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Where does God come from?
|
|
| James O'Neill 2005-11-26, 12:55 pm |
| Hey does anyone know where God came from?
If he was already there and time doesn't exist, then what purpose does the
universe serve him?
If creating the universe makes him happier, or greater, or more realised, or
more complete as a God or whatever he is (or brings him together more)- then
this sugests a linear pattern.
For example, one minute he's happy, then he's happier. One minute he feels
great, then he experiences his greatness even more. Can't you see there's a
linear pattern? Otherwise it goes round in a circle- and that's pointless.
There must be a point!
For example creating the universe can only make him happier or benefit him
in some way. If not then what's the bloody point?
Is he someone who's nature it is to do pointless things? If so what's the
point of that?
Surely there must be a satisfactory meaningful purpose, hey? Who is God?
Is he evolving? Is he moving? Is there a point? Why doesn't he tell us?
| |
|
| On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 10:55:50 -0800, James O'Neill <mrukjames@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Hey does anyone know where God came from?
>
> If he was already there and time doesn't exist, then what purpose does
> the
> universe serve him?
>
> If creating the universe makes him happier, or greater, or more
> realised, or
> more complete as a God or whatever he is (or brings him together more)-
> then
> this sugests a linear pattern.
>
> For example, one minute he's happy, then he's happier. One minute he
> feels
> great, then he experiences his greatness even more. Can't you see
> there's a
> linear pattern? Otherwise it goes round in a circle- and that's
> pointless.
> There must be a point!
>
> For example creating the universe can only make him happier or benefit
> him
> in some way. If not then what's the bloody point?
>
> Is he someone who's nature it is to do pointless things? If so what's
> the
> point of that?
>
> Surely there must be a satisfactory meaningful purpose, hey? Who is God?
> Is he evolving? Is he moving? Is there a point? Why doesn't he tell
> us?
>
Stop worrying about God. Who are you?
--Don
| |
| Wade Humeniuk 2005-11-26, 5:58 pm |
| James O'Neill wrote:
> Hey does anyone know where God came from?
>
Say you had the answer. Then what??
Wade
| |
| Dave K 2005-11-27, 12:59 am |
|
James O'Neill wrote:
> Hey does anyone know where God came from?
Theists.
| |
| omjaroo 2005-11-27, 12:59 am |
| > Hey does anyone know where God came from?
He didn't :-)
> If he was already there and time doesn't exist
Bingo, you got it!
> , then what purpose does the universe serve him?
It doesn't, it's here for us :-)
> If creating the universe makes him happier, or greater, or
> more realised, or more complete as a God or whatever he is
> (or brings him together more)- then this sugests a linear
> pattern.
Not only is there no time, but there is also no movement :-)
> For example, one minute he's happy, then he's happier. One
> minute he feels great, then he experiences his greatness
> even more. Can't you see there's a linear pattern?
I can imagine that clearly. That doesn't mean it exists.
> Otherwise it goes round in a circle- and that's pointless.
> There must be a point!
Why must there be a point? Who decided that?
> For example creating the universe can only make him happier
> or benefit him in some way. If not then what's the bloody
> point?
Happy is what people want to be. Why in the world would God need that?
> Is he someone who's nature it is to do pointless things?
> If so what's the point of that?
People need to know what is the point (it is a lizard brain thing). Why
in the world would God have need for that?
> Surely there must be a satisfactory meaningful purpose,
> hey? Who is God? Is he evolving? Is he moving? Is there
> a point?
Seems like such a "human" idea, having a point/purpose.
> Why doesn't he tell us?
He does/will. Just stop asking and sit quietly and listen :-)
Jared
o
^
| |
| James O'Neill 2005-11-27, 10:58 am |
| Who are you?
My understanding is that I am perhaps a part of God, or a part of God who
has individualised himself into many.
Or, I am nothing, just an illusion. Becoming nothing untill there is only
God. If this is true then I am thinking that there is no point to my life.
I might as well take up the occupation of being a tramp or something.
So I suppose the main question I have is why did God create us? The answer
to this may give me an idea as to who I am?
Also God transcends everything including time I guess. And time kills
everything. Time is going to murder us all. Physically anyway.
The reason why I'm acting crazy asking these questions is that I am at a
stage in my life where major changes are necesary in order for me to happy,
pysically, mentally and emotionally.
If there is a divine purpose or "point" to creating happiness, desiring
happiness, searching for happiness in my life- I'll do it.
My conclusion is that you can either be happy in a happy environment. Or
you can be happy being unhappy with the certainty of knowing that all
unhappiness eventually comes to an end, is trancended like time trancends.
So, you can sit around waiting for things to happen or change on there own-
even though they not going to. You can even wait for you life to end.
Or you can have HUGE desire, which is needed to achieve any results or
success in the material world.
So, no desire, unhappy environment, happy within because you know that all
this will come and go.
But then if I am waiting for my life to get better or end then there is no
purpose for being here at all.
"Don" <lalladas@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:op.s0u5b8yzs9de8y@sceptre...
> On Sat, 26 Nov 2005 10:55:50 -0800, James O'Neill <mrukjames@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
God?[vbcol=seagreen]
>
> Stop worrying about God. Who are you?
>
> --Don
| |
| Wade Humeniuk 2005-11-27, 6:00 pm |
| Well James,
From your brain dump below the reason you cannot find your answer is
that you are full of answers already. You have no more room.
Wade
James O'Neill wrote:
> Who are you?
>
> My understanding is that I am perhaps a part of God, or a part of God who
> has individualised himself into many.
>
> Or, I am nothing, just an illusion. Becoming nothing untill there is only
> God. If this is true then I am thinking that there is no point to my life.
>
> I might as well take up the occupation of being a tramp or something.
>
> So I suppose the main question I have is why did God create us? The answer
> to this may give me an idea as to who I am?
>
> Also God transcends everything including time I guess. And time kills
> everything. Time is going to murder us all. Physically anyway.
>
> The reason why I'm acting crazy asking these questions is that I am at a
> stage in my life where major changes are necesary in order for me to happy,
> pysically, mentally and emotionally.
>
> If there is a divine purpose or "point" to creating happiness, desiring
> happiness, searching for happiness in my life- I'll do it.
>
> My conclusion is that you can either be happy in a happy environment. Or
> you can be happy being unhappy with the certainty of knowing that all
> unhappiness eventually comes to an end, is trancended like time trancends.
>
> So, you can sit around waiting for things to happen or change on there own-
> even though they not going to. You can even wait for you life to end.
>
> Or you can have HUGE desire, which is needed to achieve any results or
> success in the material world.
>
> So, no desire, unhappy environment, happy within because you know that all
> this will come and go.
>
> But then if I am waiting for my life to get better or end then there is no
> purpose for being here at all.
>
>
| |
| omjaroo 2005-11-27, 6:00 pm |
| > Who are you?
>
> My understanding is that I am perhaps a part of God, or a
> part of God who has individualised himself into many.
You are whoever, whatever God is. You are not a "part" of God as if you
could be separate. You are as a wave of the ocean, which is whatever
the ocean is and which is connected to every bit of the ocean.
> Or, I am nothing, just an illusion. Becoming nothing
> untill there is only God. If this is true then I am
> thinking that there is no point to my life.
Nothing doesn't make posts to usenet so I would say the illusion part
was definitely out.
> I might as well take up the occupation of being a tramp or
> something.
Many a saint and sage has done just that :-) Not because they are/were
nothing, but because they are/were everything and were practicing the
want of nothing.
