Sunday Family Humour

24th October Personal Advancement

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Our new page 3 is still evolving but is leaning towards self- help in gaining greater understanding of ourselves and the world. Comments appreciated.

Continuing from Chapter 1 last week.......

Quickstep To Enlightenment

Chapter 2 - Time-line

Before our birth, unknowingly and with the help of our guides, we determined the next lesson which we needed to learn in order to progress along our path of spiritual evolution. We scanned the probability vortices to identify a mother likely to provide the necessary circumstances for that lesson. This is the purpose for our incarnation, although during the birthing process we forget what we have been born to learn. Nevertheless, our guides will steer us towards suitable opportunities, if we will but let them. Inevitably, our lesson is to do with learning to love.

It appears that a certain amount of discomfort is necessary before, after or during the opening of any opportunity. Many entities take drugs, illegal or prescribed, to ward off the discomfort, and hence ward off their opportunity for evolution. Here we see how it is possible that the short-sightedness of Western medicine and vaccination in particular, can stunt the evolution of man.

The knowledge of suitable herbal medicines for use during opportunity openings is not available to most Western medicine practitioners. Here's what one writer has to say: -

"Our way of looking at things has been guided and created by the way those around us look at things. We are the products of our environment. Whilst we may not agree with the views of others, having once heard them, then their views affect our final decisions in one way or another. This melding of views is how the species of man has been able to cooperate and hence survive”.

If, however, those around us had all been accustomed to an alternative way of thinking, then we ourselves would also be accustomed to an alternative way of thinking. As our desire is to accelerate our own personal evolution in order to try to catch up with nature which has already moved on, then we can help ourselves by adopting a completely new way of thinking.

This new way is possible because our programming is to think of time as linear, yet time is man made. We are attuned to the opinion that time moves, and that each hour follows the previous one. We are not attuned to the fact that time is stationary, and that we ourselves are moving along the time line. If we move to a different part of the time line, then we get a different life, using this same body.

The whole point is to try to remember why we are here. That is because we choose to be here, no matter what our circumstances. If we are having a rough time of it, it is because we are not listening to our spirit guides. How often do we hear them say "The highest thing you could do here is "x", and then we proceed to do "y". If we always did the highest thing available to us, then we would constantly be stretching ourselves and experiencing a higher level of life. Moreover, the higher we get, then the higher we get. We must not taint our progress with the fact that almost all of those around us are still in the middle of sweet dreams and aware of very little. We are not all in the same place on the time line, although we do cross one another’s interweaving paths regularly.

It is best for us to leave behind items and relationships which belong to a point on the time line behind us. We are unable to take material possessions and personal relationships with us to another part of the time-line, and therefore hanging on to them causes us to remain where we are. We are not on the same time line as our parents, or brothers and sisters, or wife or children, or friends, or anybody. Our time-line is unique, created by our own spiritual vibrations, some of which were programmed before incarnation and some of which have been picked up during this lifetime. We are trying to balance these two sets of vibrations, to produce a New Harmony of a higher order, and hence to know that we have evolved one more step. The resulting vibration will again be unique, with no guidelines available. We must learn how to read our own feelings and reactions, so that we can adjust our auto-response system.

We must learn to listen to our heart.

The Power of Convictions

How They Shape Our Lives

By Katrin Geist

Guest Writer for Wake Up World

Are you aware of how important your convictions are in your life? They rule what you do. They can be conscious or unconscious. They have the power to decide between healing or illness, success or failure, great relationships or mediocre ones. The power of conviction is tremendous, and we all exercise it, to varying degrees.

Mahatma Gandhi changed Indian politics forever and inspired global civil rights movements through his practice of non-violent disobedience. Adolf Hitler’s convictions changed the face of the Earth forever through totalitarian terror. The power of conviction itself is neutral – it works the same, for good or ill. We all carry the potential of a Mahatma Gandhi and an Adolf Hitler within us.

I would like to share three examples of how powerful convictions are. Then, I encourage you to take stock of your own, and to see how they help or hinder your life experience (relationship, work, healing, etc.).

Conviction & the Mind Body Connection

Mr. Wright suffered from advanced cancer. With tumors the size of oranges and having received maximum treatment, time was running out. There was only one untried option: a brand new drug, still under testing, and only open to people with a life expectancy of at least three months. Mr. Wright besieged his doctor – who thought his patient was not going to last another week – to make an exception and let him try the drug. All of his hope hung on receiving this new treatment, of which he was thoroughly convinced that it would help him. The doctor finally gave in and injected the drug on a Friday. When he came back to the hospital the following Monday, Mr. Wright walked about the room. His tumor masses had shrunk to half their size. Only ten days after the first injection, Mr. Wright left the hospital, apparently cancer free.

