WHAT’S GOING ON

WGO#157-August 2007

ALONG THE WAY

The spiritual path is recognizing that Spirit is running things and I, the awareness, get to go along for a free ride as long as I don’t interfere.

THIS MONTH’S THOUGHT

 I can be hurt by nothing but my own thoughts

THE NINE-STEP JOURNEY — SCHOOL TALK #18

Ok, today we’re going to talk about a journey.  Many things you’ve read talks about a journey and frequently you’ve heard the expression, “The Way,” or you might have heard of taking a trip.  So basically we’re going to talk about all the steps that go on in a human existence from the time we’re born until possibly we can achieve something rather creative in Life that is supposed to be the “reason for living” maybe.

The first, of course, is the world.  We all get an even start. We’re born in a world full of conditioning where everybody is trying to be non-disturbed in their own ways and usually blaming other people for not being non-disturbed.  So we all got an even beginning from the starting gates, so nobody got an extra advantage there.

The second thing is a challenge from life.  Now somewhere’s along, we’ve all met, to some degree at least, a very decided challenge.  It could be a topsy turmoil; it could be that we lost everything we put together.  It could be we’ve become very ill.  It could be that all of our friends have turned their backs on us and 101 other things could happen that we would call a challenge from life.  We may refer to it sometimes as second force, but we’re not talking about the ordinary every day little affairs of second force like when the traffic light turned red just as you got to it or there’s no parking place near the door of the store you want to go to so you have to walk across the parking lot in 110 degree temperature.  There are a few jillion other things.  You go to the store to get something and they happen to be fresh out of it today.

All those are minor little irritations of second force.  But we’re talking about something rather major in the person’s life that really sets off a questioning, a challenge; and it’s a challenge that leads to seeking and asking “What’s going on here?  What is happening?”  It’s not what’s to blame or what can I do about it?  Those are very inadequate responses to the challenge from life and while a person may have many challenges, they usually fluff it because they look for something to blame, or they try to find out what would help, or they decide if they had a million dollars everything would be all right.  They never check into seeing “What’s going on within me?”  Now if they do begin to question, they have then opened the door to being what’s called a school or having a teacher because if you’re asking, “What’s going on here?” a teacher always shows up.

There’s an old statement that says when the student is ready, the teacher appears and vice versa–when a teacher is ready the student appears.  You don’t have to go out and advertise or start knocking on doors or anything of the sort–it happens.  But when the person is ready and is really asking, a source of information always appears that can get them into motion again.

So the first thing that comes in school teaching is self knowing.  Self-knowing, of course, is to become acquainted with all the conditioning.  We have tried to make it as easy as possible by creating the Picture of Man, which makes it rather easy to see if one is really interested in seeing and wants to look.   Because the answers are there–it is pretty obvious.  We’ve read lots of material where it takes pages and pages and pages to say the simplest thing when the picture of man would answer it in a matter of seconds all the way through. 

The second step in teaching is self-remembering.  Self remembering is beginning to see: What am I? Where am I? What’s going on here? And most especially, “What can I do?”—based upon one’s understanding of the first three questions.

Then every now and then an initiation is put on and initiation is more or less a formal school usually in which a person wonders, “What’s going on?” The initiation is a practical application wherein the school is set up so that one can recognize self-knowing and self-remembering without very much effort.  If the student takes what they’ve learned in initiation and self knowing and self remembering and use it, we call that being dedicated – that’s really putting all your stuff… well, it’s another word for making it first value.

Now the fact of having gone through a school doesn’t necessarily do a thing in the world for you unless you use it.  It’s not just something to talk about and nobody can send you to anyplace–you have to go yourself.  So no matter how many people would hypnotize you or make you have nice feelings, it is nothing. But here’s where you can really live it.

