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Enlightening articles by Guy Finley on a wide range of topics address practical life issues and deepen your spiritual understanding.
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Shop eCoursesGF: Welcome. Before we begin our dialogue, I would like to pass along a few empowering ideas about our inner work. Tonight we tackle undoing that inner darkness known as fear.
We must not be afraid to learn the truth about our selves. Please notice I have deliberately separated the word "our" from its usual partner, "selves." Most of us would insist we have no such fear, but, for the most part, this is because we believe we already know the whole truth about ourselves. We do not. The purpose of this Work is to awaken us to this Truth that sets us free.
Lets begin with a certain fear we must all meet face-to-face if our wish is to be whole in the Light of God. There is no True teaching that does not suggest to us that inwardly we are not one, and further, that although unseen by us, in truth we are actually many selves -- all of which dwell in an invisible home that we call our "being." The evidence of this division is abundant.
Whether it is the self that says "I will not shake when life quakes," or that claims it will never again tremble before an angry face, both fall as a house of cards when reality displaces their bravado with conditions beyond their control. In this same moment, the formerly fearless self is replaced by a fully fearful one without the person they inhabit even detecting a switch has occurred.
The point is that the former self -- the one that envisions itself braving any storm -- does not know the latter self that runs from dark clouds even as they appear on the horizon! With this irrefutable fact in mind, our task, our inner work, is twofold: first, to realize that these various unconscious orders within us are just that -- just parts, aspects of the whole of our being.
Second, following this line of thought, no one part of us represents the entirety of our True Self any more than the thorn upon the stalk of a rosebush defines its radiant blooms and their subtle air-borne fragrance. To summarize: The frightened self -- that part of us that either fights with apparitions or that flees from them -- is but an aspect of our present nature.
This fearful self, along with the forces responsible for its existence, is a creature of the darkness. It is, as we will see, born in the dark, dwells therein, and gives birth to other forms of darkness that are then sent out to work their own dark and nefarious deeds. Only the Light of Truth can free us from living in the captivity of this life-stealing creature.
The amazing thing about this Light that liberates us from our unwitting relationship with this fearful nature is that it wins our freedom without a shot being fired. How is it possible for Truth to take on this fearful self and win every fight? Here is exactly how it happens: By that unique light that truth sheds upon our dreads, we see the unthinkable: we see, as a fact, that fear is a lie! We learn it has no substance apart from what we impart to it in our unknowing of its unconscious nature. And as our own work of further self-discovery verifies this finding, what is left for us to fear?
Now we see, happily, we have been as children afraid of a shadow animated only by our own imagination! Withdraw this unconscious consent and that dark creature called fear returns to its original non-substance. So, let us agree to do just that, beginning with the following light-filled truth. Consider its message deeply. Let it start you on the Path to a whole New Life free of fear: We never make our fears prove themselves, but instead ourselves prove their dread with our own fearful reactions that make us run away from what is feared before we even look upon its face.
What does this truth tell us? It states, if we can see it, that our fears win the war for our will without a struggle. Like Genghis Kahn, who sent spies ahead into his foes camps to spread lies about the invulnerability of his approaching forces -- to ensure his enemies surrendered without a fight -- so too does fear threaten us with what it tells us is coming to make us yield to it now.
We must learn to see through the mechanism of this misery that we have agreed to live under, and we will before we close our chat tonight. Don't miss learning "Four Facts to Liberate You From the Lie of Fear."
What do you feel like discussing tonight? Please keep your questions real, personal, and to the point. This means to stay awake to yourself, to resist the temptation to be speculative, or to otherwise ask merely curious questions based in comparative thought. Our time together will be profitable if you work this way.
Now its your turn: What would you like to talk about tonight?
RobF: Did I get the message correctly that fear is the main reason we are reluctant to really do the work to drop our false selves and accept God's new "self" in its place?
GF: Yes, in a word. But it is not our fear, meaning that the fear of letting go of ourselves belongs to that level of self that only knows itself by thinking about itself in relationship to the world around it. That self -- its divided nature -- is fear itself.
toby: Arent there healthy fears, such as the fear of taking drugs, etc.?
