Category: Teachings

Day 198

The Open Mind

Principle Ten: Unless the seeker has an open mind progress upon the path of discovery will cease.

I have a friend who, for a period of time, made it a point of asking his religious friends if they considered themselves open-minded. He never received a “no” answer. They all considered themselves open-minded and dispassionately able to consider new thinking.

Then after he received a positive answer he would present them with a thought that ran contrary to their church beliefs. Suddenly, their minds closed down and they wanted to end the discussion.

Then he would say something like, “I thought you said you were open-minded.”

To this was the response that yes they still saw themselves as open-minded but his direction was plain wrong. Most would not even allow him to present his facts.

You may rest assured that the Vatican scientists who condemned Galileo also thought they were open-minded. They just didn’t want to look through Galileo’s ridiculous telescope. Even so, did those who burned heretics at the stake see themselves as the fair and open-minded ones.

It is interesting then that virtually everyone, even the most closed-minded, see themselves as being open to new knowledge. It is also noteworthy that all of us know a number of people we consider to be closed minded.

In other words, the closed minded person cannot see the flaw in himself, but can see it in others.

The fact is that he may be judging an open-minded brother to be closed just because he does not agree with himself, yet judges himself to be open minded because to him, his beliefs are just true.

At this point we need to define what it is to be open-minded.

To be open or closed-minded does not mean to agree or disagree with the other guy. An open-minded person may listen to all the facts and reject an argument because it just makes no sense.

I make this point because many accusations of closed-mindedness occur because the other fellow does not agree.

In the end, the open-minded person may agree or disagree but what he will do is consider the possibility that a proposal may be true and look at the facts involved.

Let us take an example. The belief in a flat earth has resurfaced and has been circulating around the internet. Though it may seem outrageous to even consider such a belief, the open minded person will look at their arguments and see if there is anything to them. Then he can weigh their arguments against overwhelming evidence, such as pictures of a globe earth taken by the United States, Russia, India, Japan, China, European Union and private spacecraft.

The saying goes that one should be open, but not have a mind that leaks like a sieve. In other words, one should be open, but maintain a filtering system and maintain a healthy skepticism.

Assignment: Take the following quiz and honestly asses your own degree of openness.

HOW OPEN-MINDED ARE YOU?

Everyone thinks he has an open mind, but in reality we all have acquaintances who immediately shut down their minds to ideas that do not conform to their pre-conceived notions. Take this test for an indication of how open-minded you are:

(1) The politician who you least like comes up with a plan for world peace. How would you react?

(a) I would assume that the plan was as bad as the rest of his ideas.

(b) I would listen to the proposal, but I know I wouldn’t like it.

(c) I would listen to the proposal with the idea that it may contain something of value.

(2) An acquaintance wants you to listen to what you consider to be the worst music in existence so he can explain to you why it has value.

(a) You would not consider such a thing

(b) You would listen but are sure it has no redeeming value

(c) You would listen with the idea that this person may perceive something of value that you do not.

(3) You are at a party and meet a person who says he is a member of The Flat Earth Society. He tells you that the stars above are an illusion, the earth is really flat and we only appear to be circling around the sun. He seriously tells you that he can logically prove all of this if you will listen to him a few moments.

(a) The man is obviously a crackpot and you excuse yourself.

(b) You listen for entertainment value only

(c) You listen at least partly because you want to see if his thought has any logical foundation.

(4) You have a six-year old daughter who, as far as you know, is completely normal. One day she comes to you out of the blue and says that some space people are in contact with her by mental telepathy and that they have an important message for the people of the earth. How would you react?

(a) I would feel that she has a problem and take her for professional help (a minister or psychologist).

(b) Ignore the problem and hope it goes away.

(c) I would question her with a mind open to the possibility that the communication may be valid.

(5) A representative of a religious cult knocks on your door and wants you to read a pamphlet proving that their leader is God incarnate. What do you do?

(a) Slam the door on him before he can explain why he is there.

(b) Politely listen to him but refuse the pamphlet.

(c) Take the pamphlet but not read it.

(d) Take the pamphlet and read it.

(6) An old friend who has a reputation of being eccentric and whose advice caused you to lose money in the past approaches you with a sure-fire-get-rich-quick business venture. It requires $10,000 investment which you happen to have at the time and he tells you that you should be able to get that back ten-fold in a month and possibly have financial security for the rest of your life. You would:

(a) Be polite, but refuse to listen to his new scheme.

(b) Listen to what the man has to say, then ignore him without trying to consider his ideas.

(c) Listen to his idea with the possibility (however slim) of acting on it.

(7) Which of the following have you changed your opinion or belief on after the age of 18?

(a) Your religion

(b) Your political party

(c) Birth control

(d) Abortion

(e) Capitalism or communism

(f) The environment

(g) Nuclear arms or world peace

(h) Legalization of drugs

(i) The foods you like

(j) The type of person you want for a mate

SCORING:

1a 0, 1b 0, 1c

2a 0, 2b 1, 2c 2

3a 0, 3b 1, 3c 3

4a 0, 4b 1, 4c 2

5a 0, 5b 1, 5c 1, 5d 3

6a 0, 6b 0, 6c 2

On question 7 score two points for each category in which change occurred.

INTERPRETATION:

0-12 Points: You may think you are open-minded, as all people do, but in reality you instinctively resist any idea that is not commonly accepted within your group or belief system. You tend to fear others who are different than yourself. Lighten up and be more flexible.

13-17 Points: You may change when you have to, and some may see you as open-minded, but you tend to listen to an opposing point of view out of courtesy rather than having any consideration for it. 18-24 Points: You have a good live and let live philosophy. You have a high tolerance for other points of view. You are open-minded on a subject you feel is important or credible but will not sustain enough interest to keep your mind open if the subject is not on your interest list.

25-34 Points: You are truly an open-minded person. You will always be open to all possibilities. This will lead you into many interesting experiences. To use this open-mindedness effectively, however, make sure you maintain a stable mind or others may think you are fickle-minded.

Affirmation: “I am open to all things, but fixed on finding the truth.”

 

Day 199

Learn by Doing

Principle Eleven: You can prove a teaching true or false by applying it in life. We learn by doing much faster than by listening or reading.

Jesus pointed us toward this important principle when he said:

“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” John 7:17

In other words, doing and applying what we learn will lead us to an understanding of the truth. We can then find the true ingredients of a teaching and discard the false.

Let us suppose that you have never played golf in your life but for some reason took an interest in it and decide that you want to become good at the sport. You figure it is important to learn everything you can about the subject so you buy all kinds of books giving tips. You read dozens of books and probably know as much about golf as Tiger Woods. You figure you know how to make the perfect swing and you expect great results on your first try. You go out on the course, place the ball on the tee and take a swing. To your horror you missed it completely. It takes a couple more swings before you hit the ball and then you didn’t accomplish much. “This isn’t the way it is supposed to go,” you think to yourself. “I knew what to do, but just couldn’t apply it for some reason.”

The simple answer is that taking in data, even if correct, is not enough. Learning must include application to be complete.

Many want to learn by incorporating 90% study and 10% application when it should be the reverse. The student is much better off spending most of his time applying instead of just learning.

The same principles of learning apply to spiritual principles as to a sport like golf.

What will teach the seeker the most about love? Spending ten hours with a book about it or one hour bringing smiles on the faces of little children?

Or how about forgiveness? Many hours with a book, or just one instant of letting go of the grievance?

Or enlightenment? Ten hours of study or one hour reflecting on a profound thought?

Or how about teaching? Yes study is important, but to keep what you have learned you must give it away. The teacher learns much faster by teaching and sharing than by study.

Assignment: Assess that which you need to learn at this point in life and contemplate how you can enhance your learning though doing as much as possible.

Affirmation: “I keep that which I learn through doing and sharing.”

 

Day 200

Ask Questions

Principle Twelve: To receive answers you must first ask questions.

One of the main differences between a seeker and one who is not is that the seeker asks questions. The true seeker is somewhat amazed when he discovers how little the average person will question the world around him.

Yes, the average guy will have numerous beliefs, but few of those beliefs come from asking questions. Instead, many of them are merely implants accepted by his brain because he is following the line of least resistance.

The true seeker will have many questions that will often take him on the path less traveled by.

The difference between the seeker who has gained knowledge and wisdom lies not in inherited gifts, talent and intelligence but in the fact that he has asked questions and driven himself to find the answers.

The average person asks few questions outside his comfort zone. Those few he does ask are in response to his standardized education or involving the necessity of making a living. Few ask questions about spiritual things or philosophy beyond that which they have learned in church or school.

It takes as much intelligence to come up with the right questions as it does to recognize the right answers. Questions and answers are indeed interrelated. You will not find meaningful answers without first asking the right questions.

One thing that drives questions for the seeker is a lack of logic in something he is taught which may be something that many just accept without question.

Seekers have many questions that just do not occur to the rank and file. Here is an example of a dialogue:

The Question: IS GOD ALL-KNOWING?

SEEKER: Is God all-knowing?

BELIEVER: Yes.

SEEKER: Does God know before a person is born if he will be saved or damned?

BELIEVER: Yes.

SEEKER: Then why does God create people that He knows are going to be damned? Wouldn’t it be better for Him to have just not made the damned to avoid all that suffering?

BELIEVER: We have to come here to prove to ourselves that we can be saved.

SEEKER: Do the damned have to prove to themselves that they can be damned?

BELIEVER: I guess so. I never thought of it.

SEEKER: If you were a creator, would you make something that wouldn’t work just so you could say to it: “I made you and I knew even before I made you that you wouldn’t work, but I just wanted to prove to you that you wouldn’t work. Now because you don’t work you are damned for all eternity.” That sounds ridiculous doesn’t it?

BELIEVER: I’m sure God has his reasons we are not aware of.

SEEKER: But we are going by what you claim to be aware of, and that is God is all knowing, and that He knew who would be damned for eternity. Is there any rhyme or reason why He would create a soul He knew was going to be damned?

BELIEVER: So we can appreciate being saved.

SEEKER: You mean you have to make sure there are others burning in Hell before you can enjoy Heaven?

BELIEVER: It is God’s plan.

SEEKER: If you knew your mother, father and children were burning in Hell for eternity while you were in Heaven, then would this make Heaven more enjoyable for you?

BELIEVER: No. Of course not.

SEEKER: Then how does God’s creation of souls that He knew will be damned add to your enjoyment of Heaven?

BELIEVER: I guess it wouldn’t really.

SEEKER: So why did God create souls He knew would be damned?

BELIEVER: You’ve got me confused. You tell me.

COMMENT: The Scriptures tell us that it is God’s will that “All” be saved. As you can see, it would be ridiculous for a Creator to make souls He knew would be damned.

Assignment: Ask yourself: “How much questioning have I done in this life? Have I sought with a burning desire that led to answers? Come up with three questions to which you wish you knew the answers and contemplate on what those answers may be.

Affirmation: “I ask because I want to know.”

 

Day 201

The Law of Correspondences, Part 1

Principle Thirteen: That which is above will have elements that correspond to that which is below, and that which is below will likewise have elements that correspond to that which is above.

This law can be a great help to the seeker in the discovery of truth. It can also lead him into error if he misunderstands it. Many teachers have made the mistake of telling us that correspondences are exact and they are not. The correspondence between the higher and lower have similarities, but are never exact. If therefore, the seeker tries to understand the unseen by following this law with black and white exactness then he will fail.

Instead of seeing correspondences matching with exactness the seeker must use one level as hints to find truth in another level. If he sees the hints and uses his intuition then he can discover much that is true.

The physicist, Niels Bohr, used this principle correctly to come up with the basic structure of the atom. He concluded that the atom may correspond to a miniature solar system with a heavy nucleus containing most of the mass encircled about by much lighter electrons. It turns out that indeed there are many correspondences between an atom and a solar system, but there are also many differences. Yet the correspondences were close enough to aid in putting together the first elementary ideas of what atoms are and how they function.

So, why are correspondences not exact? To understand this it is helpful to imagine that you are God and had just finished perfecting the atoms. Now you want to create on a much higher level. Do you just repeat on a higher level what you just did on a lower? No. That would be boring. You like a challenge and creation is most fun when it is diverse and challenging. So, instead of just repeating yourself you decide to follow basic working principles but do something new and different and hopefully better than before.

One should not be surprised that Divine Intelligence does new and different things on different levels, after all it is written:

“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” Revelation 21:5

“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the days of old. Behold, I will do a NEW thing; now it shall spring forth….” (Isa 43:18-19)

It is also written that we are in the image of God and it is human nature to not want to do the same thing over and over so we, like God, enjoy creating new things. The new has similarities to the old, but rarely is it an exact duplication.

Assignment: Use the Law of Correspondences today and pay particular attention to the numbers three and seven. For instance, the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit corresponds to Father, Mother and Child. Where are there other correspondences? Where do you see the number seven manifest?

Affirmation: “Truth leads to more truth.”

 

Day 202

The Law of Correspondences, Part 2

Let us look at the first part of the assignment which are correspondences with the trinity.   The most well-known trinity is, of course, the Christian view of the Godhead. It seems kind of confusing to many when preachers tell us they are three and yet one, but perhaps there is more correspondence to this than believers realize.

The guitar string principle helps us to see a correspondence here. Suppose you have a guitar with only one string on it and then you pluck it. When you watch it vibrate how many strings do you see? You see three strings. But in reality are there three strings?

No. There is only one string in vibration causing the appearance of three strings. The lower illusionary string corresponds to the second aspect and the top, the third, or opposing part of the duality.

In the true reality there is no top and bottom string but only the reality in the middle. Even so, in the true reality, there is neither male nor female, light and dark, hot and cold, but only the foundation God who reflected Itself to infinity and caused these reflections to vibrate to create the appearance of real physical worlds of form.

As we go deeper and deeper into matter all we can find are wavelengths, or mini guitar strings in vibration. That invisible force that causes the vibration creating the wavelength corresponds to the Father and the two polarities are represented by the Son and Holy Ghost (or Mother).

As we explore the microcosmic world through electron microscopes we see that trinities, or triangles of three, manifest in all creation. Then as we inspect various enterprises successfully created by humans we also see trinities manifest.

In starting his church, for instance, Jesus had three close disciples, Peter, James and John.

There are several trinities aiding the work of Mohammad. The first was Allah, Gabriel and himself. The second was more earthly which was Mohammad, his wife, Khadijah, and her Christian cousin, Waraqah ibn Nawfal who first accepted his revelations.

The Buddha started his movement with himself and two disciples, Taphussa and Bhallika.

A successful business is initiated by someone who gets an idea (representing the father), and then finds two close associates who help him to manifest that idea.

For instance Steve Jobs, Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer.

Microsoft was initiated by Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen in cooperation with Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems president, Ed Roberts.

The Beatles were initiated by McCartney, Lennon and Harrison. Ringo came along four years after the band was created.

Individuals may come and go in an organization but if it continues to have success a powerful trinity will manifest at the top.

America was founded on the trinity of the Presidency, Congress and the Judiciary.

The family is founded on Father, mother and children.

The trinity of planes of human endeavor are the physical, emotional and mental. The focus of spiritual endeavors are atma, buddhi, manas.

Yes, the Trinity is the foundation of all creation whether it be organic life or organized human beings and there are many correspondences and truths to be found.

Assignment: Now concentrate on the number seven. What is its significance and what are some truths to be gleamed from it?

Affirmation: “I see the three within myself and without.”

 

Day 203

The Law of Correspondences, Part 3

The number seven is an interesting number that we see often repeated in scripture, in esoteric literature, in philosophy and in nature itself.

In the Bible alone this number is repeated 735 time and 54 times in just the Book of Revelation.

Perhaps the most famous use of the number seven is found in the seven days of creation with the seventh day becoming the Sabbath, a holy day.

The idea of the seven days certainly took hold in the consciousness of humanity for our calendars still tabulate the days of the week as being seven.

Throughout the Old Testament we see the number seen repeated often. For instance, Noah gathered seven pairs of clean animals that were received into the Ark. There were seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of plenty in the days of Joseph who was sold into Egypt. There are seven things that God hates mentioned in Proverbs. There were seven lamps on the golden lampstand in the tabernacle.

Joshua and Israel marched around Jericho seven times while seven priests blew seven trumpets before the walls came crashing down.

Then in the New Testament Jesus said to forgive seventy times seven.

Jesus fed the multitudes with seven loaves of bread and afterwards the disciples gathered seven baskets of leftovers.

The Book of Revelation uses the number with the most pronounced symbolism. The first chapter introduces the seven churches, the seven spirits before the throne of God, the seven candlesticks and the seven stars.

Later we come across the famous seven seals, the seven angels blowing seven trumpets, the seven thunders, a dragon with seven heads, seven plagues, seven vials, seven mountains and seven kings – just to give a partial list.

In esoteric literature the seven rays behind creation are given much weight as well as the seven Root Races with their seven sub races. There are also seven chakras.

In Buddhism, seven is the number of ascent, and Buddha is said to have walked this number of steps at his birth.

In Islam there are seven heavens and hell has seven gates.

Astrology was founded on the movement seven planetary bodies and emphasis was placed on the seven stars of the Great Bear as well as the seven of the Pleiades.

In nature we have the seven colors of the rainbow, the seven musical notes, the seven electron shells of an atom, our skin is regenerated in seven days and every cell in our body is replaced every seven years. There are seven seas, seven continents and seven wonders of the world.

Even Shakespeare used the number in his famous quote: “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being SEVEN ages.”

Christian commentators often tell us that the significance of the number seven is that it signifies completion, but is that all there is to it? Use the information given today for a seed thought and see if you can find additional meaning behind this number.

Affirmation: “I will take seventy times seven steps toward the Kingdom of God.”

 

 

Day 204

The Law of Correspondences, Part 4

Indeed, we see that the number seven shows up often in nature and inspired writings. It manifests so much from the human mind because it signifies deep truth that is verified by the human soul.

The common idea is that because creation was said to have ended on the seventh day that the number signifies completion. There is a certain amount of truth to this for there are seven rays of creation that permeate all form in physical creation.

Creation begins with the One which vibrates and creates the three, or the Trinity. This also corresponds to the three primary colors of red, yellow and blue. Then from the three the seven is manifest and from the seven comes the foundation of all creation.

There are a number of ways to look at this number. As far as the rainbow goes one color morphs into another in linear sequence.

The creative rays manifest differently. You have the one, then the three and from the third ray the other four manifest.

On the other hand, the Star of David is also associated with creation. This is composed of one triangle pointing downward and an overlapping triangle pointing up. The one pointing downward represents forces pulling us toward matter and the upward triangle represents forces pulling toward Spirit. The two triangles represent six points with the seventh being a point in the center signifying synthesis of the two, or the point of soul energy that manifests as spirit touches matter.

As stated earlier, all creation begins with three. Any stable creation begins with the one who has the idea who then gathers two supporters that help in the manifestation.

But at this stage the creation is not complete and is still in danger of collapse. The creation can become self sufficient when seven are gathered who will stand by the ideals of the creation and support it.

If you look at any successful organization you will first find the one, then the three and finally the seven. When you find seven leading entities in harmony in an organization you may rest assured that it is in stable condition.

Another significant number is twelve and again we find it used many times in the Bible. We read of the Twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve stones of the breastplate of the high priest, the twelve apostles of Jesus and the twelve entrances to the city of the New Jerusalem.

This number surfaces many times in our society. For one thing this number dominates our time and space. We have twelve months in a year and twelve numbers on the clock. Then our rulers have twelve inches to a foot. We organize many things for sale by twelves, for instance, a dozen eggs.

Then we cannot leave out the twelve signs of the Zodiac.

Alcoholics Anonymous has 12 steps, 12 traditions, and 12 concepts for world service.

The number 12 is often found in the human body: there are 12 cranial nerves, 12 ribs on the average human body, and 12 systems of the human body (cardiovascular, digestive, etc.). Additionally, the weight of blood is about one twelfth of our body.

We could go on but this gives us an idea of this ubiquitous number.

The ancient Greek sage, Pythagoras, taught the number twelve had divine, mystical meanings.

Assignment: Contemplate the meaning of this number what it means and why it has been used down through the ages.

Affirmation: “I will take twelve steps toward the light, and then one more.”

Day 205

The Law of Correspondences, Part 5

Consider the progression leading to the number twelve. A creation begins with the one initiator getting an idea. He then gathers around him two companions who begin the work of manifesting it. The idea gains momentum until seven are gathered as one mind causing a finished materialization.

To cause a finished creation to maintain existence one more step is needed and that would correspond to a glue that would hold various pieces together. Twelve thus represents a governing force that keeps order and structure in place.

We began with the one and then the three. Finally, the seven of the Star of David, representing completion. The governing twelve then is composed of 3X4 a symbol of the New Jerusalem which city “lieth foursquare,” yet has twelve entrances.

The symbolic governing power is seen in the words of Jesus to his twelve apostles:

“…ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matt 19:28

It is interesting that a jury is composed of twelve people. A jury of twelve selected from the people gives added stability to a state or nation.

It is interesting to consider that when you add Jesus to the twelve you have a thirteenth. The thirteenth represents powerful authority, such as authority from God or a king.

Such an authority may work well if you have someone like Jesus taking this place, but with the many the authority is misused and the power of antichrist is manifest instead. Therefore, for maximum safety a group of twelve should see the thirteenth as the invisible Christ rather than a visible totalitarian.

All of the numbers 1-13 are very potent in meaning. The nine is very stabilizing as it is composed of three trinities. The ten is the basis of our numbering system and two represents duality. Some call it the first real number.

Understanding the importance of numbers is important in the use of the Law of Correspondences as the numbers in one creation will often correspond to numbers in another.

Now let us use this law on something else. In the atomic world we have three basic types of charges which are positive, negative and neutral. See if you can come up with six different things in everyday life that correspond to these.

Affirmation: “I see, I turn, and see new forms similar to the old.”

 

Day 206

The Law of Correspondences, Part 6

The atomic world, the foundation for all the universe, is created from three types of particles. Those that are negatively charged, those that have a positive charge and those that are neutral. The foundation particles of matter representative of these charges are the proton, the neutron and the electron. Here we see the trinity represented as the foundation of matter itself.

It is interesting to note that even though the neutron has no measurable charge that is still composed of quarks which are particles with charge. The negative and positive charges within the neutron merely cancel each other out, producing neutrality. This happens with a stable atom also with an equal number of protons and electrons. Each negative electron balances out the positive charge of a proton.

So in creation we have positive, negative and then there neutral where the two charges are still present, but in balance.

The most visible correspondence to positive and negative in the world around us are the male and female in humans as well as other species. So what corresponds to the neutron? This would be the gay. He or she has both male and female energies within but the charge is closer to the zero point.

The manifestation of the two charges, or opposites, is often called duality which is expressed in many triplicities such as, hot, cold and something desirable in between. Then we have up, down and the present location. Other dualities with points between are War and peace, good and evil, happy and sad, light and dark, sending and receiving, empty and full, freedom and slavery, love and hate, past and future, pleasure and pain, rich and poor… The list goes on. There are perhaps more correspondences to duality with the point between than anything else. Anyone who wishes to learn from the Law of Correspondences needs to observe all the ways that this principle manifests.

Contemplating the correspondence between male and female and the universal negative and positive charges beginning in the atom can shed much light.

For instance, a balance of positive and negative charges creates a stable atom. What joins male and female to do something similar? Through the ages there has been the so-called battle of the sexes with each side claiming superior characteristics. But is one really superior to the other?

The two sexes are definitely not the same, but does that destroy the ideal of equality?

Contemplate the differences between male and female and the significance thereof.

Affirmation: “I seek to balance the dual forces within me.”

 

Day 207

The Law of Correspondences, Part 7

Using the Law of Correspondences to derive truth from the male/female differences is a great example of the value of this principle.

In recent times some have tried to convince us that there are no real differences between males and females. It only seems that way because of our culture, they insist.

Many with this philosophy, however, have changed their minds after having kids and observe them growing up. They cannot help but noticed that males and females have different tendencies in behavior. Those who are willing to study these differences can discover some interesting truth.

Let us start with the physical differences. There are quite a few of these that are pretty much undeniable.

The most fundamental difference lies with sex and procreation. What exactly happens in this process?

The male sends the seed, or sperm, to the female and the female receives.

Using the Law of Correspondences we can deduce that the male, if we look on him as an energy unit, would be polarized as a sending energy and the female as a receiving one.

Now we all have both male and female, or sending and receiving energies within us, but overall most males are polarized, or have more sending energy than receiving, and females the opposite.

If you observe males and females in action you will notice that males are more comfortable being senders and females the receivers.

There is a lot of evidence that females are better receivers. For instance, all studies on the subject show that females in all cultures and times do better in school and get better grades than males. On the other hand, when it comes to positions that involve sending and giving orders males are more comfortable.

Now let us look closer at the act of sex. The male sends many sperm to the female and few get accepted. The female is very particular in what she will receive, but when she does accept a sperm magic occurs and a new creation is formed – a new life – a baby.

What does this tell us when we use the Law of Correspondences?

From this we can glean a number of truths.

(1) Miraculous creation can occur through the cooperation of male and female energies. The seeker starts by balancing the two energies within himself and then seeking cooperation with his opposite.

(2) The female does not accept just anything sent by the male, but is very particular about what she will embrace.

(3) The male will be wise to realize this characteristic by the female and not expect her to accept just anything that sounds good to him. To become successful co-creators the male must listen to the female and understand her desires so he can send her something she will receive.

(4) An idea from a male corresponds to a sperm or seed and if a male can plant an idea in a female that is embraced then miraculous progress toward creation can be achieved. They will have a symbolic baby together.

Volumes could be written about how the Law of Correspondences plays out with just the male-female principle, but this will give the seeker an elementary idea of how this law plays out.

Assignment: See males and females as units of energy and continue to ponder the differences between them and see what truths come to your mind.

Affirmation: “I listen to the messages from my body.”

 

Day 208

Principles

Principle Fourteen: Look for the principle rather than merely memorizing facts and data.

You’ve probably met the guy who seems very smart because he can rattle off all kinds of information he has accumulated. Others seem very impressed by his knowledge but there is something about him that doesn’t convinced you. Several things hold you back from crowning him the new Einstein.

(1) When he explains something he uses big words and lots of facts, but after he is done explaining you do not know much more than you did before. He sounds like he knows what he is talking about but his communication sounds esoteric and difficult to understand.

You would think that if he really understands what he is talking about that he could clearly communicate it in easy to understand language.

(2) The guy has not demonstrated a practical application of his knowledge in his life.

(3) It seems like some of your friends who seem average have more common sense than this walking encyclopedia.

The apostle Paul spoke of this type of character. He said they were, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” II Tim 3:7

Now there is nothing wrong with study and gaining information but all will be of minimal value unless the seeker is able to put the pieces together and see the bigger picture, or the principles behind the data.

Imagine that you have before you a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle and you take the pieces and distribute them randomly on a table and look at them. Even though you may memorize the patterns on each piece you will be unable to get any idea of the picture.

Now you discover something that is a big help. On the box is a picture of the finished puzzle. Knowing what the finished puzzle will look like will be a great aid in making sense of the pieces.

The one who sees the finished picture correlates to one who sees the principles, but the one who just stares at the randomly scattered pieces is like our intellectual friend described earlier.

Now let us examine something that involves a principle and the two ways of looking at it. The topic is good and evil.

The black and white person has a storage of information recorded in his brain that tells him what is good and what is evil.

Here are some things that a fundamentalist Christian may consider evil:

• Reading new age books
• Listening to certain music
• Drinking alcoholic drinks, even in moderation.
• Being gay.
• Believing the earth is billions of years old.
• Not accepting his version of Jesus.

Then, that which he considers to be good is anything that fits in with his interpretation of the Bible.

These people are indeed missing the mark, which is the meaning of the New Testament word for sin.

If one understands the principle behind good and evil he will use his own common sense to figure it out rather than going by the letter of the law or black and white words.

The basic difference between good and evil is this: Good is that which takes us forward on the path of Spiritual progress toward greater freedom, livingness, intelligence, light and love. Evil is that which takes us back into the past to lesser freedom, lesser livingness, lesser intelligence, light and love. Evil is the reverse reflection of good, corresponding to the fact that “evil” is “live” reflected in reverse.

Good is a positive building direction; evil is that which hinders positive building and destroys before creation is complete and has served its purpose.

