Workshop - Lake Whitney TX - 1994 - Part 2
CD 3 of 4: “Not Important” – Lake Whitney, TX 1994
(Anger’s a misconception I have.)
That's right and it comes from makin' somethin' important. You made it important for people to see things your way. And damn em, they didn't do it. Right. Right?
(Right.)
So you get all angry and of course that builds up a false feeling of emergency, which results in chemical imbalance and neuromuscular tension and requires adaptation of some kind to burn it up – preferably a good heart condition. Okay?
(Yeah. Very accurate.)
Huh? Okay? Who's got the next question here? There it is...
(Since the Four Forces are involved in all creative phenomena, how would that relate to both of those –)
The what?
(The Four Forces – how would they relate –)
Initiative, Resistance, Form and Result?
(Yes.)
They wouldn’t be there unless you had a misconception.
(Don’t we always have resistance when we initiate an action even if it's a negative?)
Oh yeah, but who bothers? You don't make it important – you just have a little resistance, just had some nice exercise this mornin', okay? That right, William?
Okay, next question, comment? We don’t wanna end this so quick. (laughter) There it is...
(Dr. Bob, has this gotten anything to do with the Tree of Life?)
I really don't know.
(Okay.)
Okay? “Tree of Life” and “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” I've never run into either one of em. They're probably around somewheres but I haven't seen them, okay? Have you?
(No, just in that story.)
Well I know, but that's a story. You haven't seen them, you haven't seen the actual trees have you?
(No I didn't mean the actual trees. I just meant what, what was the… what was meant by that story as far as the “Tree of Life?”)
I really don't know, okay?
(Gotcha.)
[someone joins the group] Come in the house, have a chair. Okay?
(I guess I've never had one. What is a true conception? Can you give me an example?)
A what?
(What is… isn’t that on the top of the bottom circle – a true conception?)
True perception?
(Perception. Can you give me an example?)
Well, I'm walkin’ across the lawn and I see a tree. And so I detour a little bit to keep from runnin' into it. That's a true perception, okay? I see a hole in the ground where I was about to step and I step somewheres else; that was a true perception. I saw a hole there; thought it was the better part of valor to go around it, okay? That all right? Need more or is that enough? That's a true perception. You walkin’ down the street in a city and you see a very dark street and a bunch of lone guys out walkin' around on it and you consider this might be somewhat dangerous and so you detour and go around that area, okay? True perception again. You don't want to wind up stabbed to death with 29 stab wounds in your head and neck, okay?
Okay, next question please? Miss Dorrie.
(Dr. Bob, given that whenever I make something important, I become anxious. And then I read in Headlines about studying ideals and that to wait is to be anxious – waiting – and it was a little confusing to me between having patience and waiting and that.)
I said in Headlines do what?
(To wait is to be anxious.)
Until it's no longer important, huh? Then you won't be anxious when you do it, okay?
(Yeah, I just didn't realize that waiting… I was… that anxiety was being created when I was in a situation, waiting.)
Oh, you're waiting – you made it important not to wait and you were waiting so you had a misconception and you got anxious and so forth. And if you looked at it and said, “Well, what's really going on? What difference does it make if I'm livin’ here, livin’ there, if this is goin’ on or that's goin’ on or so forth? It's all just a happening, right?
(Yeah.)
And it's over with in a few minutes, okay?
(Okay, thank you.)
Okay? Who else has got a question here? There you are right here on the front row.
(Explain that cycle again.)
Which one.
(The bottom, the life… the living –)
The Living Cycle. Okay. Said it said it started off with a true idea, okay? And that gives you a true feeling, which is fine. And a true feeling leads to a chemical balance and a neuromuscular tone. You know if you don't have any tone, you're limp, okay? And you don't have adaptation; you have creative action. And that goes, leads around, to another true conception [meant perception] and that leads to a true feeling and that leads to a chemical balance and neuromuscular tension [meant tone] and leads back to creative action. So you're a creative person and livin' quite well. And all you have to do is quit makin’ things important on the top. You can do that with the greatest of ease, right? Okay?
Okay, next comment, question? There it is; got one goin’.
(I did some quick calculations last night and this morning and it took Siddhartha Govinda, otherwise known as Buddha, 42 to 44 years to quit making things important.)
Okay, I understand that – might be 75; some cases never do it.
Miss Mary had her hand up here on the front row.
(I think I missed what… you said something to me just then about not making it important. Is that how you move from the upper circle to the lower one?)
Right, that's the only effort you have to do is just quit makin’ whatever you was makin’ important quit. Then you suddenly got on the “Living Cycle,” okay? And you left the “Vicious Cycle” – very good riddance, okay?
Okay next question, comment. Here it is right here. Miss Marce?
(When we're living from the Living Cycle…)
Yeah.
(… it seems to me that it's like then we're in tune, we have cleared away the old conditioning and we're in tune with the Holy Spirit and so the Holy Spirit – is that correct? – is giving up the true idea and the true perception and the creative action?)
Right and then you're living. That's the Living Cycle and every one of us could be on it if we just didn't see everything as being important.
(Okay.)
Okay? Now that doesn't mean that you would feel 100% every minute because you might stub your toe somewheres and hurt your knee or what-have-you, okay? But it'll get all right eventually, okay?
Next question, comment? There man, we got two of em now. Paul and one over on the…
(Does over on the circle on the top where it says “Adaptation” – that's the recognition, say, of pain for example, right?)
That is first off is unusual sensation, then unusual activity and so on.
(And so another misconception of that could be feeling like a victim and then that would bring some –)
Oh yes, you could feel a victim role so easy there – pretty, poor me. I've had nothin’ but uncomfortable situations all these years.
Okay, lady.
