Workshop - Life's Word Workshop Lake Whitney, TX - 1981 - Page 2 of 4
There is a beautiful little book entitled
Life’s Word
by Anonymous
Dr. Bob was asked to comment on the material for clarification. It has been transcribed verbatim, in the vernacular of Dr. Bob’s “Kentucky-ese”.
(Note: Audience comments are in parenthesis.)
[Dr. Bob’s comments within his reading of Life’s Word are in brackets.]
[Clarifications and Suggested Links to Illustrations on this website are in brackets and italicized.]
Since this Workshop transcription came out to about 50,000 words, it is included here in continuing parts for the facility of loading these pages. There is no particulat relevance or topic to each page as it just continues from one page to the next via the links at the end. - Marsha
Continued from Part 1 .......
III
Third Mystery: Healing
The body is My habitation.
Does it suffer worries, pains or disappointments?
Yeah, the answer is yes. They didn't put it in here; but obviously it is. And it's always going to, if I may be so bold as to say so. And consequently, if we could (and I'll throw this in on the side) end today our effort to improve things so that that wouldn't happen, we would probably be relieved of most misery. Now pain and disappointments and worries and so forth, maybe are kind of natural, but misery is unnecessary. Period. Pain is going to be an aspect of living as long as we breathe and I hope we do it all for thousands of years yet. So we'll have pains now and then, but an average person makes themselves very, very miserable by trying to improve themselves. So they have a little pain, or you feel weary, or you feel tired and immediately wonder, “What have I done? I’ve done somethin’ wrong!” and here they take off. Well, if you just let it alone - so I feel kind of blah, “blahdoms”, you know, some mornins’? Well, so what? I feel blah; I’m content to feel blah. What’s wrong with it? In a few minutes it's gone. You don't know where it went, nor why, or could care less.
But if you set out to go straighten that up and find out what you did wrong, and you've got to improve yourself, I'll guarantee you can keep it going on for years - a lifetime, if that’s what a lifetime is - 60 years or something? You can keep it going that way. But if you cease trying to improve yourself… You see, you don't even know how to make one cell in a human body, do you Mack? You don't know how to make one hair grow or not grow, huh? And then you're gonna improve yourself. That is the height of audacity, hmm? How are you going to improve somethin’ when you don't even know how to make the first simple cell in it? Now it has, the body is an ever-changing, dynamic mechanism which is the home of whatever’s called Life. It keeps it goin’. And at times it needs a little discomfort here and there to make things go. We call it normal adaptation. Sometimes it feels kind of blah. You know it takes a few minutes to get up going in the morning. I've had five cups of coffee and a half pack of cigarettes, and Clyde went and got me the right variety and everything. I got my usual toxicity level up to functionin’ right now and I feel wonderful. (laughter) You know, to start off with here this mornin’? Who wants to go to work, “Bluhhhh.” But you're gonna to improve yourself? Forget it. Now I would say, if everbody here said, "Well, I'm content with things like they are.”
You know, there was a great writer--I think his name was Paul or at least whoever wrote it attributed it to him. You know today people steal stuff from each other and put their name on the literature. In the old days you put the other guy's name on it so it would look good. I like that routine better. But, at least it was attributed to the great salesman named Paul, that he said he had learned one thing, and only one thing had he learned in all his years of delving into Teaching material. He had learned that whatever state he found himself at that moment to be content there. Now that doesn't look like any great big earth-shaking discovery, does it? But it is probably the greatest thing towards transforming an individual into a conscious being that you could come up with. So at this moment we all have certain feelings. Some’s kind of blah, some’s delighted, some is this, some is that. But that's just fine for this moment. And if we let it alone, the next moment’s gonna to be another whole new experience and the next moment’s gonna be another one; but we hang it up by trying to improve ourselves.
One time I was working over in New Mexico on the banks of the Rio Grande River. The Rio Grande is dry most of the year and they turn water down through it in the spring, usually as the snows melts up in the mountains. We were standing out there and there was a dead horse come floating down the thing. Died probably in the sandbank during the winter; and when the spring waters come down, why he was floatin’ downstream. And somebody said, “We gotta pull that thing out of the water because it's terrible to have a dead horse in the Rio Grande River.” I said, “You pull that dead horse out, and you're stuck with a smelly, dead horse. You let it alone, ten minutes it's gone.” So you see, that's the way we do with all these things. (Laughter.) Well, isn't that right? Let it alone and it’ll go on. Everything that happens to you, you hang it up. You pull dead horses outa streams and you're stuck with ‘em all the time. If you let it alone, it goes on downstream and that's the end of the show.
So let's stop this super self-improving. If I can get that across, it was worth my trip down here. You're all right like you are. (That was what we went through that for.) You're fine just like you are, and you're gonna have 1,000 different sensations today, and if it's one you don't happen to like, you say, "Oh, what have I done wrong now?" When you go digging in your head, you’ve pulled a dead horse out. You're stuck with it then. Let it alone and it’ll go on in a few minutes. Okay? Can you do that, Mack? If you feel all pooped out some night, just feel pooped out - so what? It’ll go away in a few minutes. But if you pull it out, you're stuck with that pooped out dead horse all day.
Herein is the Third Mystery,
that as inspiration is higher than conscience,
Conscience is that stuff that tells you what you should do and should not do and inspiration says, “I'm going to do it. That's it.”
and love is higher than desire, so is My perfect will higher than aught that
seems to harm any one of My bodies.
You might read that again.
…My perfect will is higher than anything that seems to harm any one
of My bodies.
Now all this thing we think of as harm, we see as normal adaptation to something you've run into in the last few hours. And you know nothing stays in perfect balance all the time. But the activity of Life is balancing. It's always balancing things. It never is in perfect balance because if it did, then everything would become static. So we do something and we're fatigued. Ok, there's no reason to get all excited - the world hasn't come to an end. Just get horizontal a while and it all straightens out. But you feel fatigued. So the first thing most of us do is run get us an upper and get ourselves stimulated so we won't feel so pooped, is that right? You work on that a few years, Mack?
(Yes, sure did.)
You found lots of things that would do it, hmm? But then that gave side effects, and then you had to get something for that. That gives you fuzzies and this and that; so then you have to get something for that, huh? What's wrong with bein’ tired now and then? Now, Life (we refer to it as X), it just simply says here I – that it goes to work to balance that situation, okay? Now when it balances, it doesn't get it to a perfect balance because by that time we've done something else. So the ‘action’ direction of Life is always balancing and that balancing does give us sensation. I don't know about the rest of you, but I kinda like sensations. I would hate to be devoid of them. I don't spend any of my money goin’ in sensory deprivation tanks. I might spend some money to get a new sensation once in a while, but not to get rid of ‘em. I like ‘em. I think they're fantastic and they're marvelous and I don't think they all have to be pleasant, but they're nice anyway. If it hurts, it reminds me I'm alive. Do you ever think of that? If you got a pain, it's still telling you you're alive, and that X still thinks that this body is worth savin’, so it's adapting it.
I used to practice the healing art and when a person got so they didn't adapt anymore, which they usually do just shortly before they depart this world, those of you that have been in the health service and nursing and etc. knows that a person can be in all kinds of agony, right Tina? And all of a sudden they quit. They just feel fine. They come out of a coma and get up and talk to all the relatives, and they want somethin’ to eat, and the relatives say, “Oh, they're getting well.” Those of us "in the know" knows they gonna be dead in a few minutes because they quit adapting. X says this body isn't worth fiddling with anymore and we'll just let it go - not worth bothering with, anymore. And they just feel wonderful for a few minutes, and die. So when you see somebody that's been in a horrible state of affairs in health, and all of a sudden they're doin’ fine, call the relatives. It's about over. Now we'll all stand around and “view the remains” because that's all's gonna be left in a few minutes. So as long as you're hurtin’ and you have a discomfort, X says, "Well, I can still use this body,” hmm?
