Below please find Week 9 of the Life’s Word Experiment.
A couple of you have notified us that you didn’t receive the 8’th Mystery, or Week 8 of the Life’s Word Experiment which was sent last Saturday. Please note that even if you don’t receive a reminder email, the whole workshop can be read and/or copied from this link: http://www.marshasummers.com/innerman/lwworkshoppart1.htm
Would you help us out? Please let us know one or the other:
1) if there were any weeks you haven’t received OR
2) if you’ve received them all and aren’t having any misses.
That will give us some idea as to the nature/size of the glitch in the system.
Please email your response to me at kymu49@me.com.
With thanks!
T.
IX
Ninth Mystery: Freedom
The Ninth Mystery is the Mystery of Freedom.
Now that’s what we all want here is to be free, huh?
To prepare you for freedom, I have sold you into slavery.
You know, you have read the story about Exodus and all that stuff. Those people would never thought about freedom if they hadn’t been slaves for a while, you see, huh? So we’ve all been sold into slavery to all sorts of things; and we’ll get out of it, maybe.
To prepare you for freedom, I have sold you into slavery.
You were born a slave and raised a slave. Even when you did awake
and knew yourself for a slave, I did not at once deliver you.
Now, how many of us have really ever discovered that we are truly slaves? Have you, Mary? Have you? You’re a slave. You have kids, huh? You know, kids born into this world immediately have a couple of slaves.
From slavery unto slavery have I brought you that you might at last be free. When I sent you any measure of physical freedom, I sent you chains for the mind.
To go along with it. So you got some physical freedom, you got some chains on the mind. You grew up and you could run around a little further, but then somethin’ ties your head down.
That in you which you call the individuality was not capable of freedom. It was either a slave to your desires, or to what you thought were the opinions of others, or to what you thought was the conscience.
Now you’ve been a slave, trying to keep the conscience from bitin’ you; and it went along and was really a rough slave-master, wasn’t it? Hmm? Is that right? So we’ve been a slave to it. And we’ve wanted to know what others expected of us, and we’ve wondered, “what’ll people think?” So we’ve been a slave to that one – their opinions. And we’ve been a slave to all the desires – for wealth and fame and prestige and attention and approval, and we have worked our little arms off tryin’ to be sure that we got attention and approval and no disapproval – is that right? We really worked at it. So we’ve been slaves – is that fairly easy? And we are slaves until this day.
Environment has educated you into habits of action and habits of thought, and you have been a slave to those habits.
We talked about those a while ago. You got a habit of eating a certain time of day, goin’ to bed a certain time of day, and then goin’ to work at a certain time of day – all these things. We’re slaves to them, is that right? They control, direct.
Even now, certain chains hang about you called “aspirations” and “ambitions”.
That’s the one that really binds you down. You’re gonna be a great “spiritual being” or something; and you can really get yourself tied up with that knot. Or you’re gonna be a great and famous person or have a lot of money, and that’ll tie you down pretty tight, huh? You’re gonna ”help people”.
I said I’ve been selling things all my life. And I’ve sold some pretty far-out things, some invisible things that people have bought; but the hardest thing to sell is “well-being”. That’s the hardest sell there is. Even if you sell it for a buck – you know, sell it cheap, doesn’t matter what, it’s the hardest thing to get people to buy, is well being. Did you ever notice that? Hmm? I can sell a little square on a map on the wall for $7,000, $20,000 cash. You know it represents a piece of real estate way off in a desert somewhere. People will buy that, pay you for it, Mack. But they won’t feel good. Even though you show ‘em how it’s so simple as one, two, three. It’s the hardest thing in the world to sell somebody on feelin’ good. Why is that, do you suppose? Why is it so hard to sell it? Now I make a good pitch for it too and I’m a pretty good Pitch Man.
(The not-I’s take over.)
Well, I wasn’t trying to sell them anything. I was trying to sell the person on getting rid of them. I wasn’t talkin’ to them in the first place. They want you to feel bad, all right.
That in you which you call the individuality was not capable of freedom. It was either a slave to the desires, or what you thought were the opinions of others, or to what you thought was the conscience.
That’s the big one. Environment has educated you into habits and you’ve been educated into those.
Have you broken all the old chains which bound you into My mysteries of long ago? Yet are you not free! Have you suffered the crucifixion of desire and the humiliation of defeat? Have you given up unto Me all desire for what you think would be good?
Have you decided you don’t know what’s good and what’s bad and that you gotta get on it?
Yet, per chance, you art still in slavery to your own opinions.
That’s a good one, to be in slavery to your own opinions. Oh man!
My freedom is the freedom of the heart and shines forth brightest when the environment seems most to enchain.
Don’t pay any attention to the environment.
