Our Story

From thought to being: The Life Force Institute story

The knowledge and activities available from The Life Force Institute are built upon the foundations of “The Reality of Life and Living”, derived through the lifelong work of William Cook-Edwards (Bill). At its core lies a profound philosophical assertion: authentic spiritual knowledge cannot be passively received but must be individually experienced, evaluated and integrated. Bill’s teachings emphasise the importance of mastering thoughts and emotions as a prerequisite for spiritual growth.

William Edwards spent his life working to understand the meaning of life and the nature of human existence, developing a vast body of material entitled “The Work”. As detailed in Bill’s story, his concept of attunement as a gradual unfolding of spiritual potential provides a balanced and realistic approach to spiritual development. These teachings are presented as universally applicable, transcending both cultural and religious boundaries.

After Bill’s death in 2001, a period of transition began for those who had been touched by his presence. The establishment of The Life Force Institute represented a commitment to preserving and sharing the body of knowledge he had developed. The Institute holds the intellectual property accumulated through decades of classes, workshops, student experiences, teaching manuals and published materials,  an archive comprising tens of thousands of documents. This includes his collection of small booklet publications, which carry some of the wisdom of his teachings. Unlike many spiritual organisations that became personality cults around their founders, the Institute has been structured to place principles above personality. The breadth of this work addresses the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions of our experiences as human beings.

One of the early challenges was how to bring the material effectively into the digital age. A considerable portion had been stored in old word processor files that were no longer readily accessible. Thanks to the diligent efforts of one devoted individual, over more than a decade, twenty-seven thousand documents were imported, revised and updated. This activity cleared the typographical artefacts that existed throughout the files and made the information readable again. These revised documents were then catalogued and renamed, moving from old eight-character filenames to titles that more clearly reflected their content.

Alongside those electronic files, a library of tens of thousands of pages of handwritten notes lay in boxes, gathering dust. All of this material continues to be digitised and transcribed so that nothing contained within it will be lost. This is an ongoing effort to ensure the genuine authenticity of The Work remains intact.

This produces a wonderful legacy of information and knowledge covering many aspects of life and living within the human framework. Yet the more difficult challenge remained: how to make this information available in a way that would preserve its truth, value and integrity? During the early part of this century, several ventures were established in Brisbane and on the internet to provide various means of sharing this information with others.

Is it out there?

During the early decades of the twenty-first century, those familiar with this knowledge searched other sources. Working through philosophy, psychology, metaphysics, transcendental studies, theosophy, esoteric studies and even aspects of the occult, trying to establish whether this level of information was already out there.

The fields of psychology and philosophy both provided ample material. Their focus, however, was largely limited to a few aspects of the human mechanism: the human mind and the subconscious. While these disciplines prove useful to some, they lack a full comprehension of the human mechanism and an understanding of causality, which is a guiding principle of living.

Transcendental studies and information on the occult or esoteric all offered glimpses of something more. Transcendental studies put forward the notion of experience beyond the generally regarded sphere of understanding, explaining matter and the universe as products of mental conception. Many esoteric studies were often found to be confined to a secret or specialised field. Meanwhile, aspects of the occult seemed increasingly focused on knowledge considered hidden from view or deemed undesirable by society. Each of these areas offered small glimpses of understanding, but had too often been taken in isolation, producing a restricted view of the human condition.

Broadly speaking, theosophy was found to provide many forms of philosophy and mysticism, aiming at the knowledge of God through intuition, contemplative illumination and some esoteric teaching. Yet here again, much of the information had become wrapped up in history and dogma.

Of all the areas investigated, the closest parallel to The Work was found in metaphysics. That is a branch of philosophy dealing with first principles, including ontology, the nature of being, and epistemology, the theory of knowledge and rational belief. Metaphysics investigates and explains the nature of all things and existences, their qualities and attributes. Its basic principles were found to closely align with the underlying principles of experience and understanding embodied in the information accumulated over the years through Bill’s intuition and personal experiences.

Through these increasing levels of investigation, it became clear that it was not all out there. While some bodies of work sounded similar, closer examination revealed that the information accumulated in The Work has greater detail and a broader range of understanding. What was often found elsewhere were small fragments of knowledge that had been polished and expanded to the point where their original meaning was difficult to grasp. Information was frequently being presented to satisfy people’s appetite for quick-fix answers, adrenaline-based experiences or fads, rather than offering a more substantive, knowledge-based understanding of The Reality of Life and Living.