> So I suppose the main question I have is why did God create
> us? The answer to this may give me an idea as to who I am?
You are who or whatever God is. You are a divine idea in the Mind of
God. An Expression of God. You are Love, Intelligence, Life, Principle,
Soul, Spirit among other things :-)
> Also God transcends everything including time I guess. And
> time kills everything. Time is going to murder us all.
> Physically anyway.
There is no time, there is only God. There is no death, there is only
God and God is Life. There is no movement, because there is no distance
or separation from/of anything. You guessed it, it's all God :-)
> The reason why I'm acting crazy asking these questions is
> that I am at a stage in my life where major changes are
> necessary in order for me to happy, physically, mentally and
> emotionally.
So I take that to mean you are currently not happy and you envision
major changes which would make you happy? Well if thats the case
perhaps I can save you some effort.
Here's the secret of/about happiness. It's an "inside job". You have
right now everything you need to be happy, right now this moment. The
only moment there is by the way. You see that is why there is no time
because there is only now. Anyway you can not make yourself happy, you
can only let yourself be happy.
> If there is a divine purpose or "point" to creating
> happiness, desiring happiness, searching for happiness in
> my life- I'll do it.
Happiness is the "default" condition of man. You do not create it you
let it. If you remove those things with which you make yourself
unhappy, bingo! You are left with your divine birthright, happiness
(yogis like to call it bliss).
> My conclusion is that you can either be happy in a happy
> environment. Or you can be happy being unhappy with the
> certainty of knowing that all unhappiness eventually comes
> to an end, is trancended like time trancends.
Will Rogers said something like, "I believe a man will be just about as
happy as he makes up his mind to be."
> So, you can sit around waiting for things to happen or
> change on there own- even though they not going to. You
> can even wait for you life to end.
>
> Or you can have HUGE desire, which is needed to achieve any
> results or success in the material world.
Here's the secret to/about unhappiness. It is caused be desires and
nothing more or less. Desires are caused by fear. Fear is caused by
taking your awareness out of your "now" and projecting with your
imagination into a non-existent past or future.
> So, no desire, unhappy environment, happy within because
> you know that all this will come and go.
An environment is not happy or unhappy. Last time I checked it is
simply a "concept" we have fabricated to facilitate communication
between ourselves :-) But I think you are correct regarding no desire,
happy within.
> But then if I am waiting for my life to get better or end
> then there is no purpose for being here at all.
I could come to the same conclusion regarding flowers. I can't see the
point but then I like them anyway. And they keep on doing what they do
despite my not seeing any point in their existence. And I'm glad they
do. :-)
Jared
o
^
| |
| J.D. Campbell 2005-11-28, 1:00 am |
| God is within so this world universe mutiverse is without the creation
of god .
To go within requires direct knowledge of the soul. I used to believe
everyone had one a soul because life seemed to relate soul but upon
examining it more went oxidation as science. So today i only believe any
male human body has the potential too at the right time place celestial
circumstances with reoccuring patterns find this soul a worlds soul
instead.
Hence god could not have 2 souls in one place time on this world if
theres only 1 way to reach within done differently by different men yet
all on the same celestial dates. The roman/aztec calendars zeroed that
in for me. God would never be found argueing with itself as any 2 would
see the same about the same yet not so cultures fight constantly as two
come along or a dozen.
That would then tend to make everytime god appears a descent further
into the external as within is only to grow further within it would
seem......so all after god appears would now really be within yet
everytime the soul appears god has a man as a vehicle to gain without.
Step by step so far i have no personal reason to believe god has
switched trails made any changes but is still going down river same
river different bodies incarnations of same god same time..........
Maybe god does just that swallows all withiin leaving without what is
by just appearing......Its not easy knowning its hard seeing not another
person that knows except upon the words of others that truly did cause
they know certain things only they could know or they make mistakes only
they would make for the same reasons/
STICK WITH (yours) ANOTHR THE EMOTIONAL BODY and its NATURE THE REALMS
OF GOD ARE FOR THOSE INCREDIABLY MENTALLY TUFF.
Today i am very sorry but i think it was a hand out gift church thing
politics the personal soul......these celestial patterns are looking
more and more like instincts born that wat died that way////Casted/JD
| |
| James O'Neill 2005-11-28, 10:59 am |
| Thankyou for your wonderful answers. This is great stuff.
But I just have a few more questions.
1.) What's the difference between doing something out of desire, and doing
something out of duty? And how do you know the difference?
Isn't loving your family a desire?
Isn't wanting to come off drugs (not me by the way) a desire? And I might
add a benefit to other people too.
Isn't wanting to heal someone of pain when you feel it a desire?
Isn't making another person happy a desire? Because it makes you happy.
2.) Also, what's the difference between needing something and desiring
something?
What about our need for soul mates and soul friends? Isn't this desire?
What about our desire for friendship?
Companionship?
Love?
Parental Love?
Peer support?
I'm guessing there is two types of desire, needs and distractions. I
understand distractions.
Isn't desire shakti energy, what's that?
People talk about going within, what about going within other people too,
isn't that the same place, isn't that love?
3.) If you're in an environment where there's no love, isn't that your duty
to something about it? Move to another place maybe? In order to do this
you need to set a goal, and doesn't that constitue a desire?
What if you're in a situation where you can't meditate or do spiritual
practices ir yoga, surely it is your duty to work for your freedom. But I
call this desire. Perhaps it is divine will I don't know. But then what's
the difference?
I also understand that one persons way maybe different from my way or anyone
elses. So what works for me maybe unique. Just some thoughts there. Or
another brain dump  There you go.
Kind Regards
James
----- Original Message -----
From: "omjaroo" <omjaroo@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: alt.yoga
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 8:11 PM
Subject: Re: Where does God come from?
>
> You are whoever, whatever God is. You are not a "part" of God as if you
> could be separate. You are as a wave of the ocean, which is whatever
> the ocean is and which is connected to every bit of the ocean.
>
>
> Nothing doesn't make posts to usenet so I would say the illusion part
> was definitely out.
>
>
> Many a saint and sage has done just that :-) Not because they are/were
> nothing, but because they are/were everything and were practicing the
> want of nothing.
>
>
> You are who or whatever God is. You are a divine idea in the Mind of
> God. An Expression of God. You are Love, Intelligence, Life, Principle,
> Soul, Spirit among other things :-)
>
>
> There is no time, there is only God. There is no death, there is only
> God and God is Life. There is no movement, because there is no distance
> or separation from/of anything. You guessed it, it's all God :-)
>
>
> So I take that to mean you are currently not happy and you envision
> major changes which would make you happy? Well if thats the case
> perhaps I can save you some effort.
>
> Here's the secret of/about happiness. It's an "inside job". You have
> right now everything you need to be happy, right now this moment. The
> only moment there is by the way. You see that is why there is no time
> because there is only now. Anyway you can not make yourself happy, you
> can only let yourself be happy.
>
>
> Happiness is the "default" condition of man. You do not create it you
> let it. If you remove those things with which you make yourself
> unhappy, bingo! You are left with your divine birthright, happiness
> (yogis like to call it bliss).
>
>
> Will Rogers said something like, "I believe a man will be just about as
> happy as he makes up his mind to be."
>
>
> Here's the secret to/about unhappiness. It is caused be desires and
> nothing more or less. Desires are caused by fear. Fear is caused by
> taking your awareness out of your "now" and projecting with your
> imagination into a non-existent past or future.