GF: These fears you speak of have their natural origin in our instinctual parts, not our intellectual parts. Fears such as standing before a car belong to the parts of us that will protect themselves. There is no fear of a psychological nature in this aspect of the self-preserving self.
toby: I have spent my life in fear and phobias, most of them from a very abusive childhood in which death was always threatened. Can I really transform these powerful fears?
GF: There is no doubt about this potential. And it is not the fears (themselves) that are transformed, but it is we who change by consciously learning to change what we relate to within ourselves. You might try ordering (from our bookstore) Secrets of Cleansing Heart, Mind, and Soul. It would shed like on this continuing conflict. As always, if you dont receive real help from its contents, return it, no questions asked.
ROCKY1: I have a fear of making a mistake when investing money because of past mistakes. How can I break this fear?
GF: I cannot and would never give any advice concerning investing money. I can pass along a few helpful ideas in the form of principles: First, never risk money you cannot easily afford to lose should a good investment turn bad. Second, see the difference between natural, intelligent prudence and the wish to come into financial power through investments that promise such ego-rewards. Last, put Truth first regardless what you do.
seeker: What is the difference between saying, "To end fear I must pay with my fears," and, "To end anger I must pay with anger?" Are we to fight fire with fire, or anger with anger?
GF: No, you have not understood the idea. To end any negative state requires paying the cost of the self that finds value in the embodiment and expression of that negative state. The sacrifice of this nature is what is required before one can possibly be free of the negative effects that follow it like a shadow.
cliff: I understand your definition of fear as a type of succubus that sucks the life energy from me. But are these fears really entities that exist? I did away with the whole demonic notion some time ago.
GF: A fearful thought and the fearful emotions that give rise to it and that shape it further is a form. It is matter. It is real at the level of the mind that generates such forms and that believes in them because they stand before it, mirroring it. These forms do steal life from who it is that we may be -- our nature that is not in thought and that doesn't have to think to know itself.
Rousseau: Thanks for the opportunity to discuss such things. I read yours and Vernon Howards books quite often to understand these principles. As I sit here thinking upon the lesson, I ask myself the question: I have many thoughts now and throughout the day, but to really identify a fearful (or negative) thought which is not good for me is sometimes obvious, and other times not. VH would say to put your own mental advancement first and foremost. What else could you contribute today to this thought of identification of fear?
GF: At the close of the chat tonight I will post four specific ways in which one can both identify the secret lair of fear as well as the conscious actions that are implied through such discovery. As an additional thought, work with this: Anything in us, any fear that tries to draw us into protecting it from being seen by others, is not trying to protect us, but itself. Always risk such fears.
Bonj: Do you teach that we know what is true by learning what is false? What does this mean? Can you give an example of this?
GF: Every human being has within him a specific aspect of his nature that can effortlessly discern what is true from what is false. This part of us does not think and therefore compare qualities to know the difference, but rather is capable of knowing directly the quality at hand, and in this direct relationship, is able to discern what goes up from what goes down.
SEEKER: Did Vernon Howard or yourself ever discuss what Christ termed as "lukewarm"? I know there are parts of me that have kept me from being persistent and consistent in all my pursuits. I have not really succeeded at anything spiritually or materially. It's like I dont live in either world.
GF: Real spiritual growth is virtually impossible without commitment. What is commitment? It is not a strength, nor a wisdom, but a willingness to continually test the truth that one intuits as being before him with the world that his senses provide for him around him. Commitment and persistence purify the willing soul by educating it to what is within its power and what is not. There is no substitute for this quality.
DanG: In Genesis 1:26 "God made man in his likeness." Does this mean we were given God 's nature (essence)?