Herein is this mystery, that freedom is not external, nor in any way dependent upon the actions or thoughts of others. He who is forcibly detained and does not mind it, who takes all external things as he finds them, and sees no fault in them, partakes of My freedom.
In other words, there’s this man we mentioned earlier today that said he had discovered one thing – in whatever state he was, therein to be content. Hmm? So now if you lock the door on me and tell me I got to stay in here and I say, “Well, that’s fine, it’s rather comfortable in here. I’d sooner be here as anywheres else,” have you got me locked up? Are you kiddin’ yourself? Hmm? As long as I’m free to be here…
I know a guy they put in jail one time for some infraction of political law. He hadn’t committed any violence to anybody or anything; and they put him in jail for some failure to keep up with all the regulations that was passed out. And he said, “Well fine, if you wanna keep me here, you’ll feed me, and you’re housin’ me. I’m gonna do the same thing here I was doing outside anyway; I’m gonna sit and meditate.” So he set cross-legged and meditated. And he set there, and they brought his groceries and fed him every day, and he got up and eat, and then sit down to do his meditation.
You know how long they kept him in there? They couldn’t punish him. So they threw him out. He was ruining the morale of the whole prison. You know. He had all the other guys thinkin’ they weren’t being punished, there in a few minutes. So if that ever got out and everybody found out, and everybody found out – “As long as I’m free to be here, you’re not punishin’ me,” – you see, it would wreck the whole penal system. So they got him out of there in a hurry. So suppose they threw a guy in for robbin’ banks and he said, “Well, I just needed some time to meditate. So I’m gonna meditate here while you feed me. I don’t even have to get up and go knock off a few stereo sets or anything this week to get groceries. I’ll just meditate all week now. You give me a bed to sleep in, a roof over my head and food, now I’ll meditate.” Can you see how fast that would wreck the penal system? Huh? You’re not punishin’ anybody. Unless the guy don’t wanna be there, you’re not punishin’ him. Is that right? So naturally it got him out. So if any of you get in, why sit there and say that’s what you want, and you start meditating. So sit there and meditate. And so, nobody’s gonna get you in any trouble.
So freedom is from within. Now, if I’m free to do something. So shall we say that this Mystery is “I am free to experience whatever may arise today” – just today, not tomorrow or anything.
So this Mystery is “I am free to experience whatever may arise today.” Now then, can you see that that is truly freedom? You’re free to experience. All we are is an experiencing organism. You’re experiencing it freely, you’re in no bondage, is that correct? Huh? Now if you’re really free, can you be free to experience a little discomfort, if discomfort is what should arise today? Hmm? Then the discomfort isn’t punishin’ you or causin’ you any difficulty or anything else, is it? Are you free to experience boring people?
(Ok.)
I just wanted to see if I could get to you there for a minute there, Marcy.
(I’d rather die!)
I said, are you free to?
(Yeah.)
Ok, then they can’t bug you, can you see?
(Yes.)
It is well for you if you are enchained. The organ of the brain through which I shall afterwards express My perfect freedom can only be developed by the operation of the sense of slavery.
In other words, you really couldn’t get around to being free to experience whatever may arise unless you had gone through a long period of being totally un-free to experience what may arise today, unless it just happened to suit you, is that right? And then you wanted to hang onto that and not let the other one go. So again we’re back to what the man said. I’ve discovered one thing—whatever state I find myself in, to be therein content. Or, I am free to experience whatever may arise today. So if it rains, fine. If clouds fall, fine. Sun shines – fine. People are nice to me – fine; if the restaurant’s noisy – fine; if it’s nice and quiet – fine. And on down the road – so what’s the difference?
So it is in all My mysteries, that the worse you do seem to be, the better it is for you.
That’s why all you folks who have been alcoholics and etc. are such wonderful people – you’ve been through that rat race. You know about it. Really. And I’m not ‘wolfin’; I’m not making snide statements. That is a literal fact. You’ve been through something and now you know what it is to kind of fly clear once in a while. So when the world says you are in a mess, well that’s when Life says you’re better off.
So it is in all My mysteries that the worse you do seem to be, the better it is for you. Are you painfully self-conscious? Then I am developing the organ of the brain which I design to use for expressing the consciousness of Me.
I, at one time, was the most bashful of all people. It was horrible and painful. And I recognize what this statement means. It was really miserable. And now I know what it really means.
Are you fearful and afraid? Then I am developing the organ of the brain
through which I will afterwards express My perfect courage.
You know if you get enough of that stuff, after awhile you quit.
Do you suffer because you lack judgment? I am using that suffering to develop the organ of the brain through which I will afterwards express My perfect wisdom and judgment. Now the great suffering and discipline which I send unto the minds of many is that they should not be able to see the perfection of My law.
