Workshop - Rhondell in California - 1993

(Audience participation is in parenthesis.)

[Because the beginning of the tape was detached, I lost a few words at the beginning—but I want to preserve it.  He was saying that he has condensed the teaching into just a few minutes.]

Here we go:

The point is we want to do it quick and easy and say: " I’m not going to make anything important and I’m going to keep my mood up—that’s it!" 

I’m not going to make anything important and I’m going to keep my mood up.  Then you have everything all in one sentence and get it over with, ok?

(My life is in pieces.)

Don’t make it important, it’ll get back together some time—why make it important, ok?

So we will first start of and put down some things that we ordinarily make important.  And we’ve been making them important all our lives and probably will keep on. 

(Laughter)

So let’s get it down.  First thing you make important is how you want to be every day.  So you want to have pleasure and comfort, and you want to escape pain.  Well, that’s fine, all right, if you just don’t have to make it important—you can do it.  Simple enough, isn’t it?  I don’t like pain, do you?

(I don’t know.)

Did you ever any?  We want to have attention.  We want to escape being ignored.  We want to have approval and escape being disapproved of; and we like to feel important.  And we want to escape the feeling of inferiority.

Now those are common essentials that we want—everybody wants those—don’t you?  But they don’t have to be important—that’s it. 

(Once you realize that, you’re out of prison.)

Yep! That’s right.  So now we have decided that we have several ways to get this and we use infantile methods.  It’s what you came up with when you were an hour old—something like that—maybe less. We decided that it’s important to have my way right now and the way to get it is to complain.  Now we’ve been complaining most of our days—here and there—ok?  Has it every stopped anything for you—not a bit in the world.  It’s still going on.  So complaining is the way the infant decided to get it.  It cries.  And incidentally it worked fairly well for the infant. 

Somebody picked it up and made it as comfortable as possible.  So the baby decided that this is the way to do it.  And we’re still doing it.  Now if I wanted to have you demonstrate how much you’re still doing it, I would have everybody hold up their hand that’s complained in the last 24 hours.  (Laughter)

(Twice.)

Well, you could say 10 times if you wanted to, but at least once in the last 24 hours.  Now we’re still living by the infant decision that it’s important to have my way right now and the way to get it is to COMPLAIN.  And I do “hardly” every year?  (Laughter)  Now that’s something we make important is to complain.  Now if you don’t complain, well, this is a little incident here—I got a pain here in my elbow or in my finger or in my head or somewheres—it’ll be gone in a little while and all your complaining only makes it longer—it only keeps it there longer.  It goes away a lot quicker if you don’t complain.

And of course, we decided on another one.  It’s important to stick up for my rights—whatever they may be.  It’s important to stick up for my rights and the way to get it is to show ‘em.  I’ll show ‘em.  It is important to stick up for my rights, and the way to get it is to fuss—simple and easy—and make a big noise—get angry at everybody.

(That’s like complaining.)

Well, that’s complaining very loudly—viciously—I’ll bop you in the jaw if you don’t get up and do it my way. Now we’re all doing that—we’re getting aggravated at people—right?  And it doesn’t help a bit.  We’re still sticking up for our rights after 20 years, 30 years, it doesn’t make any difference.  So we’re still living by the infant decisions.

What rights do you have anyway? You arrived in this world about like the rest of us—broke—helpless—naked—toothless—totally incapable of looking after yourself.  You had to have somebody look after you morning, noon and night—that right?  What kind of rights do you have?  It looks to me like you’re an intruder, huh?  But we assume we have all these rights and we put them on more every year. Do you have any rights in this world?

(Yes.)

Tell me one of them. 

(To have an opinion.)

Have an opinion—as long as you keep it to yourself.  (Laughter)  Don’t go sounding it off because you don’t have that right to sound it off, do you?

(No I don’t.)

So if you keep quiet, you can have an opinion all you want; but don’t say anything about it. 

So after the folks got tired of listening to you complain and stick up for your rights, they begin to discipline you a little bit.  In other words, they began to housebreak you, and that was uncomfortable for the child. So the child put up with the discipline and over a period of time, it decided it is “important to please them”. 