Personal development and self-help had become buzzwords, and fads were multiplying faster than rabbits. For many people, difficult circumstances can disrupt their sense of meaning. While this can offer an opportunity for change, some may still hesitate to accept that it is happening. When going through rough patches in life, many people hold out and treat self-help as a last resort.

What became clear through The Work is that positive thinking, affirmations or mantras alone are not enough. With a better understanding of the human mechanism, it became evident that people’s minds are often their own worst enemies. Through straightforward practical activities, people could be guided on how to engage their inner self for emotional and mental well-being, health, stability and happiness. When people gain a better understanding of how life and living function, it gives them real motivation to change their reactions.

There was no basic Life Force introduction, nothing that aimed to explain the theory and direct experience of your inner self. The physical aspects of you as a human being are indivisible from the inner, or in-dwelling self. They are not separate. The Life Force is an integral component of the whole human system. One life pervades all forms. A natural progression takes place as you begin working with your Life Force energies, though this must be constantly balanced with the challenges of the mind.

Empowering Trust in The Work

It is realised that many individuals are working on their own efforts to help others and share their knowledge and experiences. However, for many people, there seems to be a quotient of truth that they can accept. This leads to people believing and accepting so-called facts that are half-truths or no truth at all.

A principal teacher trained by Bill can still clearly recall their first class, forty years ago. Within the first few minutes, every student in the class were tapping into the energies of the inner self, the Life Force. The way the classes were conducted left no time for the mind to intervene and build barriers. All of the students simply experienced the energies for themselves. The classes were taught without sensationalism, as though this were the most natural thing in the world. At no point were students told what they should experience, because Bill did not want their minds to create or colour what they felt. Each student then documented the activity so they could practise at home and share their experiences.

As the principal teacher and other students continued to attend classes and work through the activities, they found that through increasing levels of understanding, they could access a wider range of individual choices and a clearer sense of freedom of will. Many of their misconceptions and half-truths could be set aside once they understood the workings and controlling tendencies of the mental mind. This understanding gave students an increased range of choices at any given moment in their lives.

Many of the teachers trained in The Work do not profess to be a guru, sage or any other such gifted person. All of them can recall moments where their illusions were shattered by varying circumstances at different points in their lives. They were each given the opportunity to understand life as it really is, rather like being handed the manual for something you have never quite been able to get working properly for years.

The classes, activities and personal experience brought forward through The Work have opened countless minds to different ways of recognising, experiencing and working with the Life Force and the forces that influence their lives.

We may all accept that we are products of our own minds, but how many of us truly understand what this means and how to apply that understanding to change our lives? Many students now apply this knowledge in their daily lives without fully realising what a difference it has made, while others continue to seek ways to ensure that this body of material remains accessible and is not lost or forgotten.

Exploring Side Endeavours

In 2003, Assets Unlimited was established as a sanctuary for the study of Alpha Omega Meditation and Healing Therapies. The premise was that through Alpha Omega Meditation, students could achieve higher states of consciousness and understanding, states not accessible through activities rooted in the mental mind alone. Through appropriate engagement, students could develop their ability to sense, experience, and understand aspects of esoteric and metaphysical energies.

Assets Unlimited also worked to bring forward Attunement, the science of understanding the reality of your own being and your association to reality. It is said that the Ancients knew the microcosm of the individual to reflect the macrocosm of the universe.

Attunement classes gave students the ability to learn and experience how the world around them, as well as within them, is both dependent upon and governed by energy. Working alongside Assets Unlimited, a related venture called Today’s Insight was also formed, offering additional aspects of intuitive consulting and natural energy healing.

Both establishments ran various courses and workshops. All ongoing weekly classes were based on material drawn from The Work. The primary topics covered were Attunement or Inner Progression, which was devoted to knowledge of the inner self and how the energies of life influence daily experiences.

Alpha Omega Healing gave students the knowledge of how to connect with higher wavelengths of creation, enabling them to draw upon energies for healing themselves and others. Relaxation Techniques delivered simple methods for calming the nervous system and moving into a tranquil and settled state.

Additionally, The Tree of Life examined the many component parts of the human mechanism, giving students an understanding of the mental and emotional mechanism and how it relates to the ethereal body as the main energy interchange within human existence.

The Rays of Creation allowed students to explore the composition of colours, sound and the Rays as carriers of the energy of the Universe around them. Inner Astrology examined the effects of the energies of planets and constellations according to their astronomical positions, helping students comprehend how the energies of the universe around them can influence their lives. Finally, Psychic Capabilities became accessible to many students who, through quietened minds and increased sensitivity, found they could draw upon their sixth sense, applied in areas such as clairvoyance, psychometry, tarot and billet reading.

