Living as Light

In his second book, Living As Light, Brent Baum shares his account of personal healing and spiritual awakening that occurred through the "emotional reframing" techniques that he developed. As we resolve our traumatic imprints, we open to our true spiritual potential and discover our luminous natures. By mastering our states of consciousness, we discover our innate capacity to bring light to those moments of our lives where Consciousness was trapped through trauma and overwhelm. Trauma, addiction, and loss form the backdrop for the awakening of our mystical, healing natures. As we resolve the distorted messages of "ego," our full creative power emerges, revealing our capacity for true intimacy, abundance, health, and manifestation. The awakening of the "mystic within" is the focus of this work.

In the ancient spiritual traditions, our spiritual leaders spoke of the "via positiva" and the "via negativa." Just as it sounds, many of us achieve spiritual awakening through confrontation with the "shadow" or dark aspect of our histories and natures. Many first marriages or relationships serve to reveal the hidden aspects of our personal and collective histories. In working with over 20,000 trauma survivors, and focusing on the treatment of addictions and trauma-based illness and disorders, Brent Baum has discovered resources that we all possess to unlock our capacity to "reframe" the darkest of our experiences and to access resources we have barely tapped up to this point in our evolution. The immense power of the ninety-five percent subconscious mind is now being tapped through our growing knowledge of the brain and our use of "primary language." From children we have learned the power of color and brainwave frequency to transmit complex information to the bodymind, to heal the "trances" created through trauma and abuse, and to step into the light.

The most ancient mystical traditions all agree: we now hold the light within us to access Source and reframe the experiences of the past. All mystical traditions converge on this point - that the light we seek now dwells within, and we can access this infinite font of light to release the blockages to health, intimacy, abundance, and spiritual union. As we learn to "emotionally reframe" the experiences of the past, we release the densest, heaviest energy of the psyche - the darkness and burden of shame that is created from trauma and dissociation. It is no wonder that our anorexics and eating disordered individuals are convinced of the great and heavy burden they carry: emotional trauma can produce unlimited heaviness in the meridians and fields of the bodymind. The "chakras" or energy centers identified by ancient cultures are real and can even appear to us as more real than the physical body. Trauma as a "primary affective experience" can supplant the positive messages of the rational mind and implant its own message of powerlessness, worthlessness, and failure. Religious systems are finally coming to realize that we cannot "shame" an individual into spiritual awakening. The use of emotionally repressive messages, techniques, and theology foster the very breach in the psyche that such systems are trying to heal. Having served as a Catholic priest, Brent's own journey through the emotionally repressive messages gleaned from family, educational, political, and religious systems, is a story that is relevant for all. As one of Brent's mentors and principal influences in the development of his work, Sharon Wegscheider-Cruse (author of over 25 books on addictions and recovery) stated:

"The words, "courageous, intuitive, holy, spirited, healing and wise" kept coming to me as I read Brent's new work. He is a healer and a mystic with an incredible ability to verbalize and explain the lessons he is able to teach. He inspires us by helping us find our own ability to become a visionary. His book is a wake-up call to our own development."