If the leaders of old Salem had understood the principle behind good and evil they would have realized they were the ones taking an evil direction as they burned the witches at the stake.

Assignment: behind all debate there is always a principle that reveals the truth. Contemplate and find the principle leading to understanding of these three things:

(1) The political left and right

(2) Freedom

(3) The Golden Rule

Affirmation: “I see the whole picture rather than the part.”

 

Day 209

Resist Groupthink

Principle Fifteen: Take that belief which is embraced by the world and look in the opposite direction. In this opposite direction much truth lies hidden.

Think of those people who have made great accomplishments and have gone down in history for benefiting the world. Names like Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Tesla, Lincoln and, of course, Jesus come to mind. Were any of these people the type who just followed the crowd, accepted the status quo and went along with the groupthink of the day?

All the great thinkers and innovators have one thing in common. They did not govern their lives by what the authorities of the day said was true. They questioned and often found that the truth was in the opposite direction of common thought.

If the seeker spends a lifetime in study, but merely accepts all that his cherished authorities says is true, he will indeed have limited himself. He will be in the category of those who are “ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.”

The wise seeker does not accept a thing merely because the authorities of the world proclaim it. Neither does he accept it if the whole world embraces these statements of authorities. Instead, he is the eternal skeptic and will always look in the opposite direction of groupthink just to see what is there.

Now do not get me wrong. Many common beliefs are correct. The point is that many of them have not been correct in the past and even in this more enlightened age (as we suppose) many beliefs are still flawed.

The seeker will not discover those flaws through study and blind acceptance. Instead, he must take those things that are widely accepted and look in the opposite direction.

The interesting thing about looking in the opposite direction is that you will be looking at a view that not many even attempt to see.

Galileo is a quintessential example of the virtue of doing this. In his day all the scientists, religious thinkers and philosophers believed the earth was the center of the universe and the sun revolved around it. He looked in the opposite direction of common thought and a whole universe of truth opened up to him.

As late as the mid nineteenth century physicians thought it was not necessary to wash their hands before surgery. Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian physician looked in the opposite direction and discovered the importance of cleanliness which resulted in the saving of millions of lives since that time.

Humanity has moved forward and dispelled many illusions, but we still have a long way to go. There are still many illusions that hold captive many different groups. The job of the seeker is to look at the thinking of humanity as well and groups with whom he is associated and look in the opposite direction of their thinking and see what is there.

If the seeker is in a religion he needs to question widely accepted doctrine and see how it registers with his soul. If he is involved in politics he needs to take the standard views of his party and, with an open mind, look at alternatives.

If over 90% of the scientists say a thing is true then maybe the seeker needs to check out the few dissenting opinions and see where the actual facts lead.

The assignment today is to examine your beliefs, those of your friends and your groups as well as that which you hear from the media and ask this question. “If this is not true, then what is?” If your soul gently nudges you toward a new insight then be sure and pay attention.

Affirmation: “I will look in a new direction today to see what is there.”

 

Day 210

The Glass Half Full

Principle Sixteen: Put your attention on finding that which is true rather than that which is in error.

Whereas it is a good thing to be skeptical of groupthink and to look at alternatives it is not a good idea for the seeker to have as his center of focus the discovery of error. Instead, the goal should always be the discovery of truth.

The seeker must use powers of discernment to see the difference between being gullible and having a positive focus on finding the truth. The gullible will believe things to be true merely because others say so. The true seeker will test all things and verify truth with his own mind, heart and soul.

In maintaining a healthy skepticism for many things declared to be true by others he resists the temptation to have as his prime focus the looking for error. Instead his focus is the discovery of truth wherever it lies.

The difference between the negative person and a seeker with a healthy skepticism is this: The negative person automatically rejects anything that is not supported by his belief system and outer authorities.

On the other hand, the true seeker is open to all things and willing to consider all things. Because of this he will sometimes discover truth that will alter his beliefs.

The seeker becomes aware of both truth and error when his prime focus is looking for truth.

The negative person only finds error because he is not looking for truth, but only error in others to validate his own beliefs.

Because energy follows thought it is of extreme importance where the seeker places his focus. If it is on error he will find error, but if it is on truth he will find truth.

An example of the wrong approach would be one who literally believes the scriptures and will immediately reject as false any evidence that points out an error in his belief.

Let us say, for instance, that he literally accepts the six days of the creation account as being six 24-hour periods. He thus sees only error in all the scientific evidence that the earth is billions of years old.

A seeker who was taught the same thing when he was young will do the opposite. Maybe he wants to believe that what his parents taught him is true, but when he sees the evidence and checks with his soul he is willing to change his mind.

Assignment: Take the path of the true seeker and make your prime focus the discovery of truth wherever it lies. Reflect on your own beliefs and examine all things that come across your path today and discover where the truth lies by looking for it.

Affirmation: “My focusing on the truth reveals both truth and error.”

 

Day 211

The Pendulum Principle

Principle Seventeen: People swing back and forth in their beliefs to extreme positions. The seeker must resist the swing and look for the truth somewhere in the middle.

Humans are strongly affected by the Pendulum Principle as they shift periodically in their emphasis, values, interests and beliefs. At one time they will be conservative and another time they swing to liberal. Then they will go from being religious to atheistic, from superstitious to scientific and logical, from slavery to freedom and so on.

Understanding the Pendulum Principle is a powerful key to aid in the discovery of truth.

Average humanity swings back and forth in their beliefs from one extreme to the other. The reason for this is an extreme belief requires little thought or judgment. One can be lazy and not use the mind, but rely completely on feeling which swings to the extreme without check. In other words, everything is viewed through a black-and-white mode. All is good or evil, right or wrong with no shades of gray.

The reason this principle is an important key of discovery is that in most cases the extreme position is filled with error. If the seeker understands that some widely accepted beliefs are really an extreme position taken by the lazy in thought, then he can look at the middle, use judgment and discover much truth.

Here are just a couple popular extremes:

Extreme Belief, Side One: There is a conspiracy behind every major tragedy that happens.

Extreme Belief, Side Two: All conspiracy theories are silly and are to be ignored.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. Obviously, not all disasters are caused by government conspiracies, but then we know from history that sometimes there are true conspiracies. However, these often involve assassinations rather than some very complex plot that would involve thousands of people.

Extreme Belief, Side One: The President is totally evil and I hate him.

Extreme Belief Side Two: The President is totally good and I love him.

Truth: The current President is a man with flaws just as were the past presidents. He should be judged by results achieved, not as a devil or a saint.

In today’s world the extremes of the pendulum swing are most apparent in the political world. Everywhere you look extreme views and actions glare at us. The problem is that a large percentage of the country will embrace the extreme, not because it is logical, but because it is just the thing to do.

Extremes are also popular in religious and spiritual thinking. Extremes in cults such as Jonestown, the Branch Dividians and Heaven’s Gate, who killed themselves thinking they were going to get a ride on the Hale-Bopp comet, are obvious to the masses. It is ironical though that those laughing at the extremes of cults often have their own extreme beliefs that are quite illogical and fantastic if examined under the light of reason,

It is important to realize that the highest truth will not be found by looking at the two extremes and then finding the exact middle. That is the lazy black and white way. The truth is always somewhere between the two extremes. Sometimes it is in the middle but it could be some distance to the left or right. It takes good judgment and common sense to see it.

Assignment: Examine your own beliefs. Do you take some extreme positions because of groupthink, bias or raw emotional feeling rather than looking at both sides and seeking for the truth somewhere in the middle?

Because of natural bias this is a difficult question for many to answer honestly, but give it your best shot.

Affirmation: “My soul guides me to the truth between the two extremes.”

 

Day 212

Focus Your Attention

Principle Eighteen: The seeker must not scatter his energies, but maintain focus on finding the truth. When he does this it is only a matter of time before he finds his answers.

One of the main problems behind the failure of many who desire the truth is a lack of focus. They want the truth and will pursue a certain line. Then, before they take in all there is in that direction, they will branch off on another path. Sometimes the individual will make a total change in direction and other times he may have numerous avenues of learning, but fail to obtain mastery in any of them.

There are times when the seeker will find himself on a path full of error and decide to leave and pick another. This is a good move and not a problem. The error occurs when the pilgrim still has lessons to learn on a certain path and either leaves or diverts attention away from it.

We could compare the problem to a student who wants to be an engineer, but is also interested in music and has a band. He also loves football and is trying out for the team. In addition, he is in the chess club.

The guy is so scattered that he does not excel in any of his divided directions.

Another example of error is a guy who seeks to excel at chess and gets off to a good start, but then finds interest in playing he piano which takes his focus off chess. Then just as he is developing skill in the piano he moves on to another interest.

Many there are who just do not keep their focus on the subject long enough to excel or to learn what is there for them.

Just as it takes focus to develop a skill, even so it is required for the seeker of truth to be successful. In some ways the seeker has a more difficult time than the person who is trying to develop a regular skill. For instance, if he is learning to play the piano there are certain yardsticks available to gauge his progress. The seeker of truth may have lots of books to read but there are times when he seems to have a dark night where nothing much happens. This will sometimes cause him to give up and take another path.

The seeker needs to realize that energy follows thought and if he continues to keep his focus on discovery that a link is made to his Higher Self. This link will grow as long as the focus is maintained. There is often a period where nothing seems to be happening and then, at an unexpected moment, a realization will come and the seeker makes a great stride forward. This is a step he would have missed if he had changed direction too soon.

Assignment: Take a quick review of your life and discover the talents that were not developed and knowledge not gained because of lack of focus. Do not feel bad about it for none of us have lived our lives perfectly. Now, examine your current life. Are you on a path that requires more focused attention? What can you do to prevent leaking energy to unproductive areas of life?

Affirmation: “I will focus and discover new worlds of truth.”

 

Day 213

Test Your Beliefs

Principle Nineteen: Your beliefs may or may not be true. To find out, test them as much as possible against known facts, reason, your own soul and in discussion with others.

All people have numerous unproven beliefs. Some will turn out to be true and others not so much.

Some beliefs can be tested and proven true or false, turning them into knowledge which replaces belief.

One can gather evidence on other beliefs, but not concrete proof giving the seeker assurance, but not solid proof his belief is correct.

Then there are other beliefs not backed up by any evidence but merely supported by the person’s desire that they are correct.

Perhaps the most popular belief within the human race is in the existence of God or some Higher Intelligence behind the creation of all things. There is no way to prove Its existence to the skeptic, but many have proven to themselves that some type of higher power exists through experiencing miracles. Others sense spiritual communication that they testify came from a higher source.

The seeker must not be like the lazy believer who just accepts what he has told and does nothing to verify it. He does not get extra help from spiritual sources unless he does all he can first. These principles of Discovery will aid the seeker in verifying truth with tools that all have available.

So what concrete steps can the seeker take to verify his beliefs?

(1) First realize that unless an effort is made no further proof is likely to materialize.

(2) The seeker must study all available materials on the subject. Perhaps evidence supporting your belief is much stronger than you realized.

(3) Read arguments put forth by those who oppose your belief. This could either strengthen your belief or even convince you that the belief is incorrect. This is to be celebrated rather than feared for the realization of a wrong belief will lead to greater truth which should be a happy event.

(4) Ask yourself if your belief runs contrary to any proven facts available to you.

(5) Test your beliefs by applying them to your life. Are your beliefs working out in the crucible of living the way they should if they are true?

Assignment: Make a list of ten beliefs that you have. They could include a belief in God, Jesus, space aliens, the afterlife, conspiracies, a political belief etc. After you get them listed look them over and ask yourself how many of them have you made a real effort to prove and to honestly examine both sides.

Next pick one of these beliefs where you think supporting evidence can be found and begin further investigation to find the truth about it.

Affirmation: “I am moving from being a believer to a knower.”

 

Day 214

Good Judgment

 

Principle Twenty: The seeker must acquire good judgment if he is to recognize truth when it is in front of him. Unfortunately, this quality cannot be taught through books but must be earned in the furnace of life.

Even though this ability cannot be taught like math, or many other courses, it is helpful that the seeker becomes aware of its importance. One cannot learn unless he makes a goal to learn.

It is also important to remove the stigma from the word as many interpret the words of Jesus on the subject in a negative light and see judgment as always a bad thing. As pointed out earlier Jesus was not telling us that judgment itself is bad. Instead, he was warning that one will be judged by the same fairness as the judgment he gives.

There is negative limiting judgment that overly condemns another person and there is good judgment that aids in making wise decisions. The first should be avoided and the second embraced.

The positive aspect of this word is somewhat synonymous with discernment, which is seen as a very positive word, though they are a little different in meaning. To discern is to see correctly and then good judgment applies when that discernment is used wisely or followed.

One reason good judgment is so important is because bad judgment can set a person on a path of illusion that can sometimes waste an entire life.

There are many teachers, gurus, prophets, and mystics eager to get your attention and quite expert in making illusion sound like the truth. A little discernment and good judgment can allow the seeker by bypass such detours and save a lot of time in his progression toward full soul contact.

So what advice can be given to the seeker to aid him in developing good judgment? There’s a couple things that may be helpful.

First, remember that good judgment is acquired through initially going through a period of bad judgment. Each mistake you make in life teaches you the difference between good and bad judgment. See your mistakes as benevolent lessons.

Secondly, remember that energy follows thought. If you put attention on obtaining good judgment then you will place invisible energy in circulation that will assist you in the direction of good judgment.

Finally, regularly seek guidance from your soul as to the right path to take. Listen to that still small voice that always guides you toward right decisions.

Assignment: Review three major mistakes you have made in life. Ask yourself if there is a chance you would make them again? In other words, have you increased your power of good judgment?

Affirmation: “My mistakes have given me lessons on judgment.”

 

Day 215

Review and Reflection

Principle Twenty-one: The seeker must make a point to examine his life, monitor progress and hold fast to the progress gained.

Everything goes in cycles including our progress toward spiritual consciousness. Just as the planet has 24 hour cycles of day and night even so do us humans go through periods of radiant learning and dark nights, sending and receiving, high and low energy etc.

The goal of the seeker is to attain a higher level in each new cycle. This happens when we learn our lessons and move on to newer and greater things. Unfortunately, some backslide and have to make up for lost time later on. To avoid this problem the seeker must be in a constant state of review.

