Workshop - Santa Ana, CA School – 1977 - Page 12 of 12
Note from proofreaders: Marsha does the original transcribing from cassette tapes or CD’s and we do the final proofreading. We strive to give as close a verbatim transcript as possible, so that this can be a companion to the audio files found in the “Links” section. We work to retain Dr. Bob’s interesting vernacular. If you knew the man, not correcting his grammar and laid back “Kentucky-ese” makes reading it sound like he’s actually talking. He’d say “everone” for “everyone”; or “somewheres” instead of “somewhere”, and many more…all part of his dialect of which we’ve tried to remain true. Notations have been added where there was audience (laughter), which was quite often. He was a master at keeping the mood up!
(Audience participation is contained in parenthesis. )
Any emphasized word is in italics.
[ Any clarifications for the reader in regards to Dr. Bob’s references, words, or actions have been italicized inside brackets. ]
Continued from page 11:
(Maybe.)
Maybe, I don't know – a doll or somethin', rub the edge of a blanket or the nap on it, whatever. So if you had to have all of that now, you would be acting as though now were then. Say you met somebody that reminded you of Eileen one time or another (you know, similar) and that that woman mistreated you a lot or rejected you or disapproved of you and you were very uncomfortable around her, okay? And if you saw Eileen and she was about to remind you of that woman and you felt bad or felt you didn't like this lady, you're out of time – you're livin' back there when the lady disapproved of you, okay?
(What about the future?)
Same difference.
(Planning for the future.)
Oh yes! All that and you just all caught up in it and you've already did all these great things and then it never happens – that way exactly. And then you’d have a great disappointment in the present, wouldn't you? So right here goin' on is pretty wonderful. I can't conceive of anything greater, hmm? But by the same token, most of us sit around and dream up something and that set up an ideal and that ideal never happens and so we are totally out of time. In other words there's only one time you can do something and that's now. All the rest of it is just daydreamin’, okay? I wouldn't make an issue out of it. We haven't talked about it all week, have we? So go talk to your friend about it, okay? Questions, comments?
NOTE: Then one of the workshop participants got up to speak for a few minutes. In staying consistent with only transcribing Dr. Bob’s presentations, this portion has been omitted from this CD and from the beginning of the next CD. [End of CD 24]
Santa Ana School – CD 25
So we'll put it in a little different direction that everything we do is based on an [writes it on the board] “expectation”. I wouldn't have put this piece of chalk and rubbed it on the board unless I expected that it would make a mark. And I wouldn't come here at 2:30 this afternoon unless I expected there'd be some people here. Now you wouldn't have come up here unless you’d expect somethin' would go on, right?
(Right.)
And if you push a button on a light switch over on the wall, you expect the light to turn on or you wouldn't bother with the light switch, right? You pick up the telephone to dial, you expect that the machine will work, anyway. Of course we always expect that somebody will answer it and when they don't we feel, “Grrh.” So everthing, we have an expectation. Now in all the mechanical things in the world, we can do fairly well with; but we also put expectations on how circumstances is goin’ to be in our interpersonal relationships and etc., hmm? And we expect that people will do certain things and say certain things and behave certain ways, huh? And they don't always do that, do they? So when we have an expectation and an expectation is based on an [writes it on the board] (I could use "the" but I guess it would be just as well to say "an".) “An ideal.” When we have that expectation based on an ideal and the ideal, of course, is that everbody will be grown up and be very considerate so I won't have to be. (laughter) Is that about the way it works? Expect your boyfriends to be very considerate and understanding so you won't have to be, right?
(Right.)
So we expect that the world is populated with adults, fully mature individuals that can all read my mind. ‘Cause if you want some certain thing today, you wouldn't feel it was nice to go tell him that you wanted it.
(Mm-hmm.)
But he should know it if he cared anything about you, is that right?
(Right.)
Now that's gettin’ pretty ideal I will have to admit, wouldn't you, Barbara? It's gettin' pretty idealistic. And if he really cared anything about you, “He would know I wanted a new mink coat for Christmas and I wouldn't have to go hintin' around about it or suggest it or tell him,” hmm?
(Mm-hmm.)
Right?
(Right.)
So we can go then and have your feelings very upset about that because if he don't bring you what you had thought that he would, you are [writes the following on the board]”dis-appointed.” That means “the appointment wasn't kept” – disappointed. Now what we're going to follow down this side of the board is how the not-I's keep us in a state of turmoil and how it is so happens about this long [he pinches his thumb and forefinger into an inch], but I'm gonna slow it down into slow motion so you can watch all the steps of it, ok? [http://www.marshasummers.com/innerman/vicious.htm]
So now you had this big expectation and ideal as to how things was gonna be, huh? And you were disappointed. Now when you're disappointed, you feel [puts it on the board] “hurt.” Now it takes a hundredth of a second from here to here [from disappointment to hurt] you understand, huh? About a hundredth of a second. And then when you feel hurt, you start looking for [writes it on the board] “blame” in about another one hundredth of a second. You see what to blame for it – “Well obviously it's just ‘cause he don't care anything about me,” wasn't it, Barbara?
(Uh-huh.)
Obviously.
(Obviously.)
Now when I look for blame, I'm going to find it. Now if I find it was you, how will I feel? You are to blame, I will feel angry, won't I? [he writes it on the board] “Anger.”
And if I should rarely discover that it was me, I'll feel guilty. Now if I should not be able to find what is to blame, I have a condition known as fear. You see as long as I can find somethin’ to blame it on, I don't get fearful, but when I know somethin's gone haywire and I can't find what it is, that's why everybody tells me they just have a generalized vague fear. They can't tell me what they're afraid of because obviously they don't know or you wouldn't feel fearful. So it is when you can't find what to blame it on, we feel fear. Did you ever have that condition where you just felt fear, but you didn't know what to make of it? Did you ever feel it? You?
(Sure did.)
And if you can know what to blame it on, you're angry or you feel guilty; but if you can't find what to blame it on, you feel fear. Now after you've been around this way a good many times and you've been disappointed many times (which most of us have 'cause we keep on keeping the ideal set up) we begin to feel very insecure. That's inferiority, insecure, unable to cope – that's a good word. “I just don't feel I can cope with this,” because one is feeling insecure, “because the many times that I had it all expected that it would work out that way, I had it all planned out in beautiful detail and it didn't happen.”
Now these are the only things that we admit to being emotions. You were never designed to handle these kinds of feelings. They are a certain brand of feeling that's called emotions – anger, guilt, fear and insecurity. The reason we were not designed to have 'em, we were never designed to have an ideal. So then we would have to say that these four all put together (which most of us experience quite frequently) would be referred to as [writes it on the board] “stress” and you could even put “distress” on 'em because we were never put together to have those. Now when we have these four, any one of these four feelings or a combination thereof, X always does the appropriate thing for whatever feeling we have and all of these feelings are basically to give us the impetus to fight or run. If I'm angry I'm gonna fight – kill, preferably. Hmm? Or I will run from this [guilt] and hide somewhere;or this [fear] I will run and hide;and this one [insecurity] I become helpless – “I just don't know what to do.” That's when you begin to get very tired because X generates no energy; you just don't know what to do and can't make it up so you begin to feel very weak.
