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the bees & the hollow tree...

Sayed Jafar, grand master of the four paths, was asked by an
enquirer: "Which of the paths is the test of paths, and why is it
that there are so many bodies of earnest people aurrounding
institutions teaching enlightement?"
He answered: "Once upon a time there was a forest, which
sprouted from seedlings, which grew into trees. These trees lived
until their appointed time, giving fruit, shelter and a livelihood to
many creatures. Then, for good reason, their task completed, the
trees died, and the forest became lifeless. Lifeless, that is,
except for a number of bees, which were looking for a home, and
looking for a place to build up corporate life. They found that many
of the dead trees were hollow, and in them they built their hives.
"The trees served well enough for many generations of bees.
Then, one by one, in the normal course of decay, the trunks began to
fall. Those bees who were still in solid enough trees pointed to
their less fortunate fellows saying: 'Look at how wicked they are!
This is a punishment for them.'
"Others said, about them and others: 'Let us bring them to our
hives for they are destitute and should be helped. This might have
happened to us, after all.'
"Yet others said: 'How useless were their hives, that they
collapsed like that. Let us take care that ours do not follow.'
"The bees thought about things in an obvious way. Many of them
did not realise that the hives were deliberately made just for
shelter and providing honey. Many did not realise that they should
have taken advantage of the trees and hastened their work before they
collapsed. This last difficulty was because the bees did not trouble
to set aside a part of their time and effort to study the nature of
their environment."

as collected by Idries Shah

Words of Timothy Leary...

I gave way to delight, as mystics have for centuries when they peeked
through the curtains and discovered that this world- so manifestly
real was actually a tiny stage set constructed by the mind. We
discover abruptly that everything we accept as reality is just social
fabrications. "

- Timothy Leary, 1966

Yeshua Speaks..

"The world is a bridge. Pass over it, but do not build your dwelling
there."

-- Yeshua, Saying 200 -- an inscription from a mosque at Fatehpur
Sikri, India, translated in "The Unknown Sayings of Jesus", Marvin
Meyer, Harper Collins

A Gift...

Everything is a gift of the universe -- even joy, anger,
jealously, frustration, or separateness. Everything is
perfect either for our growth or our enjoyment.

Ken Keyes Jnr

Sufi Wisdom...

In an astral vision a relation or a friend may appear to a person and
tell him something about the other side of life. Before another a
saint or sage may appear. One may see the vision of one's friends or
relations, past and present. One may see faces never seen before, and
yet faces that once existed in the world. When the visions are clear
it is the moment when the soul is clear from all earthly shadows, and
therefore heavenly pictures, so to speak, appear upon the curtain of
man's heart. Every unseen form that we see in a vision, be it of a
spirit, fairy, or angel, or of a teacher, sage, or saint, is
according to man's evolution. As highly evolved a person is, so high
is his vision. Sometimes he attracts the object of his vision,
sometimes the object of his vision wishes to manifest to him, and
sometimes he creates the object of his vision before him.

Meditation Theme For Each Day:

From The Teachings of…

HAZRAT PIR-O-MURSHID INAYAT KHAN

Selected & Arranged by…

HAZRAT PIR VILAYAT INAYAT KHAN

Reincarnation...

The Cycle or Wheel of Life, Death and Rebirth; the Life Force of the physical body does not die with the physical body, but goes on living in the etheric world for a period of time and is then reborn on earth, repeating this hundreds of times until the Life Force has perfected itself. (1) Esoterically, Reincarnation refers to a Monad (Divine Spark of God) undergoing a perfecting process, or a Spiritual Being becoming Divine, by learning to exist in and understand every dimension of God.

Plato teaches that a Soul is constantly perfecting itself to become an initiate into the diviner Wisdom. (5) This process involves a Monad projecting itself through all dimensions in order to learn all about them. The Souls it projects in turn project into the physical dimension by manifesting in the form of Human Beings. It takes many projections or incarnations to learn how to exist in and to understand the dynamics of the physical world, mainly because the physical world is so distracting and the Human Being is so easily distracted!

He who lacketh discrimination, whose mind is unsteady, and whose heart is impure, never reacheth the goal, but is born again and again. But he who hath discrimination, whose mind is steady and whose heart is pure, reacheth the goal and, having reached it, is born no more. --Katha Upanishad

Pythagoras, 2500 years ago,

taught the doctrine of eternal life-- not that we have a Soul but that we are a Soul occupying a body. He taught that this immortal Soul is our very being, and we, for a brief time, inhabit a body, but that body is not us; it is a temporary abode-- a vehicle to be used during our incarnation on our way toward liberation from rebirth. (5)


In order for a Soul to develop to its fullest potential, it must learn to move through all dimensions of space and time by adjusting its vibrational frequency. The greatest challenge occurs when it manifests form in the physical dimension as a Human Being. Challenge, because during the process of joining its physical form at the moment of its birth, the fragment of consciousness sent by the Soul into each physical incarnation loses awareness of its spiritual heritage. For its first many lifetimes, the "young" Soul has to figure out how to exist in a lower vibrational dimension--in a restrictive environment encased in skin; and, for many more, it has to acquire increasingly complex survival skills in a changing environment, plus figure out how to get along with crazy relatives, noisy neighbors, politics, high unemployment, crime and higher taxes before it can even start to question why it is on earth to begin with. Besides that, in all these many lifetimes (hundreds, maybe thousands), a lot of negative KARMA is accumulated because the memories of our past lives and spiritual sojourns between them are buried deep in our Subconscious Minds. However, if we knew coming in why we were here and what we were supposed to do, we wouldn't learn anything. It is during your death experience that the memory of the last time you died, that you experienced this before, comes back to you.

The journey to God is merely the reawakening of the knowledge of where you are always, and what you are forever. It is a journey without distance to a goal that has never changed. --Course in Miracles:53


Books such as the Bible, the Mahabharata, the Torah and the Qur'an, chronicle the origins of Human Being's struggle to rise above the lower CHAKRA energy and become Enlightened. They are chronologies of the evolution of human understanding about who we are, why we are here, how we got here and how we are supposed to survive, what life is all about, does life go on after death and is there a meaning behind it all? Human understanding has evolved from primitive cultural superstition through quantum physics. Human consciousness has expanded to awareness of "other" dimensions. Life has been our school.

But when we think the physical world is all there is, we easily get caught up in it and become attached to it and lose sight of the purpose of our human life— to experience it and learn from it, and rise above it.

Consciousness goes on after the brain dies because mind only uses brain to explore and experience the physical dimension. Destruction of the brain does not end its program. Death releases mind from the limitations of the brain and body to soar beyond the galaxies and to continue to exist in different forms in different dimensions of God, as Divine Beings. Any single physical incarnation, such as the one you and I are personally experiencing, is but a brief moment in our eternal lives as spiritual children of the One Universal God. Socrates taught that

those souls which have freed themselves from reincarnation, who have no further commerce with the body and now enjoy unbounded freedom, these now become genii or spirit teachers, who, as Hesiod says, care for the weal (health) of humanity. (5)


What this means to you and me is that each of us, in this lifetime, has the opportunity to substantially help our Soul's progress. By focusing your attention on God or a SAVIOR or a Master Teacher, whatever you believe that to be, during your life, you will gradually expand your consciousness to experience existence in more "heavenly," less dense dimensions. The lower your thoughts sink, the lower the dimensions you will experience.

If you wonder why you have this or that problem, look to what your thoughts dwell on consistently. You will attract the forces that vibrate at the same frequency as your thoughts. Once you come to truly know that you are a highly developed spiritual being, wearing a temporary coat of skin in which to experience and learn about the physical dimension, you open the connection to that higher part of your Whole Self and will receive divine guidance in your daily life. This awareness can lead to Liberation from the Cycle of Death and Rebirth in this lifetime and free your Soul to soar to spiritual heights.

Apollonius (a contemporary of Jesus) wrote to a friend upon the death of his son,

There is no death of anyone but only in appearance, even as there is no birth of any save in seeming. The change from being to becoming seems to be birth and the change from becoming to being seems to be death. But in reality no one is ever born nor does one ever die. It is simply a being visible and then invisible--the former through the density of matter, and the latter because of the subtlety of being--being which is ever the same, its only change being motion and rest. (5)

When you go into the death experience with this knowledge, instead of waiting until you get to the other side for that realization to dawn, you may not need to reincarnate again in physical form— unless you want to, briefly, to help humanity (as do many avatars and saviors). Reincarnation is the result of accumulating negative Karma (including not seeing the Light), which keeps your essence from being able to vibrate at higher frequencies in order to exist for any length of time on higher dimensions. You may achieve a certain level of spiritual enlightenment in a lifetime, but still harbor selfish or negative thoughts, which will allow you some amount of time in the spiritual realms, but inspire a need to reincarnate to learn how to overcome these deep-seated, lower-level thoughts and emotions.