It was Socrates who said that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” It is indeed true that without review and reflection the pilgrim is likely to repeat past mistakes. He is also subject to losing past learning and may have to start over again in certain areas of life.

It is advisable to reflect at the end of each day. One of the main things to consider is how effective one has been with time. How much was totally wasted? How many things could you have accomplished in a shorter period allowing you more time for constructive work? Did you learn anything new this day?

Learning involves much more than taking in data. How you dealt with your relationships is very important. Were you patient, civil and easy going or did you let others disturb your peace? Did you say or do anything you regretted?

The next major cycle is the year, but in between it is a good idea to do a little extra review at the end of the week as well as the month.

A year is a long enough period that the seeker is able to see movement within his life in certain directions. It is human tradition to make New Year’s resolutions, but good resolutions require good review. Any yearly review is good but even better than the first day of the year is your birthday. Your birthday marks a true beginning of a new year for you and marks the beginning of your true yearly cycle. The strongest initiating energy for the year is right after your birthday. It is a good time to begin new things.

A larger cycle for beneficial review is that of ten years. As you look back on the last ten years and the decade before you can assess the movement in your life and where it is going. Has progress been slowing down, moving steady ahead or increasing?

The next major period is the Saturn cycle. In astrology Saturn is seen as an agent of karma and wielding a strong energy that disciplines the life toward greater efficiency and success. The Saturn cycle is approximately 29.5 years. This period can be viewed as a life within a life. During our first Saturn cycle we grow up, get an education and begin a career. During our second cycle we typically settle down, formulate the course of life, get married and have a family. Then beginning with the third cycle (ages 59-88) one looks toward retirement and security.

For the average person the amount of learning and accomplishment diminishes with each cycle. The seeker desiring soul contact and spiritual progress should attempt to make each cycle very productive. He should continue to learn as he ages,

Assignment: Look back on the various cycles of your life and take note of your progress. Are you slowing down or maintaining steady progress? It is normal to slow down as we age so it is necessary for the seeker to keep a strong will and a desire to learn new things.

Affirmation: “Reviewing my past enables me to see my future.”

 

Day 216

Seeing Yourself Correctly

Principle Twenty-two: In finding the truth it is important to see yourself correctly. If you have a distorted image of yourself then you are likely to have a distorted idea of other things and miss central truths.

Many females laughingly talk about certain guys who pursue them thinking they are “God’s gift to women.” Such characters, they say, see themselves as irresistible and greatly overestimate how attractive they are.

The problem is that this illusion is not just something that overtakes a handful of males pursuing girls, but is quite widespread, even among many with pleasing personalities.

So, the question is – what are other ways that many see themselves incorrectly besides overestimating their attractiveness? Here are a few.

(1) A problem for many seekers is that they overestimate their place on the path of spiritual evolution. Many who believe in reincarnation will declare that they are on their last life when to the casual observer it still looks like they have many lessons to learn. Others will think they have a great destiny, like becoming president of the United States, when they have not demonstrated much leadership ability.

(2) He may believe he has much more talent than he actually possesses. He may think he is a great musician, artist or writer when he is really quite average.

(3) He may not understand how he is perceived in various relationships. For instance, you’ve heard about the person who thought his marriage was in great shape and out of the blue his companion wants a divorce. In that situation you can bet there were many clues, but the guy just missed them.

Indeed, many do not correctly see how family, friends and associates view them.

(4) Many see themselves as smart, loving, kind, generous with a good sense of humor when others do not see them that way at all.

An example of this is in the movie, “Good Morning Vietnam.” Robin Williams saw himself as funny and he was. Bruno Kirby’s character also saw himself as funny, but was not. The movie made a great contrast between reality and illusion in the self image of the two characters.

There is no shame in not being good at some things, but if we want to achieve excellence in a certain direction, one of the greatest obstacles to overcome is the illusion that you are more advanced than you are.

Why is this so important? If one thinks his next couple steps in progression are already achieved then he will just not take them. One must take steps five and six before he can take seven and eight. If we do not evaluate ourselves correctly then progression will often come to a standstill.

Assignment: Evaluate yourself. Do you see yourself correctly? Do you know what your next step in learning is in the direction that is important to you? Do your friends give you opinions on your abilities that differ from your own? Is it possible they have a point?

It is difficult for a person to break free when he has illusions about himself. The first step is to just think about it honestly.

Affirmation: “I see myself as I am and as I will be.”

 

Day 217

Faith in the Dominating Good

Principle Twenty-Three: The seeker must have faith in the dominating good, or that God is good.

It is unfortunate that many believers teach that God is a God of love and is like a loving parent to us yet when their expectations are examined we find their beliefs to be quite the opposite.

Here are some examples:

(1) Many believe God will send you to a painful and eternal hell for merely not accepting their version of Jesus.

(2) They see God as more eager to punish than reward, more eager to get revenge than show love and mercy and more intolerant than tolerant.

(3) You just get one chance in this life. After you die that is it. If you are not saved you will go to hell for eternity. God is okay with this.

This view that many have of God runs contrary to the loving God as taught by Jesus. He said this:

“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Matt 7:9-11.

In other words, Jesus basically said this. “You people think you are good parents and want what is best for your children, but you do not hold a candle to God who is a much better parent and will go further to help his children and deliver to them good things when they ask.”

Would a good parent throw a child who did not understand him or her into a burning pit and leave him there forever?

Would a good parent respond to a child’s plea for help in this world or the next?

Would a good parent assist his child with numerous chances to have a successful life?

Indeed. The average parents will go far out of their way to assist their children and help them to become successful.

According to Jesus God will go much further than that making us look like near-do-wells by comparison.

By using this principle, coupled with the Law of Correspondences, the seeker can gain many truths about his destiny and what awaits him.

If you have good parent then multiply their love and helpfulness many times and you will get a sense of what Divine Intelligence has in store for us. Sure, like any parent God is willing to let us suffer consequences of our mistakes so we can learn, but he will be right there to help us if we but ask.

We find what we look for so if we see God as a stern angry parent that is how he will play out in our lives, not because of reality, but because of the power of our own thoughts, Believing in a dominating good that comes from God can make a tremendous difference in the life of the seeker. It can not only point him in a positive direction, but will help him access many good gifts from God channeled through one’s own soul.

Seeing the world through a filter where evil dominates takes the person on the path of illusion and error. Seeing the universe as a place where good dominates sets the seeker on the path of truth and knowledge. The reason for this is that it is a true principle that good does dominate in the end. The reason for this is that intelligence permeates all things and all intelligence prefers good over evil. The only reason the good in all things is delayed is that many temporarily mistake good for evil and evil for good, but in the end we dispel this illusion.

Assignment: Visualize God as a good parent and ask, “What wonderful things am I going to be given by my loving family?”

Affirmation: “God’s love opens the windows of heaven and more good gifts await me than I have power go receive.”

 

Day 218

Enduring to the End

Principle Twenty-Four: The seeker must persevere until the goal is reached. This applies to all objectives, even soul contact.

The most common cause of failure whether it be starting a business, finding the truth, or establishing soul contact, is simply quitting before the goal is reached.

Napoleon Hill tells the famous story of a Mr. R. U. Darby who invested a large sum of money in a gold mine that seemed productive at first, but then the main vein of gold seemed to end. He thought it may continue and tried to find the new supply for a while and gave up. He sold the mine with all the equipment for a few hundred dollars.

The new owner was a savvy guy and called on a mining engineer for an opinion. The engineer told him that if he drilled in a certain location he should find an extension of the original vein of gold. He did this and struck gold after just three feet of drilling and made a fortune.

When Mr. Darby heard about the discovery he was aghast and vowed to never quit again when he could be only three feet from gold. He went into the insurance business and became very successful there using his hard earned philosophy of not quitting.

Jesus also taught this principle. After warning his disciples that there would be many tribulations which would be difficult he encouraged them by saying, “he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matt 24:13

We can shed additional light on this scripture by examining the Greek from whence it was translated.

“Endure” comes from the Greek HUPOMENO and means “to remain, abide, not recede or flee.”

“End” comes from TELOS which is “To set out for a definite point or goal, the conclusion of an act.” This implies that one makes a decision and perseveres until the decided goal is reached

“Saved” comes from SOZO which is “to save, deliver or protect.” The similar word “salvation” comes from SOTERIA which is more correctly rendered “deliverance” or “rescue.”

How then can we best translate this phrase?

“He who shall make a DECISION and take an immovable stand on that decision until the goal is achieved shall be delivered.”

But shall be delivered from what?

The answer is obvious. He shall be delivered from failure.

Why is it important to be delivered from failure?

(1) If the end goal (TELOS) is a noble one (as one proposed by Christ) then the achieving of that goal is of great important.

(2) If a person makes a goal and fails to achieve then he becomes weakened and usually has less power to achieve the next goal he sets.

(3) If a person fails in a noble venture affirmed by his soul, then to quit is to lose faith. As a result soul contact will be diminished until the steps are retraced and success is achieved.

(4) Failure to achieve often brings depression, grievances, and too much attention on the little self – as well as the blaming of others.

The power to endure to the consummation of an act of decision is the power to achieve all things.

Why?

Because if a person makes a decision (in harmony with Higher Will) and then moves toward that decision without giving up, then no power in heaven or earth can prevent the person from achieving the goal.

The importance of endurance is symbolized in the three and a half time periods often repeated in the Bible. Here are some:

(1) The holy city is “tread under foot forty and two months,” (three and a half years).

(2) The two witnesses prophesy during 1260 days (three and a half years) of difficulty and resistance from enemies.

(3) The two witnesses are dead for three and one-half days.

(4) The church flees to the wilderness for times, a time and a half a time (three and a half periods).

The key to success is to not endure just one round of troubles, or even two or three, but always expect an extra half more than you think will be the maximum. In truth it may be more than the half, but it will be at least a half.

The bottom line is that success will take as long as it takes, but the promise is that if we endure to the end we will achieve success. The problem is that the end is always further away than one tends to expect. The last period that extends beyond the three rounds is the one crucial to achievement. The one who achieves success is he who is willing to go that extra three feet when all may seem lost.

Assignment: Look back on your life and find a couple example of times you quit when you could have achieved success. Consider how your life would be different if you had not given up.

Now look at your present goals. Is there any area where you feel discouraged and tempted to quit? What would happen if you quit or if you continue?

Yes, I know there are times where an enterprise is discovered to be a waste of time and you need to quit. That is not what we are talking about. We are talking about worthy goals where positive success is a real possibility.

Affirmation: “I make thoughtful decisions and see them through.”

Copyright by J J Dewey

To continue this course go to Part 19 HERE

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Part 1,  Part 2,  Part 3,  Part 4,  Part 5,  Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17

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Day 186

Introducing The Principles of Discovery

The keynote of the Higher Self, which is linked to God, is truth. It is important for the seeker to realize that like attracts like, and, in order to establish a close relationship with the soul, that one must love the truth and apply correct principles in discovering it.

It would be nice if all seekers could easily establish a complete link with the Higher Self and establish a direct pipeline to access all the truth there is, but the fact is that most have difficulty finding all the truth they desire. It seems that the conditions on this earth plane are set up so seekers have to struggle to find the truth as well as struggle for each step of spiritual advancement they make.

Many seekers do not see themselves as having extra sensory or spiritual abilities but still want to find as much truth as possible and desire to make solid soul contact. They may wonder if there is anything they can do to lay a sure foundation.

The lessons offered so far give some good advice that will assist the seeker into advancing toward the light of the soul, but, in addition to this, there are some practical things one can do to move further into the light of truth. Therefore, in the next series of lessons we will present practical steps any seeker can take who is willing. We call these The Principles of Discovery. Here is the first:

“Find Anchors – Take the things you know (for reasonable surety) to be true and use them as a foundation or stepping-stones for testing additional truths.”

This is an important step to take in creating a foundation belief system that is based upon truth rather than deception. You would think that everyone does this, but sadly this is not the case. Many will accept a teaching that sounds good and not realize it contradicts something they know to be true. They just haven’t taken the time to make the comparison and think it through.

For instance, we know for sure that the sun rises in the east. Having this piece of knowledge will cause us to raise a red flag on anyone who teaches otherwise.

Now each of us knows thousands of true facts, but for this lesson we want to focus on important truths that are known that can lay a foundation of further discovery.

For instance, most seekers know there is a Divine Intelligence and that there is life after death. Anyone teaching otherwise will take us in the opposite direction of the soul.

The assignment today is to list ten important truths that you know with a fair amount of certainty.

Affirmation: “As I seek truth the soul will seek me.”

 

Day 187

Using Proven Truth

The first Principle of Discovery is:

“Find Anchors – Take the things you know (for reasonable surety) to be true and use them as a foundation or stepping-stones for testing additional truths.”

Your first assignment was to name ten important ones. By important we mean truths that lay the foundation or that can be used for a measure to find other truths. Here are some you could have named.

(1) Basic math. If someone tells you that 2+2 does not equal 4 then there is a problem.

(2) Truth does not contradict truth. If two statements contradict then one or both of them are wrong or not understood correctly.

(3) Experience is to be trusted unless one comes across a good reason to doubt it.

(4) For every cause there is an effect.

(5) Data can be easily fabricated but principles cannot.

(6) Unchecked emotions can make that which is not true seem true.

(7) The inner self can recognize truth when distortion is eliminated.

(8) It is possible to make higher spiritual contacts, including with your own soul.

(9) God is good

(10) There is a plan for my life and the human race.

Being aware of truths of which you are reasonably sure are true is important for this gives you a measure on which to judge various claims that are constantly being made.

Now, is it possible that some of your foundational truths are not correct? Yes, but if you are careful in selecting them the likelihood of them being wrong is small. For instance, it is not likely that simple math will ever be proven wrong.

On the other hand, if you select a certain church, book or belief system as a foundation truth you are likely to be disappointed in the future for all complex belief systems have error in them.

It is therefore important that the seeker find a number of foundation beliefs which he is very certain to be true. He can then use those truths to test for other truths.

Assignment: Let us suppose you come across various teachers giving out the following as true:

(1) The earth is going to shift into a new dimension on June 6, 2020. If you follow this teacher you will survive and if not you are doomed.

(2) This was a story I just read that was published on Feb 10, 2018. David Meade, a Christian conspiracy theorists predicts that Planet X, or Nibiru, will appear later this year (2018) and cause end of the world type destruction.