>
>
>
> An environment is not happy or unhappy. Last time I checked it is
> simply a "concept" we have fabricated to facilitate communication
> between ourselves :-) But I think you are correct regarding no desire,
> happy within.
>
>
> I could come to the same conclusion regarding flowers. I can't see the
> point but then I like them anyway. And they keep on doing what they do
> despite my not seeing any point in their existence. And I'm glad they
> do. :-)
>
> Jared
> o
> ^
>
| |
| omjaroo 2005-11-28, 5:58 pm |
| > Thankyou for your wonderful answers. This is great stuff.
You are welcome :-) Thank you for your kind words.
> But I just have a few more questions.
Well that's the nature of questions. One tends to lead to another :-)
Besides that's what Jnanis do they ask questions:-) A note though. I
am what's considered an "absolutist". That is I speak in absolute
terms (bottom lining it, so to speak). I see absolute values like;
there is only God. Therefore only thing that can exist must be in and
of and as whatever God is. God is Love, therefore, there is only Love.
God has no opposite, so there is no hate, evil, suffering, sickness,
death, etc. It's zero or one for me. It exists or it doesn't.
Obviously the appearance of the physical world we live in is
"relative". Love/hate, joy/suffering, good/bad, etc.; lots of
continually alternating opposites. The physical principles which make
up our world are comprised of opposites (yin/yang). But the reality is,
all of these things are expressions of an absolute; which is God.
So if what I am saying doesn't make "sense" or seems outlandish
or impossible to get a grip on, I understand. It all defies "logic"
on the relative side but it is perfectly logical on the absolute side.
My goal as a jnani is to discriminate as to the Truth of anything. And
Truth is absolute. It is what It is and It is not what It is not. So I
am constantly forced into the absolute when discussing what is True. My
goal as a communicator is to build a bridge from relative (fiction) to
absolute (Truth). This is not easy so I refer you to some books by
authors who have done a good job of creating a bridge for me. In the
mean time I promise you that the answers I am offering can be known and
understood but its not easy. Study, inquiry, and especially meditation
are required. In my experience a profound "letting go and letting
God" has worked the very best :-)
> 1.) What's the difference between doing something out of
> desire, and doing something out of duty? And how do you
> know the difference?
1=2E A desire is a "wanting" of/for something. It supposes that I
don't already have it or that I "need" it. The fact is, at this
very moment (now) I have everything I need to be happy. So to desire
something when I already have it, is barking up the wrong tree and a
formula for unhappiness. :-(
In order to have a desire I must move my awareness out of my "now"
or present moment (the only moment there is) to imagine something I
don't have and therefore "need" or "want". Because desire is
a "imagining" the thing needed/wanted is in reality non-existent
and therefore unobtainable. It is essentially "bad" information
on/for which whatever action/decision I make is naturally going to be
bad. Nothing can be obtained outside of the present (now) moment
because it simple can/does not exist :-)
The only moment I can exist in, is now. The only moment I have, is now.
All that I really need to be happy exists right now. It can not exist
in an imagined future. It is now or it isn't now. But now is all
there is. If I can bring my awareness fully into the present or
"now" moment, all apparent (imagined) movement would stop. Because
the reality is there is no movement (there's only God :-). This is
what Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan was describing when he talked about
a warrior being able to "stop the world."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...ooks&field-aut=
hor-exact=3DCarlos%20Castaneda&rank=3D-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-dater=
ank/103-9690362-8637457
Ken Keyes, A Handbook to Higher Consciousness, is a great resource for
understanding desires, what they mean, how they affect our lives, and
how to be free of them.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...62-8637457?url=
=3Dindex%3Dstripbooks%3Arelevance-above&field-keywords=3DKen+keyes&Go.x=3D0=
&Go.y=3D0&Go=3DGo
Also Richard Hittleman's, Yoga: The 8 steps to health and peace, has
an outstanding discussion of the futility of the desire/fulfillment
cycle and also Karma Yoga.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...ooks&field-aut=
hor-exact=3DRichard%20L%20Hittleman&rank=3D-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-=
daterank/103-9690362-8637457
> Isn't loving your family a desire?
>
> Isn't wanting to come off drugs (not me by the way) a
> desire? And I might add a benefit to other people too.
>
> Isn't wanting to heal someone of pain when you feel it a
> desire?
>
> Isn't making another person happy a desire? Because it
> makes you happy.
Any desire, even a "good" one can/will all cause me to suffer
depending on the degree of my fear (movement out of now) that I
won't/can't/don't have them. Desiring something is the same
process whether it is to make some happy or hurt someone. Desires are a
fiction; an expression of fear and if actions are taken on them there
will be suffering.
Which brings us to karma. When a desire results in action/non-action,
this is the area which is the concern of Karma Yoga. The degree to
which I am attached to the fruits of my actions, which are based on my
desires determines the degree of feedback (joy/sorrow) I will receive
from the Universe based on karmic principle or universal law.
2=2E Duty is what I do when I am grounded in my "now". Love,
compassion, honor, service, these are my duties as an expression of
God. These duties are what I am and therefore are inherent in
everything I do or say as I live my life. They are not separate or
special things that I do because it is "my duty". They are what I
do because I am whatever God is. If God is compassion then I am
compassionate. If God is Truth then I am Truthful. If God is Love, then
I am Loving. In this sense a "duty" is different from a desire
because a "duty" exists now. A desire and the object of desire are
fictions that do not exist.
3=2E I know the nature of my actions by what motivates me to do them. If
I are motivated by some fear, then what I want is a desire. If I am
motivated absent fear (or with courage) by following a set of
principles (morals, etc), then I am doing my "duty" or what is in
my nature to do or be. Note that the actions taken may be the very same
in both instances. But it is never the "thing" or action itself
which determines the meaning of something but my motivation for doing
it. Out of fear =3D evil. In the absence of fear (or in the presence of
courage) =3D Love.
> 2.) Also, what's the difference between needing something
> and desiring something?
I don't need anything. I am whatever, whoever and have whatever God
is/has. What could I need? The concept of "need" is again a
projection into an imaginary future where I "see" something I
don't have now, something I "need" without which, something
"bad" will happen sometime in the "future". I have everything I
need right now. I need only accept what is (True). All of the things
listed below are "mine" right now. The difference between my having
them and my "needing" them is the difference between acceptance of
the Truth and fear of want. "Needing" something denies the Truth
that I already have it and not accepting what is here and now is a
formula for suffering and want.
Needing on the relative level has to do with staying alive. Something
my body really wants me to do. But the Truth is, there is no death and
hence a fear of it is a fiction and can be quite evil, really. Every
fear is ultimately a fear of death and every misdeed ever perpetrated
was done so out of fear. It is impossible to hurt someone absent fear.
> What about our need for soul mates and soul friends? Isn't
> this desire?
>
> What about our desire for friendship?
>
> Companionship?
>
> Love?
>
> Parental Love?
>
> Peer support?
>
> I'm guessing there is two types of desire, needs and
> distractions. I understand distractions.
I have found most my life to be filled chasing after distractions. I
wasn't getting the message so I was suffering. When I suffer I want
it to stop. Unwilling or unable to do the work of living in the Truth,
I distract myself with obtaining "desires" instead and then
awareness of the suffering stops momentarily. Only to return a few
minutes after I have fulfilled whatever desire I had. Then it's onto
the next desire in an endless chasing after relief from suffering. This
is what addiction is. Whether its drugs, family, sex, right/wrong, love
or hate its all fodder for the desire/fulfillment trap.