But at any rate, in any of these in the response to ‘em, X does the appropriate thing and mobilizes energy. Because they all seem to demand violent physical activity – mobilized energy. Now energy is mobilized in the body by seeing something to do. And if I were to stand up on this chair and look over the floor and say I'm gonna jump, instantly enough energy is mobilized to catch whatever I weigh this moment and how far it is to the floor. And I will jump and there will be no injury. If suddenly while I was jumpin' you raised the floor two inches, I would probably break a bone or two when I hit it because I had enough energy to go on and I didn't use it all up and there would be an explosion. So in these, we mobilize energy to [he points to each of the four emotions written on the board] fight, to run, to run, to hide (find a secure place somewheres). And the energy is mobilized and in none of 'em do we do anything because we've been taught in the “B” section of a person is to please everbody, do as you're told by your authority and do different. In other words you don't go around woppin' people these days very often. Been a long time since you been in a hair-pullin’ or slappin’ session, right?
(Right.)
But it hasn't been so long since you had one of these feelings, is it? Huh?
(No.)
So the energy was mobilized and therefore unreleased. Now you have a big gob of energy and it's [puts it on the board] “mobilized and unreleased”. In a living mechanism, somethin's gotta happen to it. So X takes a look and says we gotta burn it up. Hmm? Gotta use it up one way or another. So X in its wisdom takes (in good people, the ones who don't scream and holler and yell) and it takes a bunch of tissue, certain cells somewhere, and performs “unusual cellular activity”. In other words it has these little cells begin to do an action that they were never designed to do. They're doing a stop gap deal to burn up all this stresses that the one put in mobilized (due to their anger, guilt or fear or whatever) and did not use up in a physical activity. Now had they went in an activity, they would have burned it up. But this is unusual cellular activity.
Now all unusual cellular activity produces an “unusual sensation.” And of course, we are very super about our unusual sensations – we call 'em pain, soreness, stiffness, and you name 'em real quickly too, don't you? Judy, you put a name on 'em real quick like, huh? So then we have a whole bunch of anxiety over this unusual sensation; and we have more fear of it because we don't know what to blame it on, so we're back up here. We were disappointed that we had a pain because none of us really expects we'll every have one, do we? You never really expect to have a pain.
(No.)
Always disappointed when it arises 'cause it comes at the most inopportune moment – just when you had a heavy date or you had a very high-class appointment where you was gonna make a lot of money, hmm? Or you was gonna do somethin’ that you really wanted to do like take a vacation and then here this comes up – you're disappointed, feel hurt, you look for blame, and wind up here ‘cause you don't know what it is. And so we have more of this. Now, eventually those little cells that are doin' that thing that was unusual for them to do, the tissue cell is altered or it breaks down. So we have [writes it on the board] “tissue cell alteration or breakdown.” Now we say we are really sick – we need a surgery, we need all sorts of difficulties.
Now there's some people amongst us that when we have an unusual cellular activity or an unusual sensation (especially when it gets to the unusual sensation) they don't sit around and wait for it to go on to this stage, they indulge in some very unusual behavior for it. That'll burn up mobilized and unreleased energy, too. Some folks go on a drinkin' binge. There's other folks who go on eating binges. There is other people who go on temper binges. There is some who go on crying binges. And there's a few that’s been known to go on killing binges. I think there is one that's somewheres up in the LA area that everybody's talking about quite extensively, is on a little killing binge, isn't that right?
(They caught him today.) (They got him?)
He will now have to go through some unusual cellular activity. (laughter) Now the unusual behavior is of many things and people generally are disapprovingly or frightened by unusual behavior. And of course, we are very sympathetic towards unusual cellular activity, unusual sensation, tissue cell alteration and breakdown. We send them flowers and we pray over 'em and do many other things. But when somebody gets unusual behavior, most often we either laugh at them, tell them how they outta pull themselves together and straighten up and fly right or we put 'em in jail or psycho hospitals and forget about 'em. Is that about right? You've seen these. Now as far as I'm concerned, I see no difference in 'em except this one [unusual behavior] makes less scars on you. Now it's according to whether you want scars or not, but you're not gonna listen anyway. Mmm? In fact of business, there's no reason to have either one, is it?
Now once it starts past this point here, there's no way you can stop it because it goes like that [he claps his hands together] anyway. So when we start off down here gonna do something way down here, that's so far away from the real situation, there's no use even talkin’ about it. What we do is go back and cease gettin' disappointed. What we do, we base our expectations on a fact. Now if your expectation is based on a fact, you will never be disappointed. If you're not disappointed, you won't feel hurt. If you don't feel hurt, you won't be goin' around lookin' for blame, would you? Did you ever wonder what made you feel so good? Hmm? Did you, or did you just accept it for natural and go on, huh? We never wonder about what caused me to feel good do we, Arlene? It's only when I don't that I’m wonderin’ about what to blame it on or caused it. Cause and blame is a synonym, isn't it? So then we don't even do that. So if we based our expectation on fact…now basically we said you base your expectations on fact in the mechanical world, in the manmade world. Right? But in the real world of living beings we set up fantastic expectations that people can't live up to. Now this mornin' we said that maybe the world was populated with infants, many of which have grown bodies and technical educations, hmm?
(I like that.)
Now you would never be disappointed in an infant forgettin' your birthday would you, Barbara? Huh?
(No.)
You really wouldn't be disappointed in a three-year-old forgettin' your birthday would you? You wouldn't be disappointed if one forgot to bring in the paper, would you? No, hmm?
(No.)
And not any other thing that you can think of. You fully expect children to not be very considerate of others. They're very considerate of themselves, but not of others, is that right?
(Right.)
So you wouldn't really expect a child to be very considerate of other people, would you? Lois, you've raised a few of the little folks. Did you expect them to be very considerate?
(No.) (she giggles)
Do you expect them to sleep late on Christmas mornin’ instead of waking you up early or anything like that? Huh? No, you didn't expect them to. So let's say that for instance, ok (just as a for instance now) that I base my expectation on an assumed fact that [he writes the following on the board] “the world is populated with infants,” many of which have grown bodies and technical educations – “grown, beautiful bodies and excellent technical educations.” Now how would I expect them to act in an interpersonal relationship, Neal? As an infant now…
(They certainly won't want to –)
But they masquerade as living in a beautiful grown up body with a technical education; but an infant's driving the machinery, ok? How would you expect the driver to handle things?
