Excerpts - Allergies

From Tuesday Night Talks
Associations

[brackets for clarification]

I have requests of things to talk about. One is associations. So we will talk about associations. The associations we're talking about are on the inside. It's a very common thing to occur that associations set off a whole series of feelings, or sometimes a set of ideas.

So something comes along that is about to remind me of a person, a place, a situation or a circumstance. Something is about to remind me.

Now frequently a person has decided sometime in life, "I'm just not going to think about that anymore." When you were a little kid and came in crying about something, why Mama's liable to tell you, "Well, just forget it." That's sounded like a good deal--just forget it--don't think about it anymore.

So the person decides that's the best thing to do, "I won't think about it any more." But it so happens in this world that something similar is always happening around us and is about to remind us of something. And if you have decided not to think about it; for sure, you will have a violent feeling because you are about to do something you vowed not to do.

Very frequently this is the source of what's called allergies. I had a red-headed school teacher that was very grumpy. She was about so wide and about so tall and she looked, to me, like a monster. Now every time I see a big red-headed woman, I think of Miss Ruggles. That was her name. I think of that "old biddie" every time! I do it until this day, and that's been several decades ago that I had a grade-school teacher; nevertheless, that was the case.

Now suppose I had decided to never think about Miss Ruggles--because she was rather unpleasant to me to say the least. I see someone who resembles Mrs. Ruggles every few days. So something about the woman I am currently seeing is about to remind me of that old gal. Now if I had decided never to think about her and wasn't free to think of her, I would have a violent reaction. So I could have gone through life as an asthmatic, or having hay fever, or breaking out in rashes or all sorts of strange things happening because I was not going to think about her.

So that is one of the most dangerous conclusions we ever came to. It is based on the forth family of not 'i's within a person that says "Believe and do as you're told by your authorities" [often one's childhood influences like parents, teachers, friends, etc…….Marsha]. So they told you to forget about it--don't think about it-assuming that, of course it won't bother you any more. [but it does]. It just so happens that it will continue bother you and set forth difficulties in your everyday life.

I had a lady come in one time who was blind, and practically deaf and looked like an old old lady even though she was about 26 or 27 years old. After getting some things "that she decided never to think about" out; she came the next morning and I didn't know her. Truthfully she had recuperated enough in fifteen hours that I did not recognize her. I'm pretty good at recognizing faces. I may forget the names, but I'll know I've seen the one in front of me, and I'll get by using some kind of word to designate them. But I honestly did not know this woman when she returned.

So she introduced herself to me again. She said she had decided not to think about this thing ever again; but she'd never thought of anything else. Now that was her expression, and she was probably right. So it had made a living physical and emotional wreck out of her; but when she could freely think about it, it didn't matter anymore--so what!

So a very dangerous conclusion to come to is "I'm not going to think about it because it was unpleasant." Now really it doesn't hurt us to think about anything--so what.

Say that you had made the decision not to think about something, and you were unaware of what it was reminding you of. So here comes along something that is about to remind you of an unpleasant situation somewhere, an unpleasant person, or whatever.

For instance I worked with a young man who had hay fever something horrible. Every time he came near bermuda grass, the hay fever would start up. One time when he was very young, another kid beat him up in the bermuda grass. The kid had him face down in the bermuda grass while he was pounding on him. He was crying and carrying on--so now every time he came close to bermuda grass, it was about to remind him of being beaten up. Now when he was currently near Bermuda grass he was terribly uncomfortable, but he consciously didn't recall it; so he wound up with crying. Only as an adult, he called it hay fever--your eyes pour down tears, your nose stops up and you feel terrible and all this kind of stuff. So when we got it all out, he discovered that from then on that being near bermuda grass doesn't mean he was being beaten up with his face shoved in the bermuda grass; and he never had hay fever any more.

Now we don't necessarily get into those extremes; but we do meet situations from time to time that is about to remind us of something that was unpleasant sometime in the past. We're going along all happy and suddenly we feel real sad, anxious, angry, guilty or some other unpleasant emotion. When such a thing occurs and you come up with a sudden feeling. and you don't know where it came from; it is interesting to present oneself with a question.
"What does this remind me of."

Now it won't work with an invalid question to the mind, such as "Why did this happen?" But if you ask, "What does this remind me of," [with a quiet mind] you will very quickly recall it; and then you can go on conscious of this kind of thing about to remind you of this unpleasant situation, and you won't need the allergy anymore.

Here also a copy of "Now is Then" which is akin to allergies. My teacher used this procedure to change the information that was transmitted in his head.

Now is Then

One time I unknowingly ate a piece of tainted pie. Along with the pie I drank a cup of coffee. Before morning I had considerable physical difficulty, and that difficulty went on for many hours.

After the acute stage was over, I couldn't stand the smell of coffee. [There was an "association" set up between the experience with the tainted pie and the coffee being consumed together]

I would drive down the street and smell coffee in people's homes--I'd never done such before, but it kept happening. If I walked into a hotel--it was overpowering--the coffee from back there somewhere gave me horrible nausea!

Another thing that went on while I was still in that [acute physical state] was that I was to take a state board exam in New Mexico--and so I went to take the exam. I sat at the table and here's the monitor of the exam--a lady with her coffeepot perking away right next to me. I spent more time in the wash room than I did writing the exam.

I did pass the exam, but at great agony, I will assure you! I made frequent detours. Test takers couldn't leave until the paper was handed in. I had my "necessity" increased/! That paper was handed in in a hurry and correct--but with agony.

So finally one day I decided I didn't want to live that way. I did like my coffee. [He decided to do an experiment to put a barrier between the "now is then" association which was creating nausea every time he was around coffee.]

I sat with a cup of coffee and a little teaspoon. I would take a half a teaspoon full of coffee and tell myself that "now wasn't then." It took three hours of that [procedure] before I got any "action" to understand that "now wasn't then."

Since then, I haven't smelled coffee in people's homes [with the result of nausea].