It is suggested that at the present level of consciousness of the lifewave on the planet, knowledge about our spiritual existence and purpose for being human will propel many Souls to graduate from the school of earth at the end of this lifetime and many more to "get it" in their next incarnation. The human lifewave will eventually dissolve "hell" by turning toward the Light and "evil" on earth will dissipate. It is the Coming of Christ/Buddha/Muhammad/etc. Spirit/Consciousness to Humanity.....from Beyondtheveil.net

Christian Mysticism...

A Christian Mystic is on a spiritual journey towards unity and a new way of living. This is a compassionate path that recognizes and respects our diversity and interconnectedness. A consciousness of unity gives a new concept of life which helps form a new humanity on the individual and community level for Christians and non-Christians. Unity transcends biological evolution and starts spiritual evolution. Spiritual evolution is not evolution with biological genes, but with ideas because they can transform fear to joy and frustration to fullfillment.

Unity is love so emphasis on religious differences, race or intolerance rather than the unity of God is a strange god indeed and can be a challenge for us to overcome so we need to invoke the unity of God in all things. This unity is an innocence that sees a fresh world in a new way giving life, awareness, and ideas that love so kindness can replace judgement.

Without a doubt the mind of God is everywhere in pure consciousness and in the individual consciousness of all living things. The spirit of God is the principal partner in the human compound of body, mind and spirit, but it is usually ignored because it does not come across as the voice of authority especially to those who like things cut and dried. Organized religion is the voice of authority and it can meddle, tinker and mean well, but to break up old patterns of thought and behavior, we need to open ourselves to new possibilities. With the highest exercise of our intellect we know the purpose of our existence and can proceed to live intelligently according to it, if we direct our physical and mental activities to the pure consciousness of God. We know we are on the right path because God's pure consciousness makes cheerful every action and person contacted. Once we are in touch with the spirit within we can offer more to others, religion or the church.
........from Thinkunity.com

IS-ing.....

The entire material creation, whether healthy or sick,
wealthy or poor, is all made up of the belief in good and evil.
And was not made by God.

The belief in good and evil, in good matter or bad matter,
in any matter, throws us into the second chapter of Genesis,
or a material creation under Lord God, the master hypnotist.

God is maintaining His Spiritual Universe eternally. It is Invisible.
It is Incorporeal. It is Eternal form. It is God Itself Ising.
You will never see this creation, the first chapter of Genesis,
with your eyes. But in the Silence, It is known, and experienced.

Before you ask the question, what is the matter,
determine which creation you are looking at.

For if you once see the real creation,
you will have no more questions..............Bill Skiles

SUPREME SPIRIT IS THE BASIS OF EVERYTHING..

O Arjuna, I am the sapidity in the water, I am the radiance in the sun and the moon, the sacred syllable OM in all the Vedas, the sound in the ether, and potency in human beings. I am the sweet fragrance in the earth. I am the heat in the fire, the life in all living beings, and the austerity in the ascetics. (7.08-09)

O Arjuna, know Me to be the eternal seed of all creatures. I am the intelligence of the intelligent, and the brilliance of the brilliant. I am the strength of the strong who is devoid of selfish attachment. I am the lust in human beings that is devoid of sense gratification, and is in accord with Dharma (for the sacred purpose of procreation after marriage), O Arjuna. (7.10-11)

Know that three modes of material Nature ¾ goodness, passion, and ignorance ¾ also emanate from Me. I am not dependent on, or affected by, the modes of material Nature; but the modes of material Nature are dependent on Me.

Human beings are deluded by various aspects of these three modes of material Nature; therefore, they do not know Me, who is eternal and above these modes. (7.13)...............................Bhagavad Gita

Surrender...

When we are in a surrendered state of awareness, knowing that God is our life, we come to know a transcendent aspect of who we are. Beyond our human definition, apart from our ego-centered smaller sense of self, there is our larger self. When we yield to our larger self we experience the infinite working through us in ways that will fill us with awe.
~ Gregory Toole

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius ...

It is not the body, nor the personality that is the true self.
The true self is eternal. Even on the point of death we can
say to ourselves, "my true self is free. I cannot be contained."


from: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
borrowed from
Allspirit Nondual Quotes
http://www.allspirit.co.uk/nondualquotes2.html

Influence...

The catalyst which by its presence enables chemical elements to change their forms does not itself change. In the same way the illuminate may be used by higher forces to affect, influence, or even change others without any active personal move on his part to bring about this result. He may not even feel, see, or know what is happening, yet he has started it!

— Notebooks Category 25: World-Mind in Individual Mind > Chapter 4: The Sage's Service >.......Paul Brunton

The time of Now...

To have your attention in the Now is not a denial of what is needed in your life. It is recognizing what is primary. Then you can deal with what is secondary with great ease. It is not saying, "I'm not dealing with things anymore because there is only the Now." No. Find what is primary first, and make the Now into your friend, not your enemy. Acknowledge it, honor it. When the Now is the foundation and primary focus of your life, then your life unfolds with ease.

When your attention moves into the Now, there is an alertness. It is as if you were waking up from a dream, the dream of thought, the dream of past and future. Such clarity, such simplicity. No room for problem-making. Just this moment as it is.

The moment you enter the Now with your attention, you realize that life is sacred. There is a sacredness to everything you perceive when you are present. The more you live in the Now, the more you sense the simple yet profound joy of Being and the sacredness of all life.

~ Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks

The Revolution...

The enlightenment I speak of is not simply a realization, not simply the discovery of one's true nature. This is just the beginning—the point of entry into an inner revolution. Realization does not guarantee this revolution, it simply makes it possible.



What is this revolution? To begin with, revolution is not static; it is alive, ongoing. Realization of the ultimate reality is a fact. Revolution is the continuous ongoing birth of intelligence. This intelligence restructures your entire being. This intelligence cuts the mind free of itself, of its old structures which are rooted within human consciousness. If one cannot become free of the old structures of human consciousness, then one is still in a prison, the prison of humanity's consciousness.



This revolution is the awakening of an intelligence which alone has the ability to uproot all of the old structures of one's consciousness. Unless these structures are uprooted, there will be no creative thought or action or response. Unless there is an inner revolution, nothing new and fresh can flower. Only the old will flower in the absence of this revolution. But our potential lies beyond the known, beyond the structures of the past, beyond anything that humanity has established.



One must be willing to stand alone—in the unknown, with no reference to authority or the past or any of one's conditioning. One must stand where no one has stood before in complete nakedness, innocence, and humility.



© Adyashanti 2008

One, One, One

The lamps are different,
but the Light is the same.
So many garish lamps in the dying brain's lamp-shop,
Forget about them.
Concentrate on essence, concentrate on Light.
In lucid bliss, calmly smoking off its own holy fire,
The Light streams towards you from all things,
All people, all possible permutation of good, evil, thought, passion.
The lamps are different,
But the Light is the same.
One matter, one energy, one Light, one Light-mind,
Endlessly emanating all things
One turning and burning diamond,
One, one, one.
Ground yourself, strip yourself down,
To blind loving silence.
Stay there, until you see
You are gazing at the Light
With its own ageless eyes............from the Rumi Collection by andrew harvey

The Overself...

When we seek comprehension of that aspect of the Overself where there is no universe at all, no activity, no ideation, we seem to enter a great void, an utter no-thingness. The "I" cannot breathe in this rarefied atmosphere. And yet it would be the supreme illusion in a world of illusions to regard this void as the abode of unreality.

No object in the universe corresponds to the Overself; therefore we are forced to term it "The Void," but the existence of all objects is only explained by its own.

We may fittingly compare the Overself with any catalytic agent of chemistry which, unaltered itself, activates other substances by its presence. We may carry the comparison further and point out that just as the catalyst is ultimately a product of the same primal stuff as these substances, however different they appear to be, so the thoughts and things whose play constitutes the universe are ultimately of the same primal essence as the Overself.

— Notebooks Category 28: The Alone > Chapter 2: Our Relation To the Absolute > # 81.........Paul Brunton

Yielding to our larger self...

When we are in a surrendered state of awareness, knowing that God is our life, we come to know a transcendent aspect of who we are. Beyond our human definition, apart from our ego-centered smaller sense of self, there is our larger self. When we yield to our larger self we experience the infinite working through us in ways that will fill us with awe.
~ Gregory Toole

Religion versus Spirituality...