(They certainly wouldn't want to assume too much responsibility for it.)
Or, if any. And they wouldn't be very considerate of you – they would only be seeing what they want, is that right? Would you see that?
(Yeah.)
Now if your expectation were based on this assumed fact, you would never be disappointed, hmm?
(Yeah.)
If you're never disappointed, you'll never feel hurt. And if you never felt hurt, you wouldn't be lookin’ for blame. If you weren't lookin’ for blame, you'd never feel angry, guilty, fearful or insecure. That only leaves pretty wonderful feelings to have, doesn’t it, Eileen?
(That's good.)
It eliminates these. You wouldn't be distressing the organism so you wouldn't have to wind up with some big adaptation either – this one where you're hidden away or put in jail or somethin’ or this one which hurts and gets you lots of attention and flowers and get well cards and so forth. Did you ever send a guy in jail a "get out" card? (laughter) "Get Out Soon" card? But you send them to people in the hospital as "Get Well Soon" cards, is that right? But this guy is just in the same difficulties, isn't he? He just happened to adapt a little different because he was just a little more on the “A” side and this one's a little more on the “B” side, huh? That's the only difference. So I think we can send cards to one of these as good as the other, you know.
(Its funny that when you reach that point the pleasers get pleased and the blamers get blamed.)
Right, and so on right down to the bottom. I don't know whether they're pleased but everybody's trying to. So people always try to give you what you give, you know. Now if you could have your expectation based on this assumed fact – my truth (you know you can make it that way, it's true to you) would you ever be in a tangle? Now, you would have a good many pleasant surprises now ‘cause there is a few grown up ones around. Now would you ever... did you ever get upset over having a very pleasant surprise, Barbara?
(Never.)
Did you ever, Debbie?
(No.)
Never got upset over a pleasant surprise. But you see you set yourself up in this assumed fact. I made it my truth and I have an abundance of pleasant surprises and absolutely no disappointments. Now that seems to be a worthwhile assumption to make, wouldn't it? Now, of course, some people says you're terrible if you look at people as all of 'em's gonna be infants with grown bodies. But you see I assume they're that until they demonstrate different – then I have a pleasant surprise. And I never objected to havin' pleasant surprises. And I'm never disappointed because quite often they do exactly what I'm expecting: they're infants with grown bodies, beautiful grown bodies and wonderful technical educations; but they are infants running that mechanism. That just makes ‘em more difficult to get along 'cause they're so big and they got technical educations; that makes ‘em pretty vicious sometimes, huh? But I'm never disappointed. Would you like to go through life with never having a disappointment? Then you would never have an emotion – these things [he points to the board and anger, guilt, fear, insecurity] – never have a one. Now all the other feelings that you can have which we don't call emotions are pretty nice, aren't they?
(Gary Demos.)
Gary Demos. (Everybody talks and someone takes a message.) So now here's something that's so simple, you can forget all the rest of the Teaching material – throw it out, don't even bother with it. If you wanted to, you can go ahead and use it. But here's one that will take care of all of it all by itself. You can assume a fact that the world is populated by infants, many of which have grown bodies and technical educations, and you'll never be disappointed, you’ll never feel hurt, you will never be lookin’ for blame, and you'll never come up with emotions (which you were not designed to handle in the first place) so then you won’t ever be in a state of distress and come up down here which is the adaptations that we call aging as well as sickness and etc. And you could avoid all of that with only havin’ one little thing to remember, is that right? Hmm? And couldn’t you remember that? You have plenty of evidence to say that this is relatively correct. You got gobs of evidence, right? Now I've said only assume it to be a fact, didn't I? Make it my truth and the way I’m gonna see it. I didn't say it was a fact; I said that I was assuming that it was, and I've had so many pleasant surprises. You don't mind havin’ pleasant surprises so you're gonna get quite a few of those. In the meantime, you won't be takin’ home with you an infant with a grown body and a technical education unless it’s on a very short term, hmm? It’s all right to keep an infant around a night or two, but not on a permanent arrangement. Did you ever try that? An infant on a long term, they get tedious. So you never have all this trouble. Now would that be a fair assumption to make? Barbara, could you handle that and you wouldn't have to remember anything, work on all your notes and all this long studyin’ and everything that would all go through – you got it all right there, huh? ‘Course you had it all in any one of the other notes you made, too. Yes, dear?
(The problem is there are so very few running around that are grown up.) (Yeah.)
Well, now until you start checking that. You see I hear this statement from many people and that is an assumption, too. I'm assuming there's none. Now if you're gonna assume there's a few, you've already screwed up the assumption because you're expecting you ought to find one of those few. You screwed it up already. Now we said we're assuming that the world is totally populated by infants with grown bodies and technical educations. Now I can't be disappointed and surprisingly you will find a tremendous number that produces a very pleasant surprise feeling in you. But now if you start off saying, “Well there's only part of that,” you've already screwed it up because now you're gonna be disappointed you didn't find one of those few ones. Now it's all or none, ok? There's 100% of the world that's populated with infants with grown bodies and technical educations. Now then you can't be disappointed and you will find a surprising number of those which will give you a very pleasant surprise when you started out assuming they’re 100% not that way. Now if you said, “Well maybe only one percent or five percent is,” you've already screwed it up, hmm? I don't know whether there is a percentage point. To me there's none.
(I see.)
And I've been pleasantly surprised so many times this week, it's unbelievable. In fact of business, I haven't been disappointed once. And I've had a great number of pleasant surprises. And I enjoy pleasant surprises, don't you, Barbara?
(All the time.)
Oh I just love pleasant surprises! I just thrive on 'em like a cat on a satin pillow. Don't you?
(True.)
I like pleasant surprises. Now there's everything one needs to know. Hello, Judy.
(We could extend that same understanding to ourselves as well.)
I said the world is populated by... (laughter)
(Oh!)
I said the world is populated. I didn't even exclude one in my assumed fact. Is that right? Yes, Judy.
(Outside of our relationship with people, there are other relationships that we have, too, with things or learning and sometimes disappointment comes from that.)
How come? Unless you're tryin’ to live up to what some person laid on you that you should do. I've never been disappointed in learning things.
(No, I’m saying you might have difficulty in learning something.)
Well, I expect that infants have trouble learnin’ things sometimes. Now I said the world is populated with 'em, so I’m never disappointed that it took me 15, 20 minutes to learn calculus; I thought I ought to do it in 2.
[A phone starts ringing] (Somebody should answer that.)
Oh I don’t know – it's not disturbing anybody. Are you disappointed that the phone rings once in a while? Phones always ring when you don't want 'em to. They never ring at the appropriate time. Did you ever sit and wait for somebody to call you? You get so nervous you chewed your fingernails off? [Bob finally answers the phone.] Hello! [End of CD 25]
Santa Ana School – 26
....Questions, comments, points? [a silence follows] Isn't that a beautiful quiet?
