ALONG THE WAY:

We don’t own anything.  It was all here when we got here.

THIS MONTH’S THOUGHT:

Watching our reactions is self-knowledge.

SCIENCE OF MAN:

(Excerpts from Lesson Forty-four.  Continued from last month)

Having these few ideas about the force called eros, which is so frequently referred to as love, one begins to have some basis for a discussion with an individual that is in what is called a problem.  You see, the problem always comes from the ideal.   The ideal being that one should have eros arise and that it should continue forever in its excited, powerful state of force.  However, each person who has lived very long knows that eros is very easily gratified.  And when eros is gratified, unless there is friendship, philia, and unless there is agape, that it is doomed to be in a state of two people in a state of conflict.  Because each feels the other is in some way to blame.  And that without having this constant ecstatic state of eros that they no longer have love.  When one beings to understand the nature of eros, one begins to have a balanced existence.  Seeing that there is available a great symbol, a symbol of the union of intelligence and awareness, of Spirit and awareness. One begins to see the value of it, to see that while it is very ecstatic, very joyful, and can be very pleasurable, that if it is misunderstood and is allowed to run the life, and is not seen as a symbol of union, but merely as a source of gratification for pleasure, that it possibly brings about the most damnable agony known to man.  It brings about such things as jealousy.  When one has only used something as a source of pleasure, then, one is afraid that one will lose that source of  pleasure.  And if one sees that maybe there is an attraction somewheres else, one feels that this attraction is under the free will and agency of others, and one feels that ones source of pleasure is threatened and jealousy arises.  When jealousy arises, violence arises.  Resentment arises.  Hate arises.  And the, of course, all is killed.  So, if we can get across to the various people that come to us discussing their so-called sexual life, the erratic behavior of this blind force called eros, then we may be of some value to the person. It is not that anyone is immoral or that they are any other adjective that one may want to apply to them.  It is that they have not understood a blind force that exists in all peoples.  And then not understanding this blind force and having been influenced by many taboos of all the things about it; and having much false information that eros is to be called love and that it has a lasting quality; and that it is the source of pleasure and its whole purpose is to gain pleasure and to maintain that pleasure; then one is expecting much of eros that cannot be delivered by eros.  And of course, expecting some ideal results in disappointment.  When there is disappointment there is a feeling of being hurt.  And when one feels hurt, one begins to look for blame.  And of course, one usually finds the sexual partner as being to blame.  And the end of human relationship and the start of violence is on its way.  Some of the most rude violences in all the world originate from misunderstanding of this force called eros.  Furthermore one may observe that if one observes the natural creatures, such as animals that are relatively unconditioned, that they are simply what they are, unspecialized creatures.  One will notice that eros is only there on various occasions and that the female always initiates eros.  Of course man has been taught that man is the supreme being in the universe and that the woman is a secondary creature.  And that woman should be subject to man.  And of course he always thinks subject in sexual matters.  However this leads to sexual union when the female is not in accord.  The female is cyclic.  She has intensities of certain bodily hormones that brings about an intense increase in eros.  In other words, eros is very nearly could be said to be a chemical attraction.  And when certain chemicals called hormones are in a full state in the female, when she is most apt to conceive, then, of course, there is an intense increase in eros.  But the man is not the cyclic creature.  He is there as to be the servant of the demand in the female.  When man begins to see sex, eros, as a source of pleasure and something that he has a right to, then he begins to desire the gratification of this particular sensation that he has experienced before whenever and as often and under whatever circumstances he so chooses as his right.  Consequently many times the female has very little or a low degree of eros at that particular moment.  And she is, of course, disappointed in that she didn’t receive the great ecstatic sense of union or the gratification that she had sometime previously or had been led to believe might be possible.  Now, when this comes about, she is disappointed. She feels hurt. She looks for blame and begins to upset the whole thing.  So, if in the human relation called marriage there is a certain intelligence, an awareness of what is goes about.  First there is a recognition that eros is merely a blind force, an attraction, an urge to mating.  And it is a symbol of the inner union of X and awareness.  And that one recognizes that awareness must be involved in all things concerned with eros.  That unless eros is controlled, like a horse is led by a bridle and a bit, or an automobile is controlled by the steering mechanism and by the braking system and by the accelerator, then eros is running rampant.  And every time eros in the history of the world has been allowed to become a ruling force without the use of awareness to direct it, to control it, and to put it into its proper channels and to understand the nature of the force, it is very destructive.  Lightning can be very destructive, which is electricity.  But if electricity is put in wires and is harnessed and put under control, then it is a great servant.  And such is eros, that it is a great servant.  It is the symbol of union.  It brings about a new body, a symbol of the union of X and awareness, which is a new man.

A STORY :

Feeding the birds has always been fun.  Each morning I put sunflower seeds in the feeder.  The cardinals, chickadees, wrens, finch and others enjoy whatever   the squirrels leave for them.  Consequently, I’ve had an account against squirrels.  They have been self-seeking and self-absorbed. Interested in only their own well-being.

A few weeks ago something happened to change my attitude toward them.  Watching the squirrels fight among themselves for the feeder, I saw a new squirrel struggling for a place in line.  There was something different about him.  Then I saw.  He had only three legs and most of his tail was missing.  Fascinated, I watched him adapt to his condition.  When he would jump to the tree limbs, he would occasionally miss, but immediately pick himself up and try again.  Walking the railing was tricky.  Since his tail was missing, he had to develop a different way to keep his balance.

Watching him adapt gave me the warm fuzzies.  I didn’t hear him whine or complain that Life had treated him poorly.  He heroically continued to live his life with acceptance and good grace.

Before I get out of bed each morning I make a decision to live at peace with all life.  That includes ALL squirrels, although I put seeds on the deck floor for the special friend squirrel who is my teacher.

He is teaching me to accept all of life with cheerful good humor.

IDEAS TO WORK WITH:

1. Misery is when I’m trying to avoid discomfort.
2. Point of awareness can observe the conditioning without identifying or trying to straighten it out.  Only X knows what to do with the conditioning.
3. The whole idea of the Teaching material is for man to be aware of ‘what is’.
4. We can be in charge of what is in our head.  The ideas in our head are the result of what our purpose for living is.
5. The Teaching material does not allow us to be less disturbed.  But we will be less disturbed because we don’t care if we are.  When we are free to be disturbed we don’t get all torn up about it.
6. When we want future safety, it is turned into a goal.  Most of our energy is used chasing illusions to be safe.
7. We are in a partnership with X, Spirit.  Awareness says the “what.” X does the “how”.   Only X knows how to do anything

WALKING:

Waking can add minutes to your life.  This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $5000 per month.

My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60.  Now she’s 97 years old and we don’t know where the hell she is.

I joined a health club last year.  Spent about 400 bucks.  Haven’t lost a pound.  Apparently you have to go there.

The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier.