by Michael K. Hirschorne | May 8, 2025
“If you let your past define your future, you rob your present of its glory.”
Michael Hirshorne
The Prison of Past Identity
We often live as prisoners of our own making. The stories we tell ourselves about who we are—shaped by childhood experiences, traumas, successes, and failures—create invisible boundaries that limit our potential. These narratives become self-fulfilling prophecies, constraining us to predictable patterns and preventing genuine growth.
When we allow our past to define our future, we operate from a place of reaction rather than creation. We respond to life through the lens of old wounds and outdated beliefs, never fully experiencing the freedom of present-moment awareness where true power resides.
The Metaphysics of Present Moment Consciousness
The Illusion of Linear Time
From a metaphysical perspective, time is not the linear progression we perceive it to be. Past, present, and future exist simultaneously in an eternal now. What we call “the past” lives on only through our continued attention to it. By fixating on bygone events, we animate them with our consciousness, allowing them to intrude upon our present experience.
This understanding reveals a profound truth: your past has no power except that which you grant it through your awareness. The moment you withdraw your energy from past narratives, they begin to lose their grip on your present reality.
The Power of Conscious Creation
The present moment is the only point of power from which conscious creation springs. It is the fertile ground where intention meets potential, where thought becomes form. When we remain anchored in present awareness, we access the infinite creative force of the universe itself.
Four Stages of Spiritual Self-Actualization
- Awakening to Conditioning – Recognizing how past experiences have shaped your beliefs, behaviors, and identity constructs.
- Conscious Release – Intentionally letting go of limiting stories through forgiveness, shadow work, and pattern interruption practices.
- Present Moment Reclamation – Developing the capacity to remain fully present through meditation, mindfulness, and embodiment practices.
- Conscious Creation – Actively participating in creating your reality from a place of expanded awareness rather than conditioned response.
Practical Pathways to Liberation
Moving beyond the past requires more than intellectual understanding—it demands consistent practice. Consider incorporating these approaches into your spiritual journey:
- Meditation – Practice witnessing thoughts without attachment, developing the observer consciousness that transcends identification with past experiences.
- Energy Clearing – Work with modalities that help release energetic imprints of past experiences stored within your subtle body.
- Sacred Ceremony – Create rituals to symbolically release old identities and consciously step into new possibilities.
- Conscious Language – Pay attention to how you speak about yourself and your past, shifting from deterministic language to language of possibility.
Embracing Your Highest Potential
Self-actualization from a spiritual perspective isn’t about becoming something you’re not—it’s about removing the obstacles to recognizing who you’ve always been. Beyond the stories of limitation lies your essential nature: boundless, creative, and free.
By liberating yourself from the constraints of past definition, you open to the glory of your present—the only moment in which your highest potential can truly be realized. This is the ultimate act of spiritual courage: to release what was in order to fully embody what is, and thereby create what can be.
The question becomes not who you were or what happened to you, but who you choose to be in this eternal, glorious now.
by Michael K. Hirschorne | Apr 22, 2025
“A belief internalized can only become a ‘truth’ for the one internalizing it. This works for concepts like prosperity, as well as… poverty.”
Michael K. Hirshorne
Introduction: The Lens Through Which We See
We navigate life through a complex web of beliefs that shape our perception of reality. These beliefs act as filters, determining what opportunities we recognize, what challenges we face, and ultimately, what life experiences we create. The profound truth is that our internalized beliefs become our personal reality—whether those beliefs serve to elevate or limit us.
The Mechanism of Belief Internalization
How Beliefs Become “Truth”
When we deeply accept an idea about ourselves or the world, it doesn’t simply remain an intellectual concept. It integrates into our identity and becomes a lens through which we interpret all experiences. This process transforms mere thoughts into powerful forces that guide our decisions, reactions, and life trajectory.
The most potent aspect of internalized beliefs is their self-fulfilling nature. Once accepted as truth, our minds work tirelessly to find evidence supporting these beliefs while filtering out contradictory information.
