Twelve Conditions of a Miracle by Dr. Michael Abrams

"What would you say if I were to tell you that I can show you a real secret document, a real treasure map? In keeping with the motif, this document is ancient — hidden away for years. It is enigmatic and mysterious. It is a kind of map which, if followed carefully, will lead you to a great treasure, to a new world filled with incredible people, places, and things. It will lead to riches, real riches — beyond your wildest dreams."

This treasure map really exists, according to Dr. Michael Abrams, and it can be found in the Gospel according to St. Matthew.

For his book The Twelve Conditions of a Miracle, Dr. Abrams retranslated the Biblical account of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes from this Gospel. And in working with the original ancient Greek, he discovered layers of information that had not been revealed in contemporary translations. He believes that the author of the original composition embedded a subtext within the subtleties of the Greek language that tell us the techniques for manifesting miracles!

Celeste: How did you come across this treasure map, this Philosopher's Stone, this "Stargate," as you call it?

Dr. Abrams: I had an interesting experience while I was camping in the wilderness. I was completely alone — about six miles from nowhere. I woke up to a very loud noise that was all around the tent. I never did figure out what that noise was, but a short time after that I began thinking about the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, from the Gospel of Matthew. I couldn't get it out of my head. After this incident, I began to write in a serious way. I started Twelve Conditions of a Miracle before The Evolution Angel, but it was completed after that book. It took me nine years to write.

I was led to the passage, and it was placed in front of me to think about. When I exhausted the English translation, the only thing left was to start looking at the Greek. And I found that the Greek words in the original text carried information that had been deleted during the translation.

The actual Greek words hold a vast amount of information. The term logos, for instance, merited twelve pages in Mircea Eliade's Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Religion. But in the New Testament, "logos" was translated simply as "the word."

Celeste: Why do you think so much information was left out in the translations we read in the New Testament?

Dr. Abrams: I believe that a lot of these translations took place during the Middle Ages. During that time the church was not interested in promoting self-empowerment. They wanted people to be dependent on the church. So translations were slanted toward that agenda.

Celeste: Do you believe that Jesus wanted to teach us how to create miracles?

Dr. Abrams: The Miracle of Loaves and Fishes was actually performed twice. On another occasion, four thousand people were fed. It was almost as if he did this to make a point. It was as if he wanted to show us not only that he could do this, but how this is done.

Saints and sages have said that it's good to feed a hungry man, but it is better to teach them how to fish. Jesus said, "and you will do greater things."[*] It only seems natural that he would have wanted us to know how to enact a miracle. The Greek account shows us how, and I do believe this was Jesus' most important message.

Celeste: What are the twelve conditions?

1. The first condition is Emptiness. It involves establishing a condition of stillness, a vacuum. Nature rushes to fill a void.

A vacuum is a very special situation. Because it is empty, it possesses the tremendous potential to be filled. Like a magnet, a vacuum exerts a force that pulls things inexorably toward it. The less a vacuum contains — the emptier it is — the more powerful the attractive force it exerts on the surrounding world.

2. The second condition is Alignment. This means getting your own life and intent to move in the same direction as the universe. This means swimming with the current to its final destination.

Evaluate your dream in terms of whether it will harm you or hinder your progress to a state of compassion. Adjust your course — shift your goal so that you are in alignment with the flow of the universe.

3. The third condition involves Asking. If you know what you really want, and how to ask for it, the universe will fulfill your request with startling accuracy.

Never attempt to ask for anything that is not organically connected to such a higher purpose.

4. The fourth condition involves Maximizing. Expansion of food, that fed the multitude, is an expansion of what already exists, not materialization from nothing.

The universe is very careful. It hates waste. Those who use its precious energy with appropriate gratitude and care are invariably rewarded. Conversely, if you don't use your gifts, you can expect to lose them.

5. The fifth condition involves Giving. The act of giving relieves congestion and stimulates the flow and increase of resources.

6. The sixth condition involves Grounding, at a physical and metaphysical level. As in electrical power, if a circuit is not grounded, currents cannot flow through it.

The power of the current that flows through you will be directly proportional to the strength of your conviction.

7. The seventh condition involves Seeing or visualizing. Unless the desired end is clearly seen, it cannot be reached.

Even as "the worst" transpires in livid detail before our very eyes, it is an important part of our whole purpose as human beings to learn how to see "the best." That is one of our greatest and most important tasks as humans.