SPIRITUALITY SAYS THAT GOD IS WITHIN EACH OF US
AND WE DON'T NEED ANYONE ELSE TO MAKE
THAT DIVINE CONNECTION FOR US

RELIGION SAYS THAT WE ARE SEPARATED FROM GOD
AND THAT WE NEED "THEM" TO MAKE THE
DIVINE CONNECTION FOR US

SPIRITUALITY SAYS THAT WE ARE FREE TO MAKE CHOICES
ON OUR OWN AND THAT WE MUST TAKE PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR ACTIONS

RELIGION SAYS WE MUST MAKE THEIR
CHOICES AND ACT THEIR WAY

THE THEME OF SPIRITUALITY IS
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

THE THEME OF RELIGION IS FEAR AND GUILT

SPIRITUALITY DOES NOT REQUIRE US
TO MAKE DONATIONS

RELIGION HAS BECOME BIG BUSINESS

SPIRITUALITY SAYS THERE IS NO HELL, NO
JUDGMENT, NO ANGRY GOD... THAT WE
ARE LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY

RELIGION SAYS THERE IS A HELL, GOD GETS ANGRY
AND JUDGES US... THEREFORE, WE ARE NOT
LOVED UNCONDITIONALLY

SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE ARE FREE TO
CHOOSE OUR OWN PATH TO GOD

RELIGION COMMANDS US TO DO IT THEIR WAY

SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE GO TO GOD
TO LIGHTEN OUR BURDEN

RELIGION HAS TAUGHT US TO FEAR THEIR GOD

SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE SHOULD NOT BE ASHAMED
OF OUR SEXUALITY... THAT IT SHOULD BE A
SACRED CELEBRATION OF LOVE

RELIGION HAS TAUGHT US TO FEEL ASHAMED,
GUILTY AND DIRTY ABOUT OUR SEXUALITY

SPIRITUALITY TEACHES US TO
HONOR AND RESPECT MOTHER EARTH

RELIGION HAS TOLD US TO "BE THOU FRUITFUL,
MULTIPLY AND SUBDUE THE EARTH"

I REPEAT... "SUBDUE THE EARTH"

I SUSPECT JESUS AND BUDDHA WOULD
HAVE SAID SOMETHING LIKE...

"ACT RESPONSIBLY,
HONOR EARTH MOTHER
AND ALWAYS GIVE HER YOUR LOVE"

SPIRITUALITY ASKS THAT WE HAVE CHILDREN IN A
RESPONSIBLE WAY THAT IS CONSISTENT
WITH MOTHER EARTH'S RESOURCES

RELIGION SAYS THAT BIRTH CONTROL IS UNNATURAL,
A SIN, AND THAT WE CAN GO TO HELL FOR
PRACTICING IT. ARE THEY AFRAID
OF LOSING DUES-PAYING MEMBERS?

SPIRITUALITY REMINDS US THAT WE
ARE ONE WITH GOD AND ONE
WITH EACH OTHER

RELIGION TEACHES DISUNITY AND SEPARATION,
WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF GOD

SPIRITUALITY TELLS US THAT GOD IS WITHIN

RELIGION SAYS HE IS IN HEAVEN AND THAT
THEY ARE THE ONLY INTERMEDIARIES FOR US

SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE ARE BORN
IN INNOCENCE AND PURITY

RELIGION SAYS WE ARE BORN WITH SIN

SPIRITUALITY TEACHES THAT WE ARE ON A LONG
SPIRITUAL ADVENTURE AND JOURNEY,
WHICH WILL ULTIMATELY END BY
REUNITING WITH OUR SOURCE

RELIGION SAYS WE'VE GOT ONE LIFE TO GET IT
ALL RIGHT AND THERE IS NOTHING BUT
HEAVEN OR HELL AFTER THAT

SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE ARE FREE TO EXPRESS

RELIGION GAVE US THE DREADED INQUISITION

SPIRITUALITY TEACHES
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR ALL

RELIGION GAVE US THE CRUSADES IN WHICH
MILLIONS WERE KILLED AND PERSECUTED
IN THE NAME OF GOD

SPIRITUALITY TEACHES THAT WE SHOULD LOVE
ONE ANOTHER UNCONDITIONALLY AND
ALWAYS HONOR THE RIGHTS
AND CHOICES OF OTHERS

RELIGION TREATED NATIVE AMERICANS, THE MAYANS
AND OTHER INDIGENOUS CULTURES AS SAVAGE
PRIMITIVES WHO MUST BE SAVED

SPIRITUALITY TEACHES PEACE AND HARMONY

RELIGION HAS CAUSED MORE WARS
AND MORE KILLING THAN
ANY OTHER REASON

SPIRITUALITY SAYS RESPECT
ALL LIVING THINGS

I NEVER ONCE HEARD ANY RELIGION ASK THAT WE STOP
SLAUGHTERING MILLIONS OF TREES EVERY
YEAR FOR CHRIST'S BIRTHDAY

SPIRITUALITY TEACHES US TO HAVE
FAITH IN OURSELVES

RELIGION TEACHES US TO HAVE FAITH IN THEM

SPIRITUALITY SAYS WE HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS...
THAT WE CAN FIND THEM BY GOING WITHIN

RELIGION TEACHES US THAT IT HAS ALL THE
ANSWERS AND ONLY ITS ANSWERS
ARE THE RIGHT ONES

SPIRITUALITY TEACHES US TO SEARCH FOR THE
UNIVERSAL TRUTHS AND OUR HEARTS WILL
TELL US WHEN WE HAVE FOUND THEM

RELIGION TEACHES WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO
ACCEPT THEIR VERSION OF THE TRUTH

I think of myself, basically, as a teacher and a counselor. So,
lessons such as these are not meant to be literary masterpieces. I am
not concerned with being lofty and profound, but in dealing with
those day-to-day problems, for which people are seeking help and
healing.

In these essays, I am not presenting a new religion, startling and
shocking as some of the concepts may be. I am dealing with a
technique for the application of fundamental Spiritual Laws,
discovered and demonstrated by Jesus and many other great mystic
teachers—the thread of Truth, the fundamental concepts that enable
any individual, practically and creatively, to release his or her
own "Imprisoned Splendor." I have been dealing with these insights
for many years. I have given thousands upon thousands of talks. Yet,
all of these millions upon millions of words can be synthesized into
just a few sentences. It is humbling to admit that a lifetime of
teaching can be summed up "in a nutshell"…but I think it can. So, I
would like to give that kind of a summation, just three simple things—
three simple fundamentals of this New Insight In Truth.

First: "The Omnipresence of God" – Someone once said, "If you aren't
as close to God as you once were, don't make the mistake about which
one of you has moved." We sometimes act as if God were lost, and that
our efforts in spiritual unfoldment are to find God. This attitude
must be changed! God is not lost! It is simply that we must find
ourselves…take stock of ourselves. When we do, we find that we enter
a right relationship with things…and God is that relationship. We
find that God is the Wisdom of our mind, the Life of our body, the
Substance of our affairs. We will know that there are no God-empty
spots in our life—that the Presence of God is present, not absent.
Much that we have engaged in, which we have called, "The Practice of
the Presence," has really been a practice of the absence of God,
because it has been a prayer or affirmation or some kind of devotion
that is based upon trying to reach out to God "out there somewhere."
There are no God-empty spots, and where you are God is…vitally
completely and fully. So, religion is not simply a "one day a week"
activity, but an every day process of relating ourselves dynamically
with the God-Activity that is in everything and that radiates in and
through ourselves.

It is amazing how far we have strayed from Jesus' pure concept of
God, when he said, "The Father within knoweth what things ye have
need of, before you ask him," [Matt. 6:8] and, "It is the Father's
good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." [Luke 12:32] How could we
have missed this? In his Sermon on Mars Hill, the Apostle Paul refers
to the omnipresence of God in words that should be re-emphasized in
every Christian church in the world: "The God who made the world and
everything in it, being Lord of Heaven and earth, does not live in
shrines made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He
needed anything, since He Himself gives to all men life and breath
and everything.…Yet He is not far from each one of us, for `in Him we
live and move and have our being.'" [Acts 17:24-28, RSV] "In Him we
live and move and have our being." We live in the Presence…we live in
God. It is the milieu of our life. We can't get out of it. There is
nowhere to go to find God. Just "Be still, and know that I AM God."
[Psalm 46:10] Be still and let the Divine Flow manifest in you and
through you. This is "The Omnipresence of God."

