Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Who was Lester Levenson? Sedona Method Founder...

People wonder who Lester Levenson was? Was Lester an ordinary man who had an extraordinary life? Or maybe Lester Levenson was an extraordinary man all along!

Read this extract from the release technique site to find out...

(I added my comments in brackets.)

Lester Levenson was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on July 19, 1909, to Jewish emigrant parents.

He grew up much loved, doted on by his parents and three sisters. Yet his predominant characteristic was shyness. He was extremely withdrawn and introspective, constantly wondering what this life was about. His parents were not really religious but his grandfathers on both sides were holy people, rabbis. Lester Levenson was 21 when his beloved mother and father died. He refused to say the prayer for the dead. "Will that bring them back? If it does, I'll say it." Then defiantly he turned away from God.

(so Lester was really like most of us, an ordinary childhood with the typical challenges, ups and downs, and a good background.)

Lester Levenson sailed through school and college with astonishing ease, becoming a physicist, an engineer, a successful businessman and a self-made millionaire. Yet despite all his achievements there was an innate turmoil in his heart, an anxiety and stress that seemed to rule his life.

(we can all relate to the stress and pressure we take on as we get older, thankfully Lester found the answer to this age old challenge)

In 1952, at the age of 42, Lester Levenson had his second massive heart attack. In those days, they did not have bypass surgery or heart transplants and so when he came out of the emergency room, the doctors told him, "Lester, we're sorry to tell you, but you have two weeks to live, three at the most, and we can't do anything for you. So we're sending you home."

So Lester Levenson went home.

He was extremely fearful of dying, but he said to himself, "You're still breathing, Lester; there is still a chance." Then he sat down and began thinking around-the-clock. He had always been considered a brilliant man. Always on the honor roll. The recipient of a four-year scholarship to Rutgers University back in the days when few scholarships were handed out. But he said to himself, "Lester, you are stupid, stupid, stupid! All this accumulated knowledge, all this intellect has gotten you to the place that you're a dead man! And if you don't uncover what's in the way, eliminate it, you're going to die!"

(at this point how many of us would give up and assume the game is over. Lester had some serious motivation though - if he could figure it out he might continue to live - a very big reason to try!)

Being a physicist, he knew he had to go back to the drawing board, wipe the slate clean, and start from point zero. So he started to examine his life. He noticed that each time he was ill he was wanting something and that the intense wanting feelings were what was actually making him miserable. He wanted love, he wanted money, he wanted to change things, and every time he looked at that wanting, he had an uncomfortable feeling that he traced back to his illness. Then he noticed that whenever he was giving and loving and wasn't wanting anything, he was not ill. So, he asked himself, "Well, if I could get rid of all my non-loving feelings, would I get better?" He thought about this question and uncovered something that was startling to him at the time.

(Lester Levenson was on the verge of the breakthrough here)

He noticed that WHEN HE WAS LOVING he was happiest. That happiness equated to being loving rather than being loved.

That was a starting point. He asked himself if he could cure his illnesses this way. So, he began directing all of his thoughts and feelings in that direction—from that of "wanting to be loved," to that of "loving." He examined all his relationships and he let go of all of his non-loving feelings from the past. In that process he made another shocking discovery: He saw that he wanted to change the entire world and that was the cause of all his ailments, making him a slave to this world. He decided to reverse that by actually unloading the subconscious concepts and pressures and by taking responsibility for everything happening in his life. At this point he discovered that limitations were only concepts in our minds and can easily be dropped. He realized that God is within us all, that we are infinite beings with no limitations. With that realization, he became happier: freer, lighter and with an overall sense of well-being.

(imagine that - the secret to happiness, where else has it been explained at all? Where else has it been explained in such simple terms: See how attainable it really is!)

Later on he would say: "We are all gods acting like goddamned fools."

Months went by and Lester Levenson still wasn't dead. He hardly went to sleep, he ate a little bit, and he continued to work on himself. He corrected his physical body. All of his miseries dropped away and he found himself in a place in which he was happy all the time, without sorrow. He totally cured himself.

More than that, Lester Levenson unlocked the science of the mind: How the mind works, what to do about it and how to correct it. How to correct your thinking. How to call up the menu of your mind, take a look at this menu and eliminate what you don't want.

Lester Levenson was a giving person—one thousand percent! He spent the remainder of his life helping others discover this secret that he had unlocked for himself.

He passed on in 1994 at the age of 84— 42 years after being told he had two to three weeks to live!

NOW go here...

http://groups.msn.com/TheSedonaMethodreleasingClub/


At the releasing club we use releasing - the approach Lester Levenson discovered. The very same Sedona Method Lester Levenson released to the world.