So here’s where conflict began.  Do I want to stick up for my rights and get angry or do I want to happily go along and say, “Yes, Mama.”, “Yes, Daddy.” and do it their way.  So that brought about a split in the personality and you have two here on the A side and one here on the B side.  Now you have a big decision.  Do you please them and forego your own inclination to stick up for your rights and complain or do you let them have their way.  Or do you stick up for your rights and get noise from the folks. 

So that went along as it does and then they took you down and showed you all the “authorities” they’re called.  They’re really officials; but they’re calling them “authorities”—the school teacher, the policeman—the sheriff—the preacher and all these other people that tell you what you “ought to do”.  So you decide one day, it’s important to believe and do as I’m told by my authorities.  I don’t like that, do you?

(No.)

But you do it all the time, is that right?  You believe and do what you’re told by your authorities—you may complain about it, but you go ahead and do it.  Believe and do what I am told by my authorities.  That’s what’s important.  If you just did all of that, you wouldn’t live very well, but you would have peace and quiet—I’m told.  But I think you’d be a mess.  I’ve watched a few people who believe and do as they are told by authorities and they’re usually pretty miserable folks.
And have you ever noticed that the “authorities” you’ve accepted don’t agree with each other either—so you have conflict within those.

Then when that didn’t work, and we decide that we can’t do this and we can’t do that; but what I can do is “improve myself” or “make myself over.”   Now I don’t know how you go about improving a human being, do you?  Would you put another head on him—a couple of extra arms—a couple of extra legs, or would they all be in the way.

(Probably.)

Probably be very much in the way, but it’s important to improve myself.  So people go to meetings and listen to “so called” authorities who tell them how to improve themselves.  Did you ever try that?  And again, those who give us “self improvement” techniques disagree so there’s further conflict.

(I’ve tried to self improve for years.)

It was miserable wasn’t it? You tried it didn’t you?

(Many years, and it still doesn’t work.)

Still doesn’t work—might work next week.  So let’s just quit making things important and we could drop all of this in one day. 

Now after we got that done, we still have another one over here.  We really considered it and thought about it and we decided we finally had the answer—if he, she, they and it were all different, it would be wonderful.  But they’re not different so I just go ahead and blame them morning, noon and night.  So we learned blaming. And did blaming every change anything?  Maybe for a short while, but I’ve noticed that more than likely it brings up either defense or blaming in the other person which leads to a big argument.

Now we got all that done by the time we were 6-years old, and we’ve been doing it ever since—blaming, complaining, sticking up for rights, trying to please everybody, trying to improve ourselves, trying to believe and do as we’re told by all the authorities in the world.  And what do we get?—conflict, confusion, worry, anxiety, all the things we get when we make things important.  Do you think any of those decisions work when you get them out and look at them?  They--the not I’s, the decisions—are about everything we live by.  That’s pretty much the problem.  We live by the not I’s morning, noon and night.  You still live by them?

(I think so.)

No, I don’t think so.  I know—100%.  But do you think any of them are essential when you looked at them.  Are they essential to you?  Have they brought you any non-disturbance?

(They don’t seem to help.)

And it doesn’t look like they’re going to after 40 years – hasn’t helped a lot.  So can we just drop it and say I’m not making anything important. 

And we said don’t make anything important and keep your mood up.  Right now let’s look at this whole simple thing of what we made important—we made it very important all these miserable years—aggravating with this and that—there’s just so many aggravations in the world.  They’re not, so many, there’s only a few.

Now I can get pleasure and comfort without complaining, sticking up for rights and all that kind of stuff.  I have a certain amount of attention—not 100%, but I get a little attention—sufficient for my needs. And I get enough approval—not 100%, but a few people say, “You look good.”
“You did this for me or that for me.” 

And I’m important to me.  I don’t know whether I’m important to anybody else, but I’m important to me, aren’t you?  And that’s enough.  Now a few other people seem to like me, so that’s all right.

So we got it down to where we see that we have everything we really need.  We have food clothing, shelter and transportation.  Can you tell me anything else you really need?  What else do you need?  Got enough?

(Yes.)

You’ve had that every day of your life since you got here whether you worried about it or not.

(Yes.)

So let’s have a few questions and comments on this kind of stuff and see what we come up that we really got to make important?

(Silence.)

Clear as mud.  Usually I get people tell me all kinds of reasons they can justify making things important.  You can always justify something for a few minutes. 

(How can you keep from falling back into the habit of sticking up for your rights and complaining?)

