The traditional education system does not teach kids that they are the creators of their realities, the authors of their own lives. It doesn't teach them the cherish their uniqueness, to bring forth the flowering of their individual contribution to the shared Universal endeavour of creation.

Those of us who grew up in the traditional education system learned, in fact, lessons which were almost diametrically opposed to that.

We learned that it is more important to be the same as everyone else than it is to be happy.

We learned that the way to survive is to learn the rules, and to follow the rules. What's more, we learned that we must understand the unwritten and unspoken rules, and to follow them, too. We learned that if we didn't conform, we would suffer pain, humiliation, hurt and loss.

We learned that in any conflict between love or loyalty and The Rules, our best and dearest friends would sell us out in a heartbeat.

We learned that the rewards were in the hands of a few powerful individuals, and that they were arbitrary and unpredictable.

We learned that there were different rules for The Big People than the rules we little people had to follow.

We learned that making a mistake was Bad, and being seen making a mistake was Really, Really Bad.

We learned, in other words, that The Way The World Is was determined by others, before we were born, and our job is to find it out and fit in with it, and the consequences for failing to fit in are dire.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The wisdom literature tells a completely different story.

Throughout the ages, wise voices have been saying that we have immense power, that we shape our destinies and the destiny of the whole human race, and that each and every individual matters.

The sages have told us that the truth lies within, not in rules which come from outside, and that each individual has a unique and priceless contribution to make.

How is it that we are so easily bamboozled into giving away our power?

Why are these truths not immediately obvious?

Why do millions of intelligent, well educated people still believe they are passengers in their lives, pushed here and there by circumstances they are powerless to change?

The Illusion

Buddhists refer to maya, the illusion. The world as seen by the linear, rational, intellectual mind. A world where one can judge objects and situations against standards, and determine whether they are "good" or "bad". A world where one is obligated, perhaps even driven, to try to uphold the "good" and oppose the "bad".

Buddhists refer to all striving, for or against, as error. Striving for something one has decided is "good" is called attachment. Struggling against something one has decided is "bad" is resistance. Both are error. Both are a product of falling for the illusion.

The illusion separates you from the reality that all are one.

Christians refer to original sin. Original sin occurred when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. What was the forbidden fruit? The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

"Judge not, lest ye be judged," is not just a behavioural prescription. It is a statement about the nature of reality.

Original sin, the beginning of dividing the world into "good" and "evil", is what separated Man from God - it caused the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, to wander the world, lost, until they (and their descendants) could figure out how to clease themselves of that sin and return to blissful unity.

These descriptions, and dozens like them from every major religion and philosophical tradition, are referring to a phenomenon common in all human beings.

Regardless of our beliefs about the afterlife, the right day of the week to worship, or the existence of deities, we are all caught in the same ontological trap.

We all have a linear, rational mind that likes to think it runs the show, when it doesn't.

It spends its energies judging and assessing every aspect of the world, and classifying them as "good" or "bad" - thus separating us from the experience of unity that we all so desperately desire.

Whether you believe there are supernatural beings or not, you can transcend your linear, rational mind and make contact with your vast, non-verbal, non-rational, subconscious mind.

Since the subconscious mind controls much more of your life than your conscious mind, making contact with it feels like making contact with something much bigger than your individual self.

Our self-concept is a rational, conscious thought, which is why it always seems puny in comparison with the rest of the world.

Members of 12-step programs seek "a Higher Power" because they, themselves, or what they think of as themselves, can't defeat subconscious programs on their own.

Your subconscious programs control your perceptions, your beliefs, your emotions, and your reactions.

Much of what is said and written about "creating your own reality" is advice about how to rewrite those programs.

If only they taught THAT in schools!

Whether it is Christian prayer, Buddhist meditation, Wiccan spell-casting, medically-prescribed creative visualisation, or a personal growth transcendance workshop, the instructions are remarkably similar.

First, clear your mind. Relax physically, still your thoughts, calm your emotions. Become like a clear pond.

Second, visualise what it is that you want. Be careful at this point - all those fairy-tales about cunning leprechauns and genies who will twist your words if they are given any opportunity are based on genuine experiences of misfiring intentions. If there is a conflict between your overt desire and some subconscious plan, your subconscious will attempt to fulfil your request without derailing any existing plans.

The traditional postscript recommended in witchcraft "for the greatest good of all concerned" is a very useful catch-all to make sure your intentions don't backfire.

Third, create an "attitude of gratitude", or in other words, "pray, believing you already have it, and it shall be yours".

An intense sensation of gratitude, joy, and rightness is a good sign that you are manifesting something you want.

Any form of fear or anxiety is an indication that you are busily manifesting something you don't want.

This actually makes life very simple. As the author of Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting points out, all you need to do is notice how you feel. If you feel bliss and gratitude, you are on track for getting what you want in life. If you feel fear, anger, stress, or any other negative emotion, you are heading in the wrong direction.

Just experiment until you feel bliss and gratitude again!

Fourth, let it go.

Let go, let God.

Release attachment.

Release the spell.

Returning to it in your mind, worrying about whether it is working, or any other form of attachment to the outcome will undermine your intention and return you to a state of fear.

At this point, trust is the only path to the manifesting of your desire.

Whether it is called self-hypnosis, autosuggestion, witchcraft, creative visualisation, NLP, prayer, "turning on alpha", conscious intent, or manifesting, the process of co-creating reality involves the same mechanism.

You don't have to believe in any particular deity to use it.

In fact, you are using it now, whether you know it or not.

Whatever you focus on, you bring into existence - that which you desire, and that which you fear.

By teaching our children to live in fear, traditional education is sentencing them to a life of manifesting everything they do not want.

It is up to us, those who have learned a different way of relating to the Universe, to pass on this knowledge to the next generation.

Only when large numbers of people are co-creating from gratitude and love will we start to manifest a global environment that gives us all what we want.

Start with just one person - yourself. Master the art of living in bliss and gratitude.

Then teach it.

Teach others to shrug off fear and stop creating everything they DON'T want. Teach others to manifest the peace, joy and abundance they so deeply desire.

After all, that is the only education that really matters, in the long run.