During the decade or so following Bill’s death, various attempts were made to disseminate the knowledge, with mixed success. There were also individual difficulties for those leading these efforts as they grappled with their own self and with how best to honour the legacy of The Work.

All of these activities and endeavours, even those that ultimately proved unsuccessful, were essential to the continuing genesis of the knowledge. Without them, the caterpillar could not undergo its metamorphosis in the chrysalis of life, before emerging as a butterfly.

The Emergence of Understanding

As 2016 progressed, a new direction emerged, leading those involved to explore fresh means of sharing the information contained within The Work. A group of people were appointed as custodians, charged with bringing The Work forward so that it could emerge into the light of the world. One of the most significant challenges before them was to move beyond the world of false illusions that fills much of social media and the virtual world of the early twenty-first century. The ongoing efforts of these individuals and those who assist them continue to bring forward understanding that had remained largely unseen.

It was recognised that much had changed in the world since Bill began his studies and The Work was first laid down. The truth and substance of the material remain the same, but the modern world presents both new opportunities and new challenges in how the information should be made available. As with many establishments, cities or even civilisations, you will find that they have been built upon the work of what came before. The vast body of material from The Work functions as the foundation for The Life Force Institute. This material provides a significant source of intellectual property on the science of understanding the reality of your own being and your association to reality, not readily found elsewhere.

Over recent decades, knowledge on the nature of human behaviour has become increasingly focused on a personality-driven approach. The custodians recognised the difficulties presented by this kind of approach, where the brand can mean more than the substance behind it. As teachings become more personal, they often become influenced by the lower ego and the emotional energies of the individual delivering them. The custodians recognised the need to keep the knowledge untainted and so established The Life Force Institute as a neutral mechanism, free of personalities or influencers, to allow the knowledge to stand clearly in the light of day.

The Life Force Institute aims to illuminate people’s lives with understanding, so that they are better able to comprehend the many aspects of their lives and themselves. While many organisations seek to possess and control information, the custodians agreed that the guiding principle here should be one of openness. Allowing students to be independent and self-reliant, with open minds to what they experience, learn and share.

The custodians then set about discovering what was needed to share the information with wider audiences, as well as what barriers might stand in the way. Many factors were examined as they developed the information, curriculum, activities and social media presence for The Life Force Institute.

How could the vast amounts of information from The Work be made genuinely understandable and accessible?

The old mechanisms needed to adapt to the many competing information sources and the appetite for short-term results that characterises modern life. What was required to hold attention in a world of shrinking attention spans?

How could the appropriate value of the information be preserved so that it did not become lost among fads, false information and illusions?  How could the knowledge be protected from being reduced to memes or throwaway sayings, stripped of their purpose and underlying meaning?

Keeping the focus clear was essential, too. This was not about spiritual conquest or being better than others; it is simply about the knowledge that enables people to truly be themselves. What could help people understand how their minds work and how thoughts can govern their lives? What simple steps could be designed to allow people to awaken the Life Force gradually, naturally and in a controlled way?

Recognising that no one stands alone, how could The Life Force Institute differentiate what it offers to stand out from the noise of misinformation? How could this material be made current and accessible while maintaining the truth of the original findings? How could the information always remain untainted, never coloured or diluted by the constraints of emotional thinking?

How could it be brought forward in a way that would speak to each new generation? How could the teaching avoid drifting into vague, abstract language that would be indistinguishable from the background noise of the internet? How could instructor-led guidance be translated into self-guided activities? What means of sharing the information would keep the well-being of others at the centre?

Then, throughout all of it, how could the information be presented ethically, with the underlying goals always maintained and never compromised for shallow returns or a quick profit?

Beyond these questions, the custodians also had to examine the many technologies and intricacies of social media to determine the most effective way to build upon the foundation of The Work. While an initial domain name, website and email had been established, there was a need to make this something with genuine substance and reach. The custodians worked with their business partners to develop a web presence that combined new insight and information, regular weekly blogs and an online shop offering universal access to the activities made available by The Life Force Institute. Much of this work happened in parallel with the many other tasks the custodians were managing as everyone involved grappled with the continuing evolution of the information itself.