Second: "The Divinity of Man" – Quite often, I am criticized for
saying that Jesus is not Divine. Actually, I am not saying that Jesus
is not Divine, but I insist that all persons are Divine. Jesus made
the discovery of the Divinity of man. He proved and demonstrated it
in his own fulfillment. But the discovery was of the potential of all
human beings. He said of you and me: "…the works that I do shall he
[you] do also; and greater works than these shall he [you] do…."
[John 14: 12] So you see, when we talk about this idea that we have a
Divine Potential within us, this does not give less reverence to
Jesus, it gives more. Jesus is the "way shower," the savior, in that
he has revealed the Divine Potential of humankind. He showed us what
we can all do. He showed us that each of us can go farther, can reach
higher, can unfold tremendous potentialities that are within us, and
that we can do it because he did it, and we can do it as he did it,
if we have the faith that he had. This begs a lot of questions, but
it simply indicates that life is a process of growth toward the
fulfillment of that Divine Potential.

Every person contains within himself or herself a Spark of
Divinity, "that little Spark of Celestial Fire that a man may
desecrate but never quite lose." [George Washington] The purpose of
life is to express and unfold this God-Self, this Infinite Potential.
The same Potential indwells you that was in Jesus. Remember, the
Apostle Paul says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus." [Philippians 2:5] This is the same idea. The only difference
is how good we are at discovering it, in mastering it, in expressing
it. The difference between you and Jesus is not in the manner of his
birth, but in the quality of his consciousness. The paper that is
used in a fifty-dollar bill is exactly the same as that used in a one-
dollar bill. But a different value has been placed upon them. The
substance is the same, yet no one would say that the one-dollar bill
is as good as the fifty, or that you are as good, in the quality of
your consciousness as Jesus.

Years ago, in the General Electric Company, there was a standing joke
that was played on every new research scientist who joined the staff.
His first assignment was to frost the inside of electric light bulbs.
This was akin to being sent out to find a "shelf-stretcher" or a "sky-
hook" or a "left-handed monkey wrench." Everyone knew this was an
impossible task. So, the joke went on for years and everybody had
many good laughs. But finally, a young fellow came along who was
determined to make good on his first job, and he did it! He actually
developed a process that frosted the bulbs, which made them stronger
by diffusing the light. This process is the basis for all modern
electric lighting, invented by a man who didn't know it could not be
done! That's the great key. That's the idea that Jesus suggests and
demonstrates and fulfills. You can do the impossible! You can do
more, you can have more, you can be more, when you realize that you
are a Child of God, a Spiritual Being, and that you have an Infinite
Potential awaiting releasement. Your role, as Robert Browning would
say, is to "open out a way whence the Imprisoned Splendor may
escape." This is the concept of the Divinity of man.

Third: "The Creative Power of Thought" - Mind is the connecting link
between humans and God. We must let our thoughts express God, rather
than simply expressing reactions to things of the world. Thought
itself is creative, and we become positive, creative, powerful beings
when we think original God-thoughts. Elbert Hubbard [1856-1915,
philosopher, writer, editor, school teacher, and lecturer] once
said, "Man is not what he thinks he is, but what he thinks, he is."
Your life, as you are now expressing it, is the reflection of the
framework of your mind, as formed by your dominant attitudes and
beliefs of consciousness. If you are not satisfied with what you are
experiencing, then you must begin today to rebuild this mental
framework—"…be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," [Romans
12:2] as Paul said.

When Jesus said, "…be it done for you as you have believed," [Matt.
8:13, RSV] and, "According to your faith be it done unto you," [Matt:
9:29, KJV] actually, he was referring to thinking. "Faith" is another
word for thought. Jesus was saying, "According to your thoughts, be
it done unto you." The thoughts you think actually are the key to
manifesting the conditions of your life. When you think in terms of
the possibilities of life, then the door to success is open. If you
think in terms of self-pity, of injustice, then the door is closed—
but you open it or you close it by the way you think. You can think
yourself into being unhappy or depressed. You can think yourself into
being glad. You can think yourself into being well and prosperous…or
you can think yourself into being sick and poor. You can actually
think yourself into unemployment…or you can think yourself back on to
a good-salaried position again—doing good work with good
compensation. This is a very important thing.

Because we have not recognized the importance of words and thoughts,
we continually and habitually express such thoughts as, "What a
stupid fool I am" or, "Everything I do fails miserably" or, "Oh, I
suppose, once again we're gonna have more of those difficult times."
These are your thoughts, and your thoughts are going to determine the
kind of conditions you experience in your life. Your thoughts set
your own evaluation. In a very real sense, your thoughts determine
what you become and the way others see you, for life is always lived
from within-out. As L.C. Robinson says, "Things may happen around
you, and things may happen to you, but the only things that really
count are the things that happen in you."

So here we are…three aspects of what I call, "The Truth in a
Nutshell": "The Omnipresence of God," "The Divinity of Man," and "The
Creative Power of Thought." I give many, many talks on each and every
one of these subjects, giving them broad expansion. In a sense, this
is what it's all about: "The Truth in a Nutshell."
WHICH ONE FEELS BETTER TO YOU?

SPIRITUALITY OR RELIGION?

GO TO YOUR HEART FOR THE ANSWER
IT WILL NEVER LIE TO YOU
THE REAL GOD MADE IT THAT WAY......................from Enlightenment Chapel

Namaste..

Namaste' is an ancient Sanskrit word that means...
I honor the place in you where the entire universe dwells.
I honor the place in you which is of truth, of light, of peace, and
love.

And when we communicate with that level of awareness,
WE ARE ONE!

The Seven Spiritual Truths..

The following Seven Spiritual Truths contain the core essence of the
sixteen lessons contained in Hu Dalconzo's textbook entitled Self-
mastery...A Journey Home To Your SELF. The Seven Spiritual Truths can
help you to navigate out of this mental maze you call life, just like
a compass, anytime life confuses you so much that you don't know what
to do next, as long as you refer to them often and you are willing to
undertake your journey home to your Self with emotional courage,
truth, and honesty.

TRUTH 1: YOU HAVE NEVER MADE A MISTAKE BECAUSE...
YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF ERROR OR FAILURE

From the perspective of the infinite correlation of a perfectly
evolving Universe, you have done what you have done, and you have
allowed others to do what they did to you, in order to learn, grow,
and evolve spiritually...PERIOD! In a perfectly evolving Universe, it
cannot be any other way. Therefore, you have never made a mistake
because everything you did, you did in order to evolve spiritually.
You may have missed a few opportunities to learn, but they weren't
mistakes; they were all very valuable and necessary lessons that you
needed to experience.

Each and every experience that you have created, you created with
infinite precision for the evolution of your immortal soul. As a
Godlike being, you are incapable of error or failure. What you
perceive as error is either your old karma burning off or your
spiritual evolution manifesting. An error or failure is just a mental
justification, an excuse to deny what you did, or a reason to blame
another for what happened. Your ego mind second-guesses your actions,
which makes you "think" you are guilty or wrong. Remember, you have
never made a mistake. Everything you did, you did to evolve
spiritually. Your life is a perfectly orchestrated action plan for
the evolution of your immortal soul...a soul that is on a journey
home to your true inner Self!

TRUTH 2: MOST OF YOUR CORE FOUNDATIONAL BELIEFS ARE ROOTED IN... FEAR

It's sad to say, but at this time we still live in a fear
driven, "survival of the fittest" society. Add to this the fact that
your caretakers, whose foundational beliefs were (for the most part)
rooted in fear, unconsciously passed these foundational fear beliefs
onto you, and it should be fairly obvious that most of your
foundational beliefs are rooted in fear rather than in love.
I'm sure that your caretakers did the best job they could; but
unknowingly they programmed you with the fears and prejudices that
they learned from their parents. When you learn how to reprogram your
Self as if perfect parents raised you, your life force energy will
begin to create the abundance that you richly deserve. You'll create
relationships that are filled with love and intimacy, and your
physical health will improve dramatically.

TRUTH 3: YOU HAVE NO ENEMIES... JUST LESSONS

You have no enemies, just lessons. The more that you feel that a
person is your enemy, the more important the lesson is that they have
come to teach you. Behind these illusional enemies hide the most
important lessons of your life. The bigger the negative charge, the
bigger the lesson. Assigning an enemy status to someone
or "something" (like an addiction) allows you to go unconscious to
the spiritual lesson that they were designed to teach you.
The law of attraction will keep pulling more "so-called" enemies into
your life, creating even more dramatic experiences, until you finally
learn the lesson or even worse, you stop caring altogether. If you
unconsciously deny the TRUTH that your lessons are trying to teach
you, you'll be destined to keep re-creating the same sequence of
events over and over again until, as a call for help, you'll
ask, "Why is this happening to me...AGAIN?"