By practicing and seeing that it is completely stupid.  You don’t want to be that, do you?

(No.)

That’s what I thought.  In a few days you’ll get so you don’t even do it. When you see how funny it is, you quit doing it, ok? 

(What about money—that’s important?)

Is it?  Well, money’s what buys food, clothing, shelter and transportation isn’t it?  That’s all you can do with money—that’s all you can spend it for. 

(What about those in Kenya who <inaudible>?)

They didn’t want it.

(Why.)

They didn’t want to do the usual thing.  They wanted to complain and stick up for their rights and blame. They had everything; and they lived in Kenya, and they were sticking up for their rights—in short, they don’t work, ok? 

I ask one question every now and then, “What can I do, if anything?”  And a lot of things are on the far side of the earth; and I can’t do very much about it—so I don’t think about it.  It doesn’t do any good.  You can mourn all you want to about the poor Somalis and does it feed one of them?  Not a bit.

Now if it’s next door down here, I’ll do something about it.  I see somebody hungry, I’ll feed him.  Ok?

(<inaudible> positive.)

I don’t see that it’s important that they’re positive, do you? 

(No, but <inaudible>)

I think everything would have gotten along a lot better if they’d kept their mood up, ok?  Everything would have moved along a lot quicker and a lot better.  Try it the next time you have the problem.   If you keep your mood up and don’t make it important, I think it will get along a lot quicker than the time you made it important and got your mood all down, ok?

(What about companionship or a love interest in your life.)

Just go ahead and do it.  (Laughter)   Are you waiting for some ideal to come sweep you off your feet?  But if you just want somebody to love, you love somebody and they’ll reciprocate pretty well, ok?  Want to try that?  Try it.

(I know somebody.)

Ok, you’re doing fine then. 

(It seems to me that it’s really important.)

It’s not. It’s extremely interesting but it’s not important—very very interesting, but not important. 

(Thank you for reminding me.)

(We live in a world particularly to make a living--you’re expected to convey an attitude that everything is important or else you’re not considered a good employee.  It’s easy to get sucked in on it.)

Yep!  I guess I’m not an employee, but I make a living—I think—anyway I live.  Nobody has come up and questioned my attitude of feeling pretty nice all the time.  They really don’t—they don’t gritch at me because I have a good mood.  I think we just have a good mood, and they’ll put up with me.  You just made it important in a nice way, ok Ralph?  Don’t jump when they want you to be sad. 

Dixie, anybody want you to be sad or do they like you like you are, you’re a bubbling self.

(They want to be around me, but would they buy anything from me if my mood’s not up?)

They’d just ignore you.  So I guess that’s all right. 

(<inaudible> I got to a point now<inaudible> regarding the situation<inaudible> the health care system<inaudible>)

They seem to tell everybody that they’re not responsible, is that right?  Everybody says they’re not responsible. 

So, you try to tell people that they’re responsible for their own state of being; and let’s see how you get along next week.  You try to tell everybody that they’re responsible, ok?  Just tell them they have a little responsibility in this show too.  They just say, “Here I am, I’m sick so you take care of me.”  So they get all upset because they’re not taken care of adequately.  No matter how well they’re taken care of, they expect to be over it by night.  So tell them they have a little responsibility--keep their mood up and don’t make all this stuff important; and they’ll be out of the system before long. 

(What about people that try to bring you down to their grumpiness.)

Oh well, that’s just par for the course—everybody wants you to feel down—that way they’ll have company. (Laughter)

After all, it’s against their ideal or view of living—you’re supposed to be miserable—this is a veil of tears to struggle through and you can only be thankful that you die someday. (Laughter) 

(I know it, but why do I not do it?)

How come we don’t do it even though we know to do it?  Well, we forget and we fall back into our infantile behavior and conclusions and start acting that way.  All you have to do is keep at it for approximately two weeks and it will get to be pretty much a habit.  Then you can keep on doing it without all the effort.  But if you do it only one day for only 30 minutes, you go back to being down, and you’ll keep on being there.

(What do you do about obstacles?)

You walk around, go under or go over them.  They’re easy to walk around, go under or go over them, ok?  They’re called “second force”, and second force is not hereditary—it’s just there.  So you can go around them.  It’s a little resistance to make you stronger to go under, over or around them. 

