Author: Joseph Dewey

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Matter, Time & Space

August 23, 2024 Joseph Dewey

Matter, Time & Space

We seek to understand the formless worlds where neither matter, time or space exist. There can be no time without the motion of form.

The Mayas were partly right about time going forward and backward at the same time. It flows somewhat like the wheel of a car. Half of the wheel is going forward and the other half going backward. On the other hand, the vehicle that is being carried by the wheel goes one direction.

We are being carried along by time from the past into the future and with each turn of the wheel history repeats itself on a higher turn of the spiral.

Only by withdrawing your consciousness from the world of form to formlessness can you see the past, present and future as the “Eternal Now.”

The fact that space cannot exist without matter is easily seen if you think about it. Space is merely the measure of voids between defined matter. If there was no form there would be no such thing as a distance between anything. If your consciousness existed in a place where there was no form your only awareness of form would be the point of consciousness where you exist. Nothing outside of yourself would have any meaning or definition, including time.

There are other worlds of form governed by laws quite different than some that we recognize. There are worlds where the life principle is governed by the square, others governed by the circle. Ours is governed by the triangle.

There are other life forms in the universe built on a foundation of silicon rather than carbon as ours is. The computer is the beginning of the creation a new life form. Loving your computer may have some meaning in a future age.

Foundation principles are the same in all creation. Branch principles will vary.

More on Decision

We are all unlimited when we look at time as a whole, but we all have limitations in the present. All of us have limitations on our decision set by our present state of consciousness. This is called our ring-pass-not in esoteric writings.

I just achieved a new piece of enlightenment on decision this past week. I do not know why I did not see it before.

The key is to plant a question about decision in your mind as you would plant a seed in the ground. Look for growth to happen and nourish it with your expectation.

Here are some questions to contemplate:

What is your next level of understanding about the principle of decision?

Where is your present Ring-Pass-Not for your power of decision? Is there an area of your life over which you do not think you have power that you could assume power with the principle of decision?

Example: We seem to be powerless to overcome death, disease and aging. Can decision return power to us?

How is decision related to the life principle? Does life even exist without decision?

How is the motion of all things related to decision?

You are not expected to obtain all knowledge here, but to merely go a step forward in your own consciousness and understanding, then you will advance to the next principle.

Animals and Consciousness

Your dog does not think before he barks, he does, however, have consciousness. Most of your dog’s barking is from an internal program. Some advanced dogs and other animals are learning to think, but few of them do at present. Language is not before thought, nor is thought before language. They are created simultaneously just as male and female were.

Few humans have mastered more than 10% of the thinking process.

Using your computer brain is not thinking. Becoming the computer programmer is thinking.

“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” — Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862)

May 21, 2009

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Key Seven – Find Your Mission

August 22, 2024 Joseph Dewey

12 Keys of Discipleship
Key Seven – Find Your Mission

The disciple must have a mission. Why?

Without a mission the seeker’s energies will be scattered and however good are his intentions he will not accomplish much. A mission is a work to do in a focused area and when thought is directed away from everything to a pin-pointed objective miracles of achievement can be accomplished.

A great example of what can be done with a mission is the space program. When the race for space started the United States just ambled along with no clear objective. Their energies were further scattered with the Army and Navy competing against each other for research and development funds.

The Soviets, on the other hand, had a clear sense of mission which was to be the first in space. They knew if they could accomplish this, they would score a major public relations victory.

Then, sure enough, in 1957 they launched the first satellite in orbit and startled the world. This woke us up to our own sense of mission and finally Kennedy sealed the deal by making a specific mission goal to put a man on the moon before 1970.

Finally, we had a specific mission and worked toward it, Then two tragedies happened making many wonder if the mission could be accomplished. First, JFK [John F. Kennedy] was assassinated and, secondly, three astronauts were killed by a fire inside their capsule.

Many began to wonder if the mission was just a fanciful dream. But instead of treating the drawbacks as failure they saw them as sacrifices that must bear fruit and the work continued. Finally, on July 20, 1969, the first man set foot on the surface of the moon.

The world was amazed and even now, 40 years later, it is such a fantastic feat that many people on the planet do not believe it happened.

The mission was accomplished. What was next? Were we going to Mars, build a base on the moon or what? For the next 40 years there were few specific goals and nothing much very specific happened. Bush 43 kind of set a goal to go to Mars and return to the moon but no one got excited and many didn’t want to spend any additional money.

Unless someone sets a far-reaching goal for space, governments may just dabble in it for another 40 years, or until private enterprise decides to be the ones to set the new mission — as they have with computers.

Without a mission, even the best of intentions and great knowledge will accomplish little.

How does the disciple find out what the mission is?

Let me tell my own story here. I had a sense of mission from my earliest memories. I knew I had something to do, but didn’t know what it was. When I was around 6 I went to a movie and the main character said he was a scientist. I had no idea what a scientist was but felt that had something to do with my mission. When I got home I asked my mother what a scientist was. After she explained I announced to her that was what I was going to be.