GF: This passage from Genesis has a number of meanings, one of which I will share with you. To be made in the likeness of God means that within us, as the root of our essence, dwell all of the principles by which the universe itself came into existence. As we awaken, we find that we are the Laws that govern Reality, and our Peace is realizing our place in this whole Life.
loneone: I have struggled over the years to connect with people. I have a very meaningful relationship with my husband, I think my children are turning out pretty well, and I am successful in my career. I just seem unable to make friends. I find it hard to relate to others, especially women. Please help me. What can I do differently? Please help me to understand why I am like this.
GF: Usually at the root of our inability to have friends and keep them is a form of fear of them. To clarify this, this fear isn't really of the person we wish to be friends with, but rather our fear is in our own ideas about that person and the way we think he or she thinks about us. One cannot have a friend they feel they must protect themselves from. This is just one possibility. Watch yourself inwardly around others. You'll learn.
NJBG: In your new book you talk about how we are all musical "notes," and that we must not "resist some unpleasant note of our own, or that of someone else." How can this be reconciled with the idea that we should avoid (resist) "toxic" people, and/or what is the difference between a toxic person and one who helps to create these occasional "discords" in us?
GF: People who set us off, who may "sound" in us sour notes, are not necessarily what I mean by a toxic individual. Anyone who helps us to "hear" the reverberation of our invisible nature helps us to the degree we're willing to listen to what comes up in us around them. Truly toxic, dead individuals, may cause "notes" to sound in us, but we need not be around these people for more than one stanza.
NJBG: What exactly is a toxic person and/or how do you identify them? I have a friend who is very hateful (Jews, gays -- you name it), talks about wanting to do serious violence to the world (and I fear may do just this someday), etc. Toxic?
GF: It is important to realize that a trumpet is not a toxic instrument because sour notes come from it. Hatred is a toxic state that can become ingrained in the human instrument. That person can literally become the embodiment of that dark state. Then he is lost and will try to take you with him downhill.
RRUU22: Why do I clam up around some people? It feels like I am stumbling all over the place for words to say.
GF: Nothing frightens us more when it comes to being around other people (that might cause us to "clam up") than what we want from them. The more we think someone can either give to us or take from us (and these are secretly the same interior reflections), the more likely we are to feel as though we are somehow at risk in their presence. Dare to be a fool. You'll lose nothing except your fear.
Dave: In considering the concept of letting go," when we are willing not to identify with labels we have put on ourselves, and are wanting to see the emptiness, and thoughts continue to be there (the "automatic ones"), it seems there is always a voice that wants to entertain them. I am totally convinced, in my case, that obsessive compulsive disorder plays a role. With me, it has been a viscious cycle. What can be done to effectively just sit and let 'em all go by?
GF: In the long run, and this must be seen and evidenced by your own inner work, we always give ourselves over to whatever it is active within us that fulfills us in some way. When at last we see (and you will if you keep working) that the relationship we have with these thoughts that torment us can never do anything other than breed further discontentment, then we will not only lay them down, but ourselves (the false self) with them.
CD: How do you free yourself from some negative pull (and fear) you feel in yourself, but you know it's wrong? It's sort of like a magnet pulling you in the wrong direction. How does one let go of this feeling?
GF: First, if we really knew that something was genuinely wrong for us, no matter how it pulled upon us, we would not concede. So this means that the attraction between yourself and this condition still exists because it isn't clear to you that what you wish not to do is wrong for you. Some things just have to be given up no matter how much the wrong parts of us protest giving them up. As a simple example, a man loves chocolate, but his body can't tolerate it. When he eats chocolate, he gets sick, even though his mind is deeply pleased by each bite. Chocolate is wrong for him. His appetite for it does not excuse what he does to himself by eating it. His stomach will scream, but he must let it. Eventually, that appetite dies.
Faust: Thanks for telling us (in The Secret of Letting Go) about the instance of the rock in the stream you found in the Ojai Valley. I've been putting things "back" like you suggested. I think God allowed you to have that experience just so you could share it with everyone. I believe that you want us to put our fear right "back" where we found it, too. Thanks for being such a positive role model.
GF: That's a good way of looking at the principle of leaving things where we find them. When a fearful thought jumps up into our mind, there is absolutely no rule that says it must find a ledge there to linger within. All we need do is let it return to its native place by refusing to pick it up, fondle it, and carry it around with us.