(inaudible)

No, it’s because you got tired.  You work too much, so you go lay down.

(inaudible)

Oh some of them do, but they’re just used to it.  They don’t ignore it; they just complain about it and keep on.  Just take 30 minutes and lie down or be quiet for a little bit and you’ll regenerate enough to go.  And don’t try to do three days work in one.  It’s totally unnecessary.

(Would you talk about <inaudible> not I’s.  How do you get rid of them?)

Ignore them.  They’re just not I’s.  All the things that come up in your head and tell you how miserable you are, how you’re fatigued, and how you got to do this and do that—just ignore that stuff.  It’s just not ‘I’s.  They’re trying to make you miserable.  Don’t let them.  Don’t let them—keep them “headed off at the pass” for a few days and they’ll quit.  Tell them to go bother somebody else.  (Laughter)

(Bob I’ve noticed when I go to some place for the night that tends to be plagued by a lot of not ‘I’s, and I don’t go to sleep very well.)

Well, I’d put them out before you lay down.  When you lay down start putting all the not I’s out and looking at them.  Just say, “Goodbye!”  “Goodbye!”    “Goodbye!”

(How can you tell the difference between free to experience and wallowing in it?)

Well wallowing is enjoying it and free to experience it is just seeing it went by.   Don’t wallow in it, try to make it bigger.

(inaudible)

Oh yeah, so what.  Some of them you want to stay and talk with for a while and some you won’t.  Go on your way.  Take the ones you’re interested in and forget the others.

(<inaudible> not I’s telling you <inaudible> old not I’s<inaudible>)

Well, everything you hear right now is not I’s.  After you got those down, you might hear something worthwhile.  Goodbye boys—goodbye—goodbye—get lost.  They don’t say anything worthwhile.  Afterward you might hear something worthwhile. 

           (Tape 2)

Ok, now we’ll talk about the four factors that is involved in everything you do.  This is initiative, resistance, form and result.  We ordinarily think that there is such a thing as cause/effect which is only fear of things; and so it is incomplete.  So we’ll say there is no such thing as cause/effect—we’ll say there are four things in relationship and they work.  

So I’ll put it on the board:

Initiative
Resistance
Form
Result

Now we’ll take a very simple thing.  Say we’re going to make an iron pot—that’s the “Initiative”. 

You would heat up some iron into a liquid form.  Then you give it some resistance because if you poured it out into mid air you couldn’t make the pot.  So if you pour it into a mold—that’s the “second force or the resistance”.  Now it will make a pot.  And then you’d get rid of the mold—that was the resistance—that was a very central item on making the pot.

So now would have the “form” of the pot, and then you could use it to put your pork and beans in; and you would have a “result”.  Simple enough, so you would have four things working in relationship.

Now resistance is the thing most of us don’t like.  We start to do something and there is a resistance to it.  We initiate something and then there is a resistance—that resistance is very essential to us and sometimes it makes you stronger and sometimes it makes you find things that work; but we complain we didn’t want any old resistance to our efforts, right?  But you’re always going to have it—it’s always going to be there.  It’s a part of the activity of creating anything that you want to create. 

So resistance is an essential piece of being that comes along.  We’re going to plow the field and plant a garden.  We have the resistance to the soil needing to broken and pulverized and so forth for things to be planted—that’s a resistance.  And we have the form of the proper soil to be planted in and the result to plant a garden.  And everything goes along fine.  But we always have this effort of resistance.   If we didn’t have any resistance, we’d be blocked. 

If you want to get strong, you get you some weights and start pushing them up and you get stronger because you put the resistance there.  If you said I’m not going to do that, you’d just be a blob—you wouldn’t get very strong. 

So this is what you want to see in every day affairs--that you have a resistance to whatever you want to do; and that the resistance is the best thing that could happen to you.  If we learn to use resistance properly we get along very well.  We get stronger.  We adapt more to things we’ve initiated; and everything works better.  That’s if you know there is going to be resistance. 

But if you’re going to resist the resistance all the time, you bet it’s kind of a mess.  So people tell me that so and so is very hard.  It’s hard not to make things important.  Yes, it is. Not making things important has a little resistance. 

