WHAT’S GOING ON?                                                                  #125 JANUARY 2005

ALONG THE WAY:   

Enjoy the journey.  Be an otter.

THIS MONTH’S THOUGHT:  

Entrenched belief is rarely altered by the facts.

SCIENCE OF MAN:  

(Lesson 29 continued)

As long as we’re fascinated by the sense objects, the objects of which we can sense and do not see the motivating power within, we are then, to a degree, an idolater.  Because we put value or we make important the things that can be sensed. Continues:

“But yet, to these, they are less to be blamed.”  In other words, the idolaters are not to be blamed. “For they, perhaps, err, seeking God”.  They really are looking for God.  They understand there is a power. But never having had instructions of any kind, they are seeking wherever they can see an expression of power.  And they don’t see what is doing the expressing. They only see the instrument through which it is expressed. And they are being desirous to find God.  “For being conversant among His works, they search and they are persuaded that the things are good which are seen.”  In other words, the physical bodies, the storms, the rains, and all these.  But what made them? What has them working? Without the Intelligence of Spirit nothing happens.  “But then, again, they’re not to be pardoned.”  Now he will say why they’re not to be pardoned. “For if they were able to know so much as to ask a judgment of the world, how did they not more easily find out the Lord thereof.  But unhappy are they and their hope is among the dead,” things that are totally worthless–dead instruments of various kinds. “who have called gods, the works of the hands of men.  Gold and silver, the inventions of art, and the resemblance of beasts, are an unprofitable stone, the work of an ancient hand”. In other words, sometimes people find an old, old statue and they begin to worship it because they feel it must have come from heaven.  Now people many years ago, there was a rough stone fell out of the sky and they called it Diana of the Ephesians. And it somewhat resembled a human form. But it was apparently a meteorite.  And because it fell out of the heavens and had something of the resemblance of a human form, a great religious system was formed around it called Diana of the Ephesians. “Or if an artist, a carpenter, has cut down a tree, proper for his use in the wood and skillfully taken off all the bark thereof and with the bark diligently formed a vessel profitable for the common uses of life”.  He’s made a bucket or a board or a table or a chair or something of common use. “And uses the chips of his work addresses meat”.  To cook his meat with, he uses the chips. “And taking what was left thereof, which is good for nothing, being a crooked piece of wood and full of knots, he carved it diligently.”  When he had nothing else to do, “and by the skill of his art, fashioned it and make it like the image of a man”.  Man took the scrap and because he had nothing else to do and nothing else to fit with it, wouldn’t even burn good, he made an image of a man.  “Or the resemblance of some beast, laying it over with red paint, covering every spot that is in it. He made a convenient dwelling place for it and set it in a wall and fastened it up with iron.”  He set him up a statue on his wall.  “Providing for it, lest it should fall, knowing that it is unable to help itself.  For it is an image and has need of help.”  We might not have to travel far if we could see.  People kneel before various and sundry statues that have to be fastened up and held in place with various forms of metal supports or some other kind of support to keep it from falling over. It’s simply a piece of wood. But they bow down and make prayers to it as an image. “And then maketh prayer to it, inquiring concerning his substance or his children or his marriage”.  They go making and wanting all these things.  Tell me who to marry. Make it known to me. Who I shall marry?  Make it known to me that my children will prosper. And make it known to me what business I shall go into so that I may prosper. And isn’t it fairly easy to make all these things important? A relationship.  One makes it important and depends upon it for a state of being. Or makes children important. They are very interesting. They are very wonderful little folks to observe growing up. But are they important? Only as they’re an expression of Spirit. And especially is it important that we make a business succeed.  Or is it only important that we use that business as a place of relationship that we may apply and see in action all the principles of the Teaching? “And he is not ashamed to speak to that which hath no life”.  In other words man speaks to a wooden image, sometimes, and he pleads of it, because it has no life at all in it. He is only working from an idea that because he has been told that it is an image of a certain figure maybe that has a reputation for being a very wonderful person, a saint or something else or a resurrected being, or some other creature, that he gives it due reverence. And would feel that he had committed a sacrilege if anything happened to it, or if it fell from it’s place off the wall.  “And for health he make supplication to the weak.”.  And not only is that true of supplication towards a statue, but for health does one make supplication to an inner pill, to a stimulant, sedative, chemical, which has no life in it, something that is toxic when put into the body/ The body rebels against it and tries to throw it out and thereby has all manners of changes taking place and one attributes it to the drug.  But it is X throwing the remedy out of the body. You know a person takes a laxative and thinks the laxative had an effect. But the laxative was a toxin. And X, recognizing it from the sensations arising, makes every effort to throw it out of the body. So, It throws it out and a few other things go with it (To be continued next month)