She then told me there were many different kinds of scientists. I needed to figure out which kind I wanted to be. Over the next couple years I thought about it and decided that I wanted to be an astronomer. I was especially interested in the moon and 9 planets and learned everything I could about them. I was fascinated in looking over pictures of them and dreaming about what the future would reveal about them.

Then my uncle bought me a sizable telescope and I was in hog heaven exploring the celestial bodies but also made the neighbors a little nervous for fear I may be spying on them. Some of them seemed to think a telescope could see through walls.

One thing bothered me about astronomy and that was, even though I found it fascinating, there was not much chance of making significant change by looking through telescopes and mapping the heavens. I began to wonder if my mission was not something else. I asked myself this question.

What can I do that would accomplish the highest good for the world?

About the time I was pondering this I began to get interested in making homemade rockets. I had a great time doing this and began setting new rockets off almost daily. Then at the age of 13, on the evening of December 26, 1958 a friend and I were putting the finishing touches on a rocket in our kitchen. As I was working on it, it exploded in my left hand and sent me to the hospital for a month. My friend was also injured but not nearly as bad.

As I was recovering in the hospital a friend brought me a book on rockets and space flight. It was the first book that I had ever read from cover to cover. After I finished it I thought about my mission along these lines: I could perform a much greater service to mankind by building rockets and exploring new worlds than by just looking at them as an astronomer. Then, at that moment I decided I was going to be an astronautical engineer and build rockets to explore the planets. From that point on I developed a love of exploratory reading and studied everything available about rockets and space flight.

Then, about the age of 16 I developed an interest in writing, but still stuck to my goal of becoming an engineer. My interest in writing increased until I started my freshman year at the University of Idaho. I entered the college of engineering majoring in mechanical engineering. I dreamed of going to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but that was not to be.

At the end of my first semester something happened that shattered my mission. I received my first failing grades in my life and it was in my two greatest loves. The first was mechanical drawing — a key course for any engineer. Even though I loved rocket science and the end results of engineering I found I didn’t have much love for the nuts and bolts. Just learning the basics like precise lettering was painful for me.

The second class I failed was English. In high school I always did okay in English, but the teacher of this class was a strange guy that seemed to take a dislike to me.

When I saw my two “F’s” I was devastated. Maybe I just wasn’t intelligent enough to be an engineer or a writer. Maybe my sense of mission was just a dream. What was I to do with my life, I wondered.

After I adjusted to the shock of my low grades I assessed my situation and asked myself some questions.

I realized I could retake the failed courses and was confident I could be a good engineer, but I also realized something else and that was this. It did not appear that I was going to enjoy doing the tedious work of an engineer which is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

I was developing a greater interest in writing and often found myself at the library reading literary works and past issues of The Writer magazine instead of working on my classes. I then decided that, figuring my interests and ability, the highest direction I could take would be as a writer. Even though I had just received an “F” in English I was not discouraged.

Since there was no major available or even one course on creative writing I decided to drop out of engineering and just take whatever courses interested me. I felt that if I was going to write that a broad knowledge of things would be helpful.

I thus changed my major to political science and minored in journalism. In addition, I took any course I saw that I found interesting.

Then after my first year of college I went on a mission for the LDS church, as was the custom for young men in the church of that age.

I was called to go to England and serve for two years. One thing that served me well during this period was the one-pointedness of my direction. All my energies were directed to “teaching the gospel” and nothing else. Learning and teaching were the only two endeavors. We worked every spare moment from 6 AM to 10 PM, and often til midnight.

During this period I studied the scriptures and church doctrine every spare moment and fell in love with the concept of Zion. Zion was a society patterned after the order of heaven, which was to manifest upon the earth and produce peace on earth, goodwill to men as well as abundance for all. Best of all it was composed of a gathering of the “pure in heart” that would make it a much more desirable society than we have today.

By the end of the two years I had concluded that the greatest need of the planet was not engineers or scientists in the physical sense, but spiritual scientists.

But there was a major problem with proceeding with my ideas of spiritual science which was this. In the church you had to wait to be called to a work that involves building Zion.

After my mission I went back to college and continued taking a variety of courses. I found myself spending more time at the library studying writing on my own and writing on the side than attending to my studies. I still dreamed of building Zion but seemed limited to working within any calling the church would give me.

I remember I sometimes wished I had lived back in the days of Joseph Smith when there seemed to be much more opportunity to do a great work than there was in modern times. It seemed as if the day of opportunity had passed.

This thinking was one of the biggest mistakes of my life.

The only thing that took my consciousness beyond this mistake is that I never ceased asking questions, seeking and studying, not only church approved writings but anything in the direction of spiritual knowledge.

From the age of 21 to 27 I had a sense of mission about building Zion, but there seemed to be no way to go about it because of restrictions from the church. Then, to make a long story short at the age of 27 I proved to myself that reincarnation was a true principle and this changed everything within an instant.

At that point I realized that I did not have to wait for the church to call me to service, but that I could call myself. The true elect are those who elect to serve to the highest of their capacity and let the chips fall where they may.

My free thinking got me kicked out of the church in 1979, but on reflection I call that graduation day.

It was thus around the age period of 27-30 (the end of my first Saturn cycle) that I fined tune my mission and finally settled on the highest good I could pursue.

I had finally found my mission and have sought to accomplish it with varying degrees of enlightenment since that time.

That which I went through is what each true disciple must go through, but with different circumstances. Several things will be the same for all:

* He who is ready to be a disciple in his current life will have had a sense of mission from his youth, or younger years.

* That which he is supposed to do will not be clear until he follows the highest he knows for some period of time.

* Just as I had the church limiting me even so will each disciple have influences in his life that seem to limit him.

* If the seeker “endures to the end” he will find his mission and it will be confirmed through his soul. As he proceeds on such a confirmed mission it will feel very right and satisfying to work on it.

A reader asked if sometimes we take off on the wrong mission before we find the right one.

The answer is yes. This will usually happen. I went from thinking my mission was astronomy to engineering, to fiction writing and a number of other possibilities until I finally found my true course.

But know this. The pursuit of a misdirected mission is far from a waste of time for that which is learned during this period will be invaluable knowledge when the true mission is found.

Another important point is this. Do not think that finding your mission means you will be a Moses or Lincoln. It merely means that you will find the correct work to do. That work may be an effort in cooperation with many other souls. For instance, the building of Zion will take the efforts of many sons and daughters of men on the same mission.

Also keep in mind that the building of Zion is only one mission of many attempted by true seekers.

Then a final point is this. For many the purpose of their life will be directed to learning more than serving. Sometimes a whole lifetime or series of lifetimes is dedicated to learning so the seeker can be equipped to perform a great service at a future date.

“The past is finished. There is nothing to be gained by going over it. Whatever it gave us in the experiences it brought us was something we had to know.” — Rebecca Beard

May 18, 2009

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Keys Five & Six – Persistence and Limitation

August 21, 2024 Joseph Dewey

Keys Five & Six – Persistence and Limitation

This Key seems obvious, but there is more to it than meets the eye.

Plant it in your mind as a seed thought and share what comes forth.

A person can never be a disciple without the quality of persistence. Many failed disciples just give up when a few obstacles get in the way.

A common excuse given when some problem appears is:

“This must be a sign from God that I am not supposed to do this.”

I personally find this to be a most annoying excuse and when I hear someone say this I often reply with something like:

“You’ve got it upside down. When you are headed in a right direction that will produce positive results, a negative force follows to fill the vacuum. This has the effect of bringing things into your life that makes it more difficult to accomplish the goal. It may seem like a sign from God that you are not supposed to do this thing, but the opposite is true. If it is a sign if anything, that you are supposed to forge ahead, not quit.”

Nothing important ever gets done without persistence. If the seeker wants to accomplish the difficult he must persist.

One of the greatest examples of persistence was told by Napoleon Hill in his book, “Think and Grow Rich.” Here is the account:

A Fifty-Cent Lesson In Persistence

“Shortly after Mr. Darby received his degree from the ‘University of Hard Knocks,’ and had decided to profit by his experience in the gold mining business, he had the good fortune to be present on an occasion that proved to him that ‘No’ does not necessarily mean no. One afternoon he was helping his uncle grind wheat in an old fashioned mill. The uncle operated a large farm on which a number of colored sharecrop farmers lived. Quietly, the door was opened, and a small colored child, the daughter of a tenant, walked in and took her place near the door. The uncle looked up, saw the child, and barked at her roughly, ‘what do you want?’ Meekly, the child replied, ‘My mammy say send her fifty cents.’

“‘I’ll not do it,’ the uncle retorted, ‘Now you run on home.’

“‘Yas sah,’ the child replied. But she did not move. The uncle went ahead with his work, so busily engaged that he did not pay enough attention to the child to observe that she did not leave. When he looked up and saw her still standing there, he yelled at her, ‘I told you to go on home! Now go, or I’ll take a switch to you.’

“The little girl said ‘yas sah,’ but she did not budge an inch. The uncle dropped a sack of grain he was about to pour into the mill hopper, picked up a barrel stave, and started toward the child with an expression on his face that indicated trouble. Darby held his breath. He was certain he was about to witness a murder. He knew his uncle had a fierce temper. He knew that colored children were not supposed to defy white people in that part of the country.

“When the uncle reached the spot where the child was standing, she quickly stepped forward one step, looked up into his eyes, and screamed at the top of her shrill voice, ‘MY MAMMY’S GOTTA HAVE THAT FIFTY CENTS!’

“The uncle stopped, looked at her for a minute, then slowly laid the barrel stave on the floor, put his hand in his pocket, took out half a dollar, and gave it to her. The child took the money and slowly backed toward the door, never taking her eyes off the man whom she had just conquered. After she had gone, the uncle sat down on a box and looked out the window into space for more than ten minutes. He was pondering, with awe, over the whipping he had just taken. Mr. Darby, too, was doing some thinking. That was the first time in all his experience that he had seen a colored child deliberately master an adult white person. How did she do it? What happened to his uncle that caused him to lose his fierceness and become as docile as a lamb? What strange power did this child use that made her master over her superior? These and other similar questions flashed into Darby’s mind, but he did not find the answer until years later, when he told me the story.”

(End Of Quoted Material)

JJ: The answer of course was the child had her mind made up that she was going home with that 50 cents and was going to persist with determination until she got it.

Even so, must the disciple persist with fierce power of will until the goal is achieved.

Key Six — Know Your Limitations & Your Strengths

Aren’t we supposed to be unlimited?

From an eternal perspective this is true but from within any framework of time it is not. Time itself is the great limitation in this universe.

Take away time and anything can happen in the “Eternal Now,” but jump into time and we immediately suffer many limitations.

As we grow in intelligence, we lean to master time and many of our limitations are removed, but as long as we dwell in time and space we will have the limitations of time and space. These limitations must be a part of any equation that is used to create, expand or grow in consciousness.

What the value of knowing limitations?

There is a law or principle called the Law of Contraction & Expansion. Before consciousness can be expanded the entity must subject himself to the Law of Contraction and suffer limitations. He learns that one must contract and suffer limitation before he can expand.

The seeker thus enters into the world of limitations. The important thing he must then learn is what his limitations are and the extent thereof. Once he correctly learns this, he can begin to remove them and enter into the Law of Expansion.

How do we discover our limitations and how do we remove them?

The ego gets in the way of fulfilling this law for it directs the seeker away from discovering his limitations that he has no limitations and thus the ego keeps the pilgrim trapped in the world of limitation for it allows not for true vision.

True vision is only granted when the seeker is true to himself and sees his weaknesses as they really are and starts progressing at the true point of beginning.

It takes courage to see oneself correctly, warts and all, but the honest in heart are those who finally make true progress upon the path.

What do the initiations have to do with limitations?

Each initiation is a point of recognized expansion where some major form of limitation is removed.

How is removal of limitation important to making persistence effective?

If a person lets his ego talk him out of working on removing limitations because the ego wants to keep them, so it keeps true perception away from the seeker, then the seeker will suffer failure after failure and become frustrated. In his frustration he will cease being persistent on the path of expansion and move from path to path with dead end after dead end until the ego is mastered and limitations are found and worked through. Then he can enter the true path.

“Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.” — Napoleon Hill

May 13, 2009

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Key Four, Spiritual Will

August 20, 2024 Joseph Dewey

The Twelve Keys Of Discipleship
Key Four, Spiritual Will

Tune In & Use Spiritual Will Until It Dominates Lower Desire

First the disciple must understand what Spiritual Will is, for if he cannot understand it, he cannot participate in manifesting it.

The mind of God pushes all activity toward the direction of a dominating good. The dominating good takes creation step by step toward the end of a creation seen only by the mind of God. Each step is a fait accompli; it is chiseled in stone and will occur. The only thing in question is the time period involved, but from the consciousness of the universal mind a small difference in time is meaningless. It sees the next step as if it were manifest in the timeless now.

The job of the disciple is to tune into that next step or advancement toward which the dominating good is pushing. When a glimpse of the vision is seen then the seeker knows that nothing can prevent its manifestation. His participation or lack thereof will make no difference in the long run, but the difference he will make will be in time. With a glimpse of the vision and effort he can help the next step to manifest earlier than it would have without him.

For example; it was within the Spiritual Will of God that the slaves become free. The existence and actions of Lincoln helped make this happen. Without him the slaves would have still been freed, but it may have taken an extra hundred years. To save the country from a hundred or even ten years of such injustice is no small accomplishment.

Even so, it is with the fledgling disciple. He tunes into the Will of God and knows a portion of the plan and by faith has a knowledge that the manifestation is inevitable. He decides to cooperate with the flow of dominating good and speed the vision toward manifestation.

The steps he has to take will often conflict with lower desire and for the spiritual will to dominate the seeker must always keep the vision present in his mind. If the vision is always present the creation will eventually be in his present. The holding of the mind steady in the light so the vision is ever seen will guarantee dominion over lower desire and the manifestation of Spiritual Will upon the earth.

A Lesson from Star Trek

Several were commenting on the new Star Trek remake with Chris Pine as Captain Kirk. My wife and I also saw it and felt impressed to make some comments.

First a brief review.

This was perhaps the best Star Trek movie of all time. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I’ve always liked the original series best and since the original actors are either dead or elderly JJ Abrams did the best possible thing in casting the old characters with an original youthful crew.

And it was a great cast. The actors captured the essence of the original without looking like they were trying to copy their style. I liked Chris Pine as James Kirk. He captured the original intelligence and independence of the person and Zachary Quinto, from Heroes fame, made an excellent young Spock.

The relationship of Kirk and Spock got off to a rocky start but the bumps were not contrived as has been the case in comparable shows.

The whole team seemed to get thrown together through a series of flukes to fight a serious villain from the future named Nero.

It was fun watching the movie which showed the beginnings of relationships and character development, when at the same time I had in my mind a vision and sense of what the future held for them all.

Then I realized that something strange was happening to me. The door to my soul was open and I began feeling sensations of the Holy Spirit. That can’t be I told myself because these are just fictional characters. I could understand being emotionally affected but feeling the Spirit did not make a lot of sense — at first.

Then, as I contemplated, a revelation came and I understood why I was feeling such spiritual feelings about a fictional movie. The Spirit comes to testify of truth and I was experiencing a major revelation of truth.

The Spirit brought a truth of which I was somewhat aware in the past, but now I saw it from a greater fullness.

Here it is:

There is a difference in the verification of a true principle and the truth of a thing which is unfolding to manifest the Purpose of God and a better world for humanity. When the disciple has a true principle revealed it is through subtle means, such as an intuitive flash or still small voice. But when a vision of future evolution is seen a fiery thrill will often go through the disciple’s being and great joy will be felt.

Why?

Because he catches a glimpse of a better future more in alignment with holy Purpose.

When future manifestation of Divine Purpose is seen the Spirit will come.

The Spirit not only testifies of truth present so much as it does positive truth which is just waiting for us to enjoy at a future time. This testimony gives the seeker strength to move ahead and work toward its manifestation.

When you think of these feelings of spiritual joy being associated with the future you can understand why the “falling in love” feeling is often the most powerful spiritual sensation that most people feel in their lives. The reason it comes so close to touching the Spirit here is that the person catches a brief glimpse of the future perfection of the love interest and this future vision causes a joyful feeling and attraction.

When this realization came to me, I realized why I felt such spiritual feelings in watching the Star Trek movie. As I watched the young characters, I saw them not only as they were on the screen, but as they would be in the future and the close friendships they would have. Then the spiritual feeling was amplified when I realized a principle was being brought home to me.

When I think of the times I have felt the most powerful endowments of spiritual energy the future was always involved. I have felt it when contemplating a Zion type civilization, a work I will do to benefit humanity, future relationships, a better world, etc.

Thus I can come up with one more piece of advice to those seeking more soul contact.

Contemplate the Will of God that is to manifest in your future, your loved ones future, and civilization itself. When you see or feel a future manifestation you will feel a powerful witness indeed.

“The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world; I am like a snowball – the further I am rolled, the more I gain.” — Susan B. Anthony (1820 – 1906)

May 9, 2009

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Hold Your Mind Steady in the Light

August 17, 2024 Joseph Dewey

Key Number Three
Hold Your Mind Steady in the Light

How does one do this and how does failure to accomplish this interfere with becoming a true disciple?

There are three branch keys that allow the seeker to successfully execute this key. One is found in the past, one in the present, and one in the future. What are they

I cannot put too much emphasis on this key for the seeker can only progress so far without mastering it. He can waiver somewhat and pass the first and second initiations but to escape illusion that traps so many he must consistently apply this key. He cannot pass the third initiation without it.

Why?

If he does not hold his mind stead in the light then his attention will drift away from it. When his attention is no longer on the light, what is it then on?

Darkness.

If attention is on darkness rather than light then the truth is covered and the attention will be on illusion.

The reason it is so difficult to master keeping the mind in the light is that the taking attention off the light is a gradual rather than a sudden occurrence. When the attention is slowly taken off the light the loss of light is not that apparent. It is like using a dimmer switch and slowly turning down the brightness. If one takes an hour to dim the light by half it may not be noticeable that anything has changed.

But then if you suddenly turn the light on full brightness it is startling how much dimming occurred and how bright the original was.

When the seeker takes even a little attention off the light there is a dimming and the problem occurs when the dimming is slight and he doesn’t notice it. Then he relaxes some more and the light dims again and still it seems as if he is in the light in its fullness.

When the seeker thus takes his attention off the light one of two things happen:

[1] Eventually the light will become darkness and his progression will end for this lifetime.

[3] Something will happen to make the seeker aware of the dimming and by an act of will he refocuses his attention back on the light to try again.

There is quite a struggle that occurs from the beginnings of soul contact to the final mastery of keeping centered in the light. At first soul contact is very hit and miss until after many failures the seeker is finally able to stay focused. When this does occur it happens because the disciple creates many good habits that function as if on automatic pilot. But even here the disciple must always stay on guard for the initial small loss of light through lack of focus is difficult to detect.

There are three branch keys that allow the seeker to successfully execute this key and stay focused. One is found in the past, one in the present and one in the future.

Branch Key One: The Past

The seeker must look to the past to a time when he was sure that he was focused in the light at its highest point. He must reflect on how he felt internally and externally. He reflects the clarity of his sight during this time as well as his spiritual hearing and degree of inspiration. He reflects on the truths and purposes that were important to him and he asks if that importance still exists. He notes his sense of wellbeing and peace and asks if such still exists for him.