They say it’s hard to choose your attitude.  It is a little bit; but not very much.  When you practice it a little bit, it becomes as simple as 1, 2, 3.  You don’t resist it anymore.  But we always have this resistance.  “It’s too hard.”--that’s the common statement I hear all over.  “It’s so hard!”  I don’t think it’s so very hard if you live it consistently over and over, it gets to be as simple and easy as breathing—no resistance.

(I forget.)

Well, that’s another form of resistance.  The human being seems to forget.  But you don’t have to forget, you can keep on using it; and you will get so that you use it with the greatest of ease, ok? 

Resistance comes in many forms—forgetting—it’s hard!  It’s difficult to remember!  But it’s really not—it’s to use the resistance at best.  But resistance is essential to our development in every way. 

So let’s see resistance as our friend—not as an enemy.  It is the best friend we have.  It makes you very aware, very comfortable and stronger and far more efficient in everything you do—and it’s the grounds for success in everything you do because if we don’t have the resistance, we’ll never really succeed in doing anything.  You have to have the resistance or you don’t have anything—so resistance is essential to our well-being and to our development.  And that’s a simple little subject. 

Let’s have some questions and discussion on the subject, ok?

(So I go under or over the resistance?)

....and around it.  So that’s how you use resistance and the way you use it.

(When one is trying to <inaudible> is that a result to resistance.)

Yep.  You’re saying “What if” there’s something that comes along and keeps me from doing it easily.  Yes, that’s the fears and anxieties and all that stuff.  Thank you. 

(So then we’re asleep?)

So desire to sleep through the day when we’re walking around is one of the big resistances that we resist resistance—yep.  So when you’re looking for the resistance, there it is—nothing to it—you can do it anyway.  You get stronger and stronger and stronger and get so you don’t pay much attention to the not ‘I’s.

(I’ve come to the point where I experience that people tell me I can’t do it.)

Someone tells you that you can’t do it?  Oh yes, there’s a lot of folks tells you that you can’t do so and so over and over and over.  That’s a little resistance. 

Christine made a little movie not too long ago and for years people told her she’d never get it done—she couldn’t do it.  But she kept on and with all the little resistance, and she got it all done and it turned out all right.  It worked out all right.

(Could resistance be the work of whatever we are accomplishing?)

Yep, that’s the work part of it.  And, of course, we’d rather we didn’t have to work.  We want to just sit here and let it all happen wonderfully for me and come out beautifully and everything will be lovely with no effort on my part.  But it will happen if you do the work; and, of course, that’s the work—the joy of doing things, right. Then you get used to it.

(We’ve had many discussions on the topic, and I’ve worked pretty hard in my life and I’ve had some results that are really contrary to the way I had anticipated it was going to go from the hard work.)

It did?  That’s the part of going under, over or around.  The result turns out a little differently, but, it worked pretty well when you let it--even though you’re resisting every inch of the way.  As long as you let the resistance work it all turns out pretty good, doesn’t it?  It may be different from what you thought, but it’ll be there, ok?

(Can you watch it without judging?)

Don’t judge it, it’s just “the work” to do—so you do it.  And you ignore all the people who tell you that you can’t do it—it’ll never get done.  Just ignore them.  Say yes and go on about your business, ok? 

(I’m getting to the point <inaudible>)

That’s when you thought, that it was a little effort on your part had to be expended, so you said, “That’s terrible!”  No, don’t let it go away, just keep it around and work with it, ok?  It will all work good Paulette.

(Doesn’t resistance seem like it’s stronger if you take it personally.)

Oh Yes. It all picked on me.  Everything happens to me.  I don’t know why, but everything I touch goes wrong.  I don’t know why I’m so unfortunate.  Yes, that’s taking it personal.  Maybe you’ll never get over it.  It just goes from one thing to another, but really it’s all just waiting for you to……….

(When we’re resisting the resistance we’re also making it important.)

Oh yes, we made it very important that I not have any disturbance whatsoever in this world. And you’re going to have it. 

(So if I want to work with resistance, what are some of the ways I could use it.)

Just take over every resistance and say, “We’ll handle it.”—go under it, around it, over it whatever way.  We’ll handle the resistance and it’s necessary for it to be there. 

So say you got a field to plow up or a garden to get the ground ready, just say, “I’ll take care of it.”  So you go out there and get a shovel or whatever method you’re using and start pulverizing the ground. 

So we’ll take another little subject, and we’ll talk on it.  A lot of people tell me they’re dissatisfied as though it is something terrible to happen to them. 