>
> Isn't desire shakti energy, what's that?
No. Shakti is part of the energy system which is inherent in your
expression here on this plane of existence. It can be conserved/wasted
in pursuit of desires or living in the now.
> People talk about going within, what about going within
> other people too, isn't that the same place, isn't that
> love?
I'm not sure what you are asking. Are you talking about sharing? In
my experience what passed for love to me was anything but. It was
almost always desire. I have met few people who have any real idea what
Love is.
>
> 3.) If you're in an environment where there's no love,
> isn't that your duty to something about it?
There is no such place. God is Love, God is omnipresent, therefore
there can be no place where there is no love. Our job (duty if you like
;-) is to recognize it.
> Move to another place maybe? In order to do this you need to set a
> goal, and doesn't that constitute a desire?
Move? Where ever I go there I am. If I can't see the Love here then
how can I see it elsewhere? If I have a desire to be in a place where
there is Love, when in fact I am already in such a place, then that
desire would be based on fear and want and to attempt to fulfill it
will be painful and very unsatisfying (to say the least).
> What if you're in a situation where you can't meditate or
> do spiritual practices ir yoga, surely it is your duty to
> work for your freedom.
Freedom is a mental construct. It is an idea, a feeling. It is not a
reality.
Like the poet said,
"Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage,
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage."
There is no place where I can not practice yoga. Yoga is defined as
"union" with God. I think of it as bringing my awareness in line
with my divine nature. Yoga is also defined as the "science" or
"discipline" I use to create/increase my awareness of God. I can
practice Hatha yoga in a hospital bed, so long as I am still breathing.
I can practice Karma yoga, so long as I am willing to let go of the
fruits of any action I take or don't and I can always be of service
to someone. I can practice Jnana yoga so long as I have electrons
moving around in my brain and can create thought. I can practice Bhakti
yoga so long as I appreciate and give thanks to God. And so forth.
>But I call this desire. Perhaps it is divine will I don't know. But then=
what's the
> difference?
There are those who say that the desire to reunite (in awareness) with
God is the only real desire. All other desires stem from this one. I
believe this, absolutely.
Divine will is your heart's desire. I suggest anything written my
Emmett Fox (see essay below).
> I also understand that one persons way maybe different from
> my way or anyone elses. So what works for me maybe unique.
> Just some thoughts there. Or another brain dump There
> you go.
Off to the library with you then :-)
> Kind Regards
>
> James
Back at ya!
Jared
o
^
> Your Heart's Desire, Emmett Fox
>
> An old adage says: =B3God has a plan for every man, and He
> has one for you,=B2 and this is absolutely correct. Your real
> problem, therefore, in fact the only problem that you ever
> have, is to find your true place in life. Find that, and
> everything else will follow almost automatically. You will
> be perfectly happy; and upon happiness, health will follow.
> You will be really prosperous. You will have all the supply
> that your require to meet your needs, and this means that
> you will have perfect freedom; for poverty and freedom
> cannot go together. Until you do find your true place in
> life, however, you never will be really happy, no matter
> how much money or distinction you may acquire: and until
> you are happy, you will be neither healthy nor free.
>
> Whoever you are, God has not made you without a definite
> purpose in view. The Universe is a universe: that is, it is
> a unified harmony, a Divine Scheme. There can, therefore,
> be no such thing as a misfit, or any unwanted or unneeded
> piece. It could not happen that God could create a
> spiritual entity such as you are, without having a special
> purpose in view, and this means that there is a special and
> particular place in it for you. God never repeats Himself,
> and so He has never made two people alike, and it is for
> this reason that no two people could ever do quite the same
> work, or express themselves in quite the same way. That is
> why, rightly understood, there really need be no
> competition.There need be no such thing as, say, two
> thousand people struggling for the same place in life.
> Whatever the place may be, there can be only one person who
> can fill it perfectly; and there are one thousand, nine
> hundred and ninety-nine other places somewhere waiting for
> the other people if only they will find them.
>
> But how is one to find his true place in life? Is there any
> means whereby you may discover what it really is that God
> wishes you to do? You may feel inclined to say: =B3Even if it
> be true that God has some splendid thing that He wishes me
> to do, and to be, how can I possibly find out what it is?=B2
> Perhaps you may even be tempted to add: =B3I am a very plain,
> everyday sort of person; my circumstances are extremely
> restricted: the conditions of my life are just drab
> commonplace. How they can there be something wonderful,
> beautiful, splendid awaiting me? Or, even if there were,
> how could I possibly get to know about it?1 And the answer
> is Divinely simple - Already in your past life from time to
> time, God Himself has whispered into your heart just that
> very wonderful thing, whatever it is, that He is wishing
> for you to be, and to do, and to have. And that wonderful
> thing is nothing less that what is call YOUR HEART1S
> DESIRE. Nothing less than that. The most secret, sacred
> wish that lies deep down at the bottom of your heart, the
> wonderful thing that you hardly dare to look at, or to
> think about-the thing that you would rather die that have
> anyone else know of, because it seems to be so far beyond
> anything that you would be at the present time, that you
> fear that you would be cruelly ridiculed if the mere
> thought of it were known-that in just the very thing that
> God is wishing you to do or to be for Him. And the birth of
> that marvelous wish in your soul-the dawning of that secret
> dream-was the Voice of God Himself telling you to arise and
> come up higher because He had need of you.
>
> God is Infinite Mind, and that Mind is ever seeking for
> more and for new expression. =B3For such the Father seeketh
> to worship Him.=B2 Now, because you are a human being, you
> are intended to be a new point of expression for God-a
> focal point in Infinite Mind, in fact, somewhat as an
> electric lamp may be regarded as a focal pint for the
> manifestation of the electric current in the circuit. A
> focal point for the Divine Self-expression-that is what you
> are intended to be: and if you are willing to become that,
> then you will be fulfilling your destiny, and you will
> experience absolutely perfect and unalloyed happiness and
> harmony, an eternal and unrestricted development. A few
> people have attained to this, but they are still
> comparatively few. The great majority have lives full of
> problems of one kind or another that they have yet to work
> out. If one has perfect bodily health-and how few have even
> this, really perfect health-then he probably has financial
> difficulties; or it may be family troubles, an unhappy home
> life. If health, finance, and home relations are
> satisfactory, there can still be a sense of frustration on
> other directions. In any case, in the absence of all-round
> fullness and harmony of expression, there is frustration;
> and frustration means trouble.
>
> Modern psychology has been slowly realizing that many human
> ills are traceable to mental suppression, but our study of
> fundamental Truth teaches us that all trouble of every kind
> is really failure on the part of the individual to be a
> completely free focal point of expression for God.
>
> You say that you are unhappy, dissatisfied, perhaps ill or
> impoverished, a failure; and this is simply another way of
> putting the fact that you are not allowing the Will of God
> to have free play in your life-you are not doing the thing
> that He meant you to do. You are drifting; or else you are
> trying to do something that He never intended you to do,
> and doing it badly and distorting your soul in the process.
>
> It is useless to blame Providence for you troubles or to
> endeavor to saddle the responsibility upon other people.
> The universe operates strictly in accordance with Law, for
> God, among other things is Principle or Law and where law
> obtains there can be no room for the idea of blame. If you
> break a law you suffer the consequences and that is all
> there is about it. It is not a matter of blame or
> punishment. It is just an impersonal question of cause and
> effect. This may seem hard at first sight but actually it
> is you certain guarantee of ultimate victory and freedom.