(I just wanted to comment that so much of what you talk about is like what this lady was taught by the Aborigines when she was with them. And what they continually told her with each person that she learned, they would tell her forever is a long, long time and then they would proceed to teach her the next lesson. You remind me of that movie that I saw.)
Okay, go ahead and be reminded. (laughter) Okay.
Okay, Rick.
(Yeah hi, Dr. Bob. I'm not really sure how to word this question other than most, or from what I understand, a lot of what I think I am is ego and conditioning and...)
....and what-have-you.
(Yeah. And I'm ....could you talk a little bit about recognizing the real I?)
[There’s a long pause and possible break in the tape here from 10:35 to 10:59 and it picks up again mid-sentence.] ... anxious and then miserable. The sloppy “I” is the one that’s always makin' somethin' feel important and then you feel all anxious and miserable.
(Tryin’ to figure it out.)
And so then you spend weeks and months tryin' to figure it out and get back in worse shape than you were ‘fore you started. So I'd say first let's recognize the false. It'll work a lot better. Then what's left is real.
(Thank you.)
Okay?
(Dr. Bob, when you're living the Living Cycle all the time, then will X just determine your every day so that you as the Awareness, you wouldn't really plan anything?)
Aw, not necessarily.
(How does that work?)
You might plan to go to Corpus Christi on a weekend or somethin' or you might plan to plant a garden or you might plan to build a house and so forth. So you can have lots of plans.
(Okay.)
But you wouldn't make em important.
(Okay, thanks.)
There's a difference between plannin' somethin' and makin' it important, isn't there? You've done both.
(Yes.)
Okay. Well, somebody come on start this thing rollin’ a little bit. There's one over there, way over there. Okay, Miss Nancy.
(Well I have it all written down, if I can just read now.)
That's the first error you made. (laughter)
(In Headlines on page 5, it says, “The wise say there are no opposites such as good and evil.”)
Uh-huh, right.
(And throughout Scripture, there's good and evil.)
That's true.
(Now could you talk about that and help me with that one?)
Well, do you know what's good and bad, cause you don't know the outcome, do you? Do you know what's gonna happen from somethin' I did this mornin', a week from now? Have any idea? I don't, do you? So I don't know whether it was good or evil, good or bad. I don't know the outcome. If I knew the future I'd know the outcome, but that's somewheres been denied to mankind – hadn't it? – to really know what was gonna happen from what I did.
So we'll say that I went out and bought a new car. Was that an appropriate thing to do or am I gonna need the money for somethin' else next week, next month, huh? Coulda been a very dumb thing for me to do or it coulda been an intelligent thing to do. I don't know. So we have to leave those words for the unknown. That's the unknown; it's good or it's bad. I don't know. Now maybe the people who wrote the Scripture knew that, and maybe they didn't. I don't know; but they had certain ideas about it, so I don't know. I've read many things in the Scripture. I read one that said [Ecclesiastes 3:21] ‘who knows if the spirit of man in death goes upward and spirit of an animal goes in the ground?’ Do you know? I don't. They asked it, I didn't. Good question, but I didn't answer it, can't answer it. Can you? Do you know what happens when you get your last breath? Are you going to go merrily on to your way into another world that’s more glorious than this one or are you just gonna black out? I don't know. I will act like I'm goin' on to another world, but I don't know that. Won't hurt me to try it though, would it. Nope. Okay does that help answer your question, Nancy?
(Yes it does and I have another one.)
Okay.
(Could you give us some hints on how to read Scripture?)
How to read it.
(And how to understand it?)
Well, I'll tell you how I try to read it – I don't; how to understand it – I don't, okay?
(Okay.)
Okay, right there in front of you. No, it’s the gentleman with the yellow shirt on; he's got somethin' here to say first.
(In answering that last question, you brought one up – the “spirit of man.”)
Of what?
(You brought up the spirit of man.)
Yeah?
(Go ahead and give me a good description of, or your description of, the Holy Spirit. I get too many images conjured up.)
Well, the only thing I know about Spirit is that that’s why you and I are breathin’ today. If it takes a walk, we quit walking, okay? We go pppt – out. [another break/pause in tape] I don't know if it tells us the right thing or the wrong thing or anything else, it just is there, okay?
Okay, now we got another one right here. Okay, go ahead.
(You were talking about, when he asked about good and evil, you said an example of buying a new car...)
Yeah. Buyin' a house. Buyin' anything.
(Is the misconception the judgment we put on the action we take, rather than just when doing the action if it's not harmful and not making it important?)
I just don't know what's gonna happen, so I don't make it important or important either, I just say I don't know. I go do what seems right, appropriate for the moment, okay? [audience starts laughing over something and he comments] I got one of those things.
Okay, come on let's have some more questions here, comments, we haven't even touched the surface of it here. Here's one on the front row; he just left.
(Is the majority of us mechanical, conditioned persons?)
Uh-huh.
(Would you talk a little bit about how to create a soul?)
How to create a soul.
(If we don’t really have one.)
If we haven't got one, how can we create one, is that the idea?
(Well, we have a psychology just made up of a bunch of misconceptions.)
Oh yeah, I know; we've got all that. So how would I go about creating a soul? Okay, I must have to assume I had a seed of it or I wouldn't start, okay? Gotta have a seed ‘fore you start anything – a plant, a tree, or anything else, okay? Right? So I would see what I could use of that seed. If I didn't make anything important today that might start. I could make a contribution to a pleasant harmonious mood, okay? And as I practiced that and kept it goin' it would grow into what's called a soul. I don't know whether we even have one or not, but we'll assume you do have and can have. So then we'll say you could generate it by action on those points, okay? That's not too hard, is it? No? Okay. Then fine, we'll all make a soul, see what we do with it. See if there's a market for em.
Okay, here's a lady up on the front row next to the center aisle. There it is.