So let’s say that you were really living self-remembering.  Let’s just say we made it that our absolute first value was self-remembering.  I really lived it and I kept it constantly in mind to a great degree “What can I do?” which is a very simple thing.  “What can I do?”  Maybe all I can do is contribute to a pleasant harmonious mood wherever I may be.  If you did that and that alone, you would begin to find that you were really accomplishing something; and we say that that leads to actualization. Now the actualization is being capable of having higher states of consciousness.

But let’s say you got to the place where you were enthusiastic all the time instead of complaining, worrying, fretting, stewing, feeling sorry for yourself, being pathetic, feeling sorry for every unfortunate person you meet, which is the lower state of consciousness.  But now when one is enthusiastic, one could find one could go to any state of consciousness one chooses and in some of the higher states of consciousness whatever you state as being a fact is actualized very quickly.  If you’re in a certain state of consciousness and you make a statement, that statement is actualized in rather a short order.  It’s not always today, it’s not always tomorrow, but in a relative short time that it is actualized; and this, of course, is what people refer to as miracles–as healing–as unusual events or occurrences. (To be continued)

A STORY   

Have you ever had a situation that seemed to consume you?  Your thoughts would go back again and again to the same incident, reliving every part of it, creating imaginary conversations for all the participants.  These disobedient thought were in control while driving or pealing potatoes and especially in the silence of the night when sleep would not come.  Yes, I’m sure all of us have wasted our precious energy in this agonizing pastime.

Part of my responsibility in this lifetime is to learn that I can control my thoughts instead of my thoughts controlling me.  There are tools that can help me.  First, I must realize that I want to be in charge of my inner state and to do this the thoughts can no longer pull me into emotional and destructive states of being.   I can then make it my aim to put forth whatever effort necessary to change this self-defeating habit. 

A simple shifting my attention to an activity that requires concentration is helpful.  If the emotional distress that accompanies such mental gymnastics keeps me mindlessly reading the same paragraph over and over, I will play solitaire or do something that requires 100% attention. Dr. Bob used to say to go to the meat market and use their saw to cut up meat. It would be necessary to be totally awake and present to do that!  Moving into action on someone else’s behalf can also breakup this preoccupation with self.

Just by being aware that the self (alias Not-I’s) is in charge is reporting to X.  X then removes it. Bringing the situation up to the awareness is all I can do.  X takes care of it.  When the emotional clamor and mental chatter subside, conflict disappears. Peace remains.

I am in training to become a conscious being.  I am willing to surrender everything that blocks this awareness.

MAGIC  Dr. Bob Gibson

Magic, the production of wonders, is the work done by a magician – that is, real magic, not the tricks of a slights-of-hand artist.  Most everyone has probably wished they were a magician and able to transform things and self by waving a wand.

It may come as a surprise to one that the transformation of self, person, things and circumstances can all be accomplished by anyone that cares to accept the Magic Wand and use it.  Life is the ultimate magician, the creator, the producer of wonders.  Just for a few moments cease taking everything for granted and watch the many wonders of life.  Almost at once one will be filled with awe.  You are an expression of life, a magician.  However a magician that never practices his or her art may as well not be a magician.

The magician’s wand that transforms things is the ability to see things differently.  If one sees self as a victim of circumstances and of the past and others person, one lives in a very bad place, a place misery.  If one sees self as an expression of life and surrounded with possibilities to express life by actualizing these possibilities, and surrounded by persons that would be transformed by making a little contribution to a pleasant surrounding, one is filled with thanksgiving and joy.  One has waved their magic wand and transformed self from a state of misery to that of a person filled with happiness (thanksgiving) and in the process spread a little light and joy to others.  Not too shabby for starters.

The more one realizes that one is a magician and has a magic wand (the ability to see differently) the more thankful is the state of being.  There is no happiness without thankfulness.  They are one and the same thing.

            This is magic. 

            This is transformation

            This is radiating Life.

            This is living.   

                                                            ******

I have a degree in liberal art.  Do you want fries with that?

He who dies with toys is nonetheless dead.