Barry: What is the purpose of confusion? Is it to change what one values, as I heard you say awhile ago?
GF: No, confusion serves no purpose whatsoever for the part of us that longs for clarity. Confusion is how thought denies the moment in which it realizes it doesn't understand what is before it, and therefore creates a whirlwind of reactions in order to mask from itself its own lack of understanding.
katykins: My dualistic nature has become quite evident to me. I see quite clearly the two aspects -- the one I wish to be and the one I fight to let go of. Clearly, the preferred is the one bathed in light. And yet I struggle to maintain balance with great difficulty.
GF: This is quite deep, but never the less an important Truth for any sincere seeker to realize: Light is self organizing. True awareness determines order of whatever is in it without any effort on its part. Stay with your wish to awaken and to be aware of your own divided nature. The Light will see to the natural separation and ultimate restoration of your True Nature.
SEEKER: "Life" has brought an end to all my pursuits. All my ambitions have fallen apart. I dont have a clue how to fix them, and Im not going to try. Whats funny is that it doesnt bother me as much as I thought. Im a little scared of leaving things open, and I fear I wont like what God has in store for me, but I no longer have a choice. Anything I do will go nowhere. Any encouragement?
GF: Stay right in the middle of not knowing. As best you can, apart from doing what you must to provide a basic householder's existence (i.e., being responsible for those for whom you must be) refuse to let fear direct you. If you will stay quiet, watchful, willing, and above all interiorly receptive, there will be some form of guidance, some instruction that will indicate what your next "step" will be. Persist with your wish to be free.
DanG: Besides self-remembering and remembering God, isn't it necessary to be aware were we are in scale of the universe?
GF: Thought by itself can never find its place in any other universe besides the one of its own recurring images. Meditate, spend time alone quietly pondering those deeper issues that rise in your mind for question, and you will gradually awaken to the part of yourself capable of marriage with the principles you are interested in understanding. No other relationship satisfies.
jill: When you use the word "scale" or in scale," I don't understand what you mean. Please explain?
GF: Think of an atom. It has a nucleus, electron, and protons circling it. Think of the sun. It has planets and moons circling it. Our solar system is, in scale, an atom. Can you see it?
etfit: What is the best way to handle a relationship where one partner's happiness depends on the other, while the other is already content without the need for their partner to be a certain way? They both proclaim to love each other.
GF: We must in all of our relationships (as they are all in some fashion unbalanced) learn what it means to be kind and considerate without compromising ourselves. Sometimes one must give up certain demands that others be as they wish when they see that the other person cannot be other than they are. Love asks this of us at times. At other times, it is loving to give in to no demand regardless of the cost to us.
jill: Most people I talk with (or listen to) seem to be seeking self-gratification through conversations they have with others, including myself. I see this and have noticed that I get bored with conversations. Is that a normal process?
GF: Oh, yes, and congratulations! It's safe to say that 90% or more of what we call important conversations with others are really nothing more than using others as a kind of trampoline by which we can have the sensation of our own self as it bounces off of them. Dare to not join in. Dare to walk away from meaningless jabberwocky. You'll be so glad you decided to have your own life.
Farside: Could you please post, in next week's review, your story about the man and the fear monster (from Road to Good Fortune)? It is so great.
GF: Thanks, I've had many nice comments about that story from this tape album. We'll see what we can do for you.
wpenwal: I am new to this chat and I am not sure how I got here, but how do I get access to next week's review? I am trying to work out fears of monsters that clog my self in order to lead a productive life.
GF: All you need to do is return to this website next Wednesday and the entire essay on fear will be posted. Check the "Breaking News" icon on the Homepage. It will take you right to where you want to go. Here's one helpful "monster-slayer": No fear exists for us about "tomorrow" that isn't a product of our own negative imagination. All we need to do is wake up to this Truth.
FSE: What if the negative imagination has the ability to become reality?