Finally, through meditation and contemplation he takes his whole consciousness back to the time when the light was bright and refreshes his memory of the reality of the experience.

After he does all this, he then checks with himself in the present and asks himself if he is still there. Has anything changed and if so then what is it and why? Does he need to move back to the light in any degree? If the answer is yes then he moves back at once.

Branch Key Two: The Present

The present is where decisions are made. The seeker must examine each decision he makes and ask himself if it takes him away from the light or presents a spiritual danger of any kind. If it presents a danger then he must ask if a wiser decision is available.

Sometimes the best decision is fraught with apparent danger. If it is he must take extra care to be aware of himself and his surroundings.

Branch Key Three: The Future

The key to using the future to advantage is the Principle of Projection.

The seeker must project himself into the future and examine in his mind’s eye all the possibilities that may materialize. Then he must imagine himself making decisions and examine the future effect of them. He does this until he realizes the best course of action to take when a future situation occurs.

The seeker who follows this course will rarely be caught by surprise and make a bad decision but during an awkward situation he will have already charted his course long ago in his imagination.

Karma & The Highest We Know

I was asked this question concerning the first key of discipleship: “Is it possible to gain negative Karma while following the highest you know?”

Following the highest you know is a little like driving a car. All but a few crazy people drive with the highest skill and awareness they have. No one wants to get in an accident, but even though a driver may do his darndest to avoid one he may still crash into another car now and then.

Even though the driver was following the highest he knew, if he has an accident and causes $3000 worth of damage to the other guy, he is still liable for it. In addition, he has to fix his own vehicle.

So if this example corresponds to life and Karma what advantage is there in following the highest we know when the payment of a negative Karma may still come due?

Let us extend the example and see.

Rod is a guy full of rage and doesn’t follow the highest he knows on the road. Another driver irritates him and to teach him a lesson he rams his car and also does $3000 worth of damage.

What is Rod’s liability?

It is greater than the first guy? Not only will Rod have to pay for damages but he has also committed a crime and is likely to go to jail.

In other words, when a person drives conscientiously the law only requires him to make restitution for a mistake, but goes no further. However, when a person drops below the threshold of the highest he knows and willingly does damage a greater negative Karma or liability is incurred.

Even so, when the seeker follows the highest he knows he will still make mistakes and will be responsible for those mistakes. This is how he learns. However, when the pilgrim gets frustrated and takes his eye off the highest he knows and allows harm to occur that could have been avoided, a greater negative Karma is incurred and he will have to suffer more than a mere making restitution.

“Such is the irresistible nature of truth that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.” — Thomas Paine (1737 – 1809)

May 6, 2009

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Transcending Irritation

August 16, 2024 Joseph Dewey

Transcending Irritation

We are now on the subject of the Keys of Discipleship, not to be confused with the Keys of Knowledge.

We are now moving on to the Second Key of Discipleship. DK hinted at this key and did not use the word tolerance in relation to it, but “irritation.” He basically stated that one of the last things to overcome on the path to discipleship is irritation. By this he didn’t mean irritation in the normal sense at situations, but irritation at fellow seekers. Irritation with another person is a form of intolerance, but it is intolerance with a specific effect. It is the seeker allowing his intolerance get the best of him to the extent that the semi anger of irritation radiates from his being.

The intolerance and irritation we feel toward coworkers is not their fault, but our fault and the aspirant must check himself to make sure his energies are channeled correctly so such feelings do not surface. He should also be honest with himself so such feelings are not suppressed, but properly channeled.

As I have taught previously about in “The Lion Principle,” — it doesn’t do any good to be angry, intolerant, or irritated over a lion for who it is. Recognize the lion for what it is. Realize that if you get too close you may get your head bitten off and act accordingly. It does no good to get irritated at a lion for being who it is.

Even so, we all have faults and instead of being irritated by those faults the disciple just acknowledges their existence and works around them as constructively as possible.

Have fellow workers irritated you? What have you done to deal with it?

Why is The Second Key Of Discipleship such an important key?

This is especially important because energy follows thought. If the seeker is intolerant or irritated at others in the group this means that his attention is on their lower personality. This draws energy toward the lower self, which means that this energy cannot go toward opening the door toward the soul.

Thus the person who is continually criticizing others for not being in the soul is himself directing energy away from his own soul.

How does violating The Second Key of Discipleship hurt the group?

If energy is taken away from being directed at soul contact for one, it will affect the spiritual health of the entire group.

How does violating The Second Key of Discipleship interfere with soul contact?

See above.

Is it possible that the other guy who disturbs you so is following the highest he knows and should be respected?

This is entirely possible. Both you and he could disagree on a number of items and have numerous faults but both are still doing the best they can to follow the highest they know. Following the highest you know does not bring instant enlightenment, but is the one sure way over a period of time to become embraced by the light.