TRUTH 4: AS YOU SPIRITUALLY ASCEND WITH TRUTH,
YOU BRING TO VIEW MORE OF YOUR EGO BASED... AVOIDANCE PATTERNS

As you keep spiritually ascending with each new spiritual truth that
you learn, you bring to view more of your ego based avoidance
patterns that you used to need to feel safe. So the spiritual healing
process of SEE, FEEL and HEAL is, and always will be, an ongoing
growth process. Spiritual Ascension requires you to continuously
increase your awareness of your inner TRUTH.
The higher you ascend, the easier it will be for you to view your own
and other's ego deceptions, requiring you to freely own and be
responsible for your actions (or lack thereof). If you are unwilling
to own the TRUTH that your ascension experience is allowing you to
see, then your false beliefs will go on "autopilot." This will cause
you to involuntarily and unconsciously replicate your false beliefs
for the positive purpose of giving you yet another chance to see your
denied TRUTH and to heal whatever needs to be healed or forgiven.

TRUTH 5: YOU ARE NEVER ALONE BECAUSE...GOD IS ALWAYS WITH YOU

You are a unique manifestation of the Universe, and at your core you
are a spiritual being composed of light, energy, and love. As such,
you are embraced in every moment by the presence of the eternal NOW
and thus SPIRIT is always with you! You are never alone, for you are
ONE spiritually with the entire Universe. The God-force energy that
makes your heart beat, lets you breathe effortlessly, digests your
food, and creates babies all with infinite correlation, is always
with you!

Therefore, as a child of God, you can at any time surrender your
challenges to your Higher powers, and know that SPIRIT will always be
there to help and support you. Know that what you seek is already
within you. Your journey home to your Self is a passage from the
isolation of your ego mind, to the unified heart energy of your God-
Self. You are now, and you have always been, interconnected with the
infinite Oneness, "so ask for help and you shall receive it!"

TRUTH 6: YOUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH REQUIRES... ACTION

Your spiritual growth requires you to take action. Your learning must
lead to you taking action. You must study, practice and emotionalize
what you are learning in order for you to Self-actualize you own
Divine potential. A farmer can't harvest his crops with prayer alone.
After he is done praying, he must get off his knees and go into the
fields. You have taken human form to experience things for the
evolution of your immortal soul. So why don't you experience what it
is you came to learn? The TRUTH is that without action...prayer,
affirmations, and meditation can be the beginning of Self-delusion.
And for a spiritually awakened person there is nothing worse than...
SELF-DELUSION! You need to take action by going out into the world
and experiencing what it is you came here to experience for the
evolution of your immortal soul. Struggle, effort, and action are
God's spiritual fitness program that makes you fit enough to Master
the Game of Life.

TRUTH 7: YOU HAVE... GOD-LIKE ABILITIES

You were made in the image of God, and therefore you have Godlike
abilities. You must never deny or make light of your Godlike
abilities by not owning that whatever you are experiencing, you are
creating. If you don't own what you are experiencing, you can't dis-
create it, and if you don't dis-create it, you won't be able to
manifest what you desire. Life is constantly testing us, and these
tests may cause you to experience "temporary amnesia," a momentary
forgetfulness of your Godlike abilities. At times, you'll experience
emotional shocks that will force your ego to create false perceptions
in an attempt to make you feel safe. It's at this point, when you are
feeling emotionally low, that you need to surrender your ego and "let
go and let God." Your dis-empowering beliefs block the place from
which your God-force energy flows, and it's these negative, dis-
empowering beliefs that negate your Godlike abilities.

This is why you need to learn how to FREE your Self with dis-
creation...so that you can stop re-creating the false, ego-based
beliefs that are draining you of your God-force energy. Any time that
you go unconscious to your Godlike abilities, you must find where you
have denied your divine birthright and inner TRUTH so that you can
immediately recover these abilities. Using the light of focused
awareness, you'll find your TRUTH hidden behind a false belief that
you either consciously or unconsciously created in order to feel
safe. You need to virtuously defend your Godlike abilities
(especially when you create something that doesn't serve you well) in
order to stay conscious of your Godlike powers. This awareness of
your divine abilities will keep them working for your good, as well
as for the good of the Universe.

"The only purpose of life is spiritual progress, which is
accomplished by seeking truth, finding it, living it and sharing it,
and thereby eventually earning a place in the highest spiritual
level, which is called Heaven."

Awakening...

Awakening reveals that there is no personal self, and that everything is myself. It appears to be a paradox. We find we are nothing and absolutely everything simultaneously.

When we see this, we realize there is nothing more happening other than love meeting itself -- or we could say you are meeting yourself, or the Truth is meeting itself, or God is meeting itself.

Love meets itself each moment, even if it's a rotten moment. This will never happen through the egoic state of consciousness, filtered through the mind. But from the innocence, love is simply meeting itself.

If you love me, it meets that. If you hate me, fine, it meets that, too. And it loves meeting that. I am talking about the One meeting itself, realizing itself, experiencing itself.



There is a love that includes the good feelings that we associate with love, and also far transcends good feelings. It is a love that's much deeper than an experience.

Have you noticed, with whatever quality of love you have experienced, that when true love arises, it opens up both your mind and emotions? It's an openness to whatever is happening.

The egoic state of consciousness is always closing the doors. Emotionally and intellectually, it's always slamming things shut as soon as the moment isn't the "right" kind of moment, which is about ninety-nine percent of the time.

But the innocence and the love do not slam the door shut, even in the face of something that is very unpleasant.



Notice that the more you see past your sense of personal self, the more innocence creeps in. And the more innocence is known, the more love sticks its head out and starts to experience life, live this life, and move within this life.

The wisdom becomes available now because one is open. So the wisdom deepens, and the innocence deepens. And the innocence allows for more love, and the more love there is, the more room there is for wisdom, and so it goes.

These qualities of love and innocence are what make liberating wisdom possible.

They are not only outcomes of the blooming of your true nature, they are also what make awakening and the embodiment of it, possible.



In Zen, one of the definitions of enlightenment is the harmonization of body and mind. This also means the harmonization of spirit and matter.

When spirit and matter are in harmony, it's as if a third entity is born -- that's really the Buddhist "Middle Way."

The Middle Way has nothing to do with the notion of being halfway between two opposites. The Middle Way is when spirit and matter are in harmony -- when the inherent oneness is realized.

Spirit and matter are not two different things, they are two aspects of the One. This is the realization of our true nature.



As humans we become identified with matter. Matter includes every subtle and gross manifestation. Matter is anything that can be touched, seen, felt, perceived, or thought. A feeling is matter and emotion is matter, as is a body, a car, or a floor.

The essence of matter is spirit. Matter is animated by spirit, by the life force, and they cannot be separated. Although we can speak about them as if they are two things, if we take away the life force, there is no matter. It's not as if there is dead matter. There is no matter.

Part of realization is moving from identification with matter (which manifests as personality or "me") to identification with spirit.

True enlightenment is when matter and spirit are in harmony. We could call this harmony nondifferentiation or oneness.



When we realize that we are spirit, there may be a much deeper harmony than there was before that realization, but there can still be some disharmony. So it is helpful to understand the value of exposing ourselves to the teaching, which is the same as exposing ourselves to what is, each and every moment.

We need to expose ourselves as we would to the sun if we want to get a tan. Instead of putting on clothes, we take them off. If we want to be free, then we don't clothe ourselves with our concepts, ideas, and opinions; we take them off.

Then something happens quite by itself. In order to deepen this harmony, we cannot hold on to concepts just like we cannot stay partially dressed and get a full tan. We will not get transformed.

But once we are really naked and completely exposed, we can become transformed or awakened in a very natural way.

~ Adyashanti

from: Emptiness Dancing

Enlightenment...

"Enlightenment does not mean to become dead like a
Buddha statue. An enlightened person still thinks, however
he knows that the thinking process is impermanent,
unsatisfactory, and empty.
"Through practice we can see these things clearly. We need
to investigate suffering and stop its causes. If not, wisdom
can never arise. We must see things exactly as they are -
feelings are just feelings, thoughts are just thoughts. This is
the way to end all our problems."
~Ajah Chah

From the web page, "In A Still Forest,"
http://www.abhayagiri.org/dhamma/TreeinaForestpt2.html

Krishnamurti,...