GF: Thats just the point. Simply because we do not know that we can manifest negative conditions does not mean we wont suffer from these self-created conditions.
toby: I have been reading your books and listening to your tapes, but somehow I still unconsciously sabotage myself. How can I stop?
GF: One very painful, frustrating, and self-sabotaging mindset that we all must grow to see through is the idea that there is a "quick fix" for what foils us. There is not. Real self-safety, true integrity, and confidence are born in us in the same measure as we realize the existence of what is wrecking us and then let these things go. It is a kind of process, even though waking up takes no time.
jaybird: Can you explain further what you mean when you say "waking up takes no time"?
GF: In a sense, enlightenment the sudden seeing of a truth about something is instantaneous, even though the lesson behind that moment may have had to be in the oven for years!
Roy: If our fearful self is the result of dark forces responsible for its existence, then what kind of nature is within me that attracts such darkness? I want no part of a fearful self, as its paralyzing effects can be devastating. This is one thing that is so difficult for me to truly see -- that there can be parts of "me" that want to do "me" harm.
GF: I know this is a difficult concept, and much of it cannot be explained but only seen and then understood. If you haven't read The Intimate Enemy, I strongly recommend this book, as within it are hundreds of helpful insights into this nature within us that is set against us. It can be put in its proper place, but only by a process of illumination. To try and dominate what already dominates us is to play into the hands of this very nature that seeks to live our life.
NJBG: In the April chat you said "watch yourself as closely as you can as you do the things that you wish you weren't doing," as opposed to stopping yourself, or whatever. My question is, where do we draw the line? Obviously we don't watch ourselves as we murder someone in order to learn about ourselves!
GF: We must all learn that we have parts of us that are self-harming, even as we must learn to watch these parts as they do the harm we wish they wouldn't to ourselves and others. Obviously one must never under any circumstances set out to harm another human being. To watch ourselves under all circumstances, good and bad, means just that.
Barry: Is all this stuff all that hard to do? You've spoken about anchoring oneself outside of time does that mean (for example) to be like a cat? If a cat gets its foot hurt so it cant walk, it doesn't think from the past and go, I cant get mice now. It just sees NOW and what is, and deals accordingly. Is that kind of what you meant? Thats easier said than done for us humans!
GF: If what you mean by "us humans" is the parts of us that believe there is value in complaining and blaming and otherwise entering into conflict with others and ourselves, then yes, learning to awaken to our true nature is not easy. On the other hand, if there is in us anything that is sick and tired of being sick and tired, then this part of us can lead us to a Supernal health and well-being unrecognizable by those who choose to remain asleep to themselves.
kdhchi: An observation: We all seem so concerned about what others think of us, yet we all realize we cannot control another person's thoughts, ever. Funny, then we allow ourselves to be so afraid
GF: These thoughts are good beginnings for walking away from those parts of ourselves that believe it is possible to feel good about ourselves by somehow eliciting someone around us to act toward us as we think they should. Keep going.
Faust: I had an instance of fear today. I encountered a man with a tremendous ego and a condescending stare. The field I've chosen to eventually work in is filled with those sorts, but today I realized that I would "be in relation" with these types on a daily basis. It took spiritual energy for me to combat what I saw and felt today, and I'm wondering, from your own experience, how do you handle the negative energies (such as sheer arrogance) broadcasted from such people?
GF: There is no law written anywhere that, apart from being next to someone physically, we are required to share one thing -- i.e., a thought or feeling or experience -- with that person. Learn to look at such people as you would a tree covered with a parasitic lichen. Don't push this awareness away, but don't try to take anything away from this unhealthy tree.
Dave: There must have been a time when you remember having that first "glimpse," where you knew you needed to go farther with letting go. Do you remember that? And do you remember what got you there? How did you follow through?
GF: The one thing no one ever wants to hear me say about what places a person upon the Path and that keeps him or her there is that it is suffering that starts us, sobers us, sends us looking in the right direction, and (surprisingly enough) reveals to us that what we took as our suffering was never really ours in the first place.
katykins: God would never hear from us unless we had some sobering situation to deal with.