(What's your opinion on out-of-body experiences that people have experienced?)
Well, I've never had one, so I don't know.
(I have; I had one when my child was born.)
Well good, I would honor it then. But I don't say they're meaningless or anything. I just said I haven't had one by personal experience, I don't know. So then if you had one, then you know what you had and what it indicated to you, is that right?
(Well I think I feel certain things about it, but I don't know the truth of it.)
Well I suspect that’s just as good a truth as you need right now, okay? Okay? Just keep on rememberin' what you did…see.
(Is there some way that we can turn the not-I’s into stewards so that they work for us rather than against us?)
Just get rid of the naughty things.
(Or just get rid of em, huh?)
Yeah, just get rid of the nasty things. You can't train em to be good kids. (laughter) Okay?
(How do you get rid of them then – just by observing and reporting?)
Just by observin’ and reportin’ them and seein’ that they go ____. Some of em go today, some go tomorrow, some go next week. Some go a month after that and so on. Just don't give up. They'll all go, okay?
There’s a lady got her hand up, thank goodness.
(So according to what we talked about this morning with the reporting and what Mary said, if we observe 'em ...)
It quit.
(If we observe a not-I, then the appropriate reporting would be to call someone and say, "I have observed this....")
...in me!
(...in me...)
And I'd like to get rid of the stupid thing, okay?
(And would you report for me?)
I will certainly do it, okay? Yes, ma'am. Okay?
Now was there another one here? Here it is in the front row.
(For those of us who used to make a career out of drinking..)
Yeah.
(...we had a situation, what we called blackout.)
Yeah.
(Can you tell us anything about what happens to the Awareness in that situation?)
To the what?
(When people....)
Drink 'til they black out, what happens to what?
(When people lose consciousness but they're still moving around, acting and saying certain things, is that… could that be seen as though they're consumed by a not-I.)
I'd say it is. Might be two or three of em, [chuckles] okay? Yep, I've seen that phenomena, and it's definitely a not-I runnin' it who's not knocked out by the alcohol. Okay? So it goes on and functions as though it were a big shot, okay? We've all seen that I think. Haven't you?
Okay, Rick.
(Dr. Bob, a not-I… let’s say we recognize it and we want to get rid of it. Does it actually go away completely? Or I mean, from what I understand maybe you've recognized it, but it'll still be around?)
Oh yes, it can be around after you recognize it very well.
(Can you ever get rid of it completely?)
Yeah, you can get rid of it completely – all of em.
(How?)
Well, we just answered it a minute ago. You can call someone and say, “I have this bunch of not-I's, or one, or a bunch of em that are saying thus and so and I'd like to get rid of the durn things, okay? Would you report for me?” Yes. Okay? Somebody else can do it; you can't.
(Okay.)
Not in you – you can do it for somebody else. Okay? Don't try to do it for yourself; you'll fizzle every time. Okay.
(So is it of value to be specific when you ask someone else to report for you about what you observe?)
What gives the best advantage, yes, gives em somethin’ to work on.
(Gives what?)
Gives him definitely somethin' to work on. Where if he just says, “Tanya's kind of unhappy,” that don't mean very much, okay. Most people are. So the more specific you are is fine.
Up here again – Rick thought of another one.
(When we observe somebody else and we observe a not-I acting out, you know I’ve always heard that what we see in somebody else is within us.)
I don't know about that.
(Okay why… that's why I'm asking – I’ve heard that.)
No, I've heard that too, but I didn't check it out. I've checked it and I've never seen that that was true.
(Okay.)
I've heard it said if you criticize anything in somebody else, it's in you or you wouldn't criticize. I've checked that out and it's a lot different than that, okay? So we just we won't buy that one. We won't buy that old saying.
(So it'd be wisdom then, if –)
Aw, I don't know what it'd be. Just forget the thing. Okay? [chuckling]
(Okay.)
Just forget it.
There it is, just hand it over. [talking about the mic]
(I was a little late this morning and I missed that procedure for reporting.)
You did.
(Go over that.)
Huh?
(Go over that procedure for reporting? I missed out on that.) (laughter)
You want me to do that all over again? No! You shoulda been here. (laughter) I said not to ever try to report for yourself. That's a waste of time because you'll make it important and you won't get it done. You do it for somebody else if they ask you to or if they don't, you look at 'em and see that they need it, you go ahead and report it anyway. And said that if you were upset about somethin' to think out specifically what it is, call somebody else – doesn't matter who, but somebody that you think knows how and understands about it – and ask them to report for you, okay? That's the essence of it. That right, Bill? Is that the essence of it, what I talked about? I just spent a few more minutes at it this mornin'. Okay?
(What's a good prayer to say in the morning?)
A what?
(What is a good prayer to say in the morning?)
What is a prayer I say in the morning?
(What is a good prayer for someone to say in the morning?)
Hello, Spirit, I'm here! How's that? (laughter) I think that'd be about as good as you can come up with.
Miss White.
(Did you say that even if someone does not ask you to report something for them, but you see that something's wrong, go ahead and report it anyway?)
Oh yeah. It may not do any good, but probably will. So let's report it anyway, okay?
[another hand goes up] There it is, back there just a little bit.
(I'm here. Some of us read an article about something this little boy said to his dad first thing in the morning, "Wake up, Wake up, it's the world's greatest day and guess what, we're a part of it!")
Right, that's a good one; he’s a smart kid.
[a hand goes up] There it is.
(You haven't talked about resistance. I'm assuming that if we are in the Living Cycle that the resistance that we would have would just… wouldn't bother us. We wouldn't make it important.)
Wouldn't make it important; doesn't bother.
(There is always going to be resistance, is that correct?)
I expect they will be, yep. Just don't bother makin' it important.