They say, “I’m dissatisfied all the time.” 

I say, “That’s wonderful.” 

And usually they don’t like to hear that, but that’s the way it is.  It’s really wonderful to be dissatisfied. 

If you were totally satisfied right now—totally—everything you ever wanted, you had and you were satisfied with it.  What would you do next?  (Laughter)

You’re satisfied, there’s not one reason to move.  So I don’t ever want to be totally satisfied.  Well, maybe for a few minutes, maybe once in a while; but surely not all the time.  That just doesn’t work.  

So satisfaction is something that is extremely transient and temporary.  Dissatisfaction is something that stays with you, through, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and so on down the line. 

I’m very thankful to be dissatisfied, so then I always have something interesting to do.

(Well, it might motivate you a little bit.)

If you weren’t dissatisfied within, what would be your motivation?

(I’d just stay in apathy.)

Yes.  So what?  So let’s be very thankful for our dissatisfaction.  You wouldn’t do anything if you were totally satisfied.

(I’d never get out of bed.)

Never move—there it is.  I’m satisfied.  What else is there to do?  Well you can only enjoy that so long and then you get bored.  You can’t be satisfied for very long at a time without it getting tedious.  A little while is fine—a few minutes—maybe a half hour at the most.  Then you want something to challenge you a little bit, isn’t that right?

So I’m dissatisfied with so and so, so I will fix that.  I discover that I’m very interested in getting up and doing that—whatever it may be.  Get up and do it.  Dixie, were you ever totally satisfied more than a few minutes?

(Not totally.)

Not totally.

Do you like dissatisfaction?  I’m thankful for it.  If I found myself too satisfied, I’d find something to do to get my interest up.  This business of being satisfied day in and day out is for the birds. 

The birds don’t even do it—they are constantly on the move to another place.  I happen to watch birds every once in a while, and they never sit still.  They’re on to the next limb and the next limb, and the next limb—they’re dissatisfied with where they were so they’re moving on. 

And I think we can all be very contented and pleased to be dissatisfied.  I am thankful for all my dissatisfaction.  It doesn’t get very big when you’re thankful for it.  When you’re fighting dissatisfaction all the time it gets unbearable.  It’s unbearable to have all these dissatisfactions going on-- “I’m dissatisfied” and “I’m always dissatisfied” and “I want to get comfortable so I’ll be satisfied” -- but they never get there. 

I get a lot of phone calls from all over the country—somebody tells me they’re dissatisfied; and I always say, “That’s wonderful.”  They say, “What’s wonderful about being dissatisfied?”  Well, you do something when you’re dissatisfied—if you’re totally satisfied you just sit there from now on—is that what you want?  

(“Well, no, now that you look at it that way.”) 

So after I talk with them on the phone for a few minutes, they’re kind of thankful that they’re dissatisfied and go about their business.  You can be content to be discontented.
You satisfied all the time?

(No.  Many years ago I remember you saying from one of the problems I told you that I was resisting life’s experiences.)

Right, that’s a pretty good one.  So if you resist life experience, you’ve got a big problem, don’t you?  And, you know, you’re a human being having human experiences.  And you’ve always wanted to be a “human being” having spiritual experiences. 

But if you tell yourself, “I’m a ‘human being’ having human experiences.”  Then you’ve found the reason for you being here.  That’s what you’re here for--to find out what it’s like to live in a human body. Pretty nice isn’t it, unless you bitch about it.  Then it’s a horrifying experience.  So we can fight and struggle with things for years and go through all the years of trying to have spiritual experiences--being very disappointed every day that “I haven’t had a spiritual experience.”  That’ isn’t why you’re here. 

You’re here to be a human, live in a human body and have human experiences—aren’t you doing that? 

(Yes.)

But you didn’t see any value in that?  You wanted to have spiritual experiences.  If you had, you’d be a spirit without a body—then you’d have spiritual experiences.

(Aren’t we spirit?)

We are spirit, yes, but we’re in a human body.  So we have a human body so we can have human experiences. 

(I guess we chose it.)

Whether we chose it or got set into it, that’s the way it is.  Whether I chose it or was handed it on a silver platter, it doesn’t make any difference.  We’re a human being in a human body having human experiences.   They’re wonderful things I think.  What would you do if you didn’t have human experience? You’d really be bored then.  That’d be like being in a coma.  You wouldn’t be having any experiences—maybe. 