GF: This is unfortunate but true for the most part of most parts of us. However, as we grow, wanting to be with God takes more and more center stage for us, and this Living Light welcomes our awakening longing to be in its presence.
MMM: Enlightenment is Now or Never! Yet we dwell and celebrate remembering past sorrows and exciting thrills in our imagined future. Is pain our great ally in our quest to change?
GF: Consciousness of our pain sets the stage for changing our perception of what this suffering is actually for. Once this new mind stirs, we see anew, and real self-change occurs naturally -- as when sunlight sterilizes whatever sits in its energetic outpouring.
hawkeye: In athletics, people experience what is called being "in the flow," in which everything happens effortlessly, without thought, and with an overriding sense of peace. Is this literally experiencing being in the moment?
GF: It is a form of that, and as such it is very much what draws athletes to not only repeat their experience, but to push the envelope in which these experiences are granted to them. Even so, these glimpses are effects of one's physical effort, and as such dependent upon stressing the body. We're after something not only more subtle, but that requires no exterior opposite for its Peace to be manifested.
1213: The better I become at seeing through certain people and situations, the more I become sad and de-motivated in the system I find myself namely employment. How can I stay positive about situations that do not have real credibility when I need to?
GF: If one asks to see the truth, then one must not turn their head when the Truth shows them what It will.
1213: In a recent chatroom, you spoke of what we love and maybe we only love the truth we are studying, maybe that is what honestly motivates us, etc.. I believe that is where I am. What should one do in regard to career aspirations then?
GF: It is necessary for us to provide for ourselves a decent householder's living, and if there are others we are responsible for, the same holds true. Apart from this, if your wish is for a life awakened and in God, it makes no difference what you do with your life to provide the basics you require. Put Truth first. Truth will take care of you.
katykins: I suspect it's a cycle of learning, but compared to last summer when I thought I finally "understood" it all, now I feel perfectly helpless. I've handed my self back to God. I suspect it's time for more shaping, but how do I proceed?
GF: I know it doesn't feel like it, but from your comments, I know that you're exactly where you need to be. Just as it seems there is no end to the degree of deception (and the darkness it hides) that we find within ourselves, so is there no end to the new expanses and refreshing energies that are awakened in us each time we willingly walk through these temporary deserts in our spiritual life. Come visit the Foundation some time when it's possible. There is Water here.
Faust: During the time between the chats, I think about you on a daily basis, and I imagine asking you questions. As I sit here at the prompt about to type questions for you, all the answers you've provided for me and all of us over the last year begin to materialize once again, whereas they do not always come back in situations when I need them to. Do you attribute this to the very healthfulness of the fellowship we all feel here? Or am I not on guard when I need to be?
GF: It is both. Even over the internet, it holds true: "Wherever two or more of you are gathered in my name, there shall I be." In many ways there is no substitute for the fellowship of Truth seekers and the energy such gatherings gather together. On the other hand, you already know that you're not being as watchful as you should be. That's all right. Start over.
Barry: I see the intruder and what it indicates. I observe it for a few hours as long as I can. But it just slowly whittles me down until I come into full identification with it. You told me pain isnt a bad thing, which I can agree with mentally. But doing and saying two different things how to deal with it?
GF: We would not be troubled about being overcome or dominated by any negative state if we did not unconsciously believe that we have power over it in us as we presently are. This Work is about awakening not only to the powerlessness of our sleep-dominated self, but within that same awakening, coming into relationship with The One Great Light whose power does all things for whomever will allow it to work within him.
kdhchi: I am discovering that as I go further into the spiritual work that you write and lecture about, as I study human nature (my own and others), I sense that I do not "fit in" the way I use to. I am not interested in the same activities and people that I use to be drawn too. At times, I feel a little lonely. Any suggestions for seeing through/ending this lonely feeling?