His bliss lasted for two months – until he read an article about the inefficacy of the drug he had received. Believing in what he read (and not in his own factual healing, regardless of the written words!), Mr. Wright fell into a deep depression. His cancer returned.

This time, recognizing that Mr. Wright very competently engaged his self-healing ability without realizing it, his wise doctor gave him a placebo (something without medicinal capacity) – he injected plain water under the guise of a very pure form of the drug used previous. He also told his patient that the drug they used the first time had deteriorated during shipping and thus was nowhere near as effective as this highly-concentrated, very pure form they now had available. Mr. Wright took to the well-intentioned bait and healed himself – again – only by way of conviction that the ‘high quality drug’ would help.

Two healthy months passed. Then, sadly and much to his detriment, the American Medical Association announced that a nationwide trial proved his wonder drug ineffective, once and for all. This time, Mr. Wright lost all faith, the cancer returned, and he died within days.

As mentioned in previous articles, it is the belief in the method we apply that heals us, and not necessarily the method itself (and there are good methods, don’t get me wrong). The unequivocal belief in something helping engages our innate healing capacity. Mr. Wright demonstrated that marvelously. His is such an amazing example of the reality of the placebo effect (the conviction that something helps you) and also the nocebo effect (the conviction that something doesn’t help you or is harmful) – and thus the mind body connection. Also, this story may remind readers of another recent article on the power of suggestion, which plays right into this: had Mr. Wright chosen to ignore the messages he read about the drug not working (ie. the suggestion), or at least paused to see whether that’s actually correct for his situation, instead of immediately accepting it as true, he could have happily survived.

The “Spontaneous Remission Bibliography Project” (Institute of Noetic Sciences) database includes some 3500 citations from the medical literature, reporting stories like Mr. Wright’s. Doubting the mind body connection? Start reading and set yourself up for doubting no more. =)

Mind Over Matter?

When Robert Koch, a German physician, first co-developed what’s known today as Germ Theory (the idea that bacteria & viruses cause illness), this subject was highly contentious. One of Koch’s critics thought the notion of minutely tiny things causing harmful diseases in humans so laughably ridiculous that he swallowed a glass of Vibrio cholerae, the bacteria Koch thought to cause cholera, to prove his point. To everyone else’s amazement, he remained completely unaffected by what, according to Germ Theory, should have rendered him violently ill with diarrhea and vomiting.

Did his conviction of the falsity of Koch’s theory override any physical ill effects? Mainstream science continues to this day to dismiss such episodes (DiRita 2000), instead of finding out how the man avoided falling very ill, as most people likely would when contracting Vibrio cholerae.

Conviction Allows You to Accomplish the ‘Impossible’

‘Conviction‘, an important movie I watched recently, is based on a true story from 1980’s America: Kenny, a man from a tough social background, is convicted of murder. He goes to jail for life, without parole, only he did not commit the crime. Losing his appeal, his outlook is bleak. His sister Betty Anne, never doubting Kenny’s innocence, decides to become a lawyer to exonerate him. Her family life suffers, and she eventually loses her husband and their two sons over her pursuit of Kenny’s freedom. Eighteen years later, she succeeds. Her brother walks free. It is an amazing love story.

How did she accomplish this feat?

Betty Anne knew her outcome. She was 100% committed and pursued her goal without any doubt of her brother’s innocence. She did what it took. While she was not certain to succeed in the end, she knew her brother was in jail for nothing, and that became her driving force for 18 years. She never lost sight of her goal. She defied the odds. Very much so. Her conviction of Kenny’s innocence saw her through and freed him. This, by the way, is no rare single case in the US, as one would hope. Wrongful convictions are disturbingly common. There have been 317 post-conviction exonerations since 1989, some of them posthumous.

Another lady played a huge part in this. She shaped the lives of others to no small degree. How? The acting police officer’s convictions drove her to arrest somebody who was innocent. Her conviction and desire to be right led her to pressure witnesses into falsifying their statements in court. She was convinced of Kenny’s guilt and intended to prove it. The actions of this one officer deeply shaped the life of Kenny and his family. Convictions can blind us to truth. Due to the Massachusetts statute of limitations, this cop was immune from criminal prosecution…

Find out more about Kenny & Betty Anne’s story.