So thank goodness when you have a little discomfort now and then. It'll be all right, you don't have to do anything about it. It'll go away in a while. It may take it six months, but it'll go away. It may go away in a few minutes. But the point is you don't know how to improve it and certainly every time you have a discomfort, doesn't mean you had some horrible thought. You know certain areas of people I run into, that everything happens they look for something to blame it on. If you've had a headache, it must have been because you had a bad thought or you did this. So what? You're just alive, that's all that's wrong with you. That's all that's wrong - you're alive. And you don't have to stop and improve yourself.
It is well that everything shall come to the body which can come;
That's the next line here and that's pretty good. You wanna read that again, Mack?
It is well [they use the word “meat” here but we eat that stuff] that everything shall come to the body which can come; in order that when the word of inspiration is spoken and the body is healed, you shall be strong to express My perfect health.
Now perfect health doesn't mean I run around la-de-da, feelin’ good all the time. It means that I adapt to every challenge - that's perfect health. It’s you adapt to every stress and challenge that comes to the body. Now, let's all think for a moment that suppose we wanted to be strong—bodybuilding is “in” these days in certain areas of the country. Everbody wants a strong body. So you wanted a big set of muscles and you could win Mr. Universe or Miss Universe contests in bodybuilding. Would you do it by sitting around thinking positive, resting a lot so the body would not use your energy up doing something else, or would you go out and start pumping iron, lifting weights, running - heavy exercise? Which one would you do? Tell me.
(Exercise.)
Right. And do you think you'd get strong by stayin’ in the sack and restin’ so you wouldn't dissipate your energy at worthless things? Or do you think you could sit and think and think and think about how strong you were and your muscles would grow big? Do you think they would? Your belly would, but your head won't. That's the only thing that would grow is down here, is that right? So, you see that perfect health is not always feelin’ just so. So these people that are wanting to build these big bodies fatigue themselves and after they're totally fatigued, then they push some more. And it hurts. Every muscle in your body will burn and sting, but that's the way it says you made a demand for it to get stronger, is that right? Now most of us when we feel fatigued, we don't think that the way to get energy is to go out and fatigue it some more.
You know, boredom is the biggest fatigue there is, hmm? That means disinterest. And then we hope to get strong by resting a while. So perfect health is not always feelin’ la-de-dah. Perfect health is that you adapt to every stress, challenge that comes your way and you know something? Every one of us are doing that. The only thing that we continue to adapt to is our effort to improve ourselves. That's the never-ending one. Well, let's just be content and everything adapts quite well. So perfect health - so it says, “that the body is to be strong to express my perfect health” and it's gotta be strong to always stand all the adaptations without running and grabbing all the uppers and downers and so forth that can be available, and there is lots of ‘em available anywheres you wanna find ‘em, huh?
By generation after generation have I formed the body, giving it a formation and constitution and character whereby it can be affected only by that which is for it.
You're not affected by something that’s happened to somebody else over there. You know your mother probably told you to be sure and clean up your plate so the starving Singhs in India wouldn't be so hungry, is that right? But it don't help them a bit. I can eat all day for you. I can eat a big steak for you, but it don't relieve your hunger, does it? You can be very thirsty and I say, “Well, don't fret about it, I'll happily drink a couple of glasses of water for you.” It won't do you a bit of good, is that right? Not a bit. So, it can only feel something that is for the growth of its own strength.
Say you, "Can this be true of dying?" Yes, it is true even of the dying, and you shall see it. But you are not dying and this message is unto you.
So you aren't dying; quit hypothecating around that it’s gonna do something about dying people.
Seek to evade it if you will by thinking how it would be unto others, but know that I have so far given you just wisdom enough for your own life,
That's all you need. You don't need anything to know all the answers to every "why" question you can formulate. You know, that's one of the things I see people torment themselves. They want an answer to every "why" question they can come up with. “Why did this happen? Why did that happen? Why are there so many people in India? Why are they so hungry, and why does the good Lord let all those poor souls survive over there and not this and not that?” So you only need enough for you and you only need enough of it for today. Now wisdom is seeing "what is" clearly. It isn't having a lot of education; that's information. Wisdom is having enough to handle the present situation.
You can see what's going on. So the body's adapting; let's don't get all screwed up now. We need enough wisdom for me and for today. I can't have wisdom for you, ok? I just need enough for today. And one bit of wisdom is not to be asking "why" about everything that you can conceive of. I see people read the newspaper, “Oh, I don't see why that’s allowed to happen." In the first place readin’ the newspaper other than the classified ads is a waste of time. Classified lets you know what's going on in town; the rest of it’s a waste of time. But you can find out everything about a city by reading the classified section. The rest of it, throw it away. I only read a newspaper once in a while, but I never read anything beyond the classified. I drop the rest of it. A little lady is always wanting to know why I read all the classified, but I learn everything going on in town that way. It's the best information source you can get.
You only need enough wisdom for your own - that is, you're able to understand the self. Now the self is those things we put up last night, like the complainer, the sticker up for rights, the blamer, the pleaser, the quoter of authority and the self-improver above all. He's really a potent cat. And so if you understand the self, then you know to let all that stuff alone because that's all the source of destruction, and you just let it be. You can't keep it from yakkin’, but you don't have to pay any attention to it, ok?
and that if you are able to understand the self,
you will do well, leaving those others to me.
So will you let everybody else's troubles, problems, and anxieties and miseries - let them take care of their own, would you please, Miss Bekki? You really don't have to worry about all those other folks. They'll do they're own worryin’. And you can't do it for them. And you know it's so easy to say, "Oh, that poor soul. I feel so sorry for them," which is a nice way of saying, "I feel sorry for me," you know. You look over there and you see somebody considered to be unfortunate and you get all upset about it. You really are just having a new excuse to feel sorry for yourself. There’s somebody else around over in South America or somewhere, and you don't know about them, and you don't feel bad about them. But if you did, man, you could feel sorry for yourself over that.
I have developed the constitution to the point where the body has become wholly operated by nerve force, and I have developed that nerve force in the body to the end that it might obey My will.
In other words it's strong enough, but we usually let it obey the will of the "self" which is the conditioning, the not-I's as we refer to them as.
Whether you do submit the self to My will or not,
be sure that My will is worked out in the body;
In other words, it's gonna balance things whether you like it or not, regardless of how many uppers and downers you take or anything else, it's still gonna work out.
…My will is worked out in the body;
but when you do submit the self and do surrender to Me,
Let’s let X run the body. I don't know how to make a cell. I don't know how to convert a ham sandwich into flesh and blood. I don't know how fast my ticker should be running this minute. I don't know how many pounds I should weigh exactly this minute, and all these things. So let's just leave that to X. It’s its house, and it's running it. And I hear it needs a glass of water, well I'll look around for the water source, ok? And I hear it needs some groceries, I'll look around for groceries. But I'm not going into tizzies as to what kind it gets. Ok? X will take care of that.
