The premise of Faith is that Life is perfect just the way it is..that we live in a perfect universe, governed by perfect laws; that everything is perfect just the way it unfolds. God and I are one…inseparable….made of Energy. We are spirits in a physical body.

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There are six stages of faith because we judge everything and most of the time we judge things as wrong or bad. Thus there are Stages to Faith. If we did not judge, we would be Christ-like, or masters of our Universe. Our egos/desire selves/minds/personalities would be non-existent, or have no power over us. But we, as a human race, are not there yet. Therefore, we need to understand how to develop faith (and trust) in God and our Higher Selves, which produces feelings of security in ourselves and the Universe, which, in turn, gives us the awareness that we live in a perfect Universe, regardless of appearances to the contrary.

These six stages are:

1. Denial Stage: Faith in negative outcomes or the ego/mind manifesting as doubt, guilt, fear, or shame (or any combination thereof) overwhelms you. Denial is all pervading. It turns everything to black or gray. It obscures awareness, obscures the fact that I’m even judging the situation in the first place. It obscures the perfection that my life is perfect just the way it is. Things are already WRONG or BAD. I am denying that I have a problem; denying that I am in pain because of a situation or circumstance. Until the pain, either physical or emotional, becomes so intense, so strong, so pervasive that I can no longer deny its presence, I am not aware that I have a problem, which means I am not aware that I have already made the judgment that this situation/circumstance is either wrong or bad. Otherwise there would be no pain to deny.

Incoming information is judged as right or wrong, good or bad. If it is judged as wrong or bad, fear is the outcome. Fear manifests as four different feelings, or attitudes: doubt, guilt, shame and negative attitudes, such as disappointment, resentment, anger, rejection, disapproval, etc. Fear can also be described, or defined as, faith in negative outcomes, because fear sees, first and foremost, the negative path of any event. So, fear is a denial of the “perfection of the Universe”.
Any decisions made in this emotional state can backfire and cause harm or pain later.

2. Awareness Stage: This is the pivotal Stage: Do I judge this situation as wrong or bad? Or do I judge it as Ok, or as right or good? My response indicates where I go next in my process towards faith. Most of the time, when I am judging myself or others, it is done unconsciously or spontaneously and I am not aware I have done so, until I begin to feel the feelings generated by it

A. If I judge it as good or right, I move immediately to the last Stage, that of forgiveness, and feel no pain, or discomfort from this situation/circumstance.
B. If I judge it as O.K., I move to the next stage, feeling pain and confronting it, but with inner peace and inner calmness.
C. If my first awareness is: “ I have a problem”, it’s because I am feeling physical or emotional pain or discomfort, and I have already UNCONSCIOUSLY judged the situation/circumstance as wrong or bad. It is my UNCONSCIOUS negative judgment that is actually the source of the CONSCIOUS pain and discomfort. This discomfort comes in many forms: disappointment, rejection, grief, loss, anger, resentment, feeling victimized, etc. Any negative reaction to a situation or circumstance can be described as a problem.

3. Judgment Stage: Judging the incoming information as O.K. This is the crucial stage, because if I don’t judge the incoming information as O.K., I will continue to cycle around in at least one of these: fear, doubt, guilt or shame. Not all of these manifest with every situation, but one is enough to make life miserable, and to eventually cause dis-ease in the physical body if not reversed by confronting it.
I often need a chart such as this one to help to realize that I am feeling miserable, or that “my problem” which sits just beneath my conscious mind, is because I have not yet let it be O.K.

Once it is “O.K.” to feel the discomfort, inner peace and calmness will abide within my body. This does not give me the liberty to just walk away, believing I am now “cured”, so to speak. It opens the door to moving me to the next stage towards faith in a Higher Power and/or my Higher Self, which is the only true goal.

Until it’s O.K. to feel whatever I’m feeling, I can’t move on to the next stage, can’t develop any faith, and I am forced to move backwards into the previous stage: into denial, and addictive behavior, and more pain..back to where I came from..what I call a living hell on earth.

4. Understanding Stage: This stage is necessary when I do not understand the source of my uncomfortable feelings, but I am aware I have them. I may also know that “all uncomfortable feelings” indicate they originate in my ego, but this is not enough to make them disappear, and the goal is still to feel inner peace and inner calmness with the situation/circumstance. So, to achieve that goal, it is often necessary to seek to understand why I am feeling so uncomfortable. This stage needs to be repeated as often as necessary until inner peace and calmness is sustained. Only then can I move on to the next stage of Acceptance.

5. Acceptance Stage: This is the Surrender of my personal(ity’s) will. By now, incoming information is either right or good, regardless of appearances. Fear is no longer controlling my choices; I am able to embrace the pain of the awareness, wait for guidance and follow it when I receive it, and take the recommended action.

6. Forgiveness Stage: My ego, manifesting as fear, doubt, guilt or shame, has no power over me at all; I have not judged the situation one way or the other; There is therefore no pain; God is a part of me, I am a part of God, and this is a “Given”..known..There is no question of a doubt about it; my faith is complete, and therefore I am ready, willing and able to forgive my own and others’ ignorance, which I know is the cause of their negative actions and feelings. “If they knew what I know, they would not be reacting as they are – with doubt, guilt, fear or shame.