"To Krishnamurti, the most important metaphor of the activity of the
spirit is the river and the flowing of the river in particular."

"In one way or another, the water seems to clense you and to wash
away the dust of memories of what was. It gives the spirit the
quality of its own purity: pure as the nature of water....A river
receives everything and remains itself, without worrying or being
aware of what is pure or impure. In order to stand in the flow, you
must live in a light-footed way as a guest in your house or your
body. Being a guest means not to feel any attachments and to walk the
earth in a light-footed manner. You can use your senses in such a way
that they function without wasting energy, but are allowed free rein.
Eternity is this timeless stream."

The Ego..

Remove the concept of the ego from a man and you remove the solid ground from beneath his feet. A yawning abyss seems to open up under him. It gives the greatest fright of his life, accompanied by feelings of utter isolation and dreadful insecurity. He will then clamour urgently for the return of his beloved ego and return to safety once more--unless his determination to attain truth is so strong and so exigent that he can endure the ordeal, survive the test, and hold on until the Overself's light irradiates the abyss.....Paul Brunton

Experience...

Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment." ~ Eckhart Tolle A New Earth

Nisargadatta Maharaj quotes...

All that a guru can tell you is:
'My dear Sir, you are quite mistaken about yourself.
You are not the person you take yourself to be.'"


"There is nothing to practise. To know yourself, be yourself. To be
yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let
your true nature emerge. Don't disturb your mind with seeking"

I am That (Chetana version)

Song of a Saint...

Look into the sphere of birthless mind!
Let dawn the enjoyment of ceaseless play!
When free of hope and fear--that's the result.
Why speak of birth and death?
Come to the natural, unmodified state!

--Drinking the Mountain Stream:
Songs of Tibet's Beloved Saint, Milarepa

Defects within the Search..

Two of the grave and discriminative defects of the Indian methods of seeking Truth are the turning of men into Gods and the glorifying of imperfect institutions. While it is possible for the student to learn to some extent from these sources in the East and also in the West, he must keep in mind the fact that they are helpful only to beginners, and should exercise caution in joining any of their organizations. Our present times call for firsthand information, experience, and individual proof of the Truth, which the Quest alone offers. Institutions and organizations, on the other hand, offer nothing, demand much, and actually impede progress. There are a very few redeeming exceptions which justify their existence, but these are not generally known.
Paul Brunton..

Relax...

Every scripture in the world reveals that within your own being there is an I, or a Me; there is a Presence, a Power. As students of spiritual wisdom, you will begin to work with bible passages, so that every time a problem confronts you, you are able to say to yourself, ‘He that is within me is greater than any problem in the world or any person in the world’ or ‘He performeth the thing that is appointed for me’ or ‘The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.’

The more that you live with the idea that there is a He that is right where you are, and that Its function in your life is to be the power of resurrection or redemption, or the power of Grace, your consciousness changes from one of fear, doubt or lack of confidence to one of absolute assurance that even if you of your own self cannot do it, there is a Presence that can and does. Relaxing into that, you bring it about.”

-- Joel Goldsmith

-- Infinite Divine Consciousness
www.mysticalprinciples.com

The Wisdom of Spiritual Healing...

Soul to Soul and Spirit to Spirit. Good Afternoon.



I thought today we might review some of the wisdoms which are in the back of the book, “The Infinite Way.” These, of course, should be meditated and pondered and contemplated until they register in consciousness and we begin to see the fruitage in our lives. In fact, each one of these may take weeks or even months before we are able to make them bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh. But we will just take one or two or three and see where it leads us.



The first one says,



“Begin your spiritual life with the understanding that all conflicts must be settled within your consciousness.”



What hits us here are the very first four words, begin your spiritual life. This suggests that at the very beginning we should have the understanding that any conflict that we are confronted with, be it ours or someone else’s, be it physical or mental, emotional, financial, or relationship, we must have the understanding and really we must drill this into ourselves, all conflicts must be settled within your consciousness. So we must take any conflict that we come in contact with, that we encounter or that is presented to us by world-mind, we must know without any hesitation, this is something I need to settle within my consciousness.



The second is like unto the first.



“There is never a conflict with person or condition but rather a false concept mentally entertained about person, thing, circumstance or condition. Therefore, make the correction within yourself rather than attempting to change anyone or anything in the without.”



This is so difficult to grasp. Particularly in the beginning but even in the middle and even for advanced students who forget this because we are so conditioned to fix something or someone out here. The minute we have an interpersonal relationship with a conflict, well we are told to practice conflict resolution and go out here and discuss it and repair the relationship. Yet here is the Master of the Infinite Way principles, and he is telling us, there is never a conflict with a person. There is never a conflict with a condition. This is a false concept mentally entertained about person or a condition.



In other words, we are dealing with mental images. Not your mental image, not my mental image. These are universal mental images; here before we got here, here after we leave. Mental images, sort of like television broadcasts, the waves passing through your house, even passing through your body. Just like radio waves pass through your house and your body. If you have your set tuned into a certain radio frequency, you will pick up that particular radio wave that channel, that station which is broadcasting on that frequency. If you are on another frequency, you will pick up another station, a different station.



Those of us that are unaware of this thing called world-mind or universal hypnotism or universal world thought, those of us that do not start our day with prayer and meditation, we are tuned into the broadcasts and we pick up these mental images. So they are not your mental images and they are not mine. They are world-thoughts just floating around in space that we tune into or we become receptive to when we go out the door in the morning as a human being. So we pick up a false concept, a mental image about a person or a condition and then we fall to the belief that this is something out here. We come under the influence of the mental image and we are hypnotized by it. So we are afraid of that person or we are angry at that person or we are superior to that person or inferior to that person. All the time, there is no such person out there; none whatsoever. No such person was created by God.



You see there is no person out there. This is the mental image. We are entertaining a false mental image. What is out there is the creation of God, perfect and in the image and likeness of God. We are not tuned into that frequency; we are tuned into world thoughts and we pick one up and we entertain the mental image and now we have a conflict. But if we understand this, then we can take the second part of this:



Therefore make the correction within yourself rather than attempting to change anyone or anything in the without.



We do the same thing with conditions. Let’s take a hurricane. Recently we had Hurricane Dean. I am not sure what happened because I stopped following the reports but it is the same with a condition whether it is a hurricane or whether it is a financial downturn. You think God created these? No, no, no. You know better because what God made is forever. Anything God created is eternal and that is really your key. Ask yourself, is this eternal? And if it is not, it was not created by God. That is why we say continuously, if you can see it, hear it, taste it, touch it or smell it, it wasn’t created by God; it is a false creation or a mental image.



So a hurricane is not created by God. Financial unemployment is not created by God. Both of these are very, very temporary. So we know that they are mental images and knowing that, we won’t go out here to try to fix them. We won’t go out here to try to fix a discordant or disgruntled person. We will make the correction within ourselves rather than trying to change anyone or anything in the without.



You see these wisdoms may be only a sentence or two, a paragraph at most, and yet they contain within them all the principles you will need to practice the Infinite Way principles. So this second wisdom here, is giving us the key to spiritual healing.



Spiritual healing is not done by might nor by power but by My Spirit. So nothing you can do physically out here is going to fix the false mental image you are entertaining. I don’t care if it is a physical problem, a financial problem, a relationship problem, a weather problem, a world economic problem, a world political problem; I don’t care what the problem is that is appearing. If it is temporary, if it is not eternal, you can file it every single time under mental image, not made by God and therefore not made. If it is eternal, such as Spirit, Grace, Love, Christ, the Word, the Presence, God, then you can file it under that which is.



We must begin living in a whole new manner. No longer can we go out there and try to fix someone or something. Every time we are confronted or touched by a conflict or error of any kind, we must develop the habit of saying, “Wait a minute. You, mental image, I am not going to be fooled. I must make the correction within myself. So let me not try physically to do something out here; not by might, but also let me not try to hurl a lot of intellectual truth at it. Let me not make affirmations and denials and throw them at it, as if throwing a truth at a condition out here or a person out here is going to fix it. Let me not do anything physically, not by might, but let me take the next step and not do anything mentally; not by power. Let me find out what is meant by making the correction within myself; by My Spirit.”



Ah, Spirit. Now that is something quite different. You see he is giving you the tools to become a spiritual healer—I don’t really like those terms, I like better than that—he is giving us the tools to find out how to do what he did, which is to be a witness, a beholder of the stone cut out of the mountain without hands or by My Spirit.



The third wisdom says,



“Acknowledge God as the substance, law, cause and activity of all that is and immediately refrain from meddling physically or mentally in the without. Get back inside yourself and there resolve all appearances.”



