenting that with which we are infatuated. To break free of this infatuation we exaggerate ourselves and minimize the other person. We are constantly trying to change ourselves, relative to the other person, or to change the other person, relative to ourselves.
‘Anytime we have an imbalanced perspective about any human being on earth our heart closes, judgement comes up and we shut down the gratitude effect. All of our emotions are gravitational in nature and only occur when we have imbalanced perspectives. When the mind is balanced and the heart opens, gratitude occurs. In that state we are true to ourselves and in that moment of authenticity our genuine originality emerges.
‘All the systems in the body work in a more cohesively ordered, congruent fashion when we are in a state of gratitude and anytime you’re in a state of ingratitude you have cacophony instead of symphony.’
Curious to see what approach Dr Demartini took towards the topic of finances, I attended a second seminar, How to Make One Hell of a Profit and Still get to Heaven. Actually, I was hoping to get some profound inner knowledge that I could use to magically improve my own sorry financial state. Of course that didn’t happen but what I did get was remarkable insight into how my own attitude had blocked success in this area and how a change of attitude could precipitate improvement.
Dr Demartini kept referring back to the idea that we match our behaviour to our value systems. Again, he applied the principle of balance. In his work he has met many people who feel deep conflict about receiving money; people who desire to have a fortune but who have an internal belief system that tells them that it is, somehow, not right. This inspired him to write the book for which this seminar is named, How to Make One Hell of a Profit and Still Get to Heaven.
‘I really believe that when we are in a state of true gratitude and our heart is open, we have more of a fulfilment, a wealth consciousness, a whole being consciousness than when we’re ungrateful, which I call Hell. So it’s not a place, it’s a state of consciousness. When we’re grateful we have an openness that allows us more prosperity and when we don’t we tend to withdraw from our own power.’
Dr Demartini said that the only way to build financial wealth was to maintain calmness, steadiness and balance. For him, the building of wealth is inextricably linked to the mastering of life. He said that wealth must be approached in the same way as a relationship; that money will go only where it is appreciated. He used the current financial crisis in America as an example of what happens when emotions and egos run wild. Many times he quoted financial genius Warren Buffet:
“Until you can manage your emotions don’t ever expect to manage your money”
For information contact:
www.drdemartini.com