(Questions, I have a lot of questions this morning.)
Fire away. Debbie?
(I'm still not sure, I mean I sort of know what your answer’s gonna be, but I want to be really sure, you know. I can be feeling really good, okay – I can be feeling on top of the world (I wonder where I got that expression) and then all of a sudden, you know, the not-I's will start doing their thing like – you know, “Why doesn't he do this and why…” or whatever. But I'm feeling good. So you're – what you've been saying, what I've understood you to say was to start feeling good so you can just get out of the basement with the not-I's, but if you wait to get into it –)
And start acting like you was really feeling top of the world, right. You always got an act in it. You're an actress.
(Okay, but you’re feeling good anyway and the not-I’s start, then you don't –)
Well, you just quit acting right and you're sittin' down there waitin' for them to pick on you because you quit actin' the part. Sure it takes 30 minutes to quit feeling good after you quit actin' the part. It's like it takes you 30 minutes to get there sometimes, okay?
(Okay, well like Non was telling me on the way here, she was saying that she says, "What do you say to the not-I's?" She says –)
A nasty word.
(“Go away.”) (A nasty word – yeah right, whatever. And I, for some reason, I just think that was the thing you wanna do because I think that –)
You want to be sure and do the right thing, don't you?
(I wanna be sure and do the right thing, because I have an ideal. I don't want to have any expectation, yeah.) (laughter)
You just answered it, go ahead… round the horn there.
(But –)
You got an ideal that you won't ever feel a little … uhhhh…your solar plexus start jumpin' or somethin' like that, huh?
(Well, I'm just wondering when they come up, what is the best way of handling it? Do you just say –)
Well, why you even botherin' with 'em? Why don't you just leave 'em be traffic on the street? Does it matter to you what traffic's goin' down the street out here in front of the building? (It's just the north side of the building, probably nothin' in front of you.)
(Okay, so they pop into you, you just change your attention to something else, you start thinking about –)
Well, isn't that right? If you don't want to pay attention to me, couldn't you turn around and talk to Neal now and totally cut me out?
(Okay, so you just change your attention. You don't have to say, “Go away,” or –)
Aw, no …
(– you know, hit them over the head?)
Cause' they're invisible, and hard to hit an invisible. You can chase 'em all night. It's like chasin' a black cat in a dark room, you know. You’re tryin' to catch the critter.
(So maybe just changing your attention and say, “I feel great, I feel good,” or –)
Well, I don't know why you should go saying you do – you'd probably be lying at that moment or you wouldn't be sayin’ it. See, very few people walk up to me through the day and say, “I feel wonderful!” If they feel wonderful, they assume that's the way you do. They only tell me that they are hurty or they're achy or anything. Did you ever have anybody pay you a fee for tellin’ you how wonderful they felt?
(No.)
I didn't think so. I don't know of anybody that does, huh?
(woman with foreign accent) (I found yesterday I went to the airport to take my company and came two more people than I expect. And this was a fact – and then the not-I’s stomped around, and I said, “X, you take them.”)
You take the extra. (everybody laughing)
(woman with strong foreign accent:) (Believe it or not, this morning I got – somebody called to come and visit, and I didn’t even hesitate.)
That's fine – you don't have to be bothered with it.
(Just change my attention to make it –)
Right. Now just stop right there before you talk too much. You know when you keep on fixin' things too long, you break it. Now you got it. Will you just put your attention on somethin' else, okay?
(Okay.)
Good, now that's far enough now.
(Okay.)
Just hang it up there before you go too far, okay?
(Okay, thank you.)
That's good enough. Just change it … think about something or look at somethin' or go do somethin' you like to do or act like you're Miss Princess and go on, okay?
(If the world is populated by –)
Infants.
(Infants with –)
Technical educations.
(Technical educations –)
And grown bodies.
(And grown bodies, do I treat them like that, too – like an infant?)
You can treat me the way you like, honey. I always treat infants with care and tender loving care or they start cryin’. Now I don't like to be around crying. I find if you treat them just so-so, they smile and they coo ... and just do fine. (laughter) How would you treat an infant …
(Well, that's what I –)
… that you didn't want to cry?
(I meant that…I got that.)
And have a fit and fall on the floor and roll up in a ball and stick its thumb in its mouth and wet and all these things – so you treat them very nicely, don't you? You keep 'em smiling and laughing and keep 'em distracted and so forth – that's the only way to do it.
(Treat them as Christ playing the role of an infant.)
Of an infant with a grown body, yes.
(Yeah, I can understand that.) (That's a role they play.)
(Is it… would you explain that again? I missed that and I don't understand it.)
Which one?
(Christ as an infant – playing the role of something?) (Of an infant.)
As you're going down the street – now that's one discussion we had the other day – that was fully complete in itself also and you really didn't need this one. You wasn't here – you probably had gone somewheres, you was out. The bod may have been here, but Joan wasn't. We talked about that one way; we talked about we could see things anyway we wanted and the way we choose to see is about how we experience, okay? And that one way of seeing things was to see everyone you saw as Christ playing the role of whatever it is they're playin’. So you could see Christ playin’ the role of a drunk. You could see Christ playin' the role of a mugger. You could see Christ playin’ the role of a pompous businessman. You could see Christ playin’ the role of an infant with a grown body. And as long as you see them for that, it's surprising how quick the role changes because most actors don't like to be recognized through their role. They want to think they're playin’ the role so perfect, nobody can discern it. Is that right, Robert? You want to play the role so perfect that nobody could discern it was not the role that was being acted out – that you're really the character that you're supposed to be portraying. Is that right?
(Yeah.)
Okay. In other words if I say you're just actin’ that, you are less than … you’re not as good an actor as you would be. If you were playing the Scrooge … durn it! … I want to see you Scrooge. I wanna hate you, okay? If you're playing Don Quixote, I want to think you are a poor, deluded creature. And if you only act like you're playing Don Quixote, you're not doin' it very well, right?
(Right.)
And all the things that you train people is so that I would really feel, in every ounce of my being, and recognize you as Don Quixote, all right? So if Christ plays the role of something, he wants to do it so well. And he is a Master, and what a Master means is that you can play a role so well and many of 'em, and so we meet him all over the place playin' a role, okay? I might even meet him in the role of playin' a dingy person or whatever, you know. And if I recognize him for what the role is, it gets along all right. So we said we, Russ and I, have been in some waterfront villages and stuff where people were pretty rough and so on; but as long as you go on smilin' and playing the role that there's Christ and you recognized him, you don't get hurt, okay?
(That means everybody's Christ?)
Yeah, playin' the role of somethin' or other.
(So – wait, I really don't understand this.)
Okay.