There it is reiterated for us again. We are not to solve anything physically or mentally. We are to immediately get back inside, get back within our consciousness where we can find out what it is to have things resolved by My Spirit; the living Spirit of God. In these three wisdoms he has given us the technique to handle all error and to be a witness of Spirit flowing.



Now let me explain that a little bit. In The Infinite Way we are learning a brand new way of life. It is contrary to everything we have ever been taught, whether at home, school, organized religion, everywhere—the law, the medical field; it is completely contrary to everything human and indeed everything in you will say, “This cannot possibly work. How can this work?” That is what the human mind says and it is normal and it is natural for the human mind to say that because the human mind itself is one of these mental images. So of course it is going to say, “Oh poppycock! How can this possibly work? What do you mean? I’ve got to do something!” Yet here is someone that was an instrument for thousands upon thousands of healings and so I don’t know about you but I trust him, I trust his consciousness is telling us the truth.



So if he is telling us the truth and the human mind is objecting, the human mind must be wrong. The human mind has never healed anything. And when it thought it went out here and fixed something, the problem reappeared. When it thought it fixed something by affirmations and a lot of mental struggle, the problem may have disappeared and two new ones have taken its place. As for me and my house, we follow Christ; we follow the consciousness that revealed these truths.



Now what have we learned from these three wisdoms? The beginning of our journey should be understanding that everything must be met within. We must realize that there is no bad condition or bad person out here nor even a good person or good condition out here. These are mental images and must be resolved within our own consciousness. And so when we are touched by any form of error, we must immediately turn within and know whatever this mental image is, must be met in my consciousness and met not by might, not by doing anything physically; nor by power, not by doing anything mentally, no mental activity; but by My Spirit.



In other words, you and I, if we would practice The Infinite Way healing principles, must come to the place where when confronted or touched by any error, immediately we turn within and somehow without doing anything physically, without doing anything mentally, we are to become a witness of My Spirit doing something.



There, in a nutshell, in those three wisdoms, is the entire message of The Infinite Way.



Yet, what does it mean? How do we actually do it? What is it that we are to witness and how are we to witness it? I don’t know how it is for you but when I first started practicing, I closed my eyes and immediately I had a Grand Central Station head, all kinds of thoughts were whirling and swirling around. Everything from grudges against certain individuals to political problems to physical problems to unfinished tasks, to worries and fears and projections about next month or next year and it was rather difficult, darn near impossible to cease from anything physical or mental in order to be a witness of My Spirit. That was darn near impossible. But I had read enough of the material to know that somehow it was possible. There must be a way because hundreds of people were doing it.



First of all I had to understand that this is a drastic change in living because human beings are taught and have been taught century after century after century that we must fix things physically or mentally. So the human mind, the human being is conditioned to believe this, it is as natural as breathing. If you have ever taken the time to look, whenever something happens to you, immediately the mind jumps to, “What is the cause?” If you don’t see a cause, “Well, what did I do to earn this?” If you can’t see anything apparent, “Well, it must be my karma, perhaps God is testing me.” This is all the human mind conditioning and it has nothing to do with reality—nothing.



So we get here to The Infinite Way and we are steeped, living under this conditioned mind. How in the world are we going to get from there to that place where we can be so still that we become a beholder of My Spirit? If we are lucky, if we are fortunate, we stumble across, as I did, a technique known as contemplation. Contemplation bridges the gap, takes us from the whirling, swirling mind to a place of stillness.



So our beginning steps are rather arduous because it takes effort to sit down repeatedly with the mind full of troubles and woes and problems and projections and contemplate truth such as, “My grace is thy sufficiency.” Well we might take that into our consciousness and against our better judgment and against all of our instincts to solve this problem out here or throw truth at it, we drop it long enough to contemplate “Thy grace is my sufficiency.”



What happens is we look at that statement, we relax into it, we ask ourselves, “How would I apply that? What would it be like if I were living that principle? Thy grace is my sufficiency. That means that there is something called grace, something called God’s grace and that grace is my sufficiency. It will meet every problem. I do not know how, particularly in this first stage of contemplation, I do not know how but this is the truth and something in me intuitively knows this is true. Thy grace is my sufficiency. Why am I struggling so hard to meet my own problems? Thy grace; God’s grace is my sufficiency and if God’s grace is my sufficiency, well I can relax and I can invite that grace to function. Father, I take my hands off. Thy grace is my sufficiency. Let Thy grace flow.”



And as I ponder and go along with this truth, for a moment I have forgotten my mountain of troubles, I’ve just forgotten it because I am so focused on this truth: “Thy grace is my sufficiency. And since God is Omnipresent, thy grace is right here. Well, let me step aside. Father, thy will be done; thy grace.” And suddenly I become restful inside, quiet and still. I sit there for a moment and absolutely nothing happens, but I feel calmer. Then I get up, I go about my business. I have followed the directions, perhaps not perfectly, perhaps just stumbling along, but I have followed the directions; I have tried to meet my problem by going within and in that moment of stillness, although I felt nothing at all, I created an opening, just a pinpoint of receptivity and whether I was aware of it or not, My Spirit flowed in and I discover it, in the beginning I discover it. I go about my life and a day or two later, the particular problem that was bothering me is resolved, seemingly by itself and then I remember, “Oh, yes. I had that meditation. I just don’t see how that connected and yet look at this, the problem solved itself. I wonder if it is a coincidence. I wonder if something really happened in that meditation.”



You see we are starting our journey; we are starting to practice what he gave us in those three wisdoms. So we do it again and we do it again and we do it again. We are beginning to see that contact with My Spirit dissolves our problems. We are not sure how but we have seen it now a few times and we are beginning to believe that maybe this really does work.



We return to the writings and we read a little bit more and we contemplate a little bit more and this thing is like a snowball now; it’s gathering strength. One day we are sitting in our meditation and we finish our contemplation, we still might have a half a mountain of problems but we have learned how to contemplate quietly and leave them outside. And one day we finish our contemplative part of our meditation and we are still, we are quiet; we are just resting and there is a movement, suddenly there’s a quickening, there’s this feeling of a Presence, there’s a tingling. One way or another we feel a transcendental Presence; we become aware of It, we become aware of the is-ness, we become aware of the is.



We have just stepped across from a mental sort of contemplation to a spiritual awareness; we have had our first glimpse. We have made the very beginning of the development of spiritual discernment. We have discerned a spirit—My Spirit, My Presence. We are not sure what it was. We are not sure if it was real. A day or two later we wonder if we imagined it but we continue because something is happening, we feel it. And in the next meditation we feel it again or it could be three or four meditations later or a week or two but at some point, we have this inner shift and for a split second there it is again. “Is that it? Have I found it? Am I making contact? Wow, this is beautiful.”



We are making the change slowly from man whose breath is in his nostrils; a physical, mental being to a spiritual being, someone with spiritual awareness or someone that is able to discern spirit, omnipresent. There is a change going on in our consciousness. We are starting to discover these three wisdoms that he gives us in the beginning of this chapter. We don’t even know it but we are becoming someone that is able to go within, drop this world and tune into My Spirit. We are learning to become a witness, a beholder of My Spirit functioning.



We finally reach the point, the stage, and the state where we are almost able to make that contact at will. I’d say well over ninety percent of the time. In this stage we have become so receptive that sometimes, when we are not even meditating, not even contemplating—we could be out driving our car or grocery shopping or watching a movie at the movie theater, we could be attending a business meeting or just taking a walk, or even in the bathtub; we could be talking at a business conference—suddenly consciousness expands all by itself.



It is a very strange feeling. Spirit moves into our consciousness and we feel it. We feel its movement. We are not sure what that is all about but a little smile comes to our face and we finish our conversation or our movie, or we finish driving where we were driving or finish our grocery shopping.



Something wonderful is happening. Spiritual discernment, spiritual consciousnesses, the Spirit itself is beginning to take over and actively move our consciousness. It really is quite wonderful. And yet there is still work to be done because the demands of the world and the hypnotism still bombard us on a daily basis and sometimes we get caught up and forget totally, even in spite of all of our experiences, that these things must be met within, that they are only mental images.



By now we have learned the great secret. It has been given to us in the words, ‘when God speaks, the earth melts. He uttered his voice, the earth melted.’ If we have taken that and we’ve contemplated it, we would learn what it is that we are doing. Here is the great secret of spiritual healing. It’s nothing very deep. It doesn’t take years of study. It does take practice. It takes enough practice to get to the point where it begins living us. It takes enough practice where we can tune in, as Joel says, immediately turn within and tune in.