Now It’s Your Turn: What are YOU Convinced Of?

It helps to define the term: while a belief is a thought you keep on thinking, a conviction is that belief chiseled in stone. Pretty much. Once that happened, we may even become unconscious of our convictions and just act them out… until we sit down and ask ourselves a few questions:

What am I convinced of in the context of __________?

What do I believe around________?

What benefits might I experience when I let go of this belief/ conviction?

What would I rather believe (and live)?

It is fun to explore your own biography for patterns of thought/belief/convictions – it may be one of the most valuable exercises you ever undertake. Because once you found those patterns and made them conscious, you can act on that insight and change your beliefs and convictions from something detrimental or hindering into something supportive. And that may make all the difference!

Remember: our life is what our thoughts (beliefs, convictions) make it. Choose your convictions well. They drive your actions or inactions. As we have seen, convictions can help you accomplish the ‘impossible’, regardless of what others think. What YOU think matters most in your healing process, and in your life.

Written for SFH 24th October 2021

Now We Are Meditating

Once we have developed a meditation system (see.........),we start some introspection and begin questioning ourselves.

Each time we do, we find some belief or assumption thing that is out of date or no longer useful.This is the opportunity to get rid of it.

By doing this repeatedly/daily, our load becomes lighter and our stress levels reduce.

As a result of the lighter load our progress accelerates.

Each day we dispose of more physical and mental trash.

We start cleaning, tidying and reorganising things.

Our surroundings gradually become more comfortable, less troublesome, and more satisfying.

We can start each day with a less muddled head, and can get into our day's activities with less interruptions.

In turn, we end the day more satisfied and as a result we sleep better.

So you can see that each step towards improvement not only leads us forward, but leaves behind unwanted garbage, and opens doors to further advancement

At The Feet Of The Master

This Chapter is taken from a book called "At The Feet Of The Master" written 100 years ago'. The author, Alcyone eventually became Krishamurti.

It explains best behaviour

Good Conduct

The Six points of Conduct which are specially required are given by the Master as:

1. Self-control as to the Mind.

2. Self-control in Action.

3. Tolerance.

4. Cheerfulness.

5. One-pointedness.

6. Confidence.

[I know some of these are often translated differently, as are the names of the Qualifications; but in all cases I am using the names which the Master Himself employed when explaining them to me.]

1.Self-control as to the Mind – The Qualification of Desirelessness shows that the astral body must be controlled; this shows the same thing as to the mental body. It means control of temper, so that you may feel no anger or impatience; of the mind itself, so that the thought may always be calm and unruffled: and (through the mind) of the nerves so that they may be as little irritable as possible. This last is difficult, because when you try to prepare yourself for the Path, you cannot help making your body more sensitive, so that its nerves are easily disturbed by a sound or a shock, and feel any pressure acutely, but you must do your best.

The calm mind means also courage, so that you may face without fear the trials and difficulties of the Path; it means also steadiness, so that you may make light of the troubles which come into every one’s life, and avoid the incessant worry over little things in which many people spend most of their time. The Master teaches that it does not matter in the least what happens to a man from the outside; sorrows, troubles, sicknesses, losses—all these must be as nothing to him, and must not be allowed to affect the calmness of his mind. They are the result of past actions, and when they come you must bear them cheerfully, remembering that all evil is transitory, and that your duty is to remain always joyous and serene. They belong to your previous lives, not to this; you cannot alter them, so it is useless to trouble about them. Think rather of what you are doing now, which will make the events of your next life, for that you can alter.

Never allow yourself to feel sad or depressed. Depression is wrong, because it infects others and makes their lives harder, which you have no right to do. Therefore if ever it comes to you, throw it off at once.

In yet another way you must control your thought; you must not let it wander. Whatever you are doing, fix your thought upon it, that it may be perfectly done; do not let your mind be idle, but keep good thoughts always in the background of it, ready to come forward the moment it is free.

Use your thought-power every day for good purposes; be a force in the direction of evolution. Think each day of some one whom you know to be in sorrow, or suffering , or in need of help, and pour out loving thought upon him.

Hold back your mind from pride, for pride comes only from ignorance. The man who does not know thinks that he is great, that he has done this or that great thing; the wise man knows that only God is great; that all good work is done by God alone.