(3) Bob says he is Jesus reincarnated and you need to follow him and give him money.

Use your tested foundation beliefs and figure out how you would respond to these three teachers.

Affirmation: “I will use truth to find truth.”

 

Day 188

Examining Claims

Let us examine the three examples from the last lesson and use the first Principle of Discovery.

(1) The earth is going to shift into a new dimension on June 6, 2020. If you follow this teacher you will survive, and if not you are doomed.

So if you use what you know to be true how will you approach this claim?

Here is what the average seeker will know with reasonable certainty.

First, in all the known history of the world there has never been an observed planetary shift from one dimension to another.

Second, many such predictions like this have been made in the past and have not come true.

Third, many past gurus have made such false claims to gain power and money.

So then, if we go by what we know to be true the likelihood of this coming to pass is close to zero.

Now let us look at the next one.

(2) This was a story I just read that was published on Feb 10, 2018. David Meade, a Christian conspiracy theorist predicts that Planet X, or Nibiru, will appear later this year (2018) and cause end of the world type destruction.

Rather than just believe wild claims we can discover his track record with reasonable certainty. When we do we find that he has made many failed predictions in the past. According to him doomsday was supposed to have occurred Sept 23, 2017. When that did not happen he moved it forward to October 15. Now that prediction failed he has presently moved it to later this year. In addition to this, he has made numerous other failed predictions. On top of that over the past couple decades many others have made failed predictions about the coming of Planet X.

Planet X is supposed to be a brown dwarf much larger than earth. Even if it was traveling toward us astronomers would spot it years before it would arrive here and no such announcement has been made.

Conclusion: The likelihood of Planet X giving us any problem in the near future is close to zero and its existence is certainly questionable. There are probably undiscovered planets in the solar system, but they are not likely to be any threat to us.

Here’s the last one:

(3) Bob says he is Jesus reincarnated and you need to follow him and give him money.

There are a large number of people claiming to be some great one from the past. Why do they do this? Because if they can get their followers to believe it then their words will be given much more weight. David Koresh claimed to be Christ, convinced his followers of it and they followed him to the end and even refused to leave him as the fires at Waco burned them alive.

We do know a lot of the things accomplished by great individuals of the past and if they were to be reincarnated they should still possess those qualities. Can any of those claiming to be Jesus walk on water or raise the dead – or even come up with sound new teachings? Has anyone claiming to be Tesla invented anything comparable to the Tesla Coil? Is anyone claiming to be George Washington demonstrated great leadership?

We can use what we know for sure and discount most of these claims.

Then when the gurus ask for lots of money or maybe wants to have sex with you or your spouse you should run and not look back.

Conclusion: If we use what we know, or can learn, with reasonable certainty we can avoid much of the deception in the world and arrive at the truth.

Now let us look at the second principle:

Principle Two: Be willing to let your beliefs be either altered or dropped when evidence is presented that they are incorrect.

False beliefs are a huge hindrance to the discovery of truth and hence an obstacle to soul contact. We humans just do not want to admit we are wrong even when presented with hard facts.

On the other hand, the true seeker must be willing to drop a belief when presented with strong evidence that he is wrong.

Assignment: think back on your life and try and find beliefs that have changed. Then ask yourself if you have any current beliefs that may be wrong? Are you willing to drop or change them when presented with greater truth?

Affirmation: “My beliefs are subject to change.”

 

Day 189

Crystallization

Principle Two: Be willing to let your beliefs be either altered or dropped when evidence is presented that they are incorrect.

The principle of crystallization applies here. When we are young both our minds and our bodies are flexible and adaptable. As we age every thing becomes more rigid and crystallization sets in. What this means is that the seeker will often reach a point where he is satisfied with where he is and ceases any aspirations that will demand significant change of beliefs or new learning.

He has mastered his branch of endeavor and becomes mentally lazy and is satisfied to be the expert in his field or proficient at a trade and just does not feel the impetus to start any new learning venture outside of his specialty. Usually he only has minimal learning in his own narrow field of interests. He reaches a point of stagnation and stays there for the rest of his life and must wait until he is put in a new challenging situation in a future life to make further progress. This crystallization does not have to set in and it doesn’t happen in every case. Most of its seeds are sown by the time a man is thirty or earlier. The seeds are as follows:

(1) The man and, or woman studies or follows only one or two lines of thought or ideology and does not look outside them for light.

(2) The person sets an ultimate goal in life and is not opened to a higher goal that may offer itself later. Thus when his goal is reached he relaxes and crystallizes.

(3) An inflexible attitude that resists change, new ideas and additional learning.

If a person does not make a conscious effort to correct the trend to stagnation he will then crystallize in his early fifties and no power on earth can then teach this old dog new tricks. He may be very proficient and distinguished in his field, but his progression for this life is at that point at a halt and unfortunately he cannot seem to muster enough reason to see his situation clearly.

The first 28-30 years is like a mini-life. If one has solved his problems and learned needed lessons then the next 28 will be like a new birth or like a second life. If the needed lessons are not learned, then the second 28-year period will bring one face to face with the same problems he had in the first twenty-eight. If the pilgrim ignores the solving of these problems he will just coast along the line of least resistance and become crystallized by the second cycle. He is also likely to suffer ill health.

When the person rests on his laurels and relaxes and takes it easy as far as progress and learning is concerned he is likely to crystallize in his early fifties. The signs of stagnation always appear earlier, but they are reversible in the first half of life, but almost irreversible in the second half.

To understand crystallization, think of raw honey when no heat is applied to it. Crystals begin to form and it will no longer freely pour and gets too hard and brittle to be usable.

This is what happens to one who passes the age of 30, gets comfortable with his vocation, his education and his belief system. He rests upon his past learning and no longer tackles new projects – no longer challenges himself. Without heat and movement his life essence becomes like honey and resists motion and becomes hard and immovable.

Assignment: Examine your life for signs of crystallization. If you are under thirty you will still have a natural flexibility, but could be planting the wrong seeds. Have you explored teachings outside of your church or belief system or do you check out arguments made by more than one political belief?

If you are over thirty you will be settling into a life long agenda and may be developing some rigidness in your beliefs and ways of doing things.

If you are over 50 you will start to feel forces pulling you toward settling down so new endeavors and changes become more difficult to initiate. The seeker will have to manifest his power of will so even as he ages he can become “born again” into new ways of thinking should the situation require it.

Take stock of the forces in your life that may be pulling you toward crystallization and how you can neutralize them and move forward.

Affirmation: “I will myself to be born again into new and better ways of thinking.”

 

Day 190

The Problem of Change

Continuing Principle Two: Be willing to let your beliefs be either altered or dropped when evidence is presented that they are incorrect.

I enjoy watching political debate on TV. Ever so often one side will offer some solid facts that prove his point and what does the other guy do? Does he admit he may be wrong or even express a willingness to incorporate those facts into his belief system? We all know that such an event rarely, if ever, happens.

If the facts get in the way the guy will tune them out and ignore them as if they did not exist. He will then either resume his argument or change the subject to something immune to the facts just presented.

Many also elude questions where the answers may force reflective thinking or an acknowledgment that there is some flawed thinking. The response to such a question is usually acting as if the question was never asked and then an attempt to change the subject matter to something where the answer to the question does not apply.

It is indeed human nature to seek out a belief system and dig in with a mindset that will defend that system at all costs. Of course, the greatest cost paid by such a person is the truth.

All belief systems have their positive and negative points. All have some truth mixed with illusion. If the believer is willing to defend the whole package without analyzing and verifying the parts he will often find himself defending falsehoods. He will then want to change the subject when a question is asked that will cause him to reflect on that falsehood. Shining a light in the darkness of his mind will be terrifying to him.

Indeed, it is difficult for even the most enlightened and open minded to change their minds, especially concerning their core beliefs. Why is this?

The answer is that our core beliefs lay the foundation for something akin to a computer program that manages our lives. If you were a programmer and had worked long and hard on software and then discovered a major flaw that demanded a major rewrite, how would you feel? Well, you would not be excited about all the effort it would take to start over. Many would just look for a quick fix that masks the problem.

And that is what many tend to do with their lives. If a new truth stares them in the face and demands some new thinking they just apply the quick fix of rationalization that pushes it into the background.

It is indeed important that the seeker be willing to accept and apply inconvenient truths. It may seem to be a downer at the time but in the end great satisfaction will come, for the acceptance of light and truth always lead to joy – though it may not seem that way at first.

Assignment: Reflect on these questions:

(1) Which religion is the most correct?

(2) What is your concept of God?

(3) Which political party is most correct?

(4) What happens after we die?

(5) What kind of person would be the best mate for you?

Now consider how you would handle it if you found out for sure you were wrong on all of them.

It is not easy to receive correction and move into greater light but sooner or later we all must do it.

Affirmation: “I receive the truth with gladness.”

 

Day 191

Applying Logic

Let us move on to the Principle of Discovery number three:

“Those things accepted as true should be in harmony with logic, reason and common sense.”

This statement may seem self-evident and you would think that most people would happily apply it but unfortunately, this is not the case. The belief systems of most people have gaping holes in their logic. This indeed should not be the case because in the end all that is true is also logical once it is understood.

Those who make the strongest claims to follow that which is reasonable are the scientists yet despite overwhelming evidence they cannot admit that some type of higher intelligence designed the DNA, a huge computer program within each cell that has the necessary code for creation and duplication.

Since this course is centered on spiritual truth let us see how this principle applies to various religious belief systems. It is interesting that orthodox believers will point to alternative spiritual people and accuse them as being crazy and misled but often overlooked is that orthodox believers generally refuse to logically look at their own beliefs.

Many common beliefs about God do not conform to logic or common sense. Some see him as a fatherly figure sitting on a throne watching every thought and move that all the billions of people make.

Why would any being even be interested in doing such a tedious and boring endeavor?

God is supposed to know everything that ever was or will be including who will be saved or damned. If so, then why would he create so many that he knew would be damned and suffer for eternity?

And speaking of the damned – a common belief is that the wicked will be sent to a burning hell for all eternity, yet, on the other hand, they proclaim that God is love and God is a more loving parent than us mortals.

So would the average mortal parent send his imperfect kid to burn in the fires of hell for eternity? Of course not. We do what we can to help even the most rebellious of our children avoid suffering and have no desire to inflict pain upon them. Would not a loving God provide a way for all his children to progress and learn their lessons?

Concerning salvation, many say that all you have to do to be saved from the fires of hell is to accept Jesus. The problem is that many read the Bible and get different ideas of God and Jesus, but true believers will insist that the saved must accept their version. If you sincerely study the Bible but get the wrong version of Jesus in your mind you will not be saved.

Is this logical? Would you condemn your own child to misery if he had some wrong ideas about you because you did not make yourself clear to him?

Then there are the scriptures. Many believe they are 100% accurate and every word is from the mind of God. Overlooked is the fact that we have no original manuscripts and we know that many of the writings have been altered as they have been reproduced numerous times. In addition, they were written by imperfect men so accepting every word as infallible is indeed a stretch.

Then there is the belief of many that the universe is less than 10,000 years old. This defies the fact that we have observed objects so far away that it has taken billions of years for their light to reach us.

We could go on indefinitely, but this gets the fact across that logic and reason is definitely lacking in orthodox believers.

Assignment: Ask yourself, have you applied this principle in your own life? Did you find some flaws in logic, reason and common sense in the religious beliefs taught you as a youth? Did questioning lead you to greater light and knowledge?

Do you still hold some beliefs that are not logical? Are you prepared to examine them in the light of truth?

Affirmation: “I will question that which does not make sense.”

 

Day 192

Enlightened Sources

Principle of Discovery number four:

“Seek out true sources of knowledge; study and incorporate them into your life. Knowledge dispels error and illusion.”

This expands on the first principle, which is to find dependable true anchors as a foundation for which to test various claims of truth.

There are a lot of frivolous teachings out there that do not have a lot of validity to the rational mind, The seeker is wise to not spend too much time on them, though some may be good for entertainment. The wise seeker will take those writings which are the highest and most consistently true in his judgment and study them.

I read quite a wide variety of materials myself and much of it is questionable, but as a writer and spiritual teacher it is beneficial for me to be aware of what is out there. In addition, you never know when you are going to find some pearls of wisdom. Some teachings I find interesting and read them all the way through and others without much light I will just read enough to get an idea of what they are about.

Throughout my life I have found maybe a half dozen sources of spiritual light I consider profound enough to return to, read again and study with focused intent. An author has to strike a strong chord of truth with me to cause me to pick up his writings again after reading it once.

Once the seeker does find a source that he considers high quality truth he should do likewise and not only read it more than once, but study the material. It is important to highlight, take notes and select important passages and impress them on the brain or memorize them.

After the seeker has found sources of light that register with his soul, and studied them, he must also incorporate the principles into his life. Applying teachings thought to be true is the best way to verify that they really are the truth. This principle was mentioned by Jesus:

“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” John 7:17

In other words, Jesus was saying that if one applies what he teaches he will prove to himself that it is true.

If a teaching leaves you flat and has nothing to apply then it may be best to ignore it and move on.

Of course, the highest source of knowledge for seekers taking this course is the soul itself. It rarely comes to you and gives you facts, but it will guide you to true sources and verify to you true principles.

Assignment: Review in your mind sources of valuable knowledge that elevated your spiritual thought and pick the three that are most important. Have you read them more than once? Have you reviewed important passages or memorized some content? Have you incorporated some of the teachings in your life? What more can you do to benefit from them?

Affirmation: “I seek, I read, I evaluate and return to the gold.”

 

Day 193

Do All You Can Do

Principle of Discovery number five:

“Gather all the reliable information you can about a subject of interest and try and see the principles suggested by the data. Then draw conclusions and run the conclusions by your soul and see if you receive a response.

This is a simple but important idea. If the seeker really wants to know the truth about a subject he must do more than dream of knowing it. He must apply effort in advancing toward discovery,

First he must find all knowledge of the subject available. There is a spiritual rule which says, “Before you can receive divine assistance you must first do all you can do to accomplish the goal yourself.”

Let us say that you wanted to solve the mysteries of the Great Pyramid. Nothing much would happen if you just made a casual attempt, such as reading a couple books and surfing the internet. If you really want to go beyond what is out there and readily available in knowledge you first must absorb all the knowledge that already exists.