(And it's just the way we handle it that makes it –)
Yeah, just don't make it important; it's immaterial, okay?
[sees another hand up] There it is.
(On one workshop tape that I was listening to, you spoke of resistance – time as a resistance?)
Time is resistance?
(Yeah, could you share just a little more about that? About...)
Could I say more about time as resistance? That what you want?
(Yeah, I mean I'd never viewed time as resistance and it did make sense.)
It does.
(Yeah.)
So if I'm on the highway and all of a sudden there's a big traffic jam, they've closed all the lane of the highway; somebody had an accident and everbody stopped and looked to see if they can see some blood or somethin'. That's resistance. Now, I've got time to get one out [tape breaks up] I'm usin' it up sittin' here on the side of the road. That's resistance. We’ll say that I have a certain date I want to get married [audio fades in and out] So I'm all in a dither about hurryin' up and gettin' it done. So time is resistance all the way along the way. That all right? Okay. All those similar things like that – a hundred and one of em. Barbara?
(Would you talk about a “conscious circle of humanity”?)
A what?
(“The conscious circle of humanity.” What is meant by that?)
Haven't got a clue.
(Okay. Would you talk some on the law of balance?)
Yep. So is the law of balance you want now?
(Uh-huh.)
Okay, it seems that everything that happens in the universe is sooner or later – usually sooner – balanced by an action of some other sort. So let's say that I ignore the need of some soul sittin’ next to me. Okay? Sooner or later I will have to pay the balance for that. It will be extracted. I may not pay it freely, but I'll pay it one way or the other, okay? And we'll say that I recklessly drive the car down the road regardless of everybody else on the highway – I'm goin' full tilt ahead. I'll get a balance to it, okay? And so on down the road, okay? That good enough?
[After break]
This time we'll start talkin’ about conditioning. Some conditioning is essential in this world to us and the world we live in and some of it is very detrimental. So we'll try to separate the two so you know which one’s detrimental, okay? That all right? Okay.
So the conditioning that tries to tell you what's right and proper about your behavior in ordinary things is usually improper. Now once you learn how to drive a car, to run the household appliances, to put your clothes on in the mornin', get em off at night and so forth is essential – it's conditioning, but it's essential. It'd take you forever to get across town if you had to learn how to drive every time you got in the car. But you’ve got it down so that you can carry on a conversation with somebody and chitchat and all the little functions of controllin’ the car you do. Conditioned. So we'll try to keep those straight now that the things that you do that are ordinary everyday things in life – and you're not criticizin' or findin’ fault with anybody while you're doin' it, you're not criticizing people for what they're doin' or not doin' verbally or nonverbally, but you're just not doin' that – then you're doin' quite well with the conditioning that's not appropriate, okay? Got that one down straight now. So we'll try to make a little bit of a written version of it. [writes both out on the board] So, we'll put “Useful Conditioning” and I'll put “Harmful Conditioning.”
So the useful conditioning is “Learning” – to operate machines, learnin’ to live according to useful function such as dressing, swimmin', e-t-c. Harmful ones is, “Comparing people to ideals of my own making.” E-t-c. on that one also. We'll cover that as we go along. Now then, everbody understand what kind of conditioning is useful and what kind’s harmful, okay? Got that one? Got that one? We'll talk about it for a while now. Okay? Let's do our questions and answers, that' the best way to get it all out. So who wants to put the first question on this stuff: harmful and non-harmful or essential conditioning. Okay, there's Mr. Bill.
(We got these two kinds of conditioning and presumably we don't want to do anything about the first one, the useful one.)
No.
(But...)
The harmful ones we’d like to change it a bit.
(Yeah, so since it's conditioning, what can we do about it?)
About the harmful ones. Okay? First we can recognize it, see that I'm doin' it, and the second thing we can do is determine that we're going to practice not doin' it, okay? I didn't say we’d succeed, we said we're gonna practice it right now. So as you practice it by degrees you will get the conditioning undone – the harmful kind, okay? And you're gonna be left with that which is useful to you: how to operate machinery, how to drive a car, how to swim, how to ride a bicycle if you do that, ride a motorcycle if you need to and so on – that's all useful conditioning. But if you didn't have that you'd have to learn it all over every time you went out and that would be pretty messy wouldn't it?
(Is there anything we could be taught at an early age that would be useful conditioning for a relationship?)
It's what?
(That would… is there anything that we can learn at an early age that would be called “useful conditioning” when it comes to having a relationship?)
No I don't think so. I think you have to get a little older to get tangled up in that. Okay?
(I’m looking at money. Money can be useful but then it can be harmful.)
Yeah, it can become messy at times.
Go ahead, Victor – over there; he'll finish in a minute.
(So it's like, is… it's useful to love God.)
To love what?
(God.)
Yeah?
(But it can be harmful, say if I'm loving somebody that I think is loving, but it’s controlling or manipulating…)
…and so forth. That's what most loving is in this world, unfortunately, okay?
(Is there ..)
So let's just learn to put that kind of conditioning out of the way.
(Right.)
By recognizin’ it, seein' it and determinin' I'm not gonna do that today and then practice at not doin' it.
(So useful would be more an avenue of just neutral accepting.)
Oh, we've got the useful part. I think we all do it anyway, but sometimes we hear about conditioning and decide just to get rid of all of it. So I think we've got all the useful conditioning goin’ that we need – learn how to swim, how to drive a car, how to do this, how to do that, okay?
(Okay.)
I don't think we have to learn anymore on that one. It's learning to get rid of the harmful ones that we're interested in. Okay?
Okay, a lady back there?
(I just wanted you to talk about the value of listening.)
Listening?
(Yes.)
To who – you or another person?
(Another.)
Another.
(Yes.)