(So what happens when you see it as Christ – can you use somebody else besides Christ?)
Yeah, you can use anybody you want to. Moses.
(Okay, you see Christ playin' (she giggles) – you see Christ playin' the role of all these things. What that does is take away the strength of the thing that would –)
The role. You've seen through the role and it's surprising to see what happens. Don't ask me, try it once or twice, so have it Moses or whoever you want.
(Schweitzer.)
Who?
(Schweitzer.)
Oh I wouldn't want to bother with that jerk, but … (laughter)
(Well, he's in my experience; it’s easier for me to relate to Schweitzer than the Christ.)
Well sure … I said make it Moses. How about Abraham?
(I can't relate to Moses.)
You can't? How about Abraham?
(Un-uh.)
Okay, well, make it anybody you want to, make it Schweitzer if you want to.
(I heard somebody say they saw X playing the role of a policeman. Is that what –)
Yeah, that'd be the same difference. So … we just said a whole bunch of words put up there. You can say X playing the role of a bum if you want to or whatever. Okay that was just another session the other day. It's down here somewheres on somebody's tape or somethin' … I really... [silence] Hello, dear. Question? Take yours; she's had her share. (laughter)
(What is empathy?)
Empathy?
(Mm-hmm.)
You'll have to ask somebody who's had some; I never did have any. (laughter) Did you ever get any empathy? Where do you get it – at the grocery store or drug store?
(A feeling.)
A feeling. What kind of a feeling is it?
(Of feeling the other person's emotions – being able to actually feel the other person's emotions.)
Their emotions. He can have 'em. I don't want to feel my own much less somebody else's. I don't have any – why should I interrupt his? It's me being considerate of another person's possible state?
(Mm-hmm.)
Oh, I know what it is … okay … how's that … be considerate of the other instead of being considerate of yourself, okay? Judy?
(Could you talk a little bit about the history of the Teachings?)
I don't know anything about it.
(Yeah.)
It's been around as far as I can find traces of it in all kinds of ancient books and everything. I don't know where it started. And it's been handed down many lines that I didn't know anything about. So I really wouldn't know how to answer the question. Say it's been around and we don't need to fret about it. It's been around for longer than, as long as humanity's been here. How's that? Maybe they brought it over on a flying saucer from some other planet. You see, I really don't know. They got books out says that's how life got on this planet. And I went and asked the writer how it got on that planet where they came from. He didn't like the question so I quit. I don't know where it started, Judy. I have no way of knowing – sincere, honest, I do not know. I never even wondered about it myself.
(Not even once?)
Maybe Adam started it. I don't know. And I don't know whether there was ever an Adam and Eve. But whatever it was, it's been around a long, long, long time. It has many references to it in things like the Sphinx and so forth and it's all over the place, so it must have been around a long time. Huh?
(A what?)
A Sphinx.
(Oh, the Sphinx.)
Yeah, that little thing sittin' over there guardin’ the pyramids. So I don't know, Judy – I'm not being coy or anything of the sort, okay? Questions, comments? Anybody got a contribution to make, get up and make it. Yes, sir?
(Along the line due to this thing that I brought up this morning – I don't know why. Fairies – there's a whole lot on little people as such.)
Yeah.
(In some ways I could see them – maybe they're not-I's; but in other ways they could be teachings.)
You can make anything out of a symbol you want to. And did you live in Ireland or England?
(In England.)
The Ireland is the one that had the little people.
(Has the little people, yeah. We have fairies.)
You have fairies.
(Yeah.) (We have em' here, too.) (laughter) (That's funny.)
Yes, Robin?
(Someone sent me this suggestion that if you are not active with taking a class (like we take awareness classes once a week) you're not actively practicing the Teachings.)
(Well I never heard that.) (Where'd you hear that one?)
Who laid that one on you, sweetie?
(You really want to know?)
Well, no. (laughter)
(Someone sent me that suggestion and I wanted to see how accurate –)
Well I don't believe I'd pay much attention. You see I can't keep anybody from making a statement. But only I can make a suggestion out of it, honey.
(Oh, thank you.)
I cannot prevent anyone from making a statement. But only if I think I should do that, or not do that, or it upsets me, or somethin' else, I'm the only one that can make a suggestion out of it. Is that right?
(That's right, yes.)
So all you heard was a statement, dear Robin, and that's all the value it has is a statement, okay?
(Thank you.)
You're welcome, beautiful lady. All you ever hear is statements. And don't take statements very seriously will you please, honey?
(Yeah, I won't.)
They're not even worth contending.
(All right.)
Only I can make a suggestion out of it and I have to have the urge to do the "right" thing or I won't make one out of it.
(Oh, yeah.)
Okay and you don't always want to do the "right" thing, honey. Then you only … then you only hear statements, do you see? But if you want to always do the "right" thing, then the person makes a statement, you turn it into a suggestion, honey, and have to live by it. Do you see? Huh? So you see I'm never trying to do the "right" thing. So people just make statements around me and I can go merrily on my way – they just fall off like water off a ducky's back, okay? No, you don't have to be under any class or anything else as long as you're relatively aware of a few ideas. And I said just one, for instance, huh? And you're livin' in the world with other people, you're bound to be in a school situation, okay? Okay, dear one?
Yes – you just stretchin' or did you have your hand up?
(Yeah, I'm just stretching.)
Okay, stretch one for me, honey, and then I'll stretch for you after awhile. (laughter)
(Okay.)
Best exercise in the world is one good stretch a day.
(It is!)
Move every muscle and every joint in the body at least once a day with one good stretch. Any other exercise beyond that looks weird.
(The cat always practices that, doesn’t he?)
Huh?
(The cat always practices that.)
You'd better believe it and he always feels disgustingly well. Hello, Virginia.
(Hello.)
Any more questions or does that pretty well cover the situation. Yes, Terri?
(I’m a little confused. How's an agreement tied in with expectation?)
Well, unless you agree it's true. I don't talk about agreements very much. That belongs up north.
(What do you mean it belongs up north? Is that a joke I didn't get?)
Well, sometimes I make a joke and nobody heard it. Nobody was home. An agreement is possibly what you agree with yourself or expect. If you agree that everybody (you could use this term) that if everything that I do is based on an agreement, that it will be true with me. But I think the word that you're trying to use is related to a different thing. How are you using the word agreement, honey?
(I was relating it in a situation between two people.)