If a seeker is serious he will read everything he can find on the subject. He will read establishment thinking and out of the box thinking. He will thoroughly check the internet for data and go to any available public presentation on the subject. Then, if he has the means, he will travel to Egypt and visit the structure and get a real time feel of its majesty.

After finding out all one can on the subject he will hen visualize the Pyramid and imagine how it may have been built and the mysteries contained therein.

Because energy follows thought the time will come when ideas will flash into his consciousness and you may come to conclusions not written in any book. In addition to this the seeker may have dreams that will reveal information on the subject.

Finally, one can apply the principles discussed in this course and contact his own soul which may provide further enlightenment.

The point is that you cannot expect to sit back and relax and expect new knowledge to just pour into your mind. Breaking new ground takes a focused effort.

Asignment: Think back on your life and ask yourself if you have applied this principle with a subject, especially a spiritual one. Have you explored subjects like life after death, God, scriptures, esoteric writings, out of body experience, channeling etc.? Have you ever placed an intense effort in one direction?

Now think of a subject that you would like to explore in depth. Are you willing to spend the time and effort necessary to find out all that is possible on the subject? If so, you will be a step closer to attracting the attention and help of the soul.

Affirmation: “I will do all I can to reach the goal, and, if not reached, I will then ask for help.”

 

Day 194

Eliminating the False

Principle Six: “Use the process of elimination.”

This is another simple but effective principle that is often neglected.

If you are looking at ten different potential truths and have proven to your satisfaction that seven of them are flawed then the logical thing to do is to eliminate them and focus on the three that still make sense. You would think that everyone would do this, but our feelings often get in the way and cause us to revisit and embrace error when we should know better.

Many are a little like the abused person in a relationship who vows “never again” but then is drawn to another abuser and suffers all over again.

Even so, some discard that which is false, but then return to it because it feels familiar.

You do not need soul contact to use the process of elimination or most of the Principles of Discovery, but such principles will make soul contact easier by eliminating much obvious error so the seeker can focus on truth.

Let us suppose you come across a teacher who claims to be in contact and speak for Zor, a mighty solar being that is far more advanced than Jesus. Friends give you literature and encourage you to follow him. You decide to do some checking and use the process of elimination.

You give it a fair shot and read the literature plus some extra material you found off the web.

The first question you ask yourself is whether or not the guy could have just made up all the supposed revelations. You conclude the answer is yes.

Then you ask if the intelligence revealed in the writings seems to be beyond an imaginative human. You conclude that is not.

You figure that if this contact is real that there should be little or no error in the writings. Then you find several predictions that did not come true. The explanation given is that consciousness has changed and the predictions did not need to come true.

You conclude that this is a lame excuse many false prophets give and is evidence that the there is no great being involved.

Finally your research indicates that the prophet makes a lot of money from the enterprise and is very promiscuous. On top of that your soul does not verify his overall teachings though some things he says may be true.

You decide to eliminate this guy as a source of light and take whatever he says with a grain of salt.

Assignment: Think back to some teacher you have encountered who made fantastic claims. Ask similar questions about him or her and see if you can prove with reasonable surety whether he is either the real thing or a false teacher.

Affirmation: “I eliminate the false and the truth is seen.”

 

 

Day 195

Earned Authorities

Principle Seven: “Seek out proven authorities and learn from them.”

Earlier we talked about the principle of the Beast and that it represented unearned and unjust authority. We pointed out that many are deceived by the pure power of authority itself which often leads to disaster.

On the other hand, there is duality in all things and just as there are many deceitful authorities in positions of power there are also positive authorities who are earned authorities because they have proven over time that they are reliable and can be trusted.

There are many unearned authorities in politics, religion, big business, education and even science. Government and religion has the most fertile soil for them. On the other hand, the highest percentage of earned authorities are in sports. Most any athlete whether he be a football player, basketball, baseball or any other field cannot keep his job unless he can actually demonstrate skill in his profession. Most of us will readily admit we cannot throw a ball like Tom Brady, but most feel that they could do a better job than a lot of the politicians out there. That is because one field is dominated by unearned authorities and the other has those who actually demonstrate their skills for all to see.

The seeker needs to be like the coach who selects his players after testing them to make sure they have the skill that he needs. How many people do you know that have followed some movement without verifying that the authorities leading it can be trusted? And how many have discovered even in their own lives that spiritual authorities they once trusted did not really know that much that was true?

Many escaping from orthodox religion still follow some authority, or at least give him or her a lot of weight. This may be a prophet, priest, guru, teacher or author. Whoever his authorities are he needs to test them. If the seeker has reasonable soul contact the best way is to run their words and teachings by their own souls. If the soul consistently acknowledges truth in their words then they can become earned authorities.

If the seeker has not yet proven his own soul contact then the use of these Principles of Discovery will be helpful.

Finding a proven authority is indeed a pearl of great price for such can lead the seeker to open his mind.

How is that?

As you study the words of an earned authority you will occasionally come across something that seems questionable, or maybe even thought by yourself to be false.

But, because it is stated by a proven authority your thought process may be something like this.

“I know the guy is not infallible but he has been right very consistently so maybe there is something I am not seeing. Perhaps I should think seriously on this.”

Diligent seekers will have this happen to them with their earned authorities. Sometimes they will wind up rejecting the teaching, but other times their minds will expand and they will come to greater understanding. When this happens trust in their earned authorities will go up a notch.

Assignment: Reflect on earned and unearned authorities in your past and try and identify three earned authorities in your current life. Are you sure they are worthy of your trust. Why?

Affirmation: “I will give trust to those who have proven themselves.”

 

Day 196

Correct Perception

Principle Eight: Use the power of your mind to insure that you are perceiving correctly.

I mention the mind because the emotional self cannot be trusted to reliably interpret what the senses perceive. If the person dislikes the source he will slant the meaning of the data in a negative light and if he likes it he will often show bias in a positive light. The seeker, therefore, must quiet the emotions and look at all things perceived as they happened, not as he feels they happened.

Even if one lays aside bias it is difficult to maintain correct perception. This is illustrated in our courtrooms every day. Two unbiased witnesses who saw a crime or accident will sometimes give conflicting details in their accounts.

On the other hand, if you want to see how the emotions distort, listen to the answers given by two opposing people involved in a car accident. Often both will think it is the other guy’s fault and their testimonies will conflict much more than that of unbiased bystanders.

We’ve talked previously about the importance of not letting the emotions create static and distortion to interfere with soul contact. This principle is good practice for one must learn to minimize distortion of that which is perceived on the physical plane before he can negate it on higher planes.

Let us look at some examples of distorted perception.

Person 1: “You’re always burning the toast.”

Person 2: “No I do not.”

Person number one, like most of us, when saying something like this is not speaking literally. When we say “always” or “all the time” what is literally meant is often, “periodically” or “cyclically, ” but who speaks that way? Hardly anyone. The fact is that we often use phrases that imply something different than the literal meaning.

Person Two may be interpreting the statement too literally. If he perceived correctly he would realize that Person One is saying he burns the toast too often, but not literally every time.

This type of miscommunication may seem trivial but it causes problems, not only on a personal level but national as it manifests regularly in the current hot political climate.

For instance, a politician may say something as a joke and an opponent may take it literally and use it to attack the guy.

Another may innocently use a politically incorrect phrase and again wind up attacked because his obvious meaning is not perceived correctly. Of course, in politics good intentions of an opponent means nothing if one can use his words to destroy him.

Bible believers are a great example of distorted perception. We all have the same book available printed in black and white yet interpret what is perceived in many different ways.

So, what can the seeker do to insure he has correct perception? There are several things:

(1) Make sure you register correctly the written or spoken word. I don’t know how many times I have heard someone incorrectly quote the written or spoken word. We have a tendency to remember what we feel was said rather than what was actually said. The true seeker must accurately register what was spoken or written.

(2) The seeker must assess whether the communication is to be taken literally or not. If not he must learn to “read between the lines.”

(3) If there is doubt about what is meant the seeker should ask questions so he can clearly understand what is meant.

(4) Do not insist the speaker means something he says he does not mean.

Let me explain. This happens often in arguments. One may make a statement that was badly worded and when he sees he is misunderstood he revises it to correct the meaning. The problem is the other guy will often not accept the revision and insist he literally meant what he said the first time.

The fact is the speaker knows what he thinks more accurately than anyone else so we must let him clarify his thoughts if his first statements were not worded precisely.

(5) Have intent to accurately perceive. I once read instructions on how to remember names and it made the statement that the average guy can increase his ability to remember names by 50% if he just pays attention when he first hears the name.

Even so, many seekers can increase their ability to perceive correctly by a large percentage by just making a sincere effort to receive the communication accurately.

Assignment: When there is an argument then one or both parties do not perceive something correctly. Think back to the last couple arguments you had. Was it really the other guy who was perceiving incorrectly or could you have been at fault also? If so, what could it have been.

Affirmation: “I see what is, not what I feel should be.”

 

Day 197

Effective Communication

Principle Nine: Communicate clearly to avoid distorting the truth.

The last lesson stressed the need to register correctly that which is perceived. Sometimes, however, perception itself is problematic because the material is either not presented clearly or distorted. Sometimes it is obfuscated on purpose and other times the person is just careless.

Whatever the case, it is the duty of the sincere seeker to do his part in effective communication and not being a part of the problem.

The first step is for the seeker to make sure that all the words he either speaks or writes are true to the best of his ability. To deceive or to lie sets the person on a path contrary to the direction of the soul, so even the small so-called white lies need to be avoided.

Do you expect that which you receive from your Higher Self to be true? Well, it expects all that you give out to be true also if you are to commune or merge with it.

Secondly, there are times that even the sincerely honest person has difficulty in communicating his thoughts effectively.

It is interesting that many arguments that people have are not caused by actual disagreements, but by bad communication. If communication were clear then many of those in an argument would discover that they do not really disagree after all. Then there are other arguments where the disagreement is not over the core principle, but the degree with which it should be applied.

Overall, effective communication will increase the perception of truth, reduce error and reduce conflict. It will also condition the mind of the seeker to be in greater harmony with the soul.

If the sensitive person is explaining something he will sense when his words are not getting across correctly. Other times it is perfectly clear there is a problem because of the response of listeners.

If one feels he is not getting his thoughts across accurately there are several things he can do.

(1) If the seeker is speaking rather than writing he can ask for questions.

(2) He can rephrase his ideas using different language.

(3) He can expand on his ideas. Maybe he has not presented enough of the picture for understanding.

(4) He can illustrate with analogies, stories or parables. The simpler the better. One reason that the words of Jesus are so enduring is that he illustrated his ideas with simple parables that made at least some truth easy to see.

Assignment: Monitor all your speech for the next day and ask yourself if all your words are clearly communicated with as much honesty as possible. Also look back on a recent argument you have had and ask yourself where the communication was defective. Were you partly responsible?

Affirmation: “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Plato

Copyright by J J Dewey

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Day 158

The New Jerusalem Meditation

Contact

The Master finishes his lesson and you retire to your room. You find that you can easily furnish it with anything you desire. If you want a chair, it is there, a sofa or a bed; no problem. If you want paintings on the wall, they are there.

You create a comfortable chair, sit back and relax. As you contemplate you realize that there are no barriers here to prevent you from communicating with anyone living or dead and decide to call forth a loved one who has passed away.

First you decide on a loved one that you wish to contact. Take all the time you need to make a selection. After you have made the decision sit back and relax and focus on the empty space in front of you. As you look ahead audibly call out the person’s name three times, each time a little louder than the one before. There should be at least 30 seconds between each call and no more than two minutes.

On the first call visualize seeing the image of the person. On the second, focus on feeling the love and essence of him or her. After the third, listen for this person to speak something to you.

Now start a conversation with this person and follow the thread wherever it goes.

Try this exercise three times over a three day periods and take note of the results.

Affirmation: “God is a God of the living, not the dead, for there is no death in his kingdom.”

 

Day 159

The New Jerusalem Meditation

Thought and Belief

So, how did your conversation go with your loved one who has passed over?

A handful will feel they have made real contact, but if you are like most who sincerely attempt this you will have created some dialogue that you are not sure is the real thing or just your imagination at work.

At this point it does not matter if all that is taking place is your imagination and here is the reason. There is a supreme law governing thought and energy which is, “Energy follows thought.”

Therefore your imagination is not some thing that just creates flashes of images and then dissipates as if nothing happened. Instead, your thought and imagination collect existing flows of energy and when enough thought is accumulated that which has been imagined becomes real.

This principle was applied on the previous lessons on the mastermind group and can be applied to contacting dead loved ones. Actually, contacting dead loved ones will be easier because you already have a strong emotional link with them and there is already some inner contact whether you be aware of it or not.

Here is how this exercise will work for the typical seeker that persists.

He or she will call out the name of the deceased as instructed and imagine getting a response. He feels the response was mostly his imagination but tries again the second day. This time the response seemed a little more vivid so he tries again the third day. On the third try the communion was real enough to give encouragement to persist. He continues to enter his room, sit in his chair and communicate with his loved one beyond the veil. Eventually, he realizes that he has gone beyond the imagination and is really making contact.

What happened for this seeker was that his thought created a focal point of energy that made the spiritual phone (for want of a better term) of the loved one ring. In other words, the condensed energy got the attention of the loved one and drew his or her presence close so real communication becomes possible.

An important element that adds power to this type of thought is belief. Belief supercharges a thought and a belief that contact is possible makes the effort much easier.

Remember the words of the Master, “all things are possible to him that believeth.” Mark 9:23

All thought is a creative force, but thought energized by belief penetrates all barriers.

The assignment today is to repeat the same one given yesterday – call on the person three times, but make a conscious effort to energize your thought with belief. Be completely open to having a real experience.

Affirmation: “As I believe in my thoughts I see them come to life.”

 

Day 160

The New Jerusalem Meditation

Memories

If you practiced the last two lessons you are feeling closer to your loved one who has passed. You may not feel yet that the contact is real, but you definitely feel closer to this person.

The next step is to make this contact a reality so you will definitely realize interplay is going on between you.

