THE FOUR BASIC IDEAS OF THE TEACHINGS

The Place of Language in the Teachings p. 23

1. Self-knowing:  Seeing the illusions and false values of conditioning.
2. Faith: Ability to make up the mind.
3. Grace:  Thankfulness for unearned, undeserved good.
4. Agape: Sees that each (including self) is doing, has done and will do, what at that moment of doing seems right or proper or justifiable according to which “I” is in charge at that moment.

WHERE AM I?

Life’s Word

I live and love in thy body.  When thou sayest, “I am” or “I love,” then that is Me speaking.  When thou sayest, “I have” or “I want,” or “I believe,” then that is the self-consciousness speaking for itself.  And behold, the self-consciousness shall die, with its possessions and desires and beliefs, but I am undying forever. (p 3)

IDEAS TO WORK WITH

Science of Man Instructors Manual

1. Disintegration is the result of resisting “what is”.
2. Thinking: association based on the past.
3. If we imply to a person that he is not responsible – whether we do this by our actions or by our suggestions, which is expressed by “helping”, then we have harmed him.  For this, we will get a balance, which means that we will pay.
4. Don’t be seeking the first decision (that the purpose of living is to re-gain the non-disturbed state).  Instead seek for your own personal integration, which is an end to all conflict.  Than all other things will be added to you.  Don’t be impatient in getting it.
5. It has been said that it is extremely difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Integration) and one must become as a little child.  Riches are anything a person depends on or has accumulated or protects, such as ideas, opinions, view points, ego, etc.  To be as a little child is to be NOT KNOWING and teachable.  It is to be inquiring instead of defending or protecting the self.
6. All resentment, anger, and aggression come from the conditioned belief that we have RIGHTS.   Our solution to resentment, anger and aggression is to realize that we have NO RIGHTS.  I DO have PRIVILEGES and I am free to enhance, to maintain and to increase my privileges.
7. Once a decision is made with feeling, it is the rule of attitude-action until recognized and unmade or re-evaluated. It is not what happened to an individual, but the decisions that were made about what happened.
8. If we are finding fault, we are looking through a misconception.

A STORY:  I had just emptied a quart of mayonnaise.  The sudsy, hot, water cleaned the inside of the jar.  I spent the next 20 minutes removing the label from the outside.  This required a razor blade, paint thinner and time.  Finally I wake up enough to realize this effort was entirely mechanical.  I already had a whole shelf of jars which would never be used. And I was getting ready to add this one to the worthless collection.

What was going on?  Mother was a jar saver, as well as saving string, bits of aluminum foil and paper sacks.  She always removed the labels from the jars.  I bought this insignificant suggestion and for years have been living from it.

If these tiny suggestions are in control of my behavior and I am too sleepy to catch them, how powerful a conditioned idea must be that is packed with emotion.  The Teaching Material provides us a way to be free of the conditioned ideas.  We continue to observe self.  This means if I have a glitch I had better look and see what is there that I need to look at.  If I am uncomfortable, what conditioned idea is operating.  What erroneous idea is at work when I feel dislike for someone or I am irritated by something?  It is all inner work.    The emotions or sensations come to the conscious level for me to look at if I am paying attention.  They are gifts.

All of the conditioning is based on the infantile decision that the whole purpose of living is to regain the non-disturbed state.  I have found it helpful to engage in some intense work in this area.  At one time I spent weeks writing down and re-evaluating all the reasons why this first erroneous decision would not work.  Every morning I went over this list again and again, reporting the insanity of it all.  As Dr. Bob told us, “Every inch of the spiritual life is WORK”.

I must watch the self and catch the signals as they arise or I’m dead.

TOOLS TO WORK WITH:

(INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL  page 78)

1. When you find yourself re-acting to a situation, emotionally resisting what is

going on, take the following three steps – and be sure to take the first one.

1. “I am free to experience what is happening.  Since I am going to experience it anyway, I will chose to experience it freely”
2. “I am also free to feel the way I am feeling about it.  To be sure that I am free to feel this, I will double the feeling consciously, on purpose, just because I want to.”
3. “I am now free to choose (change) my response to anyone that I desire, so I will choose a response which is truly to my advantage.

2.       When you find yourself disturbed about what has happened, is happening, or

is going to happen, recognize that you are listening to the suggestor who gets

his nourishment from human misery and his excitement out of being a sneak and controlling people without getting caught.  Be very polite and firm, without arguing or resisting him, by saying, “Good evening, Mr. Lucifer, now you go back to hell where you belong.”  “Go on, now!”  (Lucifer or the demons are elements of our conditioning, self-created, not a devil and, remember, he is likely to be right back for a few times until he gets a little discouraged for the time being.)

3.        Count how many times you think – or say – ought to, should, have to, got to

and replace it with “could and want to or get to”.

1.     Watch without judging your acting out of decision_______________, then act

it out consciously, at least once.

1.      Since we want to be full of grace, and grace is “undeserved good”, see how

many people you can give “undeserved good” to in the next 24 hours.

INITIATION-WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THE WORLD ALL ABOUT: 

 (Page 151 Teachers Course #1)

A)   What am I?  I am a privileged invited guest.

B)   What has happened to me?  I have totally forgotten what I am.  I am totally conditioned to feel and act more like a prisoner than a guest.

C)   Where am I and what’s the purpose of being here?  I am at a lovely estate called Earth and the purpose of being here is to be experiencing freely and finding joy in it.

D)   How have I been seeing it?  As a literal place of torment and have felt that I was being attacked from all sides.

E)    Whose estate is this?  It is the estate of the Host, who is God, Spirit, or the Father. The one who invited me here.

F)    Who owns everything here?  The Host owns everything.  The Host invites me to use some of the things He owns, such as a house, car, clothing, a body.  We had nothing when we arrived and were given the privilege of using what is here.  We can take nothing with us when we leave.

G)   What’s going on here?  A lot of interesting games are going on here.  They are designed to enlighten the players; business, marriage, traffic, self-improvement, education, trying to get rich, etc.  The games all have rules and are very necessary.  However the players do not know that they are playing the games of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”, all being blindfolded.  Each is afraid that someone will get the prize before they do.

H)   What have I believed is going on here?  I have believed there is a great struggle to compete with another, to survive and drive off all the enemies.

I)     What have I been doing?  I have been behaving as though I had to straighten the whole thing out and have not accepted the reality of the Host.  So I have been trying to rebuild the whole party and am even trying to become the host, since I did not recognize or suspect there was a Host.  I have been seeing it as a chaotic royal mess and have been wondering what I was going to do to clean it up.

J)     What can I do now?  I can understand myself and the estate or world in which I live and see the beauty, balance, and purpose to everything and thereby begin to really appreciate, and then love, the Host.

K)   What can I do anything for?  The only one I can do anything for is the Host.  Never again need I go out to do things for the other guests, or even for myself.  Fatigue is the price we pay for doing things for the wrong reason.

L)    Do I feel required to do for the Host or do I have the privilege?  The Host says, “Would you mind…?”  He does not say, “You have to” or “You ought to.”  It is then that He will accept us as a companion and may visit us from time to time, which is very worthwhile.  Doing things for the Host is such a privilege because we do it freely.

MIND TICS

I’m too busy to have time for anything important.

Thank you for not annoying me more than you do.