A Marsha Summers Blog

Below you will find Week 10 of Life’s Word.  Thanks to those who responded to our request for feedback about if any of our mailings were missing.  Plus it’s always just good to hear from you!

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 ** You may contact Marsha, Tina and/or Howard at marsha@marshasummers.com

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http://www.marshasummers.com/innerman/lwworkshoppart1.htm on Marsha’s website.

 ** Marsha’s website can be reached at  www.marshasummers.com

 ** Thanks to Steven Coleman, the workshop is available to listen to: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3zd34dd8r8kh3s1/rsBi6noLwx

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 ** You can unsubscribe yourself if you like or just send an email to Marsha at Teachings@MarshaSummers.com requesting to be unsubscribed.  

 Enjoy ~ T.

X

Tenth Mystery:  Religion

 Until you who can receive, it is given to know the Mystery of Religion.

 Now, religion is a subject that’s been around for since there has been any history of mankind and there’s been many, many different ones; each one of which claims to be the one and only true religion.  Now of course, that’s the one we all belong to, you know – the one and only true one.  The rest of the people have been deceived.

 Each religion and creed which I have sent differs in doctrine and practice from every other.

 That is at least on the surface.

 Will you say, “Herein I know that religion is not of God, for God would not delude all the people of the world with false religions, nor yet part of the world, causing one man to believe that another’s religion is false.”

 That we know – that there’s been wars fought over it and all kinds of stuff.

 Know that I have brought you through many generations, developing the body to a different perfection than any other body.  Know that generation has followed generation, obeying My laws of differentiation and selection, until now.  And now each one of My bodies is different from all others.

 That’s easy to do.  All we gotta do is look around a little bit.

 Each body selects different food.  Each selects different experiences and different doctrines.

 That’s not anything so hard to find out, you know.  Maybe you like to be a vegetarian, maybe you like potatoes, and maybe you don’t like potatoes.  Some people eat a tomato and break out, some people eat shellfish and break out – others feel wonderful.  So we all select a little different.  Having run restaurants, why six people sit down at a table and each one of ‘em orders something a little different – if nothing else they want their steak cooked different, and so on.  So we’re different, so naturally different foods, physical foods, appeal to us; then certainly different ideologies and beliefs would appeal to us.  That seems as reasonable as one to the other to me.  And we certainly want different experiences.  Some of us like to do one occupation, some does another, some couldn’t stand the other person’s occupation; you know, they just can’t do that.

 And many have their choices of foods, having developed unto that point where their bodies can benefit by choosing.

 Some people will actually benefit by choosing what to eat.  I tell them, “You eat what you get hungry for.”  And some people say, “Well, I’m hungry for everything.”  You know… and so they eat everything. And other people are very selective when you tell them that.

 And many have their choices of doctrines, which acquired the mental strength to discriminate between them.

 Some people can really pick out; others just go on and live whatever you were brought up with.  Folks were one particular brand of religion, that’s what you grew up with, well that’s the one you fight for all your life.  And some, that’s the one you rebel against all your life—it’s according to how they liked the folks.  That ‘bout right?  You can’t stand there and believe – it’s bound to have been wrong. 

 But whether they seem to choose or seem to be forced, yet in all cases it is I that choose for them, acting through their choice or against it, giving them each what is best, under all the circumstances, to develop that particular character and body.

 So all the things that we have run into has been what was most useful to us at the present time, place and circumstance; so we really didn’t do as much choosing as we thought we did.

 Now the nature of bodies is such that character depends wholly upon formation. And the formation of the brain and nerves is such that no food or experience or belief can appeal to the character unless such food or experience or belief is suitable for that character’s development.

 In other words, if I don’t like a certain food, there’s not much way I’m gonna convince myself to like it.  Did you ever try to learn to like something real well?  Think you could learn to like liver?  One little lady that can’t stand the sight, smell or the looks of it even; so obviously, it doesn’t fit.  And it would probably be very upsetting to the whole person, if some way or other it was forced down.

 But do you say, “Does God let man believe in error?”

 You know, he gives us pretty much, let us have the earth.  Might even give us one sometime.

 Know that all finite belief is erroneous.

 That’s the next thing.  “Know that all finite belief is erroneous.”  At least to some degree.

 But it is nevertheless, suitable for the stage of growth.

 …that the particular person is in at that moment.  And that, I’ve noticed many times, that that is very factual.

 It is that in you which sets itself up as a separate person from Me, which believes.

 That’s all the not-I’s, one that believes and does as told by authorities.

 Now personality cannot see the Truth and is incapable of knowing Me.

 Life.  It only knows about itself and it thinks it knows what ought to be.

 When that so-called person shall die, leaving the body free to be My conscious instrument, then the body shall radiate all truth.

 But before then it’s finite as long as there is the believing of not-I’s there; they will believe something that is truly a bit of an error.

 Know that all finite belief is erroneous. But it is nevertheless suitable for the stage of growth.

 This thing that sets itself up as being separate is the one that believes and fights and does all these noises.

 And when that personality shall die, leaving the body free to be My conscious instrument, then the body shall radiate all truth.  Until then, I provide all beliefs for you, each equally erroneous, that you may believe that which appeals unto you.

 …in your present time, place, and circumstance and stage of growth and development.

 And yet, if you could but understand one of these beliefs from within,

 The light came on.

 …you would find it true,

 In other words, from one aspect, from the inner aspect, it’s true.  The outer aspect, it is erroneous.

 

…you would find it true, for truth is so great that but a reflection of its glory would illuminate you.

 In other words, it would fill you full of light, because in one way or another you’d recognize that what says “I”, and what is really Life, is what’s called God.  That God and Life is an interchangeable term according to the Scripture, and it seems that this little book verifies that, too.

 And this is the Tenth Mystery, that all religions are false when viewed from without, yet all are equally true and beautiful when viewed from within.

 Each one of them is trying to eliminate the false personality and let the real being – Life, Spirit – within express and be the whole thing.  All of ‘em do that no matter what the name of it is, and in what part of the world it originated.  Viewed from without, it comes into a bunch of rituals, a bunch of ideologies and etc.

 Do you teach some ancient and beautiful truth?  Are you firm in the conviction that the truth you teach is the only truth, and that all different religions are lies?  Behold, it is well and you are My minister, and the truth which you teach shall appeal unto many.

 … and it will, no doubt.

 And unto as many as to whom it shall appeal, you art My messenger.  And no one can believe it except they who need it for their development.

So when you set out to proselytize a group of people, only a certain number will come along, but they’re the ones that can use it at