To make this happen it is helpful to realize that it is much easier for those on the other side to tune into you than you them. After death the person awakens to a higher state of consciousness and has much more access to lines of communication than we have here. If one who has passed receives a notification that you are trying to make contact then he will tune in and monitor the effort. When you have drawn enough energy by the power of your thought to create a point of tension then two-way communication becomes possible.

Embrace this idea with faith and real communion can occur.

Memories of experiences with loved ones can draw forth powerful emotions and provide an extra source of power to link two souls.

Your assignment today is to relax, close your eyes and let your mind go back to experiences you have had with this deceased loved one. First pick one pleasant and specific memory. Go back to the beginning of the memory and proceed incrementally until you reach the end. Do not attempt to do this quickly, but take your time, even recalling some of the conversations that took place. You may recall things about the experience that have been long forgotten. In some cases seekers will recall parts of their experience in real time as if they are reliving it.

When you have finished with the first experience then pick another and again relive it from beginning to end. After this, pick a third one. Attempt to recall and relive at least three experiences. You can do more if you like but do at least three.

After you are finished call the person by name again three times as before. Do this fresh from the memory of reliving the experiences. Attempt to feel the presence in between calling out the name. After the third invocation sit in silence for a few moments and listen for a response – listen for words to come to you from the loved one as well as impressions. A spiritual impression can be worth many words.

Affirmation: “I call forth my memories and relive them when desired.”

 

Day 161

The New Jerusalem Meditation

Feeling Your Way

Love is a super powerful attractive force. If a person loves something he will gravitate toward it. If he feels love coming toward him he will similarly respond. Love draws two or more together who are separated.

If the seeker therefore wishes to draw a deceased loved one toward him so communication becomes possible then love would certainly be an aid in that endeavor

Today we will bring as much love as possible into the attempt at communion.

Sit in your chair, relax and go through the procedure of calling this person by name three times and then listening and feeling for a response.

Again let your mind go back to an experience with the loved one who has been the object of your attention for this exercise. Pick a time where you shared good or loving feelings. This time put your attention on feeling rather than seeing images or hearing actual words. Start by extending your love to this person. Call the person by name and say something to this effect: “I love you and look forward to being with you again.” After saying this attempt to relive the feeling of the experience you have picked.

As you relive an experience with your loved one let your heart go back in time and let yourself feel all the feelings you felt throughout the experience. Maybe all the feelings at the time were not loving. That’s okay – just let all the feelings come to the surface. Just as you can go back in time and relive a conversation you can also go back and relive feelings. Some will be better at reliving the dialog and others will be find it easier to relive the feelings. It is a good idea to practice doing both.

As you find yourself going back in consciousness and feeling try to see the time passing fairly close to real time so you can soak in the feelings you had at that time. Try and spend five minutes or more reliving the feelings of the occasion. If you arrive at an intense moment and feel inclined to go through it more than once then do so. Follow whatever impressions come to you during this exercise.

Next follow this same procedure with another experience and then move onward to a third.

Reliving these feelings will make you feel close to your loved one and the closer you feel the greater will be the ease of communion.

Affirmation: “God is love and so am I.”

 

Day 162

The New Jerusalem Meditation

Intensity

Intensity has a lot to do with success in any endeavor. Two people may have an equal amount of talent or ability, but in a competition the one who applies himself with the most intensity will excel over the other.

This principle also applies to any type of spiritual endeavor. The one who applies himself with great intensity will have a much higher chance of getting the attention of the Higher Self or other advanced entities. Also in contacting a deceased loved one intensity is a powerful ingredient. The one who is causally interested is not as likely to break through the veil and get response as the one who applies himself intensely.

The trouble with intensity is that most only use this principle when forced upon them, For instance, the guy who finds out he has a dreaded disease will seek health with much more intensity than the one with no problems. Then, in the case of contacting a dead loved one, if the seeker has something important left unsaid and the connection was strong he will be much more motivated than the guy who is at peace with the one who has passed.

What is not realized by many is that intensity can be generated at will. The seeker need not depend on some overwhelming circumstance to motivate him.

Let us illustrate with a simple exercise. Visualize an apple sitting in front of you. Now ask yourself how intense is your desire to eat it. Chances are your desire for an apple is pretty mild. If someone placed one in your hand you may take a bite or two but having an apple right now is probably something you could do without and not miss it.

Now let us say that you hadn’t eaten anything for a week and someone handed you an apple. Would the intensity of your desire to eat it be much greater?

Indeed.

What other qualities could the apple have that would increase your intensity? It could be a special kind of apple having a taste that is out of this world. Then you could discover, like Adam and Eve, that this fruit will bring you knowledge. In addition, if a particular fruit has great health benefits the intensity to consume it increases.

Many aids can be applied to increase intensity, but few realize that shear force of will can accomplish this also. All the seeker has to do is to visualize a thing and then use his strength of will in increase the intensity of desire to have it.

Now visualize the apple again and use your power of will to increase your desire for it. As you are doing this you can imagine that it is extra desirable, that you are hungry for it or that it has other qualities that draw you to it.

Now apply this same principle to contacting your loved one. First go through the procedure of calling him or her three times and then follow up by using your sheer will power to increase your intensity to communicate with this person., As you are trying this throw in booster thoughts such as pleasant memories and feeling of love or good times.

Affirmation: “I am a point of intense fire.”

 

Day 163

Instinct and Intuition

We will leave the New Jerusalem mediation for now and continue with lessons that will fine-tune the seeker’s soul contact. In the meantime, the seeker is advised to go to his room in the New Jerusalem regularly and create heaven in his consciousness through imagination and visualization.

Developing the intuition is a major step for the seeker as he moves toward full soul contact. We touched on this in an earlier lesson – now let us go further.

Before one can successfully use the intuition he must first know what it is, for if one knows not what it is he may be mistaken when he says, “sure, I use the intuition regularly.”

One of the problems here is that there are a number of ideas out there as to what it is, but discussing intuition as it relates to soul contact is much different that how it is used in every day conversations by the masses.

Therefore, if we are going to discuss spiritual intuition as it relates to higher access we need to define it as clearly as possible so the seeker can know that which he is supposed to acquire as he moves forward on the path.

Because spiritual intuition is so esoteric one must become aware of what it is not before he can understand what it is, for it is not many of the things that the rank and file call intuition.

First we will point out that instinct, or a gut feeling, is not the same as spiritual intuition.

Tribal people who live very close to nature and tune into the earth, plants and animals use instinct which is different than intuition, but is often mistakenly identified with it.

Within the human nature we have many internal computer programs that can be accessed. These programs have been developed by Higher Intelligence over many millions of years and are available to all conscious beings. Earth sensitive people often access these programs and can communicate in ways that seem supernatural. For instance, some can hear plants talking to them telling them what benefits they can supply to humans.

As a person evolves and shifts his attention to other learning these instinctive abilities go below the threshold of consciousness. It may seem that we do not have them, but we do, as the instinctive abilities lie dormant within civilized humans. But if we ever need them all we need do is to shift our attention back to them and the ancient abilities will be activated again.

The closest most modern humans get to accessing the instinct is what is commonly called the “gut feeling.” Energy follows thought and we access abilities where we put our attention. Civilized humans are so far removed from nature that they do not have the gifts of the tribal natives, but they do access instinctive feelings concerning their own lives for they do place a lot of attention on self interest.

Here are several examples of instinctive gut feelings.

(1) Jim has a feeling that eating certain types of food will be beneficial for his health. He seems to be able to tell if his body needs them or not.

(2) Sue has two job offers that seem equally attractive, but something in her tells her to take the first.

(3) James is driving to work and gets a feeling that there may be danger ahead. He slows down and drives with greater caution.

(4) Ed asks Jill out on a date. On the surface Ed seems like an okay guy, but something in Jill tells her to stay clear of him.

Instinct and gut feelings can be very helpful, but they are not the intuition.

Assignment: Reflect on a number of times that you have experienced instinct and gut feelings. Were they useful? How accurate were they?

Affirmation: “To find out what IS, I will first discover what IS not.”

 

Day 164

Higher and Lower Psychism

“Okay,” says the seeker. “I can see that instinct and gut feelings are not the same as intuition, but I seek to understand what it is. Would a psychic who gives you a reading be an intuitive or maybe someone like the Long Island Medium who communicates with the dead?”

This brings up a second important thing that the intuition is not. It is not psychism.

There are two types of psychism that concern us. These can be merely called higher and lower.

Lower psychism works through the astral, or the emotional body, and has varying degrees of accuracy. The trouble with the astral body as a medium is that our emotional self often turns truth upside down. Think of the last time you had an argument with a person who was very emotional about the subject of discussion and reflect on how distorted some of his reasoning was. Now some of the facts he presented may have been true but by the time they filtered through his emotions they were probably used in a distorted fashion.

This is the case with the average psychic. They access information that has settled in the astral plane which often is not in any logical order or pattern. There are some things there which are true and some false and even the true ones are often linked to false ideas or the glorification of the ego.

Some practicing lower psychism work in the conscious state and others in the unconscious. Many working unconsciously channel in the trance state. Any unconscious channeling is lower psychism and involves the astral body.

Higher psychism involves the mental plane and thus the person practicing it always works in full consciousness. He will not use the trance state and have other entities speak or write through him but any such contact will be during full consciousness. Here are examples of psychism and their links

(1) Contact with non-physical teachers. This is generally lower psychism when done through the trance state. Automatic writing, where the medium knows not what is written is also lower psychism. Some claiming conscious contact also work through the lower limiting contact of the astral body. The higher psychic will generally make his contacts using full consciousness.

(2) Contact with the dead. Most of this is lower psychism, but some that is accurate involves the higher.

(3) Mental telepathy. Accurate telepathy is quite rare and involves the plane of the mind. It is associated with the higher.

(4) Psychic readings. Most of these are done by lower psychics.

(5) Psychic predictions. Most of these are from lower psychics and most are not accurate. If the prediction does not come true you can bet that it was filtered through the emotional body. Higher psychics make very few specific predictions because many parts of the future are not yet written.

(6) Visions. Some of these are higher and some not so much.

One of the advantages of successfully achieving soul contact, which is the objective of this course, is that the seeker will be enabled to discern the higher psychic from the lower. The higher psychic will be much more accurate, though no one is infallible.

One with soul contact will not automatically reject the words of a lower psychic for he or she will generally produce and mixture of fact and fiction. Soul contact will help the seeker discern truth from error.

Lower psychism functions on the astral plane and doesn’t represent the intuition. But.. even though higher psychism functions on the higher mental plane this is still distinct from the intuition, though many higher psychics are much more likely to use the intuition than most.

Whereas higher psychism derives its power from the plane of the mind, the intuition accesses the plane above this. The intuition accesses the higher formless planes where principles and ideas can be understood.

Assignment: You have been instructed as to what the intuition is not – now, contemplate what it is.

Affirmation: “I reach into the silent place and bring from thence the gift of understanding.” Djwhal Khul

 

Day 165

Divine Ideas

We have discussed what the intuition is not. Now is then the time to talk about what it is.

Whereas most psychism and non-physical communications involve some aspect of form, intuition is different in that the intuitive mind stretches beyond the physical, beyond the astral and beyond the mental to the formless worlds of spirit.. In these formless spheres are an innumerable number of concepts, principles and ideas. Before something can take form it must first be registered in the Divine Mind. This applies whether the creation is an atom, an apple or a planet. All things that manifest on earth are first dreamed up in the mind of God, apart from any manifestation in form.

This is even recognized in the Biblical creation story. After the creation seemed to have taken place it is written:

“When no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up–for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground.” Gen 2:5 Revised Standard Version

So here we are told that before there was a human or even plants all of them were already created.

Up to this verse we merely have an account of the spiritual creation in the mind of God and then came the physical manifestation.

One of the great achievements by the seeker with soul contact is to access through the intuition the higher spheres where exists creative ideas for all possible manifestation and how the process can materialize on the physical plane.

Most seekers can identify with the experience of getting an idea. Now some of what people call ideas are merely mental constructs, but some ideas go beyond what the person would come up with through merely combining facts with the mind. Some ideas just come to the seeker out of the blue and these ideas, if truly inspired, come through the intuitive process. Great scientists like Newton, Einstein, Edison and Tesla all used the intuition to tap into the world of divine ideas. When they caught a glimpse of some higher reality they knew with a surety that they could manifest certain true principles on the physical plane.

Most seekers are not great inventors, but most have had several ideas in their life that they feel was inspired from something beyond their normal brain intelligence. The assignment today is to reflect on your life to see if you have had such an experience and how you felt when it happened.

Also reflect on other types of uses of the intuition besides the accessing of ideas.

Affirmation: “I seek for that which is beyond my human abilities.”

 

Day 166

Intuition and Principles

We have established that one aspect of the intuition is the capturing of ideas by the mind that that the brain intelligence would not have come up with on its own.

Another aspect involves the understanding of true principles. Most anyone can absorb facts and learn what is taught by various teachers. Most can memorize names, dates, places, formulas, etc. and attain a certain level of education. Many use the standard educational process to attain significant knowledge, degrees and prestige, yet fail to access and use the intuition.

When the intuition is used the seeker can see the principle behind the facts and thus gain an understanding that goes beyond the student who has memorized many facts. He who sees the principle of things may knew few facts on a subject yet win a debate with an expert who knows many facts, yet cannot see the principles involved.

A fact is merely a piece of information that anyone can incorporate into their brain memory. It can likewise be programmed into a computer. A principle is a different matter. A principle is the underlying truth that makes all facts valid. It requires judgment to use and cannot be programmed into a computer.

For instance, the Constitution of the United States is built around the principle of the Free Agency of man. Around this principle has sprung the Constitution and thousands of books containing millions of facts. In the days of the foundation of the United States there was only a handful of enlightened people who were able to understand the principle of freedom. People of a lower order could not see it. There was no way that King George from England could teach or enlighten George Washington in any degree on this principle even though he probably had as many facts in his head on the subject as Washington did. On the other hand, Washington could have done much to enlighten the King if he were willing to listen.

It may take a thousand facts to paint a clear picture of one principle, but the understanding of one principle reveals thousands of facts. It requires a certain point in the evolution of the human being to comprehend the difference between a principle and a fact but when he does, and learns to go within and touch the soul, then all the understanding and vision of a principle is revealed in a flash. Sometimes a book can be written about a principle revealed in one instant.

What is the difference between a principle and a law?

