The spiritual realm is the place of highest possibility, the mental realm is the middle, and the physical realm is the lowest. The spirit is the true author of your life story, and it can choose any program from a vast variety of possibilities.

Only the true author can consciously write the software of success. Others have entered flawed software into your brain and this programming affects everything, but only the true author (the spirit -- your higher self) can delete it and re-program it. The true author is the spirit, not the mind. The mind is the hardware; it has no say in the matter!

This is because the human mind is much like the hardware of a computer. Whatever is entered into your computer as software is run by the hardware called the brain. Can the hardware choose its software? No. It can only run the programmed software that has been downloaded, and has no choice but to do so.

The software is social programming (your current paradigm) and the hardware is your mind.

Who are you? You are the soul in the body -- the spirit in the body that has a mind, but is not the mind. The spirit -- your highest Self -- is the most powerful part of who you are, and the only aspect of yourself who has true authorship over your life story.

By seeing your Self this way, you can stop being bullied around by your mind, recognize the defective programming for what it is, and delete it. Spiritual work is unlike any other work in that it is the only way to achieve this goal. The biggest shift is that in the mental realm goals are achieved through much effort, pushing, and acquiring.

In spiritual endeavor the opposite qualities -- letting go, relinquishing, and surrendering -- are the means used to attain the goals. This distinction is important to realize.

You are now going to delete the old programming and replace it by applying a series of spiritual disciplines. The first series of spiritual disciplines can be easily remembered by using the acronym A.P.R.I.L. Awareness is always the starting point. You simply cannot change that which you are unaware of therefore, awareness is key.

The twelve spiritual disciplines as outlined by the great masters are:
 

1. Awareness
2. Pattern Interrupt
3. Reality Statement
4. Instant Prayer
5. Love Meditation
6. Non-Attachment
7. Surrender
8. Recontextualization
9. Forgiveness
10. Compassion
11. Devotion
12. Service

These are the disciplines that must be made into habit, not used as the occasional exception. They will break the hypnotic effect that the ego has over you allowing you to become one with God. This is the entrance onto the step on the Stairway of Selves that can be termed "Love."