…when you do submit the self and do surrender to Me,
Let X run the body.
the war in the nervous forces shall cease,
The war in the nervous system is conflict, anxiety, worry, etc. I think everybody knows about it - when you wanna do the right thing - boy, that is when you get busy, isn't it? Cause you got two little guys telling you what the right thing is. One of ‘em says stick up for your rights and all this stuff. So you got this little party over here – complainer, sticker up for rights, and blamer. And you got this little party over here - the pleaser, the quoter of authorities, and the self-improver. Now there's a war between those all the time and that's what we call “anxiety”. The self-improver says you got to improve yourself and the other one says, "I'm tired, I'll do it tomorrow. I don't have the energy to start on it today,” and so on. So here it says how to end the war or conflict.
…the war of the nervous force shall cease, and the body become a harmonious instrument for expressing My inspiration and love.
Now that doesn't mean it's gonna feel like a bed of rose petals all the time, but it will express the inspiration of X. Cause it does inspire us if the not-I's don't get the lick in and overpower it and we listen to the not-Is instead of that.
We’re very familiar, the voices of the not-I’s are very familiar to us. The voice of inspiration is rather strange. We never heard it before. We been so busy in this fight between the two of ‘em. And so then
the body becomes a harmonious instrument for expressing My inspiration and love. This is healing,
And that's what healing is all about is when all the struggle in the nervous system ends, you're gonna feel fine except you will naturally be adapting. But the body will cease its deterioration and fallin’ apart at the seams and it will express inspiration of Life and it will express love.
This is Healing, the Third Mystery.
So we got the third one up. Last night we said all was ok which was a healing idea. Then nothing needs to be changed. You don't have to improve yourself and all this stuff. That is submitting to the will. So then Healing is the third one and that is the end of conflict… conflict, struggle, and resistance is what healing is all about. Now if I'm not struggling with something inside in the nervous system - the mental apparatus - and I'm not in conflict and I'm not fightin’ to get something and make everything be different than the way Life really functions, I'm not sick, so I can heal, you see. It's really very nice.
Did you ever feel sick, Mary? And when you just finally said it was quite all right to be that way, it didn't last too long, is that right? But you know, we think we know all these things and we know how it ought to be and man, we're gonna get busy with it, aren't we Mary and find a way to make this thing straighten up, hmm? We'll use all the facilities of the uppers, downers, the head shrinks, and other fine folks and everything else, and what do we do? As long as we're in conflict, struggle and resistance tryin’ to improve ourselves, we're going to be rather sick. Now when you get so you really don't care, it's all right.
If you don't mind, I'll tell you a little story. I suppose in some circles it would be slightly risque, but here it wouldn't be. It's just ordinary. They told a story on me one time back in New Mexico. I was invited to give a talk to the rotary club and a friend of mine came to me and was a member of the rotary and wanted me to give a talk. I said fine, I’ll do that. He introduced me at one of these new luncheon bits; and he said, “I really don't know how to tell you what Dr. Bob does. I can't have a word for it, so I'll give you a little story to illustrate.”
He said, “There was a man recently I met on the street and he was an old friend of mine. He looked simply terrible. He was walking down the street dragging; and I stopped him and said, "Hey, Bill, what in the world is the matter with you? What’s happened to you? Did your family die or business gone?"
"No," he said, "Nothing like that. It's just I wish I'd die. I don't want to talk about it."
I said, "Come on, tell me. We're old friends. What's wrong with you?"
The guy said, "Well, look, I lost control of my urine and I dribble in my pants all the time."
And I said, "Well, what have you done about it?"
He said, "Well, I went over to Pritkin’s drug store and I got some stuff and it makes it worse I think." And then he said, "I went to another drug store here and they gave me some stuff and it just discolored my pants and nothing's doing any good."
I said, "Well quit fiddling around with these darn home remedies and go to a professional man. They can fix that up." I said, "Come on, get with it, go see a professional man, it will be all right."
He said, "I didn't see Bill for about three weeks and when I did, he was whistling and going down the street just laughing and jivin’ off, and I said, "How good to see you looking good."
He said "Yeah, I've been wanting to see you to thank you."
I said "What for?"
He said, "Well you know the last time we met, you told me to go see a professional man."
"Yeah," I said, "Well, who'd you go see?"
He said, "I went to see Dr. Bob Gibson over here."
I said, "Well, all he does is talk to you, doesn’t he?"
He said, "Yeah, that's all we did, we just talked."
I said, "You mean talking to you got rid of that dribbling?"
He said, "Aw, hell no, I still dribble, I just don't give a damn." (Laughter.) So you see you’re healed as soon as you don't give a damn. The rest of it will go away in due time. Okay?
Now you'll leave here with the same thing you came in, but maybe you just won't give a damn, ya know? You’ll go along and it’ll be all right. Ok, Mary? One time Mary called me up and she was so depressed and so miserable, she just hated to get up and put on her face in the morning and go to work. And I said, "Well, Mary, I thought everybody loved to perform miracles. You get an old hag out of the bed and turn out a beauty on the streets - you've performed a miracle." She's had fun ever since puttin’ on her face. Now, she's still having to put on her face every morning, but now she just don't give a damn. Right Mary? You know it's nice to perform miracles every day, did you ever think about that? You get up and perform a miracle every morning, don't you? So this is healing now, and healing is not all these wild things that suddenly you jump up and everything’s feelin’ fine. It is that you’re just fine for it to be like it is and all of a sudden everything's wonderful, ok?
And to you who cannot yet surrender,
You know some of you just flat can't give it up, that's all there is to it. Because you're afraid to leave that body alone, because you know good and well there's no such thing as X; and obviously it couldn't do anything - if it did exist, cause you gotta do it cause you know so much about bodies and cells and how they work, how to change food into flesh and blood, how to make some go to hair and some go to muscles and some to fingernails and some to this and some to that. You know where to direct the food, Marcy? Or you dump it in and forget about it? But, you see, some can't surrender. Some people can't just let it alone, can they Mack?
One time Mack and I talked and he let things alone for about three months. He felt so good, he had to get back on the job and mess it up again. That right, Mack? That’s a fact, isn’t it? See, he’d sit and talk to me out in California, and he felt wonderful. One time he took me from here to the airport in Dallas, so I had a captive audience – he couldn't get away, you know, he couldn’t run. I had him in that little, old, dinky, Japanese beer can. And he couldn't get away, and he had to listen to me all the way to Dallas. And he felt good for three months. And then he got out of it and said, "Well, look, this is all right, but I can't depend on this - this body's liable to fall apart any day now.” And he screwed it up. And so, some of us just simply can't surrender yet and let X run the body, is that right, Mack? Cause it don't know what it's doing. If you don't watch out for it, it’s gonna mess up.
I have not yet developed your bodies and minds to that point.
Give us time, Mack. We'll get there.
I give this message that all forces will yield unto the word of inspiration
spoken through the mouths of others.
Sometimes you can't hear inspiration inside your own head; you'll hear it from outside somewhere and it may be some comedian somewheres or whatever. I heard a comedian say somethin’ made a little sense, the only thing he said that made any sense, incidentally, to me. He was smokin’ a cigarette and said that somebody had given him a big fit about smokin’ was so terrible to your health and liable to kill you, all this. And he said, "Well, what are you doing it for?" He said, "Well, any joker can quit smokin’, but it takes a hero to face cancer." Oh, let’s don’t bother with it, you know. You might as well be a hero, huh? And go on about your business.