And that is probably very, very accurate cause you see, the laws are usually that when you make anything important, you become anxious. It’s wonderful you can’t see that for a while. It really is kinda nice. And it really is nice to see that as long as you’re struggling to be happy, there’s no way to be happy; and the day you don’t give a durn about being happy, you’ll find you are. So it’s wonderful you can’t see all that for a while.
Therefore, I say unto you that you are blessed if you do suffer,
for that suffering develops you;
It’s a good exercise.
and you are double blessed if you are afraid, for out of fear I will bring forth courage; but you are thrice blessed if you do suffer; and also are in fear, and also cannot see that it is I being born in the heart.
All that comes about is the way Life is born in your innermost being; so you’re thrice blessed, three times blessed, if you see all. You see that was some of the great beings through history have been called “the three times blessed”. They were blessed because they suffered, because they were afraid, and also because they were blind. They couldn’t see what was going on.
For out of blindness will I bring sight. The darkest blindness shall develop the most glorious light. Behold I am light shining forth from within you.
And that light, you will remember we looked at, was several different things: love, and health, and wealth, and joy, and so forth, and happiness. So that’s that light, and it’s shining forth from men, but we cover it up pretty heavy with all our good stuff. You know, all the not-I’s.
My words come alike unto many, but it is not possible then to be understood by you until you are ready for that understanding.
And I think everybody here today is ready or we wouldn’t have been here.
Herein is this Mystery of Freedom: that you are free to believe as you do choose, but you cannot believe anything in the heart until I have developed the body to the point where it needs such a belief.
In other words, if the heart wasn’t possible to believe in regeneration, there was no way you could accept it. I have thrown this out in many places to many different people that it was possible for regeneration and Life eternal to exist; and I have found that there is precious few that can accept it. So there’s very few bodies prepared to that point. Yet most of ‘em say, one guy said, “Who in hell would wanna live forever?” He’s already had it, he wanted out now. So obviously he wasn’t interested in it.
You are free from the environment, for I can adapt the heart to freely allow that other to have any opinion he chooses.
So you know, we don’t have to fight other people’s opinion. If they have an opinion, it’s wonderful. If they have an opinion of this idea, that idea, reincarnation, or soul sleep or transportin’ on flying saucers to other realms, it’s all wonderful – it’s just fine. I don’t find any fault in it. Why not? That’s as good an idea to believe in as any.
Yet you are free to struggle against environment and free to be
influenced by another’s opinion.
Now you’re free to do that, it said – pretty obvious, isn’t it? I’m free to do anything and I can choose what I wanna do then.
And herein is this mystery, that I call you by many voices, through slavery, fear, and doubt, that I may develop my expression, which is the body, unto freedom.
So we could possibly say that the Mystery in this, this one on Freedom, is that we are free already to experience whatever may come along today without gettin’ all torn up about it. Now then you’re free, is that right? Comes all into that.
So everything that we’ve fought with, and struggled, made it possible when we see, “Well, I don’t wanna fight and struggle with that one anymore.” You’ve been free to experience it now. You don’t want to fight it anymore, is that right? Hmm? Then you’re already free.
So freedom can be very instantaneous; and I suppose that’s what everybody has said they wanted more than anything else. But most people have approached freedom by trying to be free from something. If you want to be free from unhappiness, you’ll never get it.
If I wanted to get even into Whitney (it’s not very far from here, is that right, Mack?) and I followed signs that said, “From Whitney”, how long do you think it’d take me to get there?
(You just wouldn’t make it.)
But if I followed signs that says “To Whitney”, I’m there in a few minutes, is that right? Now if I follow signs that says, “Free From”, I’m goin’ away from freedom; free from want, free from fear, free from this. You know, we been sold all this by institutions, that we’re gonna give you so many things that you’ll be free from fear, free from want, that correct? That’s what the great society is all about, is to give us things so we’ll be free from the great things we wanna have Freedom from. Now if I’m free to do anything, I’m already free. So freedom follows the signs that says, “To”, not “From”. So I am free to do anything; experience whatever may arise today. Now I’m totally free, but if I wanna be free even from one thing and even though it don’t happen today, I’m still anxious about it. It might happen, is that correct? So are you free to experience whatever may arise today, huh?
(You bet.)
Then you’re a free individual. You’re free, you’re one…Life, not not-I’s expressing through you. See, the not-I’s and their urge to be never disturbed are the ones that wants to be free from things. So we’ve struggled to be free from. That’s the way we approach everything. Free from bein’ sick, free from bein’ old, free from dying, free from bein’ broke, free from bein’ hassled – all these things. But the more you do, the more they’re there, is that correct? Okay, so let’s take off. It’s approximately five o’clock.
Ok, we will start and we have two little sessions to do tonight; and inasmuch as they’re both reasonably short we probably won’t take a break only maybe you can stand up and stretch or somethin’ like that. No use runnin’ downstairs and have to walk back up the steps again. So we’ll just do that and then we’ll visit around after that.