Oh, no. No. Two people sign a contract. You know, like partnerships and marriage contracts and all those things. They have made an agreement. Usually most of 'em don't understand all the expectation the other person puts in the agreement though, do they? In other words you can sign an agreement: “I'm gonna love, honor, obey, and cherish in sickness and in health,” but you didn't put all those little things like “remember all the birthdays, and be sure and call me every night you're not at home, kiss me goodnight, and tell me what a wonderful day you've given me,” and all that wasn't put in there. So the agreements are usually half, you know; people used to try to say somethin’s cut in half, you know. Agreements are very seldom very completed. And then most of 'em forget it because “A” may have made the agreement, “B” forgets all about it or “B” made the agreement, and “A” never heard of it. That's the main reason they don't work you see. And so any agreement to have any validity is supposed to be written down, witnessed, and filed at the courthouse. And then we hire a lawyer to defend my side of it. (laughter) Right quick! ‘Cause then it's not gonna be kept all the way cause “B” signed an agreement and “A” said, “Grrr!” (laughter) Right quick. I know a certain group of people who are very concerned with agreements and they're always telling the other one, "You didn't keep your agreement."
(Yeah. That's true.)
I didn't hear of it but I said I'm unacquainted – I'm off all about the country and they don't have that stuff around there. But I've heard that some of those lingos came from up the way. Okay, that's what they're into. Well, that's all right, but probably lots of folks. The attorney business was very concerned with agreements. Otherwise there would be no lawsuits and there is a backlog of 'em for years out in front, all the time 'cause people sign agreements and then they each … then they can't agree on what they agreed on you see. That's the funny part. More questions, comments?
(How do you feel about, like, erasing personal history?)
A what?
(Like getting rid of – like background. A couple of days ago somebody asked about your background or what you've done or background of the Teachings; and you said that was like in the past. It's like history.)
His story.
(His story. Is that necessary to like to be able to reach a certain point? I don't know, Carlos Castaneda has written about erasing personal history and I –)
Yeah, I read about that.
(And I just wondered –)
I read it. I haven't had a feeling one about it.
(Oh damn.) (laughter)
You see that was another statement, and I just got through talkin' to beautiful Robin about statements. Do I have to go over it again for you or was you here when I talked to her about it?
(I was here, thank you. I thank you so much for asking questions like that.)
So I heard the statement. I read the statement, hmm?
(Mm-hmm.)
But I'm not trying to do the right thing and so therefore I didn't even have to consider the statement. So now if I was gonna do the right thing and be some paragon, then I would have to do the right thing and go back and try to get rid of my personal history, wouldn't I?
(No, I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean it as being the right thing. I just wondered –)
Well I wouldn't even wonder about statements that I hear that I'm not concerned with, you see. 'Cause I'm not trying to do the 'right' thing so I can read a statement and it just has no effect on me – it’s just a statement. You can answer that question.
(Did you mean that for your own sake you'd feel good if you could wipe out your history?)
No, she just read it in a book and wondered if you should really take it serious and go do it. It'd be one more, long trip she'd have to take 'cause she's gotten rid of a lot of things she read about. She heard a statement and wants to do the right thing; and you'd be surprised how many courses she's had to take. (laughter)
(To do the right thing.)
Most anybody'd be surprised, wouldn't they, Barbara?
(laughter) (Of course!)
So you see she could just leave a statement layin' around like you do an old stake or a used matchbook or somethin' you see on the streets. You see a statement to me is just like walkin' down the street and seein' a paper match just been used layin' in the sidewalk. I don't even kick it out of the way.
(Thank you.)
You're welcome – it’ll save you a lot of money and a lot of nights of bein’ away from home.
(Bob? If you pay any attention to your personal history, you're not living in the moment are you?)
That's for sure. But who cares? I don't know whether it's a history unless I stop and tell somebody and I'll tell it different this time than it was last time anyway – it's a creative act that way. (laughter)
(You don't erase it?)
So anybody ask you about your past history, give 'em one! And you're being creative in the moment, and inventing you a past, is that right? I've got dozens of 'em – all of which have been discarded. So if somebody asks me tomorrow, I'll give 'em another one – create one on the spot. (laughter) You know, I'm gettin' pretty good at it. [pause] Hello, Barbara.
(Hello.)
Did you ever hear just a statement and leave it layin' there?
(It's real hard for me to do – I usually pick it up and take it apart and –)
... and see if it's gonna make you what you ought to be and etc., and does it apply to you, and you want to do the right thing, and you'll put it on there and fiddle with it for a while. Well, if you're not tryin' to do the right thing, just leave it layin' around like old, used cigarette packs and broken soda straws and all these things you see blowin' around on parking lots, okay?
(Mm-hmm.)
Just leave it. Yes, Judy?
(Do you know Carlos Castaneda? There's a rumor going around that Carlos came to the classes or that you worked with him.)
You can catch a rumor anywheres, but if you just sit, there's a lot of statements out floatin' around – don't bother with 'em. It's just a statement honey.
(Have you read his book?)
No, they were my books because I bought and paid for 'em. (laughter)
(Have you read the books that he wrote?)
Ohhh, I glanced through them and …
(Do you have any feeling about it?)
As I said, I don't have a feeling one – it's just a bunch of statements and I'm not trying to do the right thing and be a Yuqui or anything of the sort. So… just statements. Statements are statements. I don't have anything about it nor thoughts nor interest and so forth – just statements. [he ends that line of questioning by turning to someone else and asking:] How's the kitty? Getting better now? [someone says something quietly] I'm gonna do that pretty soon. Hello. Okay?
(Are we having class tomorrow?)
In the mornin’ at 10:30.
(In the afternoon also or just morning.)
Well, we'll figure out the afternoon after we do the morning, okay?
(Okay.)
Hello.
(Hello.)
Russ said he had a lot of things to do today so we got to get the show on the road, okay? (laughter) [Bob starts writing on the blackboard] So I will write up here something that you'll remember that I is you talkin'… It fell off…[referring to something that fell off the board]… to all. They said they were gonna buy an eraser before we come back next time.
(Lots of group conversation while Bob is writing on the blackboard.)
So it says here that I experience according to that which I hold to be true. [Bob still writing on the blackboard] Now, anytime you want to check out things, you can see what you're experiencing and that is according to what you hold to be true. Now we get our ideas of what is true (many of 'em from not-I's which we've been through a few times to know how they operate) and the biggest problem, the biggest attribute of a not-I is it attempts to destroy your confidence that you can do something.
(Yeah.)
[Bob still writing on the blackboard] The most favorite occupation of a not-I is to destroy my (which is any of us talkin') confidence. Now if you have confidence, you can do anything, you proceed to do it. Now without confidence, we are in severe bondage of some sort or other – doesn't matter what it is. Somebody comes along and says that they want to gain weight and they can't do it because they have no confidence they can, hmm? They're sure that it simply cannot be done. Is that right?
(Mm-hmm.) (Favorite occupation of a not-I?)
Huh?
(I'm starting late. The favorite occupation of a not-I is to destroy my confidence – just want to identify.)
And that is it's favorite job, is it not? So now confidence and freedom are hooked up together.
(she gasps) (They sure are!)
Huh?
(They sure are.)