A friend of mine gives talks to groups called "Smoke-Enders." Don’t know if you’re acquainted with that little group, runnin’ around the country, you know about it? He had fourteen in his last class and he called me Thursday afternoon and said, “All fourteen of ‘em quit.” The funny thing was that he asked them all in this class why they started smokin’. All of ‘em said, “Due to peer pressure.” When they was growing up, you know – the other kids are all smokin’, so then they had to smoke to keep up. You know about peer pressure. Then he asked ‘em a week later why they were all there coming to "Smoke-Enders" to quit. And you know what? Peer pressure. That really shows we're really on the ball and our own man and woman, aren’t we? Peer pressure made me start, peer pressure’s makin’ me quit. When the hell am I gonna do something on my own, hmm? Peer pressure didn't start me smokin’, I was born wantin’ a cigarette. Before I had any peers, really.
And unto you who can't yet surrender [Mack]
because I have not yet developed your body and mind to that point,
Give us time, we’re workin’ on it.
I give this message: that all forces will yield
unto the word of inspiration spoken through the mouths of others.
So potent is the word of inspiration that even the form of words used is repeated by those who do not know Me to do many wonderful works.
You can hear yourself quoted every once in a while, believe that part or not, huh? You can hear yourself quoted. Wherever there is a bit of inspiration comes out, you'll hear a lot of other people quotin’ it, even though you said it, Mary. It wasn't you; it was inspiration.
Am I unjust that I develop some bodies to fruitage sooner than others?
No, because some will let go and some won't.
Do I not bring forth the ripened berry early in the season
rather than the ripened peach?
So whose to say that you should get there first, Mack? Just cause you're a big guy doesn't mean you're gonna get there.
Therefore, I say that My bodies that have surrendered unto Me
and that are conscious of doing My will are likened unto the humble blackberry, while you who receive this message with scorn, or a sense of bondage, [and, “I just can’t do it, yet.”] are likened unto peaches which will hereafter ripen with a glorious fullness unknown to the more quickly ripened smaller fruit
See, you'll get to be a bigger wheel! Wonderful thing about Life's Word - always lets you off the hook. And thank goodness it does, because we – are – all – off – the – hook – if – we – would – but – allow it, ok? So when you do ripen late in the season, just before the frost, it will be marvelous, Mack.
Am I unable to answer all the questions which I Myself have planted in the mind?
Now not all the ones the not-I’s plant in there. Because, really, the only question that X, Life, Spirit plants in the mind is, "What's going on here?" That's really the only thing any of us need to know. Not, "Why did Susie do that?" and, “Why were some people born with red hair and some of ‘em with pink hair and some of ‘em with black hair?” And so on… And why are some people tall and some are short, why are some people smart and others are smarter, and so on down the line. None of that is that.
The only question that Life ever plants in our head is, "What's going on here?" Now we have four questions that we sometimes put—they all say the same thing. What am I? Where am I? What's going on here? And what I can do? Now that's the four questions that Life puts in the head. And then all the others are the ones that the "self" put in there. We spend a lot of time on the others and very little on this one. We're gonna talk about that tomorrow. I've already been requested that that be the subject of the sermonette tomorrow – is going to be, “What am I? Where am I? What’s Going On Here? and What I Can Do?”. So we won't talk about that anymore. I gotta have somethin’ to talk about tomorrow.
Am I unable to answer all the questions…
If you should ask, “What about bodies that have died?
Are they, too, ripened?
What's it any of your business? (laughter)
Should I not be able to answer?
Yes, I am able to answer all things, and shall unfold to thee all Mysteries.
And they’re all mysteries, is “What am I? Where am I? What's going on here? And what I can do?”
This third mystery concerns only your self.
Others I will show to you in due season.
So this third one is “Healing”, is the end of anxiety, conflict, struggle and resistance by trying to improve yourself by thinking “I know what ought to be right now”, and you don't and you don’t have the foggiest. So you dreamed up some ideal. And it isn't that way and you feel disappointed; and when you're disappointed, you feel hurt, and you look for blame, and you get anger, guilt, fear, insecurity - the whole smear. But when you say, "Well, it's all right like it is." Life seems to have had things going on here for a long time before you got here, Mack, and you know something else - he'll keep it going on long after you depart, okay? So I think we can fairly well trust it to do things. Okay? Think you can do that now, or do I have to hold you in a car for a long time?
(I’m gonna give you a ride to the airport.)
Well, it’s in Houston this time. (laughing) The airport’s in Houston this time. I’ll hold you a little longer and it’ll last six months this time. Twice as long!
Others I will show to you in due season.
So if you need anything else, it will be there. Now that is the Third Mystery. We will put up the fourth one. It is 11:30. I suggest we have a five, ten-minute break. And how would be two o’clock to start? Everybody agreed to that? And I’m gonna start at two o’clock, you know. You come in late that’s fine. I’m very punctual. And I like to start on time, so let’s all be here at two o’clock –
(It says here 2:30. What if people weren’t here this morning?)
Oh, it says 2:30? Wonderful! (laughter) That suits me better. Two-thirty we’ll start. You must have arranged that. He starts at 10:30. Last time I was here, they had me start at nine o’clock in the mornin’, all this stuff. Thank you – I’m glad. Whoever did it, that’s fine. So we start at 2:30 this afternoon. I didn’t know that was already arranged, so that suits me just fine. Two-thirty, but we will start exactly 2:30.
IV
: Healing Others
Not blessed above the rest are you unto whom I give the Fourth Mystery.
So just because you hear it, don’t mean you're better off than anybody else.
Through your bodies I radiate My glory and send vitality to other bodies.
I don't know whether everybody is well aware or not, but you can give a lot of vitality and energy to anybody else that's in your area; or you can take a lot from them. If I come in all, “uhhh”, I can drag everybody in here down. I can sap your energy out like you had a pump on you. Or I can come in full of vim, vigor, vitality, enthusiasm, the fire of the gods, everybody will feel pretty good. Now I have on the average of 10 people a day call up and say they're pooped out and they need some energy. So I talk to them one minute on the phone, and they do have a lot of energy. So it will travel over the microwaves over the telephone system. They don't have wires in them anymore; they just go by microwaves. But you can transmit energy to other people – vitality. And I think that's probably what allows me to have more vitality than most people. And I think I really do—cause I can wear any of you out—is that I give out a lot of it. So that's kind of a form of exercise. If I dish out a lot of vitality, why, of necessity, I have to generate a lot. So you might as well find out. And Mack, that is a very interesting thing to do is to radiate a lot of energy out for other folks. Be like a tower that sends it out. That might even be interesting! Even to you!
Through your mind I quicken the minds and nerves of other bodies,
And you really do. Were you ever around somebody who was very enthusiastic and didn't you feel a lot better? And when you're around somebody who is, "Woe is poor me. All my life when it was my time to do something I did it; when it's somebody’s time to help me, they're never there.” That will drag you down so fast, you don't know what hit you, you know. Boom, out it goes. You just dissipate energy all over the place. So…
Through your mind I quicken the minds and nerves of other bodies, acting upon them according to My will, that I might ripen them to great destinies.
“Great destiny” is just to be alive and feel enthusiastic, and fix things around, and don't load other people down with things. That’s a “Great Destiny.” Don't have to get your name in headlines or neons or any of that kind of stuff.
You who have this Fourth Mystery, the gift of healing others,
are no better than those others.
So don't get the idea that if because you can heal somebody or you know somebody could, that they’re any great shakes. They are just folks who throw out a little of energy, that's all, and see that everything's all right just like it is. So if you're a healer, don't let it go to your head.
You who have this Fourth Mystery, the gift of healing others, are no better than those others that you heal. And if you are happier than they are,
yet your happiness is not more profitable than their unhappiness.
It just doesn't do any good—not because you can heal. You know, don't go around pattin’ yourself on the back cause if you do, you'll break your arm. And that's all you'll get out of it.