Well, it's always useful to listen. I don't know whether you learn anything; probably not but sometimes they do have somethin' to say. Just as well to learn to listen, just in case they had somethin' worthwhile to say, okay?
Next one up here? You don't wanna lose conditioning that quick. Tanya, are you gettin' your hand up or are you just exercisin'? Okay, come on somebody, get your hand up and let's do a thing here. Okay.
(Well, to get a new conditioning, then we decide how we wanna feel. Would that be think, act, and feel?)
Think, act, feel.
(Mm-hmm.)
Till we got it to habit, we didn't know we was doin' it, and that would be useful.
(And that'd be creating a new conditioning.)
Yep. But I think we all have enough conditioning that's worthwhile. We don't have to learn on that as to learn to get rid of some of the kind that's ...
(Oh, I see.)
...miserable, okay?
(Okay, thank you.)
I think that's the only one we have to do, but we want to recognize that we are conditioned to otherwise to drive cars and all this kind of stuff – but that's very worthwhile. So we keep that. And we get rid of the kind that wants to control people – and control me most especially – and so forth and we want to get rid of that, okay?
(My first marriage, my husband was real controlling and very jealous, you know, and demanding and all this. But now with my new marriage, the conditioning that he… it's so different, you know, because he just lets me do my thing – never questions me, doesn't put anything on his love. And if you could learn to do that, that's a wonderful partner to live with.)
That's a good one to live with. So he's learned the ones that's useful and keeps those and gets rid of the ones that's messy.
Come on folks, let's get this question goin’ and then we'll quit. We'll all go home in a little while; let's do a few questions here. Okay, there's Miss Betsy's got one there.
(The thinking turned into a question. So the recognition of harmful condition[ing] is just what we've been talkin' about all day.)
That's right.
(Not make it important – to observe it, not make it important, report it and ...)
And start actin' on gettin' rid of it, okay? Little at a time. Okay. Livin' one day at a time. That's it, you got it down. You got it. Now then lets get the rest of 'em to get it. [chuckles] Miss Donna?
(If we change and revalue and change and chose a different purpose for living, will that speed up the process of getting –)
It probably would, very definitely. Mm-hmm. Miss Tanya?
(Is making a conscious choice for a purpose for living not reporting?)
Yep, that's kind of reporting a wee bit – if you pick out a conscious choice for livin’. If you picked it out.
End of CD 3
CD 4 of 4: “Not Important” – Lake Whitney, TX 1994
...or whether anybody else knows it or not isn’t important. [aside] I got it. No sweat.
(Bob, what was the last comment you just made – whether anybody else knows it or not, what?)
That's still worthwhile for you. Okay. You don't have to tell everybody else about it. They'll catch on, okay? Miss Marce.
(You said that most loving in this world is controlling. The kind of love that isn't controlling I assume is the Agape love, the unconditional love. Is that –)
And it may be romantic love every once in a while if somebody's really alert.
(Is that something that we just naturally do and we don't need to learn?)
Like what?
(Well you said that the things that you put on the board that were useful, you didn't include, you know, loving.)
No, we didn't include that one because it's got too many variations in it to put it either place.
(So depending on the situation –)
Huh?
(Depending on the situation in our lives...)
Right.
(...is there… you said sometimes romantic love was useful and unconditional love is useful.)
Right. Both of 'em.
(Unconditional love would just be not judging in making things important...)
Right, not makin’ it important, not judging and so forth. But you find me very many people that's doin' that, okay? A lot of em say they are, but they're not – if you observe em a little bit, okay?
Here you are up here, Rick – got a question?
(Dr. Bob, on harmful conditioning, let’s say we recognize it, break the pattern, would that be like what they refer to as “the sins of the fathers” or upon a generation?)
The what?
(The “sins of the fathers” that, uh...)
Say it again.
(Okay, if we break a pattern or the harmful conditioning, would that be breaking what they refer to as, like, “the sins of our fathers,” you know, that follow generation to generation?)
Oh, I guess it would be. I don't go into sin very much. I read that sin means “missed the mark.”
(Correct.)
So I really wouldn't want to say that somebody was sinnin' or not sinnin'. That don't sit in my world.
(Well, I know but that's just a phrase.)
It probably would fit the phrase, yes – that if they broke it up, they quit doin' what their fathers had done and their grandfathers and their great grandfathers and their great-great grandfathers and so on had – yep, it probably would.
(Wouldn't that affect the future generation...)
I don't know. Never tried it out. It takes too long to get a generation goin' to check it out real well.
(Only for your children.)
Hmm?
(For your children?)
I'd check that out, but I don't see that's doin' a great deal, okay?
(Okay.)
Have to check it out over several generations to get it right. I don't know. Okay? It's quite all right to say I don't know once in a while. I don't want to know everything.
Okay? Well? Here's one. Here at the last minute, like bein' in an auction just before you hit the hammer, (laughter) why you come up with one bid for a dollar.
(Dr. Bob, talk more about what purpose for living, like ...)
Purpose for living. Well, purpose of living is to what's being a good guest. You know how to be a good guest in this world? Yes. So that'd be living, a purpose of living is to be a good guest, okay?
(On a daily basis that...)
On a daily basis and an hour-by-hour basis, okay? Be a good guest.
(And there's nothing else?)
That's about the best one I could think of… cause that covers a multitude of things, okay? So, you be a good guest and I think you'll be livin’ rather well. Have a good purpose of living, okay?
Tanya?
(If you make that decision to be your purpose of living, then the…what is it we call it; let me look… the Living Cycle just automatically starts.)
It just automatically starts runnin’ then – good, wonderful. A lot of things it's not near as hard as they sound because one can do one thing, it starts somethin' else goin', too.
Okay? Here's Miss Barbara up here.
(Nothing is important?)
Huh?