Now exactly to my degree of confidence do I experience freedom. Now if I'm quite confident that I'm the luckiest guy in the world, then I experience according to being the luckiest guy in the world, right? And I have utter freedom to move about and do anything. Now if I have confidence that I can do a whole bunch of things, but if there's a bunch of others that of course I'm not capable of doing (cause a not-I told me I couldn't, huh?) then what happens on those others there?
(Nothing.)
Now I've even been along the way that I would feel confident as long as I stayed away from everybody I ever knew. (laughter) You see that's why I stay in the west and the south. All the people I knew live over on the east somewheres and they all taught me from the time I was a little kid, “You can't do that; you don't know how; you're makin’ a fool out of yourself. Why do you go off on wild sprees like that for?” You know I'm kind of prone to do things unexpectedly because I live by whims. That's a terrible way to do it but that's the way I get along, okay – it's all right with me. So if I have a whim to go to Timbuktu in the mornin', I will probably depart. But as long as I was around all those folks, which told me all my limitations… so for a while I'd get away from them. Now then, I've outlived them – they all died so now I can go anywheres again, you see. But for a while, I was a decided limitation that I can stay away from those folks 'cause they continually hammered it in that I was limited, that I wasn't using the best intelligence because I would quit one occupation that was doin' real well and go start off on somethin’ else that didn't make sense and etc. Did you ever have anybody that would holler at you like that, Neal?
(Mm-hmm.)
Mm-hmm. Try quittin' you're whole profession and take off and do something else and see what they say, okay? After all you've done all this and got it goin'. So confidence is something I have when I – shall we simply say, I know I can do that. Now there's only one way that I know that I can find that out is just start doin' it. It's like that teacher I had I told you about. Somebody asked me who my teacher was the other day. Were you all here when I told you about that or some of you arrived since then? My teacher was a jackass. And one day I was sittin' on a creek bank fishin' and the jackass come down out of the field, a hot August day in Kentucky, and he evidently wanted a drink. But when he get up to the water and he looked in and could see his reflection and he was so horrible lookin', he run off screamin' and brayin'. And he did this about three or four times and finally the sense of thirst so overcame him, he come jumped in the water and he got him a drink. And by that time, it had stirred it up and he couldn't see himself. So if we just go hop in, no matter what it is, but most of us want to have permission. Did you ever think you should go to school some more and get some more degrees so you'd have permission to go do something that most anybody can do?
(Yes.)
I've talked to a lot of peoples become professional school boys and girls because they can keep on goin' waitin' for somebody to give 'em permission to do something; but when they get done, they still don't feel quite confident, so we dream up another little degree or something or other we should get. Did you ever do that?
(Yes.)
When you got so you could make these extravaganza (unclear) did you just go right out there and do it or did you need some more courses and permission?
(Well, that's the one I expect where I went and just went and did it.)
You just went and did it …
(I have no problem –)
And you did quite all right on it, huh? Well good, nobody gave you permission, but you. And you have what, that you could do it?
(Uh-huh.)
Huh?
(Confidence.)
And it works out fine, and you had freedom to go down and get the job; but most of the things you don't have quite that much freedom. Huh?
(That's right.)
Huh?
(That's right.)
You have to have somebody to give you permission.
(Uh-huh.)
Now confidence is what we usually attempt to sell to people.
(Love it.)
I'm always trying to sell it so I'm frequently called a con artist, which means a confident… an artist in building confidence.
(Hmm.)
Hmm! That's right. Now the only thing that you're going to experience is according to what you hold to be true. Now if you hold it to be true that you are incapable that you, poor little Debbie, just couldn't do it, hmm, right?
(Right.)
There's no way you're gonna get it done, is that correct? But if you know that you can be in charge and go out and do anything – you do all right. Now I've met people that had great confidence for a long time and some little somethin' happened and they had a business reversal or they had a divorce or something and they suddenly decide they are failures. Now if I hold it to be true that I'm a failure, how will I accomplish anything? Can you tell me that?
(You probably won't.) (By accident.)
What do you mean probably?
(By accident.)
Oh, if I did I'd get up and brush it off. Wouldn't you? It just doesn't hold. You cannot experience except according to your confidence to what you hold to be true. Now it is very interesting to check up on what we hold to be true. See X takes care of all the “how”. We don't have to figure that out – I only see “what” and as long as I'm seeing “what” – that I'm a failure, that I am an unfortunate person or that I'm lonely or that I'm in some kind of a bondage – there's nothing else I can experience, is there? Hello, Chris.
(Hi.)
Whatever one holds to be true is the way one experiences. So what do you hold to be true, dear? It's very easy to check out – we can see what you're experiencing. And that is one of the fastest tricks into knowing what the so-called subconscious and conscious and everything holds to be true. Because whether you are aware of it or not – whether it was something you accepted as being true when you were a little, itty-bitty baby, or whether you made it last week – either one of 'em is gonna be what you experience, huh? Now, have you changed yours somewhere along the way from a very confident person who could go out and entertain other people and a singer and so forth into one who could only do very few little things, is that right?
(Right.)
Miss Jeanette showed me a picture of a lady (whose name was Jeanette also) that was only made just a very short time ago relatively speaking, right? And she was a most lovely exotic beautiful lady who was a singer, is that right? Okay. Huh?
(Yes.)
What happened to her?
(She lost her confidence.)
And you see we frequently say somebody lost their way. They may be a super intelligent, high-performance individual, but for some little insignificant something, they stumped their toe somewheres and they lost their confidence. And then, of course, nothing will work for that person. Now, of course, we have a tremendous number of concepts runnin' around these days that everybody is a member of some minority, practically, except a WASP (and I think they're gettin' to be a minority.) White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants are gettin' to be a minority or soon will be. They're already startin' it that they are carrying the burden. So us burden bearers are gonna get it pretty soon. So you convince a person that they're a member of a minority, do you take their confidence away from 'em? You tell 'em how unfortunate they are. You told me one time you worked in Chicago for the Department of… somethin' or other, huh?
(Welfare.)
Welfare. And had all the people that came to you were without confidence practically and most of 'em because they had been labeled as a minority.
(Well, they were confident in the area of getting welfare.)
Well no, but before they could be there, they had to be incapable of earning existence, that they were unfortunate in some way or other that they couldn't get a job or couldn't go do any kind of work because they were a minority. Isn't that pretty close to it, where most of your … what do you call 'em, clients?
(Mm-hmm.)
Most of your clients were a minority, is that correct or not?
(Oh sure.)
Yes, sir.
(Is this the major tool that the four big games use to get control?)
Sure. They get everybody's confidence taken away and then you got to depend on the great games, is that right? How else could you get 'em if they all had confidence? They'd laugh at 'em! Do you see that?
(Is confidence a general thing or can you have confidence in one area?)