8. The eighth condition is Gratitude. When a human being is in a state of true gratitude, the fabric of time and space is favorably altered.

Divine intelligence generally won't go too far out of its way to provide for you in a miraculous way if you are negative and complacent about the gifts you have already received.

9. The ninth condition involves Acting As If. A person enacting a miracle acts as if the miracle has already occurred. Jesus didn't wait for the bread and fish to multiply — he began to feed the people with what he had.

Spirit helps those who help themselves. The universe funnels its energy into the lives of those who act, those who work, those who make an effort to actually get things accomplished.

10. The tenth condition involves Engaging the Cycle. Energy flows in a cycle or circuit throughout the universe, from the microscopic to the astronomical plane. Only when a person works with a circularity of flow can miracles occur. What goes around comes around.

Every enlightened person in history has tried to tell us that we receive as we give. It will always be true: What goes around comes around.

11. The eleventh condition is Receiving. Often we believe that receiving or accepting what the universe gives may be the easiest part, but often it is the most undeveloped aspect of our evolution. It is about being totally open to what is going to happen. Being ready and willing to accept the flow that comes towards us and enjoying it and being totally conscious of it when it comes.

Remember, Spirit abhors a vacuum. As soon as you prepare an empty container to receive, the universe will automatically begin mobilizing to fill it.

12. The twelfth condition is Recycling. When all of the people had eaten and were finished, the fragments were not left on the ground, but were gathered and recycled. All throughout our ecological and biological system, nature maximizes by recycling everything it possibly can.

What happens after the manifestation has crystallized is just as important as what happens before. The flow of energy must never be abandoned once the dream becomes reality.

Celeste: How hard is it to master all twelve conditions?

Dr. Abrams: It would seem that it is very hard to set up all twelve of these conditions simultaneously. The fact is, the average person is already an expert at six or seven of these. Several other conditions might be only marginally developed, and there might be one or two that a person is very poor at.

Celeste: How do you discover which conditions are underdeveloped in a person?

Dr. Abrams: When I do my life coaching, people are often able to tell me that they might be really good at one of the conditions and very poor at another. I ask a lot of questions, and we talk it through until it becomes clear. None of this is new information — it's just a matter of organizing what we already know. In the process of life coaching, I identify various weaknesses. I give assignments like an athletic coach to strengthen certain life processes until the whole machine operates.

My workshops are interactive. I think that's really important. Everyone participates and gives examples of how they were able to set up one of the conditions successfully. They also give examples of how they are deficient in certain areas. I find that everyone's process is quite different.

Celeste: What condition do you personally have the most difficulty in mastering?

Dr. Abrams: I would say I had to work on "acting as if." That was difficult because that involved a true leap of faith. You have to really leap into the unknown, and that can be daunting.

And I thought that I was very good at receiving, but when I started to look at my life and began to analyze my energy patterns, I found that I actually was quite poor at that and had to work on it.

Celeste: Can you be too highly developed in one area? I mean, for example, can you go overboard in "acting as if."

Dr. Abrams: Emphasizing one condition to the detriment of the other creates problems. This book is about balance. Truly acting in a balanced manner, you wouldn't overemphasize or exaggerate one of the conditions.

Celeste: Who has mastered these twelve conditions?

Dr. Abrams: When I give talks on this book, I'll often have scholars from other religions come to me afterward and say, "We know examples of people that were able to set up all of these conditions." Sai Baba, in India, is said to be able to expand small amounts of food to feed large numbers of people. You can make a case that Mother Teresa did that as well. There are many cross-cultural examples.

Celeste: Are there other parts of the Bible that you would like to retranslate?

Dr. Abrams: The Parables of Jesus hold a great deal of unrevealed depth. When I've looked at them and done some preliminary translations, it appears that they give the power to human beings to change things for the better through positive thought and visualization. Again, translations have traditionally tried to gear people away from the self-empowering ideas.

"These conditions form a kind of engine with twelve cylinders. When all twelve cylinders fire together, the power they generate is beyond comprehension. It is a power that can change your life so drastically that you cannot — in your current state of evolution — imagine the universe that will open for you. You will see that you have the power to manifest heaven in your life here and now."

Celeste: How long does it take to learn the twelve conditions?

Dr. Abrams: The mastery of these conditions is a life-long process. My book lays out a series of lessons that I will be working on for the rest of my life.

A lot of changes have occurred in my life. Some are highly positive, and some have been difficult, as well.