<inaudible>

No, you wouldn’t have anything, you’d just be out there “blop”.  You never were in a coma were you? 

(No.)

They’re no fun.  Let’s have questions about that concept.

(What about self-realization and self-actualization?)

And all those wonderful things you’ve heard about.  That’s to have a very spiritual experience.  Have you ever experienced all that? 

(No, not fully.)

...not at all.  And you’ve been having human experiences all the time, haven’t you?  Why not be happy with those.

(What is it in man that always wants it?)

Man always wants something he can’t have. Did you ever notice that?  If you reject some guy, he can’t live without you.  But if you try to keep him, he’s got all the reason in the world to be moving on.  That right? 

So mankind feels he’s rejected because he’s not getting these great words that he’s heard about somewhere.  So he feels that’s his whole purpose in living is to regain and get that state.  So he struggles away at it for years and dies in old age from frustration.

(Dissatisfied.)

Oh yes, but if he would have decided that he would be thankful to have human experiences, he would have a lot of them and live a very healthy existence and he’d be a little dissatisfied but be thankful for it, ok? 

Let’s do the things that you’re here to do instead of the things that you read about or heard about somewhere. 

(How do you know if <inaudible>?)

Well, I just got through telling you.  It’s to live in a human body and have human experiences.  So let’s just see if you have those.  Now you have to wake up enough to know that you’re doing that. 

(How do you wake up?)

That’s paying attention and putting your diligence on what you see and observe when you’re waking up and paying attention.  That’s waking up.  Going to sleep is dreaming about things that you never got to experience and won’t while you’re on planet earth with a body.

(The what if.)

Yes, all the great what ifs?  Oh, if I could only have a spiritual experience, I could do this and do that, all the while ignoring the thing you’re here to do—have a beautiful human experience—every day.  Aren’t you doing that already?

(I kind of like it.)

Yes, I like it too.  So let’s be thankful for the human experiences, and quit aggravating ourselves trying to have some other kind of an experience that you don’t have the proper equipment to do—you’re in a human body now. 

(What about <inaudible> ?)

That’s part of human experiences and waking up.

(Is that “spiritual”?)

No that’s a human experience—you’d better believe it.

(Can you say I wish to live spiritual experiences <inaudible> I believe I have had some encounters and I get these <inaudible> of energy and it’s not the norm and it’s something different and wonderful.)

That’s right.  You really had a good human experience there.  (Laughter)  Keep it up, you’ll have more and more wonderful ones if you see what they are; but if you try to rename them to something else, you’ll get frustrated in a while.  So you had a wonderful human experience and I would keep on practicing to have more of them. 

(Part of the human experience is also is when one is experiencing dissatisfaction and all these other things that we think are bad.)

That’s just part of it and you don’t have to have very many of those.  Just re-evaluate that dissatisfaction and see that as nice. 

(Is there a way of looking at death so that we don’t fear it?)

Death.  Have you ever experienced death?

(No.)

So you don’t know whether to be fearful of it or not.  I just kind of look at it and see if I could see what it’s really like and you’ll find it’s a very wonderful thing—in it’s proper place. 

When you’ve served out your time dwelling in a human body and having human experiences, then you will see that what we call death is a wonderful experience--when you really look at it. 

It’s not something to be fearful of.  We got that when we were little kids.  Somebody said, “Get in out of that rain, you’re going to catch your death of cold.”  Then we thought or began to believe (from suggestions) that death was the most horrible thing on earth; but it’s a part of every day living.  It’s just as wonderful as the rest of it.

I told you before the break that I would tell you a little story; and whenever the story is over, we’ll all go.

Many long, long years ago even before there was such a thing as time, there was an infinite being sitting in infinite space feeling blissful—that’s all.  There weren’t any days or nights.  There wasn’t even anything called time because there weren’t two objects.  You got to have two so you can make how long it takes to get from here to here—then you got time.

So after many eons of existence, this infinite being said to himself one day “I’d like to have some balls to play with—all kids like to play with balls.” 