Other bodies have I prepared for the ministrations,
There's a lot of sick ones around for you to practice on. There’s a lot of those been prepared for you to minister.
O holder of the key of the Fourth Mystery! Others, less ripened than you are awaiting the help that you can give.
They're out there waitin’ for it because they haven't found a way to be out of their conflict and struggle, and they dissipate energy all over the place with boredom and helplessness and self-pity and all this. So there's plenty of them out there. So throw ‘em out a little bit. They'll use it. They won't keep it, but they'll use it for a while anyway. But it's kind of like buyin’ somebody's dinner, you know. Hungry person, you get their dinner then they're not hungry now. But in a few hours they will be. So somebody's all down, you give ‘em a big charge of energy. It's like giving ‘em a meal; they feel fine now, but in a few hours they'll be hungry again. So in the process you have plenty to practice on. That's what they're there for. And maybe they'll catch on some day that they can do likewise and look after their own. All they gotta do is to kind of like things in the world like they are. So there's plenty out there for us to work on, okay?
O holder of the key of the Fourth Mystery! Others, less ripened than you, are awaiting the help you can give! But until you have accepted from Me the power to heal and the sure knowledge that I am in you and you in Me,
That's all one.
and until you can say "I love,"
and really know what you're saying, not just popping words off,
knowing that it is I in the body which saith it,
even until then you are only an imitator of My healing power.
When you know that X does all the healing, generates all the energy - the only source of energy in living beings in this world is X. And you can use it or dissipate it; block it off, but it’s there. And everybody has X in ‘em, so there's nobody deficient of energy; there's an awful lot of people who don't take advantage of it. You know, it’s like we're in this room and I see that none of the lights are on. That doesn't mean light’s not available; all we got to do is go over there and push a button.
[a few words were lost as tape was turned over]
Now demanding don't mean in the usual sense get with it and do it. It just means just push the button, you know. That's making the demand. Very simple.
Until you know me, it is well if you can imitate what you think I am.
If so, well – and if not, well.
Fine, you can go through all those states; you can do the imitation. If so well, and if not, well. It's all right either way. As I said, you don't have to change anything.
For I am working My will in the body now, and you shall see My glory
when your eyes grow strong enough to endure such a light.
You gotta get your eyes so you can stand to see that, really, Life is doing everything we see around here constantly. It is makin’ you breathe, smile, stand up, sit down, move, eat, get hungry, sleepy, wake up, whatever. You don't know how to do any of those things. So what’s goin’ on?
Shall you say to Me, “Does God do it all and there is nothing for me to do?” Yes, I do it all. You have but to Be, and to Grow, as I see fit to develop you.
And so you are the living expression of Life and can you think of anything greater to be? Just rattle that one by your ivories for a minute. Is there anything greater than to be a conscious expression of Life, love, truth, God - whatever word you want to use? A livin’ expression of X. Now, otherwise we're a dying expression of the not-I’s. Now either way, you have your choice and I'd much prefer the former. Hmm? Now, you can walk on a street in a city or a small town, or anywheres you wanna be, and you look around, if you see a person, you see a person either dying as an expression of the not-I’s or you see a person living, growing, being an expression of truth, God, love – if you will. You see one or the other all the time; and unfortunately you see an awful lot more as an expression of dying, the expression of the not-I’s. You see it all over…it's really about all you see.
When you can no longer hold the self up as a separate person from Me,
you will surrender to Me,
When you see, “Look, we're all one. So I'm gonna do the “Awareness Function” of this partnership, or this household; and my partner or my other aspect, Life, is gonna take care of all the “how’s”. So I see what to do and get with it.” It'll take care of the other part of it and you won't have to fret about it. And you're not a separate person. So, if Life left any one of these bodies here, you know what would happen to the body? Blap! Hits the floor, no longer a living expression, right? It’s gone. Right now.
When you can no longer hold yourself up as a separate person from Me, you will surrender to Me and I will use the body to radiate My love to others.
And that's a pretty good activity. And I don't know anything greater to say I exist for – that this body can be used to radiate Life, radiate love, radiate peace and radiate power, energy to other people. Can you think of anything any better to do today?
(That's good.)
That's all right, ok?
To exercise my healing power,
you must tenderly love, without desire, the body you would heal.
No matter where it is. You are sincerely interested in it.
Unto many I reveal a tender love with desire. Such a revelation of Myself comes to the maiden or youth with a power of gladness which is a foretaste of My joy.
Not the real thing, but it definitely is an aspect of it.
But unto you shall be revealed a more tender love, without desire and
even without desire for a return of affection.
You don't expect a return. That the person says, “Now look at all I've done for them and how little they've done for me.” You know…did you ever feel that way? “I've done so much for people and, man, nobody's ever done anything for me except step on me.”
Unto many I reveal the tender love with desire.
That's around and it's wonderful, and it's beautiful, and it’s a foretaste.
Such a revelation of Myself comes to the maiden or youth
with the power of gladness which is a foretaste of My joy.
And it’s very worthwhile havin’ around.
(Would you talk about the different ways you have desire?)
Yeah, I’ll get there in a minute, okay?
But unto you shall be revealed a more tender love without desire for the return of affection. Now if that degree of tenderness that I reveal unto many causes a supreme gladness of the heart, to what height of bliss shall they rise unto whom I give the power of radiating My perfect love?
Now, that is what's called bliss and etcetera. Now, I was asked to talk about desire. Now, don't think that because you want a drink of water, that that's called desire. Now, in the ordinary terms, it is somewhat, I guess; but you're gonna have that.
Desire is a psychological - as it's used here - is a psychological aspect that says, “I've gotta have that in order to be happy.” Now, that's the kind of desire it says it's talkin’ about here. That says when it can disappear - that “I gotta have this or that. I've gotta have your attention or your approval in order to be happy. I have to have this set of circumstances in order to be happy. I've gotta be approved of by everybody to be happy.” That is desire as used here. Now please don't think because you want a new house or a new car or somethin’ - if you want those for whatever purpose you want ‘em, knowing that they're not gonna make you important. Now, I know if we run out and get us a power-bob to run around in, it is a good attention getting’ device, isn't it, huh? I drove a car to work the other morning. It looks a little rugged and it's a great big monster. Some guy come barging in tellin’ me that it looked like a pile of junk. You know, he was trying to put it down, put me down for driving the thing. So he drives a 280-ZX. So I said, "Well, I know that this big Bentley looks pretty terrible, but it did get down here; and that's more than I can say for that Japanese beer can you got out there.” All of a sudden, he was very upset, you know. All of a sudden, cause I had said his car was a Japanese beer can. Now it didn't change the 280-Z one iota, but just cause I said something, he got all rattled, you know. I'm fairly well known for being fast on the uptake, you know… I usually put out what I put out.
… to what height of bliss shall the person rise unto
whom I give the power of radiating My perfect love?
Now that is perfect love… is love without need or a demand or a desire for return.
“I love you and you better damn well love me or stuff is rough." If I love you simply because you are an expression of X, and I'm an expression of X, there’s nothing I need in return - at all, and I don't desire any. It is a radiation and a radiation is not a drawing unto. No doubt there will be a lot of other radiations start out there, but that's not the purpose of it, okay?
Each radiation of My love is a healing power
which pierces unto the uttermost, giving forth a new and sweet vitality.
In other words, the greatest source of vitality for ourselves is to truly radiate love, if you want to use that word. It's been used, so beat around, I hardly ever use it. It’s been to relate to everything and it gets to be almost a cliché at times. But let’s say that I am truly interested in your wellbeing, hmm? Without any desire to get anything in return - you don't owe me any return of being interested in me or anything else. Then that radiation is probably one of the most healing things in the world, and it gives forth a sweet vitality.