(If nothing is important, then is it important to have… to de-condition ourselves?) (laughter)
No, it's just a very interesting situation. It's not important; nothin's important, but it might be very interesting to change and see how you enjoy that line, okay? You might enjoy it, much more than you think.
(Oh, I do.)
Okay, good. Let's leave it there.
(I've heard you say when our will and our purpose are in harmony, that's when we get the result?)
That's when you get everything goin' your way pretty well, mm-hmm.
(Would you talk about that a little bit more please? Would you elaborate?)
I don't know how to elaborate on it; I just said it's simple. Your will and your purpose would be the same, okay? Will means that you do it frequently, you're reminded of it. If it's your purpose, you may only think of it once every six months or so. But if your will and purpose is in harmony, you are living...period. Okay?
(That would bring about Vital Interest and that would...)
Vital interest, that's real living.
(You would be reporting that way.)
Right.
(Okay.)
It's real living then, okay?
There you are.
(Would you identify exactly what you mean by will?)
Will is what you intend to do with all your heart.
(Okay.)
Okay?
(Thank you.)
Bill, you got a hand up over there? No, you're just stretchin'.
(Okay. We're remembering to not make things important, to live in the Real World, to report for other people, to stay on the Living Cycle instead of the Vicious Cycle, and to get rid of harmful conditioning. Do you have a Teaching principle for people that can't remember all that?)
No, just write it down and check on it ever once in a while. Check on your written word ever now and then, Bill; that'll be a help. Don't try to remember it all ever day.
(I wanna get back on that conditioning because that is so important in relationships because I'm going back to my first husband again. His way of life in treating a wife, the way he perceived it, he got that from the conditioning that he got from what his father taught him and what he saw his father doing. Now anytime you choose to break this, you can do it, right? I mean once –)
Oh yeah, you can break anything if you want to – even drinkin’ coffee.
(Give up controlling, right?)
Huh?
(Not trying to be in control all the time.)
No, just stop anything you want to do. You can stop anything you want to do, okay? Stop drinkin’ alcohol. Stop usin' drugs. Perhaps everybody here could tell you that, okay? Smokin’, drinkin' coffee, what-have-you. Okay? Well, it looks like you folks would like to go home so it's quite all right with me. So we'll all take off and go home and I will see you in the mornin' at 11 o’clock over in the other buildin’ and I'll talk to you a few minutes about somethin'. (laughter) About somethin’ – I don't know what it'll be, but we'll find out. Somebody's gonna loan me a book to look at for a few minutes, okay?
(I haven’t found one. I looked.)
Huh?
(I can't find it.)
You can’t find it.
(You asked for the Douay Bible.)
Yeah. You haven’t found it, okay. Well I'll take the King James if I have to. That's all right, too. Okay?
(What is the Douay Bible?)
That's the one, imprinted in the front of it is the Douay Bible or the Bible of the Christian Confraternity of Doctrine. It's the one that the Catholics use. It has a few extra books in it over the one the King James Version has. I happen to like it; it's a real good book. In fact it has some things in it if you read, it’ll make your hair curl – won't have to go at the beauty shop anymore. (laughter)
(How do you spell Douay?)
D-o-u-a-y, I think.
(___)
Huh?
(___)
I don't.
(It’s just nice to have it?)
It's just nice to have it around. When they want me to talk on it. Okay, so we will talk and folks I have enjoyed you being here and I thank you very much for your questions – has made it very, very much more interesting when you are involved in it. We like a round table discussion rather than me sittin' up and propoundin’ my great wisdom into you all at once. So I have appreciated very much your questions and answers, okay? And we thank you very much. [clapping] Thank you, thank you.
[next morning]
The verse that I will talk about this morning, it's in St. John – The Gospel of St. John, the sixth chapter and the 63rd verse. So I'll just talk on one verse for a minute. I think that'll be all right.
“It is the Spirit that profiteth, the flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are of Spirit and they are Life.”
Now if somebody gets up in the mornin' and feels a little uncomfortable and out of joint some way or other, the first thing you do is to call a physician. ‘Bout right? That's the flesh. So he says it didn't profit you a durn thing. Didn't do a bit of good. I talked to you yesterday and talked about how healing goes that you tell Spirit you care for it, love it, and you thank it for what it's done, and that takes care of the Spirit and the Spirit revives the person very quickly usually. Sometimes it takes two or three weeks, but that's not very long. After all, you go to a physician the rest of your life and it doesn't profit you anything. So how many of you want to listen to the Spirit? It says the Spirit is Life and that's where it works, is it brings life everlasting to you and to your well-being. You know that? Which one do you work for, huh? You go to Spirit or go the flesh route?
(Spirit takes control all the time.)
If you let it. Sometimes you can take over and run it accordin’ to the flesh and it doesn't do so well, okay? You would let Spirit do it, is that right? Works a little better that way. And it is very worthwhile to pay attention to these words – that what he spoke was Spirit and that it was Life. Life and Spirit is kind of synonymous, they work together; and the human being, being a spiritual being and dwelling in a physical body, which can be discarded like you discard a shirt or a pair of socks or whatever, you can get along without it. And as long as you always depend on going to the physician and gettin' your body worked on, the flesh worked on, have some of it cut out, some of it rearranged, some of it you pour drugs on and so forth, you will forever be lookin’ for something that you don't find. When you dwell with Spirit, you will find what you're lookin’ for. If you're lookin’ for well-being and health and etcetera, it'll be there when you dwell with Spirit.
And another thing, Spirit works that you have to cooperate with others, not all do it yourself. When you got somethin' botherin you, you get somebody else to use the words as Spirit for you and when you are workin’ for somebody else, you use the words as Spirit for them. That's the way it works, okay? I hope you use these words for your well-being and your betterment. They're very truthful. And they're very easy to use if you start in that direction.