So he sat and cogitated on that for a number of years; and one day he said, “I’m going to make a bunch of balls.”  So that was the big bang theory—it went bang and there were the balls.  (Laughter)  There were jillions of them.  They’re called planets and stars—there were an infinite number of them, and they were all floating around.  He had great joy in this for a great number of years.  Now they had time, see, so they had many objects.  So for many long eons of time he continued to enjoy these balls floating around in circles. 

But then one day he said, “It might be nice to put something on those balls.”  So gradually trees and plants grew up on the planet—water settled down in certain places and things began growing in them.  Animals began to come along—they had grass to eat. 

And then one day he said, “You know I’d like to talk to myself, but that would get boring, so I’m going to divide myself into many.”  That’s the way you do it.  You divide in order to multiply.  He divided himself into many people. 

Then he said, “I must forget that I did this or it will all end—so I’ll have to forget; and I’ll have to see that all these people that I divide myself into also forget because if everybody remembers at the same time, it will be back to infinite space and infinite nothing.”

So this is where we began to forget.  Everybody forgot that they were an aspect of this Being.  They began to think that they were separate entities.  So now he could talk to himself all he wanted to.  He could talk her because he forgot that he divided in order to multiply. So I will talk to her whenever I want to and we’ll get along just fine.

And of course, we do that quite often when we’re in a fight.  But it’s all going along quite wonderfully; and each of us is an aspect of this infinite being that is just sitting in space.  He just divided himself into many, and forgot all about it.  And I’m going to keep forgetting about it from now on.  

Did you forget?

(Yes, I think I must have.)

So you forgot it and it worked practically.  You forget?

(Yes.)

But remember what you are.  You are an infinite being that has divided into many in order to multiply, ok?  Just remember and don’t remember any of the rest of it; and that’s the whole purpose of the story so that we can find out what we really are.

What are you frettin’ about?  Is it all right?

Ok.  Some comments and discussion on this little story?  We made it up one night and I could have called it the bedtime story.

(Did he ever discover it?)

No he never did discover it, he forgot all about it.

(Maybe we need to discover it.)

No, it would all quit then.  All go back to one infinite being in infinite space without time or anything else.  Just leave it like it is.  You’re just spirit—that’s all. And you can dwell in a human body right now so you’re having human experiences.  Sometime you won’t be dwelling in a human body—then you can have spiritual experiences because you’ll be spirit without a body, ok?    I like it here like it is. 

(In other words stop trying to have something and be thankful for what you got.)

Well, that’s a pretty good idea.  I think it’s wonderful what we got, don’t you?

(Yes.)

You?

(Yes.)

I don’t see any use sitting bitching about how this world is, it’s fine with me.  It’s got a lot of weird folks in it.  (Laughter)
Politicians, that’s all right.  They wouldn’t be politicians unless they were weird.  Paulette?

(I thought that’s what I got into.)

I told you to remember what you were; you’re a spirit, ok?
And we’re all dwelling in a human body having human experiences.

(What are we forgetting?)

That we were an aspect of this great being that divided itself in order to multiply and I’m one of the multiplications, ok?  So just forget that part of it.

(Why are we here to have human experiences?)

Well, it seems it’s essential to do that, you’re that space of development.  It’s considered a very great privilege.  I’d be very thankful I had one. 

(So we’re aspects of this great being that divided in order to multiply, but the form is limiting.)

No, we’re not limited, we’re an unlimited human—it’s just that you can’t play two roles at one time.  You can’t play the role of a boy and a girl at the same time.  We can always tell the difference.  So you’re a human now—it’s a very great privilege to be a human.  So you’re not limited in any way—you just can’t do something else at the same time.  You can’t be a lion and a lady at the same time.

(What about <inaudible>)

Maybe you heard something that somebody interpreted; and maybe they had a human experience that all of us could have but don’t.  There are an endless number of human experiences that are possible to us.  So…rather than try to have a “spiritual” experience, let’s just have a “human” experience and get all of it we can…including the very highest. 

(How do we get out of the way?)

Just get out of the way and let it be.  The way you get in the way is to make things important and keep your mood down in the bottom of the pit.  We started with that and that’s the theme of today; and we want to keep at it.

(What about transformation?)

Transformation is when you don’t make anything important and keep your mood up.  Very decidedly—try it and see.

Folks it’s been a joy to be here with you (many of you for many times and some of you for the first time).  How long have I known you—about 25 years?  Have a wonderful time and get in before it starts raining.