2.Self-control in Action

. – If your thought is what it should be, you will have little trouble with your action. Yet remember that, to be useful to mankind, thought must result in action. There must be no laziness, but constant activity in good work. But it must be your own duty that you do—not another man’s, unless with his permission and by way of helping him. Leave every man to do his own work in his own way; be always ready to offer help where it is needed, but never interfere. For many people the most difficult thing in the world to learn is to mind their own business; but that is exactly what you must do.

Because you try to take up higher work, you must not forget your ordinary duties, for until they are done you are not free for other service. You should undertake no new worldly duties; but those which you have already taken upon you, you must perfectly fulfil all clear and reasonable duties which you yourself recognize, that is, not imaginary duties which others try to impose upon you. If you are to be His you must do ordinary work better than others, not worse; because you must do that also for His sake.

3 Tolerance

You must feel perfect tolerance for all, and a hearty interest in the beliefs of those of another religion, just as much as in your own. For their religion is a path to the highest, just as yours is. And to help all, you must understand all.

But in order to gain this perfect tolerance, you must yourself first be free from bigotry and superstition. You must learn that no ceremonies are necessary; else you will think yourself somehow better than those who do not perform them. Yet you must not condemn others who still cling to ceremonies. Let them do as they will; only they must not interfere with you who know the truth—they must not try to force upon you that which you have outgrown. Make allowance for everything; be kindly towards everything.

Now that your eyes are opened, some of your old beliefs, your old ceremonies, may seem to you absurd; perhaps, indeed, they really are so. Yet though you can no longer take part in them, respect them for the sake of those good souls to whom they are still important. They have their place, they have their use; they are like those double lines which guided you as a child to write straight and evenly, until you learned to write far better and more freely without them. There was a time when you needed them; but now that time is past.

A great Teacher once wrote; “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things.” Yet he who has forgotten his childhood and lost sympathy with the children is not the man who can teach them or help them. So look kindly, gently, tolerantly upon all; but upon all alike, Buddhist or Hindu, Jain or Jew, Christian or Muhammadan.

4. Cheerfulness

You must bear your karma cheerfully, whatever it may be, taking it as an honor that suffering comes to you, because it shows the Lords of Karma think you worth helping. However hard it is, be thankful that it is no worse. Remember that you are of but little use to the Master until your evil karma is worked out and you are free. By offering yourself to Him, you have asked that your karma may be hurried , and so now in one or two lives you work through what otherwise might have been spread over a hundred. But in order to make the best out of it, you must bear it cheerfully, gladly.

Yet another point. You must give up all feeling of possession. Karma may take from you the things which you like the best—even the people whom you love most. Even then you must be cheerful—ready to part with anything and everything. Often the Master needs to pour out His strength upon others through His servant; He cannot do that if the servant yields to depression. So cheerfulness must be the rule.

5. One-Pointedness

The one thing that you must set before you is to do the Master’s work. Whatever else may come in your way to do, that at least you must never forget. Yet nothing else can come in your way, for all helpful, unselfish work is the Master’s work, and you must do it for His sake. And you must give all your attention to each piece as you do it, so that it may be your very best. The same Teacher also wrote: “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”

Think how you would do a piece of work if you knew that the Master was coming at once to look at it; just in that way you must do all your work. Those who know most will most know all that that verse means. And there is another like it, much older: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”

One-pointedness means, too, that nothing shall ever turn you, even for a moment, from the Path upon which you have entered. No temptations, no worldly pleasures, no worldly affections even, must ever draw you aside. For you yourself must become one with the Path; it must be so much part of your nature that you follow it without needing to think of it, and cannot turn aside. You the Monad, have decided it; to break away from it would be to break away from yourself.

6. Confidence

You must trust your Master; you must trust yourself. If you have seen the Master, you will trust Him to the uttermost, through many lives and deaths. If you have not yet seen Him, you must still try to realize Him and trust Him, because if you do not, even He cannot help you. Unless there is perfect trust, there cannot be the perfect flow of love and power.

You must trust yourself. You say you know yourself too well? If you feel so, you do not know yourself; you know only the weak outer husk, which has fallen often into the mire. But you – the real you – you are a spark of God’s own fire, and God, who is Almighty , is in you, and because of that there is nothing that you cannot do if you will. Say to yourself: “What man has done, man can do. I am a man, yet also God in man; I can do this thing, and I will.” For your will must be like tempered steel, if you would tread the Path.