> Impersonal Law is certain to hurt you when you work against
> it, but for the same reason it is equally certain to help
> you and heal you when you work with it.
>
> A human soul may be thought of as an opening through which
> Infinite Energy is seeking a creative outlet. If that
> outlet be a clear, open channel, all is well. If on the
> other hand, it should become obstructed by any means then
> the Infinite Energy, the Life Force, is frustrated, dammed
> back-and all sorts of local stressed are set up in that
> soul; and these we see as sickness, poverty, fear, anger,
> sin and ever kind of difficulty.
>
> Now we are in a position to understand what the real art of
> living must be. It must be to make this channel clear and
> to keep it clear; and if only we will do this we shall find
> that health, prosperity, full self-expression-true
> happiness, in short-will then follow automatically.
>
> People work so hard to bring health t their bodies; to
> bring prosperity, to bring happiness, to ring success into
> their lives; to bring artistic or literary gifts or talents
> within the grasp, to bring great new ideas from the outside
> and of course they continually fail because we cannot
> =B3bring=B2 a single one of these thing from with without to
> the within. The actual development is just the very
> reverse-they have to be released fro the within that they
> may appear on the without. In short, we have not to build
> on from the outside; our task, as Browning says, is =B3to set
> free the imprisoned splendor.=B2
>
> This process, the true manner of nature1s working, is well
> illustrated by a simple anecdote. A certain man was working
> in his garden, assisted by his little girl. she had
> undertaken the interesting task of watering the lawn by
> means of the usual rubber hose. Matters proceeded
> harmoniously enough until she suddenly cried out in
> disappointment: =B3Daddy, the water has stopped.=B2 The father
> looked over and taking the situation in at a glance said
> quietly, =B3Well , take you fool off the hose.=B2 The child had
> inadvertently place her foot and most of her weight upon
> the soft rubber pipe and thus by her own action, shut off
> the water that she needed. She of course removed her foot
> at once, whereupon the water again flowed freely.
>
> Five minute later, she once more cried plaintively: =B3Daddy,
> the water has stopped again.=B2 Her father glance across and
> observed that now she had placed her other foot upon the
> house. He replied: =B3Well, take you foot off.=B2 The child did
> so and again the stream flowed freely and as she had by
> this time learned her lesson she did not repeat the mistake
> and completed the interesting task she had chosen, with
> much satisfaction to herself.
>
> The Ultimate cause of all our troubles is just this. Behind
> all secondary and proximate cause lies the same primary
> mistake. We have been acting like the little girl in the
> story; we have been pressing our feet and the whole weight
> of our mentality upon the pipe line of life and then
> complaining bitterly because the water does not flow. Man1s
> business is rightly to handle his Divine Spiritual Energy
> and when he does this he has found his true place and the
> all goes well.
>
> There is only one Fundamental Energy in the universe but
> this energy may be applied by us either constructively or
> destructively because God has given us Free Will. When we
> use it constructively we are acting in harmony with the
> Will of God and we are improving ourselves and our lives in
> every possible respect and we are helping the world in
> general too. When we use it destructively we damage
> ourselves, retard our progress and waste an opportunity of
> helping mankind at large.
>
> We use our energy destructively whenever we think or talk
> fear and limitation; whenever we grumble or give way to
> self-pity or indulge in useless regrets or in in any form
> of negative thinking. Most of all do we use our God given
> energy destructively when we hold thought of criticism and
> condemnation of others. All bitterness, resentment,
> spiritual pride and self-righteousness are peculiarly
> disastrous methods of misusing the Great Power and that is
> why such thinking caused the terrible havoc that it does in
> peoples lives.
>
> When we are in a condition of fear, anger or worry our
> Divine Energy, instead of flowing in some positive creative
> work, becomes dammed up within ourselves, like the water in
> the garden hose and produces all sorts of trouble in soul
> and body. Meanwhile our true work in life is wither missed
> altogether or starved of the supply of Life Force which it
> should receive, it languishes accordingly and we get
> mediocrity, poverty and failure.
>
> This is why all true spiritual leaders are so insistent
> upon the need for unselfishness in motive, for forgiveness
> of other and ourselves too and for a general attitude of
> peace and good will toward all; for only in this way can we
> get that sense of true harmony and freedom that will permit
> the clear unobstructed flowing of the Divine Mind through
> us. Only in this way can we become a free channel for the
> Divine Energy to express Itself at the point of Being,
> which is our Selves. This spiritual state or consciousness
> in which the Life Force finds the unrestricted outlet which
> is so essential if we are to experience any kind of good is
> technically known as SERENITY and serenity, the great
> mystics are never tired of telling us, come from within. It
> is not to be imposed from without by manipulating condition
> or circumstance or by any exercise of the will but can only
> be derived from he natural, free flowing of our Divine
> Energy.
>
> It is important to understand also that for practical
> purpose, the amount of this Energy that one has at his
> command is limited and therefore all that is frittered wary
> in unnecessary or trifling activity or thought is so much
> taken out of one1s capital, so much withdrawn from the
> things that really matter in life. If only people
> understood this the would save themselves a great deal of
> wear and tear in the course of the day. And if all waste is
> foolish, how much more deadly is it to squander one1s
> resource upon the kind of thinking that is absolutely
> destructive. Yet I have known people, as I suppose we all
> have, actually to rehearse trouble beforehand-thereby, or
> course, bringing it upon themselves-through saying such
> things as that they never had any luck, that they felt
> quite sure that some important scheme would fail, that they
> expected to be ill and so on. One who understand the Law of
> Being and how it works would no more think of wasting
> thought by allowing himself to occupy his mind with
> inharmony that a business man would dream of throwing way
> money into the gutter as he walked along the streets.
>
> As far as god is concerned, our supply of Divine Energy is,
> or course, absolutely unlimited: there is no check of any
> kind upon the amount of it the we can appropriate or
> therefore upon the things that we can do or be. Yet for
> practical purpose, it remains that at any given time you
> can draw from the inexhaustible Source only in accordance
> with the measure of your understanding, just as you can
> draw water from the Atlantic only in accordance with the
> size of the vessel that you use. If you have apint pitcher
> you can get only a pint of ocean water, although the number
> of pints in the Atlantic runs into inconceivable figures.
> at the same time it is well to remember that very few
> people do, in fact, draw anything like as much of the
> Divine Energy as they could draw, even with their present
> understanding. Almost everyone is foolishly content to fill
> his pitcher, small as it may be, to somewhere very far
> short of the top.
>
> It will now be clear to the student that discontent is not
> necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, it is your duty
> to be discontented with anything less than complete harmony
> and happiness. Discontent is an evil only when it takes the
> form of discouragement, cynicism or despair. A wholesome
> discontent with dullness, failure, and frustration is your
> incentive for overcoming such things. Without it, you would
> never find your true place. But, whoever you are, your true
> place is calling, calling; and because you really are a
> spark of the Divine, you will never be content until you
> answer.
>
> Remember that this call is the call of God and when God
> call you to His Service, He pays all the expenses in
> whatever kind of coin. =B3What soldier goeth to war of his
> own charge?=B2 Whatever you may require to answer that call,
> God will provide. Money, opportunity, introduction,
> knowledge, training, freedom, leisure, strength and
> courage-all will He furnish, if you be about His business
> and not you own.
>
> Your Heart's Desire is the Voice of God and that Voice must
> be obeyed sooner or later^
| |
| James O'Neill 2005-11-29, 10:59 am |
| Hi Jared, thanks for that, I'll check out these sources before asking you
anymore questions But it's helpful talking about this.