The Dual Edge of Internalization
This mechanism works equally well for empowering and limiting beliefs:
1. “Prosperity Mindset”: Those who internalize beliefs about abundance often:
- Notice opportunities others miss
- Take calculated risks with confidence
- Persist through setbacks, viewing them as temporary
- Attract like-minded individuals who reinforce their outlook
2. “Scarcity Mentality”: Those who internalize beliefs about limitation typically:
- Focus on what could go wrong
- Avoid risks that could lead to growth
- See setbacks as confirmation of their worldview
- Gravitate toward relationships that validate their sense of limitation
Breaking the Cycle: Conscious Belief Selection
Understanding that our internalized beliefs become our personal truths gives us tremendous power. We can approach our mental framework with intention rather than passively accepting inherited or circumstantial beliefs.
Steps to Transform Your Belief System
- Awareness: Identify current beliefs influencing your perception
- Evaluation: Determine which beliefs serve your highest good
- Revision: Consciously choose beliefs aligned with your desired reality
- Practice: Actively reinforce new beliefs through daily affirmations and aligned actions
- Patience: Allow time for new beliefs to become deeply internalized
The Ripple Effect: Beyond Individual Reality
While internalized beliefs primarily affect our personal reality, their impact extends beyond us. Our attitudes, expectations, and behaviors—all stemming from our core beliefs—influence those around us. A parent’s internalized abundance mentality shapes their children’s worldview. A leader’s belief in possibility inspires innovative thinking throughout an organization.
Conclusion: The Responsibility of Choice
The understanding that “a belief internalized can only become a ‘truth’ for the one internalizing it” is both liberating and sobering. We hold tremendous power to shape our experience of reality through conscious belief selection. This knowledge comes with responsibility—to choose wisely the truths we allow to define our lives and, by extension, influence the world around us.
Whether we internalize prosperity or poverty, possibility or limitation, resilience or fragility—the choice is ours. And that choice, perhaps more than any external circumstance, determines the reality we will experience.
by Michael K. Hirschorne | Jul 11, 2024
Do you feel overwhelmed at times? Frustrated with how things are going in your life; possibly even(with what’s been going on in the world lately) feeling a bit of trepidation and anxiety about the future? I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all felt that way at one time or another. That in fact is what inspired me to create Heaven is Within. I have been working on this site for quite some time now, with one thing in mind; to help people to “see” that the reality they are experiencing is being viewed through a lens. It just happens to be THEIR lens, and the interesting part is that the reality never changes-the LENS does.
Today my friends, is the first day of the rest of your life. Welcome to the journey!
I have an interesting, and possibly even shocking bit of news; we are living under the “illusion” of separation. We believe we are separate from the animals, the trees and the vegetation, and most of all each other. That however would be inaccurate- from not only a spiritual perspective, but from a scientific one. If matter is made of atoms, and atoms of varying frequencies of energy, then we and everything else in the universe are ultimately………energy. Energy however can neither be created nor destroyed, but only transformed; it’s boundaryless and ever-changing. Maybe it’s time we change our lens?
by Michael K. Hirschorne | Jan 28, 2024
As the mist floated gently upon the lake, my thoughts wandered in an aimless procession of randomness.
Why am I here, and for that matter what is my purpose for being?
The ever-present tug at my soul begged for an answer.
A mother sparrow glided to the top of a pine tree and gently laid the final twig down which would complete her nest.
A child giggled as her mother lifted her high into the air.
In the distance, the faintest sound of a train whistle could barely be heard.
“All things are as they should be” was the answer that flashed across my mind.
We are here because we chose to be here, but WE are nevertheless a fleeting moment in time; simply and exquisitely – borrowed energy.
Consciousness lives forever.
by Michael K. Hirschorne | Oct 25, 2015
The Tenets of Religion
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Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
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Eat specific foods, made a specific way, at a particular time.
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Act in a prescribed manner, on particular days, in a specific order.
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Know that the only way to heaven (way to God) is by following THESE particular rules; obey them or pay the price.
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Know the truth and the truth will set you free.
The Tenets of Spirituality
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Treat others the way you would like to be treated.
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Fuel your body with food that will sustain and energize you;
negative in equals negative out.
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Act with conscious awareness of what you are doing with everyone, and everything, in every moment of now.
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Know that you and everything in and of the entire visible and invisible universe is part of a divine matrix of pure energy. Heaven is therefore not a destination to be earned, but is within you. Ask only – does it serve?
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Know the truth and the truth will set you free.