GF: Do just what you have said: See through it. This means learn (in those moments when such lonely states visit you) to think (spiritually) towards these conditions instead of allowing the state to tell you what to think and secretly define you. Going through these changes is part of what changes us. Persist!
james: My girlfriend grew up in a Christian family and has always gone to church. Since we have been dating, she has wanted me to go with her. I have the problem that it fills her up while I don't get anything out of it. My resistance to going upsets her as she feels you need to be around other Christians and support God's church to grow in spirit. Should I continue to go, even though I feel out of place?
GF: One must always follow the dictates of his or her own intuition. Do not compromise what you know is true for the sake of something you hope will one day come to pass. Such days to come are illusions, and so is the self that seeks shelter in them.
1213: What are your insights on divorce? Is it normal for humans to look towards others when they are in a serious relationship, or is that just an indication that one is not in a healthy relationship?
GF: The sleeping self is never satisfied with what it has because this order of us only feels alive (to itself) when it is self-stimulated. Its appetite is its inherent emptiness.
pb: I am new to the reading and deep thought of spiritual growth. I have been talking to and helping youngsters for years, and find myself becoming stagnant. What are some of your basic suggestions for spiritual life enrichment?
GF: Spend as much time as you can in the presence of Truth. Read true books (they are rare), listen to true teachers (even more rare), and spend all the time you can in meditation or contemplation. Be by yourself when you want to, and dont let fears drive you into keeping company with others who are with others for fear of being alone. Above all, remember your wish for God to be in your life 24/7.
jaybird: In Seeker's Guide To Self-Freedom you state: "The self that resists any other self is itself an extension of the self it is resisting." I find this idea particularly intriguing, yet I sense there is more to it than what I am presently grasping. Does this mean that all these fragmented "I"s (or TPIC's) that dominate so much of our lives are in reality just different "shades" of one false self? An elaboration on this point would be appreciated.
GF: In essence, the answer is yes. Our thought nature has no independent life apart from what it generates for itself as it considers its own contents. These self-generated images the thought nature evaluates (as in judging someone) are made up from its own past experiences, so it always (unconsciously, of course) judges itself!
NJBG: Regarding not resisting... recently I turned up the volume (so to speak) of a voice expressing negativity (stressing the particular note or phrase) in order to "see" it better. It's hard to tell though which self (True or other) did this it could have been the True self, or a false self pretending to be the True self. Any thoughts would be helpful.
GF: Any part of us that urges us to deliberately act out some form of self-destructive or other punishing manifestations, is set against us in spite of what it tells us its intentions are.
Bluerose: I have had glimpses of being awake. What a feeling. I have also experienced God. He wants us to be awake. Jesus said to "watch and pray." I can understand what he was saying.
GF: Excellent. Never forget such moments, and if they are real, you cant forget if you want to. The Seed is stirred. Now, cultivate the ground it rests in, and nourish the soils. God sees to the rest.
katykins: I've seen God send many people into my life for brief periods of time for the "learning" experience, and I love them each for the time we've had together. I seem to know them instantaneously when I meet them. Yet ongoing relationships are all but non-existent. I can count on a few fingers people I've kept in contact with over my lifespan. Aloneness is a way of life with me it seems. Is there something lacking in my character, or is it OK to continue the journey in this way?
GF: Let (this) Life lead. Besides, the number of friends one has means nothing, rather our work to have a relationship with the One Friend whose Life and Light within us makes it possible for us to be a true friend to all we meet.
toby: Can you comment on post-traumatic stress disorder? I have dealt with hysterical blindness plus other physical symptoms that were psychologically induced.
GF: When the nervous system gets over-stimulated, depending upon the nature of these energies (and subsequent chemicals they release), many counter-productive states in oneself become possible. Meditation is a natural balancing agent, and one can learn to meditate wherever one is and regardless of what one finds going on there. If you havent read The Lost Secrets of Prayer or Design Your Destiny, both have practices outlined in them to help one work at keeping this Presence present all the time.
Gerry: I have really enjoyed one of your tapes in which you speak of coming to and realizing ones existence in the moment. This has turned into the most meaningful activity for me in which I am awe inspired by the vastness of the present moment. It fills me with ecstasy when I least expect it. "Coming to" is, as you say, the thing I love to do most.