However, it feels right for me just to go for my goals right now. I guess
that's just God. It's not wrong or right. Just an expression of God.
The way I see it is that if my mind is occupied with working hard and
achieving goals, it's out of the way! While my mind is busy I can transcend
it to enjoy the now.
It's a bit like telling your children to go away and play so that you can
enjoy the peace and quiet of the 'now'.
It's a bit like the yogic saying, "there's freedom in discipline".
That's what Hatha Yoga does I'm sure, you loose your mind in the action of
doing, and you can enjoy just being, enjoying the now, the absolute, the
awareness of the breath.
Then my mind can be whatever God is.
----- Original Message -----
From: "omjaroo" <omjaroo@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: alt.yoga
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 9:20 PM
Subject: Re: Where does God come from?
> Thankyou for your wonderful answers. This is great stuff.
You are welcome :-) Thank you for your kind words.
> But I just have a few more questions.
Well that's the nature of questions. One tends to lead to another :-)
Besides that's what Jnanis do they ask questions:-) A note though. I
am what's considered an "absolutist". That is I speak in absolute
terms (bottom lining it, so to speak). I see absolute values like;
there is only God. Therefore only thing that can exist must be in and
of and as whatever God is. God is Love, therefore, there is only Love.
God has no opposite, so there is no hate, evil, suffering, sickness,
death, etc. It's zero or one for me. It exists or it doesn't.
Obviously the appearance of the physical world we live in is
"relative". Love/hate, joy/suffering, good/bad, etc.; lots of
continually alternating opposites. The physical principles which make
up our world are comprised of opposites (yin/yang). But the reality is,
all of these things are expressions of an absolute; which is God.
So if what I am saying doesn't make "sense" or seems outlandish
or impossible to get a grip on, I understand. It all defies "logic"
on the relative side but it is perfectly logical on the absolute side.
My goal as a jnani is to discriminate as to the Truth of anything. And
Truth is absolute. It is what It is and It is not what It is not. So I
am constantly forced into the absolute when discussing what is True. My
goal as a communicator is to build a bridge from relative (fiction) to
absolute (Truth). This is not easy so I refer you to some books by
authors who have done a good job of creating a bridge for me. In the
mean time I promise you that the answers I am offering can be known and
understood but its not easy. Study, inquiry, and especially meditation
are required. In my experience a profound "letting go and letting
God" has worked the very best :-)
> 1.) What's the difference between doing something out of
> desire, and doing something out of duty? And how do you
> know the difference?
1. A desire is a "wanting" of/for something. It supposes that I
don't already have it or that I "need" it. The fact is, at this
very moment (now) I have everything I need to be happy. So to desire
something when I already have it, is barking up the wrong tree and a
formula for unhappiness. :-(
In order to have a desire I must move my awareness out of my "now"
or present moment (the only moment there is) to imagine something I
don't have and therefore "need" or "want". Because desire is
a "imagining" the thing needed/wanted is in reality non-existent
and therefore unobtainable. It is essentially "bad" information
on/for which whatever action/decision I make is naturally going to be
bad. Nothing can be obtained outside of the present (now) moment
because it simple can/does not exist :-)
The only moment I can exist in, is now. The only moment I have, is now.
All that I really need to be happy exists right now. It can not exist
in an imagined future. It is now or it isn't now. But now is all
there is. If I can bring my awareness fully into the present or
"now" moment, all apparent (imagined) movement would stop. Because
the reality is there is no movement (there's only God :-). This is
what Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan was describing when he talked about
a warrior being able to "stop the world."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...ks&field-author
-exact=Carlos%20Castaneda&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank/103-
9690362-8637457
Ken Keyes, A Handbook to Higher Consciousness, is a great resource for
understanding desires, what they mean, how they affect our lives, and
how to be free of them.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...62-8637457?url=
index%3Dstripbooks%3Arelevance-above&field-keywords=Ken+keyes&Go.x=0&Go.y=0&
Go=Go
Also Richard Hittleman's, Yoga: The 8 steps to health and peace, has
an outstanding discussion of the futility of the desire/fulfillment
cycle and also Karma Yoga.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...ks&field-author
-exact=Richard%20L%20Hittleman&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank
/103-9690362-8637457
> Isn't loving your family a desire?
>
> Isn't wanting to come off drugs (not me by the way) a
> desire? And I might add a benefit to other people too.
>
> Isn't wanting to heal someone of pain when you feel it a
> desire?
>
> Isn't making another person happy a desire? Because it
> makes you happy.
Any desire, even a "good" one can/will all cause me to suffer
depending on the degree of my fear (movement out of now) that I
won't/can't/don't have them. Desiring something is the same
process whether it is to make some happy or hurt someone. Desires are a
fiction; an expression of fear and if actions are taken on them there
will be suffering.
Which brings us to karma. When a desire results in action/non-action,
this is the area which is the concern of Karma Yoga. The degree to
which I am attached to the fruits of my actions, which are based on my
desires determines the degree of feedback (joy/sorrow) I will receive
from the Universe based on karmic principle or universal law.
2. Duty is what I do when I am grounded in my "now". Love,
compassion, honor, service, these are my duties as an expression of
God. These duties are what I am and therefore are inherent in
everything I do or say as I live my life. They are not separate or
special things that I do because it is "my duty". They are what I
do because I am whatever God is. If God is compassion then I am
compassionate. If God is Truth then I am Truthful. If God is Love, then
I am Loving. In this sense a "duty" is different from a desire
because a "duty" exists now. A desire and the object of desire are
fictions that do not exist.
3. I know the nature of my actions by what motivates me to do them. If
I are motivated by some fear, then what I want is a desire. If I am
motivated absent fear (or with courage) by following a set of
principles (morals, etc), then I am doing my "duty" or what is in
my nature to do or be. Note that the actions taken may be the very same
in both instances. But it is never the "thing" or action itself
which determines the meaning of something but my motivation for doing
it. Out of fear = evil. In the absence of fear (or in the presence of
courage) = Love.
> 2.) Also, what's the difference between needing something
> and desiring something?
I don't need anything. I am whatever, whoever and have whatever God
is/has. What could I need? The concept of "need" is again a
projection into an imaginary future where I "see" something I
don't have now, something I "need" without which, something
"bad" will happen sometime in the "future". I have everything I
need right now. I need only accept what is (True). All of the things
listed below are "mine" right now. The difference between my having
them and my "needing" them is the difference between acceptance of
the Truth and fear of want. "Needing" something denies the Truth
that I already have it and not accepting what is here and now is a
formula for suffering and want.
Needing on the relative level has to do with staying alive. Something
my body really wants me to do. But the Truth is, there is no death and
hence a fear of it is a fiction and can be quite evil, really. Every
fear is ultimately a fear of death and every misdeed ever perpetrated
was done so out of fear. It is impossible to hurt someone absent fear.
> What about our need for soul mates and soul friends? Isn't
> this desire?
>
> What about our desire for friendship?
>
> Companionship?
>
> Love?
>
> Parental Love?
>
> Peer support?
>
> I'm guessing there is two types of desire, needs and
> distractions. I understand distractions.
I have found most my life to be filled chasing after distractions. I
wasn't getting the message so I was suffering. When I suffer I want
it to stop. Unwilling or unable to do the work of living in the Truth,
I distract myself with obtaining "desires" instead and then
awareness of the suffering stops momentarily. Only to return a few
minutes after I have fulfilled whatever desire I had. Then it's onto
the next desire in an endless chasing after relief from suffering. This
is what addiction is. Whether its drugs, family, sex, right/wrong, love
or hate its all fodder for the desire/fulfillment trap.