The custodians then analysed and reviewed much of the introductory material used by some of the precursor organisations. From this, a roadmap of self-guided activities was developed to set the long-term direction for everything that would be developed and published. For each activity, it was necessary to thoroughly review the source material and supplement it so that the activities could be conducted either with an instructor or as self-guided exercises by people who had purchased and downloaded the material. Each activity needed to be designed with a clear statement of intent, along with means to settle the mind, provide relevant information and, of course, include the core activity itself with detailed steps, with notes giving explanation.

The introductory self-guided activities available from The Life Force Institute are all called Kickstarter Activities, each aimed at providing a grounding for all further material and work. The information within each Kickstarter activity is necessary for progression to the next level. These activities establish the principles upon which everything else at The Life Force Institute is built. To help people get started, many of these introductory activities have been grouped into bundles.

After the initial set of Kickstarter activities was developed, the custodians reviewed ongoing feedback and recognised that additional, more accessible material was needed to help people absorb the information at a level suited to where they were in terms of sensitivity, balance and understanding. From this, several focused levels of curriculum were devised.

Breathe with Purpose

The custodians came to understand that many find it challenging simply to get through their day, and for some, even the idea of mindfulness can feel too distant from their daily reality. A wide variety of breathing and tapping practices were being used as a means of bringing some calmness to people’s lives.

Each of us breathes throughout the day, yet for the most part, this activity goes unnoticed, governed by the autonomic nervous system. Through becoming aware of your own breathing, you can create an opportunity to calm your mind.

The custodians reviewed the material within The Work to draw out what had been quietly held within it. Through some straightforward applications, a new ten-step process called Breathe with Purpose was developed. It builds upon established breathing techniques but adds some unique insight and its own distinct understanding.

Breathe with Purpose from The Life Force Institute allows you to focus clearly on the purpose of the activity, placing thoughts in the back of the mind. Through the course of the activity, those thoughts are repeated and reinforced with the energy of a mantra, before flowing forward into the conscious mind to achieve the desired outcome.

These Breathe with Purpose activities are published in our online shop and made complimentary, free for anyone to download.  We believe their benefits are important and the value extends to everyone. This is one example of how we are working to raise the level of knowledge available to everyone.

Life Force Mindfulness

Moving beyond breathing practices, mindfulness has become ubiquitous in modern society. Car manufacturers now even claim to have mindfulness-influenced dashboard displays. Yet in its more genuine meaning, mindfulness has a real part to play in achieving well-being. Numerous mindfulness techniques have been adopted in business and healthcare to help people manage the demands of daily life. At its simplest, mindfulness is paying attention to the present moment. Becoming aware of your own thoughts, feelings and emotions, as well as the world around you.

In today’s world, many of us have stopped noticing what is within and around us, particularly when life is busy. It is all too easy to lose touch with the sensations of life and living, to become someone who responds to the world almost entirely through the passive intellect and conditioned automatic reactions. We all have the capacity to be mindful and to pay attention to the present moment.

Many mindfulness practices have been drawn from Buddhist meditation. Some argue that these modern versions lack the elements of contemplation or an understanding of causality. Without a broader grasp of the causality of your thoughts, emotions and feelings,  such techniques address only the surface aspects of life, like treating a symptom rather than its cause.

Many of us also struggle with the motivation or discipline to bring these practices into daily life. They are often mistakenly approached as goal-oriented exercises, which moves them away from being a natural part of living. Focusing on achieving a goal runs counter to the underlying principle of being in the moment, which is what mindfulness is actually about. You do not have to change who you are or alter your beliefs to become more self-aware. But the information held within The Work offered a way to use this understanding to go further.

No matter where you are, or whatever your beliefs or way of life, Life Force Mindfulness will enable you to draw upon your inner self, your Life Force,  to go beyond most standard mindfulness exercises or training. Your true intentions arise from the innate nature of your Life Force. Through practice, you can learn to place thoughts with a dedicated purpose or intent from within your Life Force. Those thoughts then move forward into your normal conscious mind and your usual way of thinking. When these intentions arise within the stillness of your conscious mind, greater results become possible.

Life Force Mindfulness enriches basic mindfulness with a unique set of capabilities introduced by The Life Force Institute, giving you practical means of dealing more effectively with life and living.

Life Force Meditation

Today, many different types of meditation are practised across the world, including mindful breathing, mindfulness and progressive muscle relaxation. These techniques are designed to help people manage daily life and improve their cognitive capabilities. Like mindfulness, meditation has been gaining broader acceptance globally.