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A STORY:  

The boring day at work had finally ended.  With the last remnants of energy I made it to the car and drove home.  The prospect of a nap was an obsession. I hardly had the energy to turn the knob on the door.  The phone was ringing when I stepped inside. I started to ignore it and crawl between the welcoming sheets for some much needed rest.  However, I picked up the receiver, which weighed 500 pounds and weakly said, “Hello.” The caller was a friend of mine inviting me to play bridge.

The energy change was like a bolt of lightning.  In a millisecond I was experiencing a completely different state of being.  With enthusiasm I asked, “Where and what time?” The illusion of boredom masquerading as fatigue had hypnotized me.  When vital interest took over, the illusion disappeared. Yes, there are times when the body needs rest. Yet, I have to pay attention or I confuse boredom/inertia with fatigue.  A tremendous amount of energy is present when vital interest kicks in. The “Not-I’s” are tricky. They want to keep me in a state of boredom so they have control of this energy. A state of vital interest sweeps them away—totally, completely and immediately.  

Am I in charge of my inner state or not?  With the aid of the tone scale it is easy to answer the question, “Where am I?”  I am not in charge if I am feeling apathy, fear, anger, resentment, boredom or, possibly, contentment.  These states of walking/waking sleep are the work of the “Not-I’s”. Vital interest is a consciously chosen state that I am in charge of.  I can develop this state by taking the appropriate action that agrees with this feeling that I want to feel. And I want to feel good!

I will act the way I want to feel.

LIFE’S WORD

(p. 32)

I require no man to give.  If thou givest because thou thinkest it will please Me, know that I am already pleased with thee and nothing which thou canst do can alter My pleasure nor can cause My displeasure.  Thou hast all favor in My sight now and I would not have thee do anything with the object of purpose of gaining My favor.

EXCERPTS FROM GIBSON WORKSHOP – LITTLE AMERICA 1974

I am choosing how I will act, how I will feel.  I’m choosing my attitude and therefore indirectly one chooses ones state of being.  It’s not something one needs to learn or memorize. It is something one does. When do you do it? The only time you can do anything—NOW.  You can’t do it tomorrow. So you start where you are. So right here where you are with your backbone out of place and your jawbone out of place and your headaches, belly aches arthritis and all your other lovely ailments.  We start acting like we were the luckiest person in the world RIGHT NOW. You can do that, can’t you? You can’t wait until such time as you feel like smiling. UP. UP. UP is the word and that word UP is really the only word you need to work with.  

So be aware of: How do I want to feel?  Like a million dollars? Now how would you act if you already felt that wonderful?Everything would be UP, wouldn’t it? Your eyes would shine and you would be on top of the world.  You just go on and be UP no matter what anyone else is doing. You just don’t get caught up in suggestions.  Remember, you are 100% subject to suggestion 100% of the time. Stay UP even if everybody is down.

Things are perfect as they are.  That’s the way I choose to see them.  I might as well. But if you see them as down – you will be down.  You will find the more you are UP the more you are vitally interested in things.  You will find your proficiency increase a bit. You actualize more and more of your potential.

The conditioning is going to be hollering loud and clear while you’re trying to do something, but again, you put no value on that.  I value how I feel. So we are taking about having it of first value to choose to have an UP action and that will bring about an UP feeling or attitude.  So you can be anyway you like. I wakes up and sees how I will see things, then how I will act.  It’s a matter of you waking up and taking over the house and you can only do it THIS MOMENT.  

So as an interesting experiment suppose we decided to see oneself as the luckiest person in the world.  Nobody can tell you how to see yourself but you. You will always experience your existence just as you choose to see it.  So, starting this moment, you are going to start seeing you as the luckiest person around.

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One is a privileged invited guest to this beautiful Teaching.

If  Life looked directly into your eyes and said, “I command that you be happy in the world, as long as you live.”  What would you do?

For more information about the Teachings, go to WWW.pictureofman.com or www.rhondell.com