>
> Isn't desire shakti energy, what's that?
No. Shakti is part of the energy system which is inherent in your
expression here on this plane of existence. It can be conserved/wasted
in pursuit of desires or living in the now.
> People talk about going within, what about going within
> other people too, isn't that the same place, isn't that
> love?
I'm not sure what you are asking. Are you talking about sharing? In
my experience what passed for love to me was anything but. It was
almost always desire. I have met few people who have any real idea what
Love is.
>
> 3.) If you're in an environment where there's no love,
> isn't that your duty to something about it?
There is no such place. God is Love, God is omnipresent, therefore
there can be no place where there is no love. Our job (duty if you like
;-) is to recognize it.
> Move to another place maybe? In order to do this you need to set a
> goal, and doesn't that constitute a desire?
Move? Where ever I go there I am. If I can't see the Love here then
how can I see it elsewhere? If I have a desire to be in a place where
there is Love, when in fact I am already in such a place, then that
desire would be based on fear and want and to attempt to fulfill it
will be painful and very unsatisfying (to say the least).
> What if you're in a situation where you can't meditate or
> do spiritual practices ir yoga, surely it is your duty to
> work for your freedom.
Freedom is a mental construct. It is an idea, a feeling. It is not a
reality.
Like the poet said,
"Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage,
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage."
There is no place where I can not practice yoga. Yoga is defined as
"union" with God. I think of it as bringing my awareness in line
with my divine nature. Yoga is also defined as the "science" or
"discipline" I use to create/increase my awareness of God. I can
practice Hatha yoga in a hospital bed, so long as I am still breathing.
I can practice Karma yoga, so long as I am willing to let go of the
fruits of any action I take or don't and I can always be of service
to someone. I can practice Jnana yoga so long as I have electrons
moving around in my brain and can create thought. I can practice Bhakti
yoga so long as I appreciate and give thanks to God. And so forth.
>But I call this desire. Perhaps it is divine will I don't know. But then
what's the
> difference?
There are those who say that the desire to reunite (in awareness) with
God is the only real desire. All other desires stem from this one. I
believe this, absolutely.
Divine will is your heart's desire. I suggest anything written my
Emmett Fox (see essay below).
> I also understand that one persons way maybe different from
> my way or anyone elses. So what works for me maybe unique.
> Just some thoughts there. Or another brain dump There
> you go.
Off to the library with you then :-)
> Kind Regards
>
> James
Back at ya!
Jared
o
^
> Your Heart's Desire, Emmett Fox
>
> An old adage says: ³God has a plan for every man, and He
> has one for you,² and this is absolutely correct. Your real
> problem, therefore, in fact the only problem that you ever
> have, is to find your true place in life. Find that, and
> everything else will follow almost automatically. You will
> be perfectly happy; and upon happiness, health will follow.
> You will be really prosperous. You will have all the supply
> that your require to meet your needs, and this means that
> you will have perfect freedom; for poverty and freedom
> cannot go together. Until you do find your true place in
> life, however, you never will be really happy, no matter
> how much money or distinction you may acquire: and until
> you are happy, you will be neither healthy nor free.
>
> Whoever you are, God has not made you without a definite
> purpose in view. The Universe is a universe: that is, it is
> a unified harmony, a Divine Scheme. There can, therefore,
> be no such thing as a misfit, or any unwanted or unneeded
> piece. It could not happen that God could create a
> spiritual entity such as you are, without having a special
> purpose in view, and this means that there is a special and
> particular place in it for you. God never repeats Himself,
> and so He has never made two people alike, and it is for
> this reason that no two people could ever do quite the same
> work, or express themselves in quite the same way. That is
> why, rightly understood, there really need be no
> competition.There need be no such thing as, say, two
> thousand people struggling for the same place in life.
> Whatever the place may be, there can be only one person who
> can fill it perfectly; and there are one thousand, nine
> hundred and ninety-nine other places somewhere waiting for
> the other people if only they will find them.
>
> But how is one to find his true place in life? Is there any
> means whereby you may discover what it really is that God
> wishes you to do? You may feel inclined to say: ³Even if it
> be true that God has some splendid thing that He wishes me
> to do, and to be, how can I possibly find out what it is?²
> Perhaps you may even be tempted to add: ³I am a very plain,
> everyday sort of person; my circumstances are extremely
> restricted: the conditions of my life are just drab
> commonplace. How they can there be something wonderful,
> beautiful, splendid awaiting me? Or, even if there were,
> how could I possibly get to know about it?1 And the answer
> is Divinely simple - Already in your past life from time to
> time, God Himself has whispered into your heart just that
> very wonderful thing, whatever it is, that He is wishing
> for you to be, and to do, and to have. And that wonderful
> thing is nothing less that what is call YOUR HEART1S
> DESIRE. Nothing less than that. The most secret, sacred
> wish that lies deep down at the bottom of your heart, the
> wonderful thing that you hardly dare to look at, or to
> think about-the thing that you would rather die that have
> anyone else know of, because it seems to be so far beyond
> anything that you would be at the present time, that you
> fear that you would be cruelly ridiculed if the mere
> thought of it were known-that in just the very thing that
> God is wishing you to do or to be for Him. And the birth of
> that marvelous wish in your soul-the dawning of that secret
> dream-was the Voice of God Himself telling you to arise and
> come up higher because He had need of you.
>
> God is Infinite Mind, and that Mind is ever seeking for
> more and for new expression. ³For such the Father seeketh
> to worship Him.² Now, because you are a human being, you
> are intended to be a new point of expression for God-a
> focal point in Infinite Mind, in fact, somewhat as an
> electric lamp may be regarded as a focal pint for the
> manifestation of the electric current in the circuit. A
> focal point for the Divine Self-expression-that is what you
> are intended to be: and if you are willing to become that,
> then you will be fulfilling your destiny, and you will
> experience absolutely perfect and unalloyed happiness and
> harmony, an eternal and unrestricted development. A few
> people have attained to this, but they are still
> comparatively few. The great majority have lives full of
> problems of one kind or another that they have yet to work
> out. If one has perfect bodily health-and how few have even
> this, really perfect health-then he probably has financial
> difficulties; or it may be family troubles, an unhappy home
> life. If health, finance, and home relations are
> satisfactory, there can still be a sense of frustration on
> other directions. In any case, in the absence of all-round
> fullness and harmony of expression, there is frustration;
> and frustration means trouble.
>
> Modern psychology has been slowly realizing that many human
> ills are traceable to mental suppression, but our study of
> fundamental Truth teaches us that all trouble of every kind
> is really failure on the part of the individual to be a
> completely free focal point of expression for God.
>
> You say that you are unhappy, dissatisfied, perhaps ill or
> impoverished, a failure; and this is simply another way of
> putting the fact that you are not allowing the Will of God
> to have free play in your life-you are not doing the thing
> that He meant you to do. You are drifting; or else you are
> trying to do something that He never intended you to do,
> and doing it badly and distorting your soul in the process.
>
> It is useless to blame Providence for you troubles or to
> endeavor to saddle the responsibility upon other people.
> The universe operates strictly in accordance with Law, for
> God, among other things is Principle or Law and where law
> obtains there can be no room for the idea of blame. If you
> break a law you suffer the consequences and that is all
> there is about it. It is not a matter of blame or
> punishment. It is just an impersonal question of cause and
> effect. This may seem hard at first sight but actually it
> is you certain guarantee of ultimate victory and freedom.