Think of how embarrassing it would be to criticize your brother and not tolerate his faults and then, after death, when you go through the life review, you discover that your problems were as bad or worse than his.

If you follow this key does it mean you overlook the faults of the other person completely. How should you handle such flaws in others?

The problem with black and white thinking is it always only leads to a partial truth. Yes, we should not put excessive energy on the other persons faults, but neither should we ignore the shortcomings of others as they affect the work.

How can we do this without feeling irritable or intolerant?

The key is to view shortcomings purely from the standpoint of the mind with the emotions detached and unaffected. You do not give others power to disturb your emotional body but maintain awareness to the point that you work around the limitations of others in your group.

“You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.” — Eric Hoffer (1902 – 1983)

April 28, 2009

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The True Self

August 15, 2024 Joseph Dewey

The True Self

A Course in Miracles clearly teaches about two selves. The first self is eternal and dwells in heaven, and the second is a temporary illusion and identifies with this world of illusion.

Many spiritual teachings call these two the lower and higher selves. Here is a description from the Course:

“You are what God created or what you made. One Self is true; the other is not there. Try to experience the unity of your one Self.” W-pI.93.9

That which is often called the higher self then is the one that is “true” while the other self “is not there.” but an illusion.

While identifying with this illusionary self, if you listen to the Holy Spirit “you will perceive another self in you. This other self sees miracles as natural.” T-21.V.3

This “other self” or our true self, is recognized by its power to reason, something lacking in the false self:

“You do not realize the whole extent to which the idea of separation has interfered with reason. Reason lies in the other self you have cut off from your awareness. And nothing you have allowed to stay in your awareness is capable of reason. How can the segment of the mind devoid of reason understand what reason is, or grasp the information it would give?” T-21.V.4.

Some believe this false self is the ego but we are told that “the ego is not the Self.” T-4.II.4

“The ego is the questioning aspect of the post-separation self, which was made rather than created. It is capable of asking questions but not of perceiving meaningful answers” T-3.IV.3

So the ego is not the self, but an “aspect” of it. What aspect?

The questioning aspect. This sheds some more light:

“The ego, then, raised the first question that was ever asked, but one it can never answer. That question, ‘What are you?’ was the beginning of doubt. The ego has never answered any questions since, although it has raised a great many.” T-6.IV.2

The ego’s first big question which was “What are you?” was the beginning of doubt.

What is it that we began to doubt? We began to doubt that we were really our true self which shares the mind and attributes of the Father. The ego then went even farther and caused us to even doubt that we had a self and convinced us that our end was not self-awareness, but oblivion for it speaks of “your plan to keep His Son in deep oblivion, and go the way you chose without your Self. It is not God you have imprisoned in your plan to lose your Self.” W-pI.166.9-10

The ego puts its attention on convincing us that we are merely bodies, and what do those who see themselves as bodies believe? They see themselves as having no enduring self and that the destruction of the body results in either oblivion or hell.

“The ego teaches that your function on earth is destruction, and you have no function at all in Heaven. It would thus destroy you here and bury you here, leaving you no inheritance except the dust out of which it thinks you were made. As long as it is reasonably satisfied with you, as its reasoning goes, it offers you oblivion. When it becomes overtly savage, it offers you hell.”

Since the Course places much attention on the true rather than the false self it would seem beneficial to explore what it says about it. After all, “Salvation comes from my one Self. Its Thoughts are mine to use.” W-pI.96.9

In addition, we are told that beyond the body “You go where you would be, gaining, not losing, a sense of Self. In these instants of release from physical restrictions, you experience much of what happens in the holy instant.” T-18.VI.13

It is curious that many seem to think we lose a sense of self when we return to our true spiritual home, but instead the Course says that we will be “gaining, not losing, a sense of Self.”

We then come to the realization that “To be egocentric is to be dis-spirited, but to be Self-centered in the right sense is to be inspired or in spirit.” T-4.in.1

The Course stresses that sharing and unity are essential to finding our true self. The illusionary self sees itself as alone and separate while the true self sees itself as not being alone at all

“You cannot understand yourself alone. This is because you have no meaning apart from your rightful place in the Sonship.” T-5.III.8

Indeed when we realize who we are, we see ourselves as being united with our brothers rather than a separate entity all alone.

“You are one Self, the holy Son of God, united with your brothers in that Self.” W-pI.95.13

“But healing is his own decision to be one again, and to accept his Self with all Its parts intact and unassailed.” W-pI.137.3

Our true self is one in the mind of God, but it is a oneness through sharing:

“Only an illusion stands between you and your brother, and the holy Self you share together.” T-22.IV.7

Some seekers are concerned that they may suffer loss in dropping the false self for the true. To them the Course asks this question:

“Can your self be lost by being found?” T-29.I.9

Realizing our true self is the ultimate act of atonement concerning which it is written:

“The Atonement must be understood as a pure act of sharing.” T-5.IV.2

“If you would give yourself as your Father gives His Self, you will learn to understand Selfhood.” T-15.VI.7

Good advice. Let us follow the example of the Father who “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matt 5:45

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12 Keys of Discipleship

August 14, 2024 Joseph Dewey

12 Keys of Discipleship

The Highest You Know

The first and most important Key to Discipleship is found in this simple sentence:

“Follow the highest you know.”