But if you start off workin' for the flesh, you will have availed nothing. Okay? We'll put the book over there so it sits there for the next person who wants to use it and I'll turn the program over to Miss Marce now.
(God bless you.)
Thank you.
(This is something that I read in the Awareness Journal that really did speak to me: “Think, Act, Feel, and Union. One must work on the little things. Work on them constantly, thus the preparation is made and at the right time, place and circumstance, union will occur. Wanting it, which is the fourth Dual Basic Urge called “Transcendental,” a lofty urge. But the Four Dual Basic Urges, nothing was… hinders it. We must be free to plod along without. We must work, work, work. We must observe ourselves continually and remember to do this and then one day the bridegroom comes – union occurs. And finally we have a knowledge that we can refer to: to Think, Act, Feel that this is an enormous amount of work and we are distracted continually. It is the nature of the world we live in and greed for it cancels it. Wanting it to be permanent cancels it. The experiences are cumulative, though, and little by little we feel more and more the presence of Spirit.”
I would like to ask anyone that has something to share from the weekend – something that has spoken to them, something they want to carry home with them and practice – to share with us now. I think it's really neat for us to let Dr. Bob know what we receive and what we intend to do from what we have learned from this weekend. Cheryl, would you start?)
(This weekend, for me, has been very definitely like an oasis in the desert – the feeling of it. I, for a number of months now, have felt separated, I suppose is the best word to put on it, from the purpose in my heart or the will of my heart. Just kind of flinging back and forth, a feeling, a sense of aggravation about where I was, and some anger and things doing business with that. And yesterday I recall asking Dr. Bob his interpretation of the word “will”, what that meant to him. For me, for a long time now, words need to have meaning to my heart or otherwise they're practically useless to me. And that word from him yesterday of will being wanting it, desiring it with all of your heart and the import perhaps of that being in alignment with your purpose. And so for me this weekend has been another new birth, a new commitment to get back to that will of my heart to love my God or my spirit – it's personal to me in my world with all of my heart and all of my being – and follow that direction that Dr. Bob just spoke of… of Spirit rather than body things. I have the great privilege of sharing with and working with numbers of children today. And when I stop and think about it I can't imagine how for what reason I would choose to become aggravated or want to change that. So again, I just go on overwhelm with Dr. Bob's show of willingness to show up for us. And he not only has opened up my world for me through the years in so many wonderful ways, but he also walks for me as a beautiful example of commitment to that union of will and purpose. Thank you.)
(It’s a privilege to be here and when I first showed up here over ten years ago and came into the Teachings of Dr. Bob, it looked so simple that I had decided that I was on a level higher than that. And 11 years later, in the last year now, I have started working with what he's offered for us and what has been offered through him. As a result of that, I've known gratitude that before was not possible and I thank you all for being a part of that.)
(I don't know what year it was when I came to the first seminar that Dr. Bob gave. I think I've bought all of the written material and I've been working with it and it seems like that I have to hear it over and over again. Otherwise I go to sleep and I accept what they say on television, you know, that you need buy all this cough medicine because it's the flu season. Um… there’s a lot to be said. Friday night I came and then I went home and read Headlines. It seems like I'm a visual person, I do better with the books than with the tapes, and Headlines is the book in my house that I can't do without. The rest of em, you can have em all. I had to be reminded to keep my mood up and nothing is important. And thank you for coming, Dr. Bob… really appreciate you and all of the material, the Teaching material. Thank you all.)
(It was a Teacher talking to an attorney and this attorney asked the Teacher, he said "Well what do I have to do to inherit eternal life?" And the Teacher said "Well, you're an attorney, you know the law; what does the law say?" So the attorney said, "Well, the law says that you need to love God with all my heart and all my soul and with all my mind." And the teacher said, "That's right." And a few years ago I took the word God and I put the word Life in place of that and it says that I love Life with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my being. And it seemed to make it attainable. I can love my Life. I have an incredible Life and I'm grateful for the Life that lives me and I can love that. So it's made a difference and, of course, I love the Teachings and I know that without them, I might not survive. I would have been caught up in all the "shoulds" and "ought tos and "have tos" and "musts" and all the stuff that goes that just seems to stick to me like glue. But we've been given the tools and if I use the tools, why the tools work. I've worked with em and they work for me; and I'm really thankful for that. Thank you.)
(They rarely let me speak in prime time, especially in churches. [chuckling] It is an extreme rarity. It's pleasant to be here. Old Friend, love you. You've been a life-saver. Well, I don't know… one of our friends said one time, “Crawled from Christians end to end, I searched for him and he was not there. In the highest pagodas of the east and the greatest temples of the west I searched for him and he was not there. I looked into my own heart and he was there. He was in no other place.” These ideas… hey, and I have, I've looked for him. I've looked for him in lots and lots of places and he's inside. The thing is inside – it's just there. This is, at this time, this is the only system or the only Teaching idea system that can guarantee us a change in our consciousness. It will guarantee a change in our conscious level of being. Dr. Bob, don't… I hear you say it… I hear you say that no matter how long we're here, we continue to learn. We learn something new every day; and yes I heard one this weekend. I heard one that I had never heard before. I come to the seminars and I come to visit my Friend and I say, thank you for being here, Friend; and it is a never-ending learning process. I don't care how long we're here, I don't care how long we're in it, I don't care how long we're around, we never cease to learn. Thank you, Marce.)