I am only waiting to use the body to radiate forth My love and Life, waiting until you shall give up this so called “knowledge of good and evil” and surrender unto Me.
You see, the reason we don't surrender, we think we know what's good and what’s bad and what's right and what's wrong. And so we demand that we better watch things cause Life don't seem to have that. It really don't seem to care about what's good and what's bad and what's right and what's wrong. Hmm? Because that all comes from conditioning over there. And that's what our great riches is that we're afraid to give up because if we're not looking after what's good and what’s bad, who is? You know? Somethin’ terrible liable to happen if I haven’t got my finger on it every minute, is that right? Huh? I don't know what's good, and I don't know what's bad. Now that may sound like, well, I'm some kinda reprobate, and I probably am. But do you know the outcome of a given event today - say two weeks from now? Hmm? Two months from now? Now, if you don't know that, could you judge it as being good or bad today? Huh? Could you, Mack? Now let's say one of your gas wells blew out and went dry today - pooph! You know the outcome? But you don't know the outcome of that two weeks from now. It may push the others out to where they really produce, you see? So you better wait a couple of months or three months ‘fore you see whether it's good or bad.
You know, there's a story they tell about a man who had his major wealth consisted (in fact his only wealth consisted) of a very beautiful horse, a lovely mare that he had—a great Arabian mare. I agree. And he and his son struggled away to make a livin’ and could barely exist; but they had this beautiful horse. So they knew no trouble could come to them because they could always sell this lovely mare for a fortune.
One mornin’ they got up and the mare had broken out of her corral and gone. The guy said, "Well, the mare's gone." All the neighbors come and said, “You sure are unfortunate.” He said, "I don't know; I know the mare's gone, that's all I know." "Well," they said, "that's terrible." He said, "Ok, it’s terrible. But I don't know that."
So about a week later they get up one morning and the mare's back in the corral with seven beautiful wild stallions. All the neighbors come and said, “You sure are fortunate.” The man said, "Well, I don't know. I got eight horses now and I only had one before. But I got eight now, so I know that." And they all said that they knew that it was wonderful that he had the eight horses now. Was pretty good, wasn't it?
So he and his son decided to break these eight wild stallions so they would be able to sell them and so forth and about the fourth or fifth day one of these wild stallions threw his son and broke his leg. His leg broken riding horses instead of roller-skating, but it works the same way.
So all the neighbors come and said, "How unfortunate, your son broke his leg. Got a broken leg." The man said, "I don't know whether it's fortunate or not, I just know the son's got a broken leg.”
And about five days later, the king's men came through, conscripting all able-bodied young men to take ‘em off to some war that they were raidin’ another country. Of course, they couldn't take his son because he had a broken leg.
So all the neighbor's sons got taken but his wasn't. They all came over and said, "How fortunate for you, that your son had a broken leg." He said, "I don't know, I just know he's got a broken leg and he didn't have to go to war.”
Now we could go on through that for the rest of the day, but I guess we'll quit about there. But do you see that everybody jumps to the conclusion you know what’s good and bad because it fits our little preconceived opinions of what’s good right now; but you don’t know the outcome four or five days later, a week later, so how could you tell whether it's good or not? Ok?
So is it possible we could just let good and evil alone? You see, that was told in a story of the “Book of Genesis” - was the fall of man. He eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And he told ‘em when they eat of it, they’d die. It's a deadly stuff. You just spit it out. Throw the core away. Do you know what's good and bad?
(No.)
Then you don't have anything to worry about, do you? Everything’s just all right like it is.
I am only awaiting to use the body to radiate forth My love and Life—waiting until you shall give up the so called “knowledge of good and evil” and surrender unto Me.
And say, “Look, Life knows what it's doing, it's doing fine.” So I got an itch today and the itch will eventually heal up, I guess. If it don't, it's fine to have the itch, is that right? So what? I don't know what's good and I don't know what's bad, and that is possibly the being reborn, because the fall of man, the death of man, was deciding long ago that he knew what was good, what was bad, and we've been passing it off from generation to generation. Mama told me all the things that’s good and bad. And they told me that on a certain day I was old enough to know good from evil. Thank goodness I outgrew it. Give me time, I'll outgrow anything. So let's leave that one there. Ok, is there any questions or comments? Yes sir?
(You got that word ‘bliss’ in there. What does that mean?)
Well, you're blissful when you don't want to change anything, my friend. There's nothin’ I want to change, so I say I'm in a state of bliss right now. Now, sometimes the bliss is greater degrees and lesser degrees. When you wanna change anything, you're not very blissful, is that right? Now, I don't know anything that I'm smart enough to say should be changed, so I'm quite pleased and delighted and wonderful with everything as it is and when you're in a state of not having a thing in the world you want to remake, improve, fix it up, and say, "The good Lord sure screwed up. He should have left me in charge of this thing,” huh? He should have made me the general manager. Then you might call that bliss.
(You went a little too fast for me. I want to go back a little bit.)
Where do you want to go back to? To the beginning?
(No, no, when you talk about eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.)
Was the fall of man, as the story goes - the great teaching story, the symbolic story. Eve was enticed by the evil one, which is the Four Dual Basic Urges, to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That right, huh? And that was the fall of man from the truly spiritual state, seeing themselves separate from Life rather than as an expression of Life. And Eve handed it on to Seth and Cane; and Cane raised cane with it and killed Able and they've been going on ever since with it.
(Then you said being reborn is when we give up. . .)
You can see that you don't know what's “good” and what's “bad” and you could care less. And you can allow Life to determine what's going on and you can respond to it. You now are a new creature. You are not a creature that knows good and evil, right from wrong. You now are an expression of Life, expressing spontaneously Life, love, truth, all those pretty words. Ok? That is being a new person, is it not? Okay? Anybody else got a word? Yes, sir.
(Will you tell us what the six not-I’s are again?)
Ok, the first one is, of course, the very "Pappy" of all of them is that the whole purpose of living is to be non-disturbed.
The first one that works on how to get it is “complaining”. That's the complainer. Things not like I know they ought to be, I complain, right, Mary?
(That’s on the right side, right?)
Well, that’s over there – I don’t know whether it’s right or left, or in the middle.
Okay, the second one is “sticking up for my rights”; that's the sticker up for rights. Okay?
Now, on the other side in the next thing, the ordinary sequence of chronology is that I gotta please everybody. Mama put up enough with my complainin’ and stickin’ up for rights, okay? [Big thunderclaps during a storm keep interrupting.] Sounds like we’re at work, only I have military jets fly over all day, so I’m used to stoppin’ to get my breath between words. So that would be that says it's important to please them. It's not because I want to, but they'll give me pain if I don't, is that right.
Then we make the one that says believe and do as I am told by my authorities. My authorities, of course, are the ones that Mama told me was my authorities - the fuzz, the preachers, the Sunday school teachers, the word, the book - all that stuff, you know. They don't always agree as you've noticed.
The next one says, I “ought to improve myself. “ So that's the self-improver which gets very powerful in a lot of folks. It's really a tyrant because no matter what you do, you ought to improve yourself.
And then finally we get to one that really clears everything up: if they would straighten up. So the blamer, “If all the rest of these folks would just straighten up and fly right, I would be so happy.” So all we gotta do is start a war and straighten ‘em up; and if they don't straighten up, we will straighten ‘em out. That clear enough for you?
