The Tools, a summary

It's been a while since I read The Tools, a self-help book by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels. I've summarized the tools below:

1. The Reversal of desire: a. "Bring it on" b. "I love pain" c. "Pain sets me free" (Repeat until you feel you've thoroughly converted all the pain to energy) Higher Force: Forward Motion (pain is the barrier to freedom).

2. Active love: a. Feel an "unstoppably loving force that wants to give itself away" concentrated inside your chest. b. Focus on someone who has triggered your anger. Send all the love in your chest directly to them, like completely expelling a deep breath. c. Feel it enter that person's solar plexus, giving you the sense you're one with them. Relax and feel surrounded by infinite love, which returns the energy you gave away. You'll feel filled up and at peace.

Use it on those who anger you, whenever you relive a personal injustice, or to prepare yourself to comfort a difficult person. Higher force: Outflow (the freedom to escape the maze of the past, the freedom to go on with life)

3. Inner Authority. Use this when you feel performance anxiety, before and during such events, even when you anticipate them. This makes peace with your "Shadow" - the part of yourself you reject and/or conceal.

a. Standing in front of the audience (real or imaginary) see your Shadow off to one side, facing you. Ignore the audience and focus on the Shadow. Feel the bond between you and your Shadow. As a unit you're fearless.

b. Together, you and your Shadow forcefully turn toward the audience and silently command them to "LISTEN!" Feel the authority when you and your Shadow speak with one voice. This uses the Higher Force of Self Expression, and that force speaks through us with unusual clarity and authority.

4. The Grateful Flow (higher force: gratefulness): a. Feel grateful for what you'd normally take for granted (eyesight, hot water, etc.). Mention at least five items. b. Feel the gratitude flowing upward from your heart. This initiates the flow (that continues) of gratitude. c. "As this energy emanates from your heart, your chest will soften and open. In this state, you'll feel yourself approaching an overwhelming presence, filled with the power of infinite giving. You've made a connection to the Source." Use this when attacked by negative thoughts, whenever you're "on hold." Turn specific times (waking up, going to sleep, mealtimes) into cues to revive the flow. This is another exit from a kind of prison: the Maze.

5. Jeopardy (higher force: Willpower). This contradicts the notion that some "magical something" will exempt you from using tools 1 - 4. This illusion leads people to quit using the tools.

Imagine yourself on your deathbed. Having run out of time, this older self screams at you not to waste the present moment. You feel a deep, hidden fear you've been squandering your life. This creates an urgent desire to use whatever basic tool you need at the moment.

From the last chapter: "What if every bad thing that's ever happened to you--including every problem you've ever had--was there, in your life, to get you in touch with abilities you never knew you had? And what if there were specific procedures that led you directly to those new abilities?"...."faith is the confidence that higher forces are always there to help when you need them."