Question… Why is this the most important key toward becoming an accepted disciple?

If a person does not follow the highest he knows then every other thing he does or tries to do in connection with the path of discipleship will be corrupted and lead to illusion to some degree. If he follows the highest he knows then each step he takes will be a step toward the light.

This may not seem true at times for sometimes the highest he knows will be completely wrong. But if the highest one can see to do turns out to be an error, the error will be seen if he is pure in heart and true to himself.

If he is not pure in heart then he will not follow the highest he knows and when the error surfaces he will ignore it. He who overlooks error is not following the highest be knows. It is indeed difficult for seekers to recognize error and correct it as they proceed upon the path. Often this is more difficult for an aspiring disciple than it is for the average person because the aspirant is often convinced he is closer to God than his neighbor and therefore certain kinds of mistakes are just not supposed to happen.

The truth is that the seeker is apt to make most any kind of mistake in thinking and needs to always be open to correction.

It is interesting to contemplate the story of Lucifer’s rebellion against God. He could not admit to a mistake in his thinking even when corrected by the Presiding One himself. Even in this high state was one who did not follow the highest he knew.

Keep in mind that he could have really thought he was right in his own plan, but overlooked one point that he knew. God saw from a higher angle of vision and experience than did he so Lucifer should have been open to the possibility that he was wrong. Instead of following the highest he knew and becoming one with God and seeing through his eyes he saw only through his own eyes and hence saw incorrectly and fell from his high estate.

At one time or another we all make the same mistake as Lucifer. We only look through our own eyes thinking we are following the highest we know while at the same time we have pushed away a piece of knowledge that would truly take us on the path of the highest we know.

We see this flaw appear often in debates of all kinds, in particular religious and political ones. One person gives a true piece of data that gives evidence of his point and the other person acts as if the data does not exist and changes the subject or attacks from another angle. Instead of just trying to win the debate the person following the highest he knows will incorporate the true data and see where it leads him. If it proves him to be embarrassingly wrong, then so be it.

To follow this first key the seeker must be true to himself and be aware of all that is before him that can be perceived to be true and follow where it leads to the best of his ability.

Sometimes following the highest you know is easy, and other times very difficult. Being true to ourselves in the easy times will help us to weather the storms and stay true to the course in the trying times.

The Second Key is almost as important as the first, which is this:

The disciple must have tolerance of views and behavior of others, which are different than his own. This especially applies to others of his own group or who are aspiring to the same place along the path as himself.

Contemplate the following questions:

Why is this an important key?

How does violating it hurt the group?

How does violating it interfere with soul contact?

Is it possible that the other guy who disturbs you so is following the highest he knows and should be respected?

If you follow this key does it mean you overlook the faults of the other person completely. How should you handle such flaws in others?

Question: “How can you overlook the highest you know. Isn’t it natural to follow it?

JJ: We overlook the highest we know all the time. His happens when that which we desire conflicts with our highest insight. When we decide to go with the lower desire instead of that which we know then a cloud comes up and covers our soul. When we do it again another cloud forms. If we do this enough then darkness reigns. If we just have one or two clouds then there is still a sense of soul (the sun) behind the clouds, but the seeker cannot see in the light of day.

Examples of not following the highest you know:

[1] Betraying your spouse who you love through having an affair with another.

The guy loves his partner and didn’t want to betray her, but his lower desire influenced his decision rather than the highest he knew.

After the passing of time the guy starts blaming his faithful spouse for his indiscretion. He points out her faults and claims he wouldn’t have had the affair if she had behaved differently. He pushes the highest he knew to the background.

[2] You have an argument with a friend and reach a dead end. A few days later you read an article that proves his point of view. You ignore this and never mention it to your friend, but still maintain your erroneous point of view in discussions. Pretty soon it is as if the article did not exist in your memory.

Here the desire to preserve pride was greater than his desire to reveal the truth. The highest he knew was the truth — not his ego.

[3] Your friends all come to a controversial conclusion and support it and you go along. Then on reflection you conclude they are wrong. After meeting with them again you discover they are very enthusiastic about their conclusion and call people morons that think otherwise. You go along with them because you do not want to lose the confidence of your best friends.

Here your desire to be popular outweighs following the highest you know.

After a period of time the seeker forgets the highest he knew and that on which he places his energy and attention becomes his illusionary belief.

The point is there are many times that people do not follow the highest they know, but for the few who consistently do, the reward is great and the peace is profound.

“He harms himself who does harm to another, and the evil plan is most harmful to the planner.” — Hesiod (~800 BC), “Works and Days”

April 27, 2009

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