Now that's the self and it says to know the self. And it doesn't say to improve it, straighten it up or eliminate it, it just says know it. So you take into consideration when all that stuff runs through your head that that's to be ignored because that's the self runnin’, and wantin’ you to express the self rather than Life itself, okay? That's the competitor to Life. In the scripture books and so forth, it’s called the devil, or the evil one, or the dark forces, or the opposition and so forth. So it’s what wants to take over, and it is death to live by it, okay? Does that answer your question?
(So when you get into that position as being some of these different deals, improvement or something like that, what are some of the steps I take to get away from that?)
Well, see that it’s a bunch of foolishness. In other words, if somebody come along and told you that if you use these [holding up colored markers] to make a circle around you on the floor, that nothing could ever come disturb you anymore, and all you have to do is give them $8,000 for this thing so you can draw a green circles around you on the floor, would you buy it?
(No.)
Okay. It don't pay to improve yourself; same stuff. In other words, I don't think you're a gullible man, so don't listen to all that junk.
(How about $10,000?)
For $7,000 you can have an orange crayon. (Laughter) I don't know good and evil. Life can, therefore, radiate from me. So if I don't know good and evil then Life has to radiate out here. Now, Life is always the unexpected, the unconditioned and really you can't very well predict an unconditioned person. But a very conditioned person, I can predict. I know I can say this to them and get this response. If I say something, they cry. I say somethin’ else and they laugh. I say somethin’ else and they get very upset and depressed; and I say somethin’ else and they feel very wonderful and so forth. So I can predict a conditioned person. It makes it quite possible for all of us peddlers to make a good livin’. But if you're dealing with a person who is expressing Life, you never know what's going to happen. They're totally unpredictable. That's why all institutions don't like ‘em. Because if you have an institution, you gotta have it so that when you say something or give an order or what have you, it’s predictable as to be the outcome. And, totally conscious people would eliminate the possibility of institutions havin’ power. So they don’t like ‘em, and they spend great time, effort – all institutions – seeing that you are thoroughly conditioned that you will respond as the proper button is pushed. Okay? `
Any other question, comments? Yes, ma’am. Yes, Amelia.
(I go around quoting my authorities a lot. How can I work on that so I don't have to?)
Well, see that your authorities don't know what they're talkin’ about, so why would you quote those jerks? Huh? Let's quote Life. Then every now and then, you don't quote it, you express it. Quoting is always out of something else that says Amelia really don't exist. She’s a tape recording. And so, somebody pushes it and it plays off “X 12” on the tape. Somebody else pushes somethin’, you play "B 2", and so on down the line. So why not let Amelia express Life rather than that? So if nothing else, just be quiet for a day or two and it’ll come out, ok? So the best thing I would suggest if I could, Amelia, is that we don't quote anybody for a while. It might mean you’re very silent for a few days and everybody wonders what's wrong with you, but then something will come out and it will be the expression of Life. Ok? Does that sound sensible to you? And everybody will wonder what's wrong with Amelia - she's not yakkin’ all the time.
(Me, too!)
Let it go for a day or two and something will come out as an expression of Life. Just don't let all that stuff express for a little bit, okay? Next comment, question, what have you. Okay, there’s a quick break in the violent downpours and the thunderstorms, so let’s take a break until 2:30, when we will start on time at 2:30. There is a whole bunch of these little mysteries and we’ll try to cover ‘em all. So we’ll start on time, okay?
V
Fifth Mystery: Purity
We will proceed where we left off. So we're going to talk about the book and what it says and I will attempt to have a comment now and then.
It says:
I am pure. Unto Me all things are pure. I see not only that which appears, which in itself gives the thought of impurity; but I also see the very innermost thought of the heart. Are not Mine eyes too pure to behold impurity?
You know it seems that people who don't think of everything as being impure, seldom see it anywheres; but the ones who feel they’re impure see it about every place under the sun.
Yet is there anything that I do not see?
Says Life.
Therefore, I reveal unto thee the Fifth Mystery, the Mystery of Purity. Unto each I give that measure of My purity which each one is capable of receiving.
Now obviously none of us could receive somethin’ we aren't capable of receiving.
You cannot yet know all My purity, therefore are you guided by such portions as you have. It is well for you to be what you think is purity
until I reveal this Mystery unto you.
In other words, don't take off doin’ somethin’ because the book said so. Again, we said you do it on your own, and only as you see it that way.
No ceremony can cause that which is selfish to become unselfish. If then any possession of another without ceremony would be selfish, so also is that possession if taken with the world's sanction.
So it says, we don't pay too much attention to the world sanctions, but as long as you can't see it otherwise, by all means get the world sanctions.
Herein is the Fifth Mystery, not that I lay any commandment upon you,
but that I call you from a lesser pleasure unto a greater. If it be a pleasure to you to hold another in bondage unto the self, well. If it be pleasure to win another's love for the self, well. Even if it be a pleasure to bind another with a bond that you do not yourself observe, well. But listen unto My voice calling you from these pleasures.
The body is My temple.
This has been repeated before a number of times.
Shall I not cause it to glow with the fire of My glory?
You see a person every once in a while that just kinda glows, don't you? And you see other people that look kinda cloudy. I'm not talking about auras or anything. You could call it that if you like, but some people just kinda look a little depressed, and some just glow all over the place.
Shall I not cause the body of the temple to glow with the fire of My glory?
Do you think I am not able to keep it pure without the help of the self?
You know the "self" is always trying to straighten everything out, you know. It makes you feel guilty, and all these good things. But it seems that it's quite able to take care of things without that.
Yes, I am able, and you shall know the mystery of MY purity.
Struggle as you will against what you think impure.
And you know the more we struggle against something, the more it seems to be there, is that right? The more we try to improve ourselves, the more unworthy we feel and so forth. So…
Struggle as you will against what you think impure. The struggle is not in vain, for out of it shall grow Strength, that the sight may not be blinded when I show you that all things are pure.
Now I don't know whether you've seen that or not, but I'm quite sure that eventually you'll see that all things are pure, and that there's nothing to go out and find fault with in yourself or another.
That which appears impure unto you is not tender love between woman and man, however or wherever shown. But the appearance of desire is impure unto you.
Even unto you, tender love without desire does not seem impure.
So the desire is the desire to control, to possess, to own. You know you never “desire to love”. You just already got that. But then it’s when it turns around that we call the desire to control somebody, to own them, to possess, to manage them, what-have-you. That is desire. And then when that's rejected, oh how wonderfully we feel we're in love. Ever been rejected a little bit? Oh man, it makes things worse.
Nothing can sully the purity of that body wherein I dwell. [That is a statement which causes a bit of commotion in the world, but let’s try it again.] Nothing can sully the purity of that body wherein I dwell. Fear not, therefore, anything that can come to the mind body from without, for I am within.
So don't worry about all these things that come in from the outside.
Have you been warned by others not to think certain thoughts?
You know, you've probably been told that that's terrible, and people tell me they are just controlled by their thoughts, and these horrible thoughts run through their mind. What difference does it make what thoughts run through there? It's just traffic on the freeway. You know you might as well be concerned as what kind of trucks go down the road.
You really have no control over the thoughts that run through your head. Is that correct or not? You don't have to give ‘em room. An old gent told me one time, you couldn't keep a bird from lightin’ on your head, but you didn't have to let the durn thing build a nest there. You can kick it off after a while. But, you can't keep a certain thought from running through your mind cause the mind is made up of things that associate. And somethin’ goes by and all kinds of funny thoughts may run through there. And that hasn't hurt you or anything else. And if you try to prevent such a thought from runnin’ through there, you get allergies.