> Impersonal Law is certain to hurt you when you work against
> it, but for the same reason it is equally certain to help
> you and heal you when you work with it.
>
> A human soul may be thought of as an opening through which
> Infinite Energy is seeking a creative outlet. If that
> outlet be a clear, open channel, all is well. If on the
> other hand, it should become obstructed by any means then
> the Infinite Energy, the Life Force, is frustrated, dammed
> back-and all sorts of local stressed are set up in that
> soul; and these we see as sickness, poverty, fear, anger,
> sin and ever kind of difficulty.
>
> Now we are in a position to understand what the real art of
> living must be. It must be to make this channel clear and
> to keep it clear; and if only we will do this we shall find
> that health, prosperity, full self-expression-true
> happiness, in short-will then follow automatically.
>
> People work so hard to bring health t their bodies; to
> bring prosperity, to bring happiness, to ring success into
> their lives; to bring artistic or literary gifts or talents
> within the grasp, to bring great new ideas from the outside
> and of course they continually fail because we cannot
> ³bring² a single one of these thing from with without to
> the within. The actual development is just the very
> reverse-they have to be released fro the within that they
> may appear on the without. In short, we have not to build
> on from the outside; our task, as Browning says, is ³to set
> free the imprisoned splendor.²
>
> This process, the true manner of nature1s working, is well
> illustrated by a simple anecdote. A certain man was working
> in his garden, assisted by his little girl. she had
> undertaken the interesting task of watering the lawn by
> means of the usual rubber hose. Matters proceeded
> harmoniously enough until she suddenly cried out in
> disappointment: ³Daddy, the water has stopped.² The father
> looked over and taking the situation in at a glance said
> quietly, ³Well , take you fool off the hose.² The child had
> inadvertently place her foot and most of her weight upon
> the soft rubber pipe and thus by her own action, shut off
> the water that she needed. She of course removed her foot
> at once, whereupon the water again flowed freely.
>
> Five minute later, she once more cried plaintively: ³Daddy,
> the water has stopped again.² Her father glance across and
> observed that now she had placed her other foot upon the
> house. He replied: ³Well, take you foot off.² The child did
> so and again the stream flowed freely and as she had by
> this time learned her lesson she did not repeat the mistake
> and completed the interesting task she had chosen, with
> much satisfaction to herself.
>
> The Ultimate cause of all our troubles is just this. Behind
> all secondary and proximate cause lies the same primary
> mistake. We have been acting like the little girl in the
> story; we have been pressing our feet and the whole weight
> of our mentality upon the pipe line of life and then
> complaining bitterly because the water does not flow. Man1s
> business is rightly to handle his Divine Spiritual Energy
> and when he does this he has found his true place and the
> all goes well.
>
> There is only one Fundamental Energy in the universe but
> this energy may be applied by us either constructively or
> destructively because God has given us Free Will. When we
> use it constructively we are acting in harmony with the
> Will of God and we are improving ourselves and our lives in
> every possible respect and we are helping the world in
> general too. When we use it destructively we damage
> ourselves, retard our progress and waste an opportunity of
> helping mankind at large.
>
> We use our energy destructively whenever we think or talk
> fear and limitation; whenever we grumble or give way to
> self-pity or indulge in useless regrets or in in any form
> of negative thinking. Most of all do we use our God given
> energy destructively when we hold thought of criticism and
> condemnation of others. All bitterness, resentment,
> spiritual pride and self-righteousness are peculiarly
> disastrous methods of misusing the Great Power and that is
> why such thinking caused the terrible havoc that it does in
> peoples lives.
>
> When we are in a condition of fear, anger or worry our
> Divine Energy, instead of flowing in some positive creative
> work, becomes dammed up within ourselves, like the water in
> the garden hose and produces all sorts of trouble in soul
> and body. Meanwhile our true work in life is wither missed
> altogether or starved of the supply of Life Force which it
> should receive, it languishes accordingly and we get
> mediocrity, poverty and failure.
>
> This is why all true spiritual leaders are so insistent
> upon the need for unselfishness in motive, for forgiveness
> of other and ourselves too and for a general attitude of
> peace and good will toward all; for only in this way can we
> get that sense of true harmony and freedom that will permit
> the clear unobstructed flowing of the Divine Mind through
> us. Only in this way can we become a free channel for the
> Divine Energy to express Itself at the point of Being,
> which is our Selves. This spiritual state or consciousness
> in which the Life Force finds the unrestricted outlet which
> is so essential if we are to experience any kind of good is
> technically known as SERENITY and serenity, the great
> mystics are never tired of telling us, come from within. It
> is not to be imposed from without by manipulating condition
> or circumstance or by any exercise of the will but can only
> be derived from he natural, free flowing of our Divine
> Energy.
>
> It is important to understand also that for practical
> purpose, the amount of this Energy that one has at his
> command is limited and therefore all that is frittered wary
> in unnecessary or trifling activity or thought is so much
> taken out of one1s capital, so much withdrawn from the
> things that really matter in life. If only people
> understood this the would save themselves a great deal of
> wear and tear in the course of the day. And if all waste is
> foolish, how much more deadly is it to squander one1s
> resource upon the kind of thinking that is absolutely
> destructive. Yet I have known people, as I suppose we all
> have, actually to rehearse trouble beforehand-thereby, or
> course, bringing it upon themselves-through saying such
> things as that they never had any luck, that they felt
> quite sure that some important scheme would fail, that they
> expected to be ill and so on. One who understand the Law of
> Being and how it works would no more think of wasting
> thought by allowing himself to occupy his mind with
> inharmony that a business man would dream of throwing way
> money into the gutter as he walked along the streets.
>
> As far as god is concerned, our supply of Divine Energy is,
> or course, absolutely unlimited: there is no check of any
> kind upon the amount of it the we can appropriate or
> therefore upon the things that we can do or be. Yet for
> practical purpose, it remains that at any given time you
> can draw from the inexhaustible Source only in accordance
> with the measure of your understanding, just as you can
> draw water from the Atlantic only in accordance with the
> size of the vessel that you use. If you have apint pitcher
> you can get only a pint of ocean water, although the number
> of pints in the Atlantic runs into inconceivable figures.
> at the same time it is well to remember that very few
> people do, in fact, draw anything like as much of the
> Divine Energy as they could draw, even with their present
> understanding. Almost everyone is foolishly content to fill
> his pitcher, small as it may be, to somewhere very far
> short of the top.
>
> It will now be clear to the student that discontent is not
> necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, it is your duty
> to be discontented with anything less than complete harmony
> and happiness. Discontent is an evil only when it takes the
> form of discouragement, cynicism or despair. A wholesome
> discontent with dullness, failure, and frustration is your
> incentive for overcoming such things. Without it, you would
> never find your true place. But, whoever you are, your true
> place is calling, calling; and because you really are a
> spark of the Divine, you will never be content until you
> answer.
>
> Remember that this call is the call of God and when God
> call you to His Service, He pays all the expenses in
> whatever kind of coin. ³What soldier goeth to war of his
> own charge?² Whatever you may require to answer that call,
> God will provide. Money, opportunity, introduction,
> knowledge, training, freedom, leisure, strength and
> courage-all will He furnish, if you be about His business
> and not you own.
>
> Your Heart's Desire is the Voice of God and that Voice must
> be obeyed sooner or later^
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