What are termed New Age meditations are typically influenced by Eastern philosophies such as yoga, Hinduism and Buddhism, combined with some elements of Western thinking. New Age meditation has its roots in the 1960s, often associated with the counterculture of that era. The aim is to quieten the mind and release oneself from conscious thought, often aided by the repetition of a mantra or by focusing on an object. From those origins, New Age meditation has branched into a wide range of techniques.

In its simplest form, meditation can be described as being at one. Through bringing quietness to your mind and silencing the endless noise of your thoughts, emotions and feelings, the essence of your true self, the Life Force, gradually begins to emerge.

The light of your Life Force, the true self within all people, sits behind barriers of material thoughts, emotions and feelings that your mind and persona have built over time. Through an open, peaceful and quiet mind, this light can be awakened through various Life Force meditation techniques.

Life Force Meditation leverages your active intellect to bring about quietness and calm within your mind. This is an often overlooked but essential step,  one that must be properly understood. You need to bring genuine calm and quiet to your mind, because as the energies of your Life Force begin to awaken, those energies can feed uncontrolled thoughts and emotions if the mind has not been settled first. Working through these reactions and gradually releasing your emotional immersion leads, in time, to the awakening of your Life Force.

As you continue to work with your Life Force energies, its light shines progressively more into your mind. Life Force Meditation enlivens the Life Force with a clear, dedicated purpose of thought, allowing you to move beyond typical meditation states and surpass the results of mindfulness and positive thinking – both of which remain bounded within the mental mind.

Realising your Choices

All of the information and activities made available through The Life Force Institute are designed to inspire you to be a free thinker. To be that individual who, through your own personal experiences, can access and work with the energy within and around you.

The motivation needed to bring about change in your life and in yourself comes from understanding who you are, how your energies work and what the different component parts of yourself actually do. You are a being of energy, with a mind to think, evaluate, reason and learn. Yet for most people, it is their own personality and mind that present the greatest difficulty. Your personality is conditioned to resist change, preserve the current status quo and maintain the control it holds over your life.

You cannot progress and expect all the emotional baggage which you have accumulated to disappear overnight; it does not work that way. Tapping something in an app and expecting life to be magically different tomorrow is unlikely to deliver results. Reaching your full capacity for change takes time, no matter what approach you take. But it takes only one moment of recognition, one spark, to begin.

Whenever you make a decision, understand that there is causality, with consequences and ramifications, whether good, bad or indifferent. Everything you have done up to this point has had a cause-and-effect dimension, what some call karma. You have a choice. As you apply various techniques to quieten your mind, you gain the opportunity to choose how to react, or not react to life and all that it contains. If you want to be happy, you can be happy. Similarly, if you allow yourself to be unhappy, you can let yourself be unhappy too. Either way, you will answer to the consequences, because negativity creates sickness, whereas happiness creates health.

Every activity made available through The Life Force Institute is designed to help create balance and calm that is all-encompassing. You can become the master of your own life, of your own thoughts, emotions, feelings and reactions.

What can The Life Force Institute teach you? It teaches you to see things as they are, not merely as they appear to be. It teaches you to know yourself and understand how you function – your strengths and your weaknesses. It gives you the tools to work through your weaknesses and the keys to bring about the balance you need within yourself. It gives you the means to build strength of purpose and character, and to develop the self-will to be independent and self-reliant in your life. And it teaches you to recognise and reach your full capacity for what you can become.

Whilst The Life Force Institute provides you with the knowledge, tools and keys to bring about change in your life, the responsibility to put these into practice in your daily life remains with you. If the will is not there, the change will not follow, and that will be nobody’s fault but your own. The choice is yours.

The Butterfly Effect

With The Work now emerging into the light of the world, the custodians set about defining clearly the mission and objectives of The Life Force Institute. As human beings, we are made of star stuff. This means you are part of those far-flung galaxies, and they are part of you. You are part of the whole, and the whole is part of you. Anyone who genuinely wants to learn must expand their consciousness beyond time and space to appreciate the magnitude of creation.

The primary objective of The Life Force Institute is to disseminate the information and knowledge of self-realisation, self-determination and the Life Force.

The mission of The Life Force Institute is to educate and elevate the well-being of humanity by bringing together the material and spiritual aspects of your being.

We are committed to ensuring that this information is made available in a Factual, Truthful, Ethical and Untainted manner.

We will help you in a variety of ways, including providing regular updates to our web presence, online activities, workshops and other such forums. What you do with this information and knowledge is then entirely up to you.