Oh you can have confidence in one and total loss in all the others. You might have confidence that you're the greatest real estate dealer in town, hmm?
(Mm-hmm.)
But in a little few other areas, you might be totally devoid of confidence, right? So it's not just a general thing. Of course the more you develop it in one area, the more apt you are to catch on to how to get it going in others. Of course, you know if you were the one without confidence and somebody else comes along with it, you don't call it confidence usually, you call it being a smart ass, you know, hmm? Is that right?
(It's you especially.) (laughter)
Huh?
(Yeah.)
That right? So then you see that really what is confidence is the ability to move forward without having somebody tell you it's all right to do so. Now there is certain areas that we all feel more confident than others, is that correct? You feel confident in makin' hats, exotic hats. How about just plain old ordinary everyday hats? Can't do that, okay?
(That's true.) (she laughs)
You couldn't make one that's just a lady wears to go to a … downtown or to a party or somethin'. It has to be a theatrical one before you are free to do it, is that right? Isn't that funny?
(Yes.)
So you have great confidence to make a make-believe hat but how about a for real? Huh? It has to be make-believe, okay? And Robin, you can do about anything, can't you?
(Sure.)
Miss Robin is broke out with confidence and thank goodness! Don't ever lose it – if you do, immediately run up a flag and we'll all come help find it. There's a story told about a person who had 10 gold pieces which would be confidence in ten different areas. And it says that one night she lost one of the gold pieces, and so she stayed up all night and swept the floor, called in the neighbors and everything, and she diligently searched 'til she found the gold piece. Then she rejoiced again. So you have something that you have lost that is of value, you go look for it don't you, Barbara?
(Yes.)
Okay, so the only thing that we ever really lose that is of great value – is more valuable than Krugerrands or any other pieces of gold – is confidence. Because if you have the confidence, you can go get anything, anytime. I know a bunch of guys that I used to work with that were so full of confidence, they said you could take em' and take all their money, everything except the clothes they had on, put 'em in an airplane and drop 'em off in a city they knew no one and before night they'd be makin' money. And that's right. 'Cause they were so full of confidence on that one department anyway, that they could make money, that they would do it. They would go find somethin' that somebody wanted sold and they'd go sell it for 'em for a “commissh”, and they'd be makin' money before the sun went down any night in the week. And they didn't have to have a thing in the world with 'em, not even their billfold – and no money or anything else. That takes what? Confidence.
(Several say it together:) (Confidence!)
Okay? And most all of us have some. Yes, Russ?
(That also runs along with experience. How do the two run hand in hand?)
Well, you can feel more confidence if you have experience; but you have to have some to ever get the first experience, you know.
(That's right.)
Right. In other words, the first time you got on that sailboat or some other one, you didn't know anything about sailing.
(That's right.)
But you were a cocky old guy and just got out there and took off, hmm? Now you have more experience, which makes it a little easier to be cocky. Maybe you're not quite as cocky now you know more what you're doin'. But at first you got by, right?
(That's right, like the jackass.)
Right, he jumped right in and went on. Now without having the jackass for a teacher that just goes, hops in, what would you been doin’? Still reading books on sailing, buying sailing magazines and etc., and talkin' about it and you'd a’ been a drug store sailor, a coffee shop sailor. I know a lot of drug store and coffee shop (not drug stores anymore; nobody hardly goes to them) but I know an awful lot of coffee shop financiers. Do you? In fact I have spent considerable time with coffee shop financiers; and I found it's the best way in the world to go broke 'cause you don't make any money while you're sittin' there makin' those millions in coffee shops. So I avoid coffee shop financiers pretty well. I used to spend time with 'em and listen, but I just made my little notes and went on. I severed those valuable connections as soon as possible. Yes, sir?
(So the donkey became thirsty and the other was realization.)
Right. And he realized that he could do it. And there's nobody goin' to do anything – and he wasn't going to be frightened by a little reflection in the water.
('Cause he was thirsty.)
Right, he wasn't gonna be frightened by an illusion. So first you got to get your necessity increased, you know, in order to get around to being confident. And it used to be in this country that we could get our necessity increased fairly easy – we'd get hungry. But now we have this department that the little lady worked for and they wouldn't hardly allow you to get your necessity increased very much, is that right? 'Course I still am in most places, so I get my necessity increased very rapidly. About the last day of last month, I suddenly realized my necessity was increased and I went to work and so I had enough money to come out here on. Without having my necessity increased a little bit, I wouldn't of even had it, you know. It's all tied up here, yon and elsewhere and I didn't have any money to spend. So my necessity was increased to go to work 'cause I don't go in debt. That's one I just flat admit. Now X always does the appropriate thing for what you hold to be true. Now, nobody can prove what's true. We can see a few facts around, but we can't prove or demonstrate to anyone what is true universally. But we're demonstrating every minute what I hold to be true. Now we all … you know people go out and look for “great universal truth”. So they turn over lots of rocks and push over old stumps and they find a lot of wiggly things and such forth, but they don't find any truth. So you have to make it. And what you make to be true is what you hold to be true, is that right Jeanette?
(Right.)
Now what do you hold to be true? Give me a few little quick for instances.
(Well, it's supposed to be true that I can't lose weight.)
That you can't lose weight. So tell me the case history of that one since you’ve held that to be true.
(Case history?)
Yeah, tell how you haven't been able to lose weight since you held it to be true to lose weight, is that right?
(That's right.)
Gary, did you ever hold it to be true that you was fat?
(No.)
No. Well, I tried to give a demonstration because there was two or three people this week tellin' me that they're … couldn't lose weight, okay? Now I have worked all week and I've eaten like everybody else. And if I don't get out of here I'm gonna lose my pants. See? [He pulls his waistband out, with plenty to spare] There's room for two or three other people in there. And that's all been done this week without any effort or intention to so do. I just knew it would fall off whenever I want it to. And I really don't want it off because I'd have to go have my clothes altered, so I'm gonna put it back on next week. I like to weigh 185. Now I didn't have to do anything to do that except I was fully confident that I could demonstrate to you and several other people around here that your clothes practically fall off of you in a week, okay?
(laughter) (All right!)
But you don't believe that, do you? You are not confident you can do it. One little not-I jumps up and says, "Yeah, he can do that, but I can't!" (laughter)
(Did you hear him?) (laughter)
So, yeah. A little not-I says, "You can't have any confidence in that because I'm not going to let you have it." But do you have to believe all those little crazy things that runs around? Those are just little wiggly things under rocks and if you stay down there with 'em and let them be your instructors, they're gonna tell you what they hold to be true all things which will only do what? Lead to your bondage, right? And keep you from being confident. Do you listen to those? Now somebody was talkin’ to you yesterday said there was just a statement you heard. Now you don't have to hold all statements to be true. End of CD 26; End of Workshop.
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