GF: The gradual realization that we are a part of all that we see is bliss itself, because the one who can see this Truth, sees it through the eyes of God.
hmmm: What are your thoughts on Adam and Eve and the fall of man? Obviously we did something that messed things up.
GF: The story of Adam and Eve is a profound, but secret, story that outlines Gods planned development of His children to come into a conscious relationship with Him through another and altogether Higher order of will.
hmmm: Whats the difference between gambling and taking a risk? If a poker player understands odds and the universal laws, would it be considered gambling when he plays, even though theoretically he can't lose? Or maybe it is just considered stealing? I don't know.
GF: People gamble not to win money, but to give themselves certain intoxicating (and addictive) sensations. Anyone who gambles secretly likes the fear and pain connected to their opposites, elation and pleasure, as these forces make their way through the unconscious psychic system.
Bluerose: I know that I need to exercise. I have done step aerobics, but I have come to realize that this type of exercise uses too much energy. I have thought about Yoga. Do you recommend that type of physical exercise?
GF: Yoga, Tai Chi, conscious nature walks, golf, jogging it doesnt really matter too much. Exercise is important. Although I will add that some forms of exercise require spiritual attention as well employing spiritual Principles at the same moment they engage the body. Such forms (of exercise) are best.
pb: I recently read of fear and a tie-in with the placebo effect being that things (thoughts, including fear) only have a value worth the meaning we assign to them. What are you thoughts?
GF: What you state is true at the level of thought that produces such fears through unconscious identification with negative imaginings, etc.
hexi44: I work in a bank. I was frantically rushing to accommodate my clients needs. A rather young teller came over to my desk and said, "Slow down. Dare to slow down and step back from the rush!" Did you send her to me? Thanks.
GF: It is possible this person read Design Your Destiny as one of the 12 exercises in this book has a title almost exactly like what she mentioned to you to do. By the way, Truth does send such messages to us all the time!
GF: Our time has run its course for this evening, and I have my remaining notes to pass along. My opening comments addressed the lie of fear and how this non-entity manages to encase us in its darkness.
For the rest of our time together, I want to ensure that you have some new tools of truth to take away with you. Be sure of this: Every true idea is a light that will not fail to guide you to freedom if you will only remember to place it before you in times of trial. Put these following special insights to work for you and watch your fear disappear.
The more we are willing to learn about the way fear works, the less power it has to work its ways on us. To help you better understand how fear undermines your right to be free, here are Four Facts to Help Liberate You From the Lie of Fear. Look upon each of these higher insights as a kind of spiritual window that, once opened by you, lets in the Living Light. With patient study and sincere self-work, you will learn their special secret lesson. Then watch in amazement as you realize the meaning of something you heard long ago, but never really understood: The Truth sets us free because no lie can live in its Light:
Anxiously seeking to find some way to protect ourselves from the fear of something that may be coming our way is to punish ourselves in the present moment in the hope of avoiding it later!
Fears power is that it uses the unseen contents of our own consciousness to twist and transform the unknown of what lies just ahead into something known to be dreaded in the now.
Fear is the dark and imaginary distance between the coming possibility of an imagined challenge and the actual arrival of whatever that condition may be that our life then naturally sets itself to resolve.
Rather than allowing our fears to find excuses for why we should walk away from what challenges us, we must choose instead to see that there can never be a good excuse for living with fear.
Spend as much time as you can pondering and working with these special truths about the lie of fear. Secreted within them are spiritual maps of a sort -- living guides to instruct you how not only to walk out of fears darkened lair, but also how to construct a portable lantern that will light every step of your way.
Lastly, always strive to remember your wish and the interior work you must do to reclaim your spiritual freedom. This personal work to prove that fear is a lie is the first step to living the Truth that will show this to you. Settle for nothing less than this relationship that sets you free.
Guy's Monthly Chatroom Classroom - June 2002
Posted by Guy Finley in 459 Galice Road, Merlin, OR 97532 on , and updated on .
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