(Well this is always one of the highlights of the year for me at the chapel. This time it’s been two times. So, Dr. Bob, you always live in my heart year round. And you know, when someone is kinda groping for a spiritual life and ask my opinion about how I think they oughta start off or what they ought to read, I always suggest your Teachings because they are the kind of thing that anyone can grasp onto. It doesn't matter what your old beliefs are, what your present beliefs are, you can just… I mean they’re simple statements like "don't make anything important." They’re so... you know, I get caught up in my life and everything is always so important. It's just so important that I've built up stress in my body, you know, everything is just… I just feel like if I don’t do this, I'm just gonna die. And you know, just to relax in it and just to… I just wish I could do it more often and now I can. And I really made a vow this year to, until you come back again, just quit doing those things and remembering them every morning and just have reminders sitting around: nothing is important, nothing is important. And then, you know if I can just remember that one simple thing and to be better to myself and to not dwell on the negative things, but dwell on the positive things and keep my mood up, just those few simple touches make my life totally 100% different. And I appreciate you so much and your time that you’ve given to the Chapel and to each one of us and to hundreds of more around here, you are a man that is so special and so rare and so precious to us and to myself and I bless you and thank you so much for everything.)
(I just wanted to say that it's just a joy to be here. It's just been a very beautiful experience. And I, like all of you, absolutely love and adore Dr. Bob for the gift that he gives us all in his Teachings. And normally I have a lot to say and lately I'm having less and less to say. I find I'm getting quieter and quieter in my life and appreciating Life every moment, every second. I once was going through a lot of physical problems that I had of course created and I called Dr. Bob as we often will and I finally said, you know, in tears, is there something that I need to look at or do and he said, very simply he said, "Dear we don't have to look; we don't have to look for the cause" and in that second I cried for about an hour or two and that was for me life-changing because it ended a cycle – it ended a vicious cycle that has never returned. And Dr. Bob, I just love you and bless you and thank you all for having this beautiful place here.)
(I don't think really any words can add much to what's already been said here but I'll tell just a very short thing. About two and a half years ago I went to visit with Dr. Bob and at that time he quite simply said to me – and I'm sure you've all heard it – “Sit quiet.” And at the time, I also had my motorcycle with me and while I was sitting quiet, my mind kind of drifted over to what a nice day it was and how it’d be pleasant to ride the motorcycle in California on such a beautiful day and right out of the blue Dr. Bob just said, "Well, why don’t you go ride your bike now." So I went and rode my bike down and that was two and a half years ago. Just “sit quiet.” And I just wanted to comment on what a great, beautiful day it was yesterday and what a beautiful lake you have sitting right over here and you all chose to be here and doing the Work. And I appreciate that. I don't have any more words except for thank you, Dr. Bob.)
(I'm Dorrie Billingsly. Thank you very much, Dr. Bob. It's a great privilege and just I guess one little thing I'd like to share that as he was yesterday sharing about whether or not things could be looked at as good or bad, I suppose… I don't know, you know how many years ago… six, eight years ago or so, at the time I thought the husband I had was the very worse thing in the world. And through that experience I met Donna and through Donna, she introduced me to the Teachings and Dr. Bob and it's absolutely been the best thing in my life. So I don't know what's good or bad. I'm just very, very grateful. And it’s…you know I can stumble around and do things, you know, I mean that I think I'll never do again and all of that and to have it be okay and step back again and just not make it important. And I think the greatest thing I got this weekend is that to not make it important, just… I don't know why I thought I had to do it all… all definitely, but just little steps – that being five minutes, ten minutes. And I'm very, very grateful. Thank you – everyone.) [several people talk in the background]
(And well yes, it was very upsetting at the time and I think I just needed to let go of the not-I and a lot of emotion. And I did; had a real good cry. And it's real funny today, you know. It was so important last night, but then it turned into something real funny. I don't know what to say. Like everyone else, I'm so grateful for the Teachings [sniffling] and I guess I wouldn't be here either if it weren't for the Teachings. I don't know what to say… thank you everybody.)
(Well this is our first time here and we want to tell you all what a wonderful place y’all have. And I’ve never seen such a place that feels so good when you walk in. I'm sure you've been told that a lot of times. You are all very, very nice people and we appreciate you all having us and I'm still learning a lot about Dr. Bob and his Teachings. I'm kinda in the middle, but thank you all very much. Every day is a new learning experience.)
(Couldn't have said it any better, thank you.)
(My mind went back to one of the times that I picked Dr. Bob up at the airport. And I can't remember what it was, but I wanted something real bad and I was telling him this and he got out a napkin and he drew on a napkin about my will and my purpose that I talked about yesterday and he said when your will and your purpose are in harmony, then the manifestation comes. And I have always remembered that and I love it. And I always go back to Dr. Bob's Teachings. I might get out here and do a lot of things, but I always check em out with the Teachings that are so true. But I forget just like we all do and I need reminders and every time he comes, I just wake up again and I get… I know what I need to do. I get restored and renewed and go back to those things that have been so, so meaningful and life changing for me. And I noticed yesterday – and I thought this speaks so highly of the Teachings – there were six ex-coordinators of the Chapel that were registered for this retreat. Now Allen didn't make it but the rest of em made it and there's only two coordinators for this Chapel, but that hadn't registered and been here and one was Dana who lives across the street and the other is Jim Z. who’s way off in [someone says where]... yeah. So I thought about that yesterday and I thought that really speaks highly because rarely do we have a coordinator that comes back. Donna always comes and Barbara Donavan was our first coordinator and she's the one that brought Dr. Bob here in 1976 and he's come every year since then. So they have, the Teachings have been spread and I know those out there that don't come back that are living the Teachings, those from Dallas and all over. And I just… every time Dr. Bob comes, my heart wells up with joy and gratitude for the privilege that we’ve had to have these Teachings presented to us and us to be able to have a life change and have that Living Cycle that – and even though we only do it for a few hours or a day or two – it makes the difference and we know what to go back to.)
[End of CD 4 of 4; End of “Not Important” Workshop – Lake Whitney, Texas 1994]