A principle is that which demonstrates the intelligence of God and makes things in the universe work toward a dominating good.

A law is a description of the working of a principle, or principles. By law I am referring to universal laws and not man-made rules.

If the law is accurately described then the perfection of God is made manifest because such a description shows the consistency of the principle and allows us to predict the future actions of the mind of God in the universe.

For instance, all form is held in place through the principle of magnetism which is an aspect of the principle of Love.

All the laws we have concerning gravity are produced by observing and describing this principle in action.

Within our souls is the capability of recognizing whether or not a thing is true. When a principle is spoken, you’ll feel within yourself the vibration of certain chords that ring true.

A principle is true yesterday, today and forever, but knowledge (as data) changes by the hour (the temperature for example). The language of the Holy Spirit is composed of principles, not data. To know all things in the language of the spirit is to know all principles.

True principles are always in effect all around us. The universe is built upon true principles, held together by them and will be dissolved by them. True principles govern our lives, our deaths, our relationships, our sorrow and our joys.

The bird flies making use of true principles, yet does not understand the principle of flight or realizes it exists. So it is with us. We live in a sea of principles, which governs all things, yet until we touch the soul we do not even realize what a principle is.

Many of the best authors touch upon a principle. Some have a sense of that which they have discovered, while others do not discern them from facts. Sometimes you can find a principle in a book written by an author that does not know what a principle is.

A principle is not created. A principle is always present and always works without beginning or end.

Assignment: Attempt to access your intuitive mind and identify three principles.

After doing so, ask yourself: “Do I understand them?”

Affirmation: “Principles are the language of the soul, which language I seek to learn.”

 

Day 167

Intuition and Understanding

All principles have three aspects and intuition is no different. We have covered two of them. The first is the link to divine ideas and the second relates to principles. The third is quite interesting in that it deals with understanding or enlightenment.

Here is how this third aspect works. The seeker develops a strong desire to gain knowledge of spiritual teachings and principles. To pursue his goal he studies and soaks in all the knowledge available from books and teachers. In doing this questions arise in his mind that have not been clearly answered by any known source that he knows about. If they have been answered he has not seen it clearly.

He gathers all the information possible and contemplates where it takes him. He tries to do this without letting dogma or bias enter in. Over a period of time that may be weeks or even years he thinks on those things which sends a message through his soul to the higher spheres. Finally, the payoff comes. In a moment of silence, often when he is not expecting anything, the answer comes. It comes not as a voice or a piece of knowledge, but as enlightened understanding that allows him to see new layers of truth which was before unavailable to him. Those who have had this experience will often describe it as an “intuitive flash” or a “flashing forth of the intuition.”

“Flash” is a strange word to use but very appropriate because the download of understanding happens in an instant or a flash of time, or perhaps in zero time. The Holy Instant as described in A Course in Miracles would be an intuitive flash, but the Holy Instant described there is just one of many intuitive flashes available.

There are other names for this flashing forth. The Buddha called it enlightenment when he received an intuitive flash about the Middle Way. Still others have called it a moment of inspiration or revelation..

It matters not what the seeker wants to call it but what matters is that he or she seek with all their being to achieve this. Learning to access the formless worlds through spiritual intuition is one of the greatest achievements the seeker can attain. This is a greater attainment than a vision or visitation of a divine being. This accomplishment will be with you forever whereas a typical spiritual experience may not further the seekers progression. The end product of this course is to first make the seeker aware of this goal and then give him the tools to achieve it.

One of the best exercises to do this is through the use of seed thoughts which we covered earlier. Sometimes just a phrase or sentence lodged in the memory for years, or even decades, will blossom into an intuitive flash that gives understanding never dreamed of when first reading it.

We’ll end this lesson with a question to be planted as a seed thought which has the potential of generating a number of intuitive flashes over a period of time. Here it is:

“Why does anything (including God) exist?”

Affirmation: “I seek until I receive.”

 

Day 168

The True Light

One of the main reasons for the seeker to develop soul contact is so he can find and recognize the truth. When true principles are enunciated the soul vibrates and affirms the truth of what is said or written. When he arrives at the intuitive level he not only has an affirmation of the truth but he has a picture flash into his mind bringing a complete understanding of how the truth is to be applied and the principles behind it.

Truth itself is an interesting principle to contemplate. On each point there is one thing which is true and many things which are false. For instance 2+2=4 and only 4 is the correct answer. There are millions of wrong answers, but only one that is correct.

A Course in Miracles expressed this well when it said: “The truth is true and nothing else is true.”

Many there are who argue with sophistry against the truth maintaining that truth changes or that two contradictory things can be true, or that truth is relative. Those who do this are attempting to see in darkness rather than light which is an aspect of truth.

The seeker can take anything that is true, such as 2+2=4, and he will see that nothing else is true, or nothing else could be the true answer. Yes, it could be written in a different number system or language, but two apples plus two apples still equals four apples.

Others will cite a change of circumstance as a change of truth, but such is not the case. For instance, maybe you had black hair when you were 30, but gray hair at 60. Your circumstances changed at 60, but it is still true that you had black hair at 30. That will be true for all eternity.

Another may object saying that he thought a thing was true at one time but when greater knowledge came that he saw something else as being true. For instance, a color blind person may not realize his problem and see an apple as blue instead of its true color. Later he finds out that he was seeing the wrong color and the truth is the apple is red.

In this case his understanding changes, but the truth did not. The truth is that he saw the apple as blue. When he saw the apple as blue the real color for normal vision was red. When he discovered the real color he merely added a new truth to his understanding. Truth did not change, but his understanding did.

Truth is easy to explain to a little child, but as we age and add a multitude of mixtures of philosophy to our minds we often tend to rationalize away the truth to a zone that can no longer be accessed.

It is important that the seeker realize that points of truth are always true and nothing else is true. If he discounts this truth of truth he will see with the false light of darkness rather than true light.

Jesus spoke of this when he said:

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matt 6:22-23

Jesus makes a very interesting statement: “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness…”

In other words, many mistake darkness for light. They think they are seeing with light, but are seeing with darkness instead. When this happens they do not see truth, bur error and mistake that which is false for truth.

The assignment today is to examine yourself and ask, “Have I in the past used darkness for light and actually seen with darkness, and in doing so was I led into error rather than the true light of the soul? What can I do to make sure I see with true light rather than the false?”

Affirmation: “I am adjusting my vision to see with the true light of the soul.”

 

 

Day 169

True Intelligence

One of the main end products of soul contact is truth, for the soul has much more access to it on its plane than we do on the material world.

In the last lesson we discovered that there is a false light of darkness itself. Unlike true light that reveals truth, the false light reveals error and distortion. It illuminates the world of illusion where many things are upside down, reversed or distorted making it difficult for those who dwell therein to sort out the real from the unreal.

Isaiah spoke wisely about this problem:

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:21-21

Since the false light of darkness dominates in this material world this makes it all the more important that the seeker develop the ability to make and maintain soul contact. We are as prisoners held in a dark room where there is great difficulty to see anything as it truly is. Contacting the soul is like opening a door that lets in the light that reveals the real truth of the surroundings.

This brings us to a quality that is essential for the seeker to develop which is intelligence, for true intelligence is the ability to recognize truth.

Unfortunately, in this world of false light the general view of intelligence itself has been distorted and not seen correctly. The world generally associates intelligence with a good computer brain that functions well and has high ability to memorize and retrieve data.

In response to this let me ask a question. Does the fact that Jim has the latest computer make him more intelligent than Bob who has an older model several years old?

When you think about it the obvious answer is no. If Bob is smarter than Jim then he can use his computer much more intelligently than him. Anything he writes on it would show much more advanced thinking than Jim could produce.

Similarly having a good computer brain gives you good tools, but it is not a measure of the intelligence of the real person who uses the brain.

Looking at it from this angle, the one who may have just an average memory but has a high ability to recognize truth is much more intelligent than the PhD with a great brain and memory but has a low ability to see true reality.

Have you ever talked to someone highly educated, and praised by many as intelligent, but the guy seems to have no common sense? Most of us have.

All seekers who desire soul contact must also follow the path of intelligence. The phrase “common sense” roughly describes what is needed to begin and stay on this path where truth can be seen in the midst of error.

Unless the seeker develops the intelligence to see truth from error he is likely to be deceived about soul contact itself. Without this intelligence he is likely to think he is contacting the soul when he is merely accessing his own lower desire nature.

Assignment: Try and find a cable news or radio talk show where people are debating both sides of an issue. Listen to both sides and ask yourself: Where does my soul tell me the real truth lies? Who is correct – person A or B or neither? If it is neither then what is the truth?

Affirmation: “I seek to gather in the light of truth with intelligent souls.”

 

Day 170

What is Truth?

When Jesus stood before Pilate he said: “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

Then we have this famous reply, “Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.” John 18:37-38

It is not clear as to whether Pilate gave Jesus no time to answer or that Jesus just refused to speak. Whatever the case, this is a question that has perplexed humanity from the beginning.

First notice the profound statement that Jesus gave before the famous question was asked, He said, “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

An important revelation to come to the seeker is that the voice of his soul and the voice of Christ are one for all souls, or Higher Selves share the consciousness of Christ. When this is realized one can read the scripture this way, “Every one that is of the truth hears me speak through his own soul.” In other words, those who are of the truth have established some degree of soul contact.

To be of the truth one must know what truth is. The dictionary isn’t much help here for it merely tells us that truth is fact rather than opinion. The trouble is that what one thinks is fact another will often see as opinion.

There are those who go so far as to say that there is no truth or facts because this world is built upon illusion and we are in some kind of dream state within it. Such ultimate reality matters not for truth exists in every degree of consciousness.

Truth is that which is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. 2+2=4 is an example. It was true in the past, in the present and will be in the future.

Circumstances change, but truth does not. An eternal truth is that circumstances change and change itself is an eternal truth in this material world.

There is even truth in a dream. It is true that you have had dreams and that you had real experience in the dreams. In the dream world 2+2 still equals 4. Whether we are dreaming on a lower or higher level matters not for one has a true experience. All experience has a true effect on the consciousness.

Assignment: Reflect on the difference between that which is true and that which is not true. Why are many deceived into thinking something false is true?

Affirmation: “I seek to know the truth from error.”

 

Day 171

Truths Not Obvious

Some truths are easy to see and others are not. The ones that are easy are usually readily provable with observation over a short period of time, The difficult ones are more complex and have numerous ingredients.

For example there is pretty much universal agreement about the truths of basic math. Most have proven to their own satisfaction that 2+2=4 and rarely is there any argument about it.

Similarly, most would agree that the sky is blue or that the sun rises in the east. There are many observable facts that are true for our experience in this reality that humanity universally accepts.

It would solve a lot of world problems if all truths were so easy to verify. For instance, we argue a lot over whether God exists. The truth is that He-She-It either does or does not exist. Unlike the sky being blue, we cannot prove God exists by using the physical senses. Then things get much more complicated when we examine the truth of what God is. Whether God exists requires a simple yes or no, but what God is may have a thousand possible answers. Any truth of what His plan is becomes even more complicated.

Whenever the truth is not obvious and there are two or more possible answers then people will gravitate to one side or the other. Those polarized in the feeling nature will be inclined to the side that feels good and those polarized in the mind will go with the one that seems more logical.

Let us look at the main cause of political divisions in the world. They basically boil down to either leaning toward capitalism and the free market or socialism-communism and controlled economics.

Some think it is true that one system is better and some the other. Still others see a combination of the two as the true way.

The trouble here is that a lot of opinion is involved. To find the truth you have to ask specific questions such as.

Which system will bring the greatest satisfaction to the people?

Which one will provide the most wealth for the average person?

Which system will be the most efficient?

Which system provides the most individual freedom?

Does the system need to change with the consciousness of the people?

With something complex like this specific questions need to be asked and specific truths discovered. Then after weighing all the facts and looking through the eyes of the soul the person needs to make an intelligent judgment and assessment as to which course is better for society and support it.

Assignment: Another very controversial subject is global warming. Let us suppose you didn’t know anything about it and were just introduced to the problem. What are six specific questions you could ask that would bring you closer to seeing the truth of the matter?

Affirmation: “I will see the simple truth beyond the complex layers of illusion.”

 

Day 172

Asking Questions

Your assignment was to come up with six specific questions you could ask that would bring you closer to seeing the truth about the global warming controversy. Did your questions bring you any closer to the truth? If not, then perhaps you asked the wrong questions. One question that goes the wrong direction is, “What do authorities say about it?”

And why is this the wrong direction? Because most of the authorities of the world are under the power of the beast and have not proven themselves to be reliable. The true seeker will not believe something just because an authority says it is so. Instead, he will find out details for himself and test the statements of authorities against known facts.

Instead of asking what the authorities say, the correct question should be,

(1) Are the authorities correct in their assessment and how can I find out?

Here are five more questions.

(2) How accurate have been the predictions of the authorities over the past 40 years?

(3) Since 1880 the earth has warmed about one degree Centigrade. How much of that warming has been due to CO2 released by humans and how much due to natural cycles?

(4) Between the two, which would be worse, global warming or global cooling?

(5) Is global warming and extra CO2 in the atmosphere only detrimental or are there some benefits from it? What are they?

(6) How long will it take for us to naturally switch over to alternative power so excessive CO2 release will not be a concern?

I think number six is an interesting question as the answer could alleviate much of the concern of the public. All kinds of new energy is on the horizon. Fusion, which is under development, could soon power the entire planet with almost no pollution. With or without taking strong measures the planet is likely to switch to clean energy within the next 50-100 years and excessive release of CO2 will no longer be a problem .

There are many other questions the seeker could ask if he wants to avoid being lumped in with those who just believe what they have been told.

In the past we have talked about the beast and how unearned and unjust authority attempts to get followers to not look for the truth but just to trust them as the final source. The seeker must free himself from this mindset and gather enough facts to find out for himself.

The problem with many people is that they are not interested in the truth. Instead, they only want their belief system reinforced. If the truth runs contrary to belief then it will not only be rejected, but any messenger of it will be seen as an enemy.

Assignment: Examine some of your beliefs and ask yourself. Are any of them merely based on what authorities have told you? How many of them have you validated with experience or knowledge?

Affirmation: “Instead of blindly accepting I will ask questions.”

Copyright by J J Dewey

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