(laughter from audience.)
Laugh if you please; that's the way they do, because if you decided, “I will never think of something again,” you probably would not think of it, but you'd be about to think of it every now and then because somethin's about to remind you of it. And you break out with sneezes, or breaking out all over the body, and all sorts of other things - that is the source of your allergies, ok? If you're free to think of anything, what difference does it make what runs through the freeways? And if you're free to think of anything, you're allergies disappear. That's correct. I'm not being funny. It is funny, but I wasn't doing it.
Fear not, therefore, anything that can come to the mind from without,
for I am within. Have you been warned by others not to think certain thoughts and not allow the self certain actions? Heed the warning well until I reveal Myself further unto you, for those others are also My
ministers, sent unto you to keep you struggling
until you know this Mystery.
Now this may sound rather strange that Life would have us struggle. But can you imagine a squirrel workin’ on his head a little bit, or on his spiritual evolvement? He doesn't, because he hasn't been taught anything's wrong, right, or anything else. We have. And to be evolved so to really know freedom, you’d have to first be exposed to what's called bondage or you’d just take freedom for granted. To be in a literal mental turmoil has a great value to us because you can really appreciate peace. If you had peace, you would never really be interested in knowing how it comes about or what is and you wouldn't be interested in Life or what makes it—you'd just accept that.
So, human beings, being, as far as we can see, the highest form of Life built here (and I'm talking about form - not that men are so greatly evolved, cause they're not - that's a general thing, but the body is and it’s capable of things) but without a certain struggle, without turmoil, you really wouldn't appreciate what it's like to really be clear and concise cause you see the difference. Tim, if you hadn't been through some of the things you've been through, would you be so delighted with being sober?
(No.)
You see a lot of people have never been really “drunked out” year in and year out, so they don't know how wonderful it is to be sober. Hmm? They really don't know. You do, don't you? You're in an utter state of joy at every day that you wake up and you're sober that day. Is that right?
(No, certainly not every day.)
You're at least joyful that you're sober, aren't you?
(Yes.)
I didn't say that you were joyful all over. But I said there's one little point is that you're joyful that you're sober, regardless of what all the other stuff’s going on, isn't that right?
(That's true.)
Now if one of us had been through all the hell of mental conflict, struggle and resistance, it is a fantastic joy not to be there. And so Life in its wisdom allowed us to get tangled up where we're very conditioned, in a constant struggle. No matter how much we bitch about it, it's still was a great thing for us, or is if we haven't turned it loose yet. Cause you do have decided motive to get out of it, is that right? You got a big motive to get out of that turmoil? Is that correct?
(Yes.)
So I see the joy of it, so again we go back to this one that “all is ok” and it's fine to be that way.
Have you certain standards in the mind of purity of thought,
purity of action and holy living?
Oh yes, that's why we are going to improve ourselves to fit it. Uh huh. Isn't that wonderful?
They also are from Me and I have sent them unto you to the end that you might be influenced by them and the development enhanced.
You'll be influenced by ‘em and be miserable, you know, and so then you got something to work on.
But think not that such standards apply to any other save the self,
You can put all the standards on yourself and make you as miserable as you want to. Don't try to put ‘em on another guy, you know, he doesn't need them.
for unto each have I given a different standard,
That's why people fight all the time, you know. I got the standards, “You mustn't drink coffee and smoke cigarettes.” Somebody else has got one that “you mustn't go to a dance”; but people who don't smoke cigarettes and drink coffee, they go to dances, that's all right. Some others can't go to dances, but they can drink all the coffee they want to, smoke all the good cigars and cigarettes they want to. Some can drink wine, but you must not drink hard booze. Some you can drink booze as long as you don't get drunk. Some you can't gamble at all; some you gamble in church, you know. You go down and run bingo games to keep the thing goin’. And so on, so thank goodness we all have different standards.
Now obviously I have one standard for me and another one for you, you know that? Everybody's got that. You know, “I'm conservative, you're stingy, and they're greedy.” And the further it gets away, the more standards we have for ‘em, you know. “I'm loving, you're lustful and they're reprobates,” you know, and so on down the line. It's just, you know, my way of doing things and it has a proper justification -in fact, it has nothing but the highest ideals to motivate my behavior. Yours is a little further off, and the other guy - he's clear gone, he has no standard, he's just an animal out there.
…for unto each have I given a different standard [ Thank goodness, you know.] according to their needs, and their standard is as good to them as yours is to you, each to each.
So your little standard’s fine. Theirs is fine. They'll all make you miserable, so it ‘ll serve the proper purpose, you see.
Therefore if your standard is preached to them, such preaching would be an attempt to interfere with the standards which I have given unto them.
Some of my good friends that I got to talk to in certain cities are constantly bombarding the fact that I drink coffee and smoke cigarettes. I don't keep the Word of Wisdom, as they call it. But you know, they do a bunch of things I don't do. Oh, I think my bunch of stuff is as weird as theirs are, you know. Now, I'm not saying mine are good and bad and so forth. I just think it don’t matter a durn for any of ‘em. So if they wanna live by never havin’ a cup of coffee or smokin’ a cigarette, that's fine. That leaves more for me.
But fear not to preach the standard if it pleases you to do so,
So you go out and tell everybody what's right and what's wrong as long as it pleases you to do so.
for I will cause such preaching to be of benefit to you.
Not to the people you preach to, but you'll finally see what you got in there. Life didn't say it’s gonna to do a thing for those other people, but it’ll finally get around to you, and so it’ll get you killed up one day.
Associate the self with others to bring about social changes or reforms if you will.
Get out there and get it political and get all these terrible things that's going on in the world straightened out. Join all the movements and really get things straightened up. It will make you feel good. And it’ll be all right - you just do it.
Associate the self with others to bring about social changes or reforms if you will. Take those that offend you before the courts and prosecute them as you will.
Take ‘em to court; stop ‘em.
All such crusades or prosecutions will I cause to be a
medium for accomplishing My will.
Probably won't be gettin’ all those things done, but it will finally get you to straighten up and say, “What difference does it make?” You know…
You know, a number of years ago I used to get on a train and there was certain cars where black people went into. And then there was other cars where white people went. You got on a city bus, the black folks had to sit in the back. White folks had to sit in front. When I was going to school over at Austin a number years ago, I used to work in a shoe store to have bread ad shelter around and the black customers came in had to sit in the back of the store. They weren't allowed to plop down in any chair in the store. Now then, that's all changed, but if you smoke, you're sent in the back of the airplane and the back of the bus, and the back of the other. So humanity is not gonna to get along without segregation. Just don't kid yourself. Now, one of these days we'll have to have separate vehicles for us. You know, you gotta get bused around. Then eventually, why all the people who don't smoke will have to come and sit with us that do for a while. You know it goes through these cycles.
It's been going on for ages and it will continue to do so. Now, people have to have segregation and after you got segregation, you got a cause to go out and work for, don't you? “End segregation.” I think that's the funniest thing. What difference whether you're segregated to the back of the store, or the back of the airplane or the back of the bus for one reason or another? Because you do somethin’ different, or look different from somebody else, huh? Then you got to be segregated. Segregation is legal, but it’s not legal for certain reasons. But you know, eventually that will go its full cycle. Now, somebody will have a “cause” to get up on someday and go out and get “equality” back again, huh? I think it's funny. But if that pleases you to go out and preach on it, work on it. So you can go out and crusade and address a few people all you want to.
Yet know that they whom you do prosecute are also servants of My will.
So just have fun and push them around.
Continued............