And here is what we learn. When I was a child I use to go camping quite a bit. I loved camping and at night in the mountains, in my tent, it was very, very dark. If you woke up in the middle of the night, you could put your hand in front of your eyes and you could not see it, so dark was it. Therefore I always kept a handy flashlight. Then if I needed to get up and go do something or if I needed to hunt around for something, perhaps a drink from my canteen, I could just flick that switch on the flashlight and immediately the tent was filled with light. All of the darkness disappeared, I could see every corner. Then of course were those sounds of crickets and frogs and streams and everything outside that I wondered about but at least I felt safe in my tent; I could see everything.



In our spiritual life, we are learning, when the light comes on the darkness disappears. I have no idea whatsoever where the darkness in my tent went when I turned on the flashlight but once the light was on, the darkness dissolved. I suppose maybe an electrical engineer or a physicist or a mathematician or somebody could tell you what happens to the darkness when the light comes on. I don’t need to understand it and I don’t think you do either. I just know that it feels nice to be in the light and the darkness is gone.



Well, in our spiritual life we are learning the exact same thing. We are learning that when God speaks, when we make contact, when we are receptive and we feel the flow of Spirit as I am this very second, the mental image dissolves. Now I know from my reading that Joel said you will never understand how this works, you’ll never understand how the mental image of unemployment dissolves or the mental image of a case of the flu dissolves, or the mental image of someone dying dissolves. You will know never know how the mental image of a hurricane is dissipated and dissolves.



But you will know again and again through this practice of meeting these things within that they do dissolve. When through this practice, I am talking about weeks and months and even years sometimes of practice; practicing this contemplation which leads you to real meditation in which you are receptive and open and open consciousness, through the practice of this, you will have the experience of Spirit flowing in and you will stand to the side and be a witness and a beholder as the mental images dissolve. You will see this repeatedly over and over again, so much so that it becomes second nature and you will be able to do exactly what Joel tells us in these wisdoms and immediately turn within in the understanding that every error that touches you is a mental image and must be met within.



Not met by you. You will never meet it. Now hear me. Nothing you know mentally will ever meet it. Nothing you do physically will ever meet it. No truth you know in your mind will meet it. No, that is not what is meant by meeting it within. What is meant is you contemplate, know the truth—not about the problem—the only thing you need to know about the problem ever is, “Oh, here’s a mental image, impersonal mental image, a nothingness.” That’s it, that’s all you ever need to know on that. There is no other truth about it. That is as simple as simple can be. Ah, mental image, impersonal nothingness.



Now, I turn within in order to become receptive. Right now I am still feeling a little agitated so I am going to contemplate to quiet down. The only purpose for contemplation is to reach that moment when you have contemplated all you can and now you are quiet and receptive and your consciousness is open. Then comes the inflow, the influx of the spirit; you feel it, you sense it, and you know it. Immediately a weight falls off your shoulder. “Ah, thank you Father.” And you sit still. It’s so peaceful; a sense of peace flows in. You know. You know. The light has shined; the darkness has disappeared. Spirit has dissolved the mental image. Who knows how? Who cares? I only know I am at peace again and I am feeling wonderful.



The Spirit feels wonderful. That is the only way I can put that. It is as if there is no place like home. You know you are home. You can feel it and it is wonderful. Walter C. Lanyon got that right. It is wonderful! He obviously knew. And so you rest for a few minutes, longer if you enjoy it, and you get up and go about your business and watch as the stone is cut out of the mountain without hands. You see what that scripture means now, don’t you? I am feeling it right now as I speak these words, that wonderful, sweet, sweet Presence. My Father, My Spirit, the is, the I, the Father within.



Through this practice over many weeks, months and years, we come to the place where we are constantly, through each and every day, practicing turning within, resting, opening consciousness, receiving that spiritual embrace, the inflow of peace, My Peace, My Spirit and watching as it dissolves the mental image. More and more we become beholders and witnesses. What a wonderful thing it is. Finally, after all this time, after all this practice, what we started with we now know to be the truth of our very own being. My grace is thy sufficiency. Only now we know it because we live it, we feel it, we breathe it and it lives us.



This would be considered the first part of what Joel called the first degree, the first part of this journey. It goes on and on from here. But how wonderful this is! And so the keys are very simple. Don’t make this so difficult you can’t understand it. Don’t read 25, 27, 37 books. Keep it simple. We had a saying, once upon a time; keep it simple silly or k-i-s-s; keep it simple.



Here are the key points again. Let’s return to the way they are written because they say them better than I can. The key points are these:



Begin your spiritual life with the understanding that all conflicts must be settled within your consciousness.



There is never a conflict with person or condition, but rather a false concept (a mental image) mentally entertained about person, thing, circumstance or condition. Therefore, make the correction within yourself, rather than attempting to change anyone or anything in the without.



Acknowledge God as the substance, law, cause and activity of all that is, and immediately refrain from meddling physically or mentally in the without. Get back inside yourself, and there resolve all appearances (or mental images).



And so we see the key points are these. Every time you are touched by error in any form—person, place, condition—immediately turn within yourself with the understanding this must be met within. But not met by any physical efforts out there and not met by any mental efforts in here, not by hurling truths at it. It must be met within by beginning with contemplation if we need to, if we are involved in the problem and need to calm down first, leading up to that moment of stillness or if we have developed the capacity, the ability, turning within and immediately becoming still so that we have an open consciousness to receive My Spirit. Because it is not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, the mental image is dissolved.



My grace is thy sufficiency in this moment of resting with an open consciousness, you are receptive and you receive the Spirit of God. The light shines, the darkness disappears and in some way you will never know, harmony, peace, love, joy, fulfillment is restored because I, the Spirit of God will restore the lost years that the locusts, the mental images have eaten and all this by grace.



I had a wonderful dream, I may have told you about it before but it keeps coming back to me because it was so wonderful. In the dream I was shown clearly this spiritual principle in just a little play. And here is how it went.



I dreamt I was flying above houses and trees, not really flying, just floating; floating in the sky and as I looked down, I thought, “Oh, how wonderful that I have been able to rise above this much of the world’s consciousness.” But suddenly I started to sink—not fast, just slowly—I started to sink down and I thought, “Oh, goodness. I am going to have to fix this,” and I started to move my arms up and down in order to go higher and suddenly the still, small voice within my consciousness whispered, “Son, you do not have to work that hard.” And I relaxed my entire being. And suddenly I felt Christ lift me higher and higher, way up higher than I even was before and I woke up in bed at night and thought, “Oh, how beautiful!” And I got up and wrote it down in my journal.



This is a message. Christ never talks to one person. Christ talks to all; God speaks in the ear of Christ which is all of us and so this message was for all of us and now I am giving it to all of us. You do not have to work that hard. This is not about going within and trying to remember, what is the correct truth for supply? What is the correct truth for companionship? What is the correct truth for healing? What is the correct truth for world situations? No, no, no.



Oh my friends, you do not have to work that hard. No, the correct attitude is knowing that this must be met within and yet it is a mental image and I cannot do anything, let me relax now. Christ you take over. And really relax your body, your mind, your soul. Be receptive, be open to the loving arms of Christ and it will lift you up above the world and the world thoughts. Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit. This is the key.



And so this week we have reviewed just three of the wisdoms of The Infinite Way. And we have seen that in fact it has given us the secret to spiritual healing; the secret to being a witness, a beholder of the stone cut out of the mountain without hands; the secret to My Spirit, the living Spirit, the Spirit of God.



Please. If you have enjoyed this talk today and you feel that more talks on these wisdoms of The Infinite Way would be beneficial, drop me a note, a line or you can even give me a call. Let me know. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve given my love. And practice this. You will only come into the awareness through the practice.



Until then, God bless and thank you. Thank you so much for being a part of this.



-- Infinite Divine Consciousness
www.mysticalprinciples.com

Real power...

There is only one source of real power and that is the Holy Presence within your own soul.
~ Eva Bell Werber, Quiet Talk with the Master.

It [Spirit] is the only Power in the Universe that knows Itself.
~ The Science of Mind, page 82

No matter the form, know that whatever we encounter in the three-dimensional world is merely a manifestation of our thoughts, and of itself is powerless. Everything upon the earth may deserve our attention but not our power, for God within is the only power.
~ Diane Harmony

affirmation~

This day I vow to withhold any power I might otherwise have given to a person, place or condition. I now know that God is the only power, and I acknowledge this truth in every moment of my life.

Love...

"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love
harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it." Martin Luther King,
Jr.