Celeste: Your book is concise, very clear and readable. Have you written it that way so that it will be accessible to a large audience?

Dr. Abrams: Thank you for saying that. I made a great effort to make it very clear and condensed.

The way I went about it was that I thought I would end up with the best book if I wrote it for myself. I wrote the kind of book that I would like to have as a manual for my own life. I wanted one that would be well organized, concrete, and readable. I've read countless medical books, and when the style is verbose and sentences are too long, with too many concepts, the book is difficult to read.

I had an editor, Laurie Rosin, who has edited national best sellers. She told me that there was a very valuable literary device called the period. So I use periods to avoid complex sentences.

Celeste: What has kept people from embracing their own personal power?

Dr. Abrams: I think it all has to do with fear. Once you accept the premise that you are creating your own reality, this brings up disturbing implications. One of these is that you're responsible for everything, including all the unpleasant things that happen in your life. You no longer have anyone else to blame. That's very scary for some people. That's the main reason that this idea creates such hostility in some quarters. It's not that it's inconsistent with some philosophies — it's just that it's frightening. It's much easier to have a devil or a god to blame everything on.

Celeste: Do you believe that there was a particular time that this information was meant to become available to the public?

Dr. Abrams: I don't know. I try to serve the universe by doing what I can to put down in words what it's telling me. I leave the timing to the universe. There must be a reason. I think there's a reason for everything.

"The constant clamor and commotion of thoughts blocks the still, small, subtle voice of Spirit. All enlightened individuals are acutely aware of this and are experts at quieting their minds so that they can hear clearly."

Celeste: You write that meditation helps you to access greater truths:

Dr. Abrams: The older I get, the less I read. My own thoughts resonate the more I meditate and become less absorbed in what other people are thinking.

Celeste: What is the difference between magic and miracles?

Dr. Abrams: Magic would be a process in which an individual tries intentionally to influence and manipulate, whereas working with miracles involves a lot of letting go and not trying to control. Paradoxically, that is the best way to get the universe to cooperate.

Magic involves a lot of spells or rituals. That's the difference between the two. Both in magic and rituals, people are trying to improve the state of the environment around them. They're doing it in different ways. The classical ways of using magic are completely and totally different from the ways of manifesting miracles that I've outlined in my book.

Celeste: Do you think the magic in Harry Potter helps children access their personal power?

Dr. Abrams: I think it's an interesting and entertaining way of looking at the universe, and it helps children realize that they are not helpless, that they don't always have to be helpless. They can use their imagination to make things better.

I don't think there is anything that is that new in Harry Potter. Those are themes that have been used in literature and storytelling for thousands of years. But they are bringing those themes to consciousness once again, so there is a bit of a resurgence right now.

Celeste: With everything that happened on September 11, do you think that it's important for people to understand the power of prayer?

Dr. Abrams: I think true prayer involves not asking for specific changes, but saying to the universe, "Do the thing that is the best for everyone concerned." I believe the universe is going to do that anyway. But I think that it helps when we align ourselves with the universe's intent, by showing it that we go along with that. Then our lives get easier, and even if a specific change that we want doesn't occur, we're going to accept what in fact does occur and feel less at odds with our surroundings.

Celeste: I know it's Christmas and you want to get back to your family. Thank you for taking the time for this interview.

Dr. Abrams: Thank you.

Dr. Michael Abrams served as the medical director of an emergency room and level-three trauma center while writing his first book, The Evolution Angel. He is board-certified in both family practice and pain management, and board-eligible in emergency medicine. He maintains additional certification in advanced trauma life support and advanced cardiac life support.

He lives with his wife and son in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, where he works as a personal coach, writer, and professional artist. He enjoys multi-track recording and a variety of outdoor sports, including mountain biking, mountaineering, and snowboarding. He is the author of four books, using a penname to protect the confidentiality of his patients.

Dr. Abrams is available for workshop presentations and speaking engagements. For more information please contact (303) 527-3144.

All quotes in this article are from The Twelve Conditions of a Miracle by Dr. Michael Abrams and from an interview that took place on December 25, 2001. Further excerpts from The Twelve Conditions of a Miracle can be viewed online at evolutionangel.com. And for more of Dr. Abrams's insights, please see Conversing with Angels on Death and the Divine (also by Celeste Adams, Spirit of Ma'at September 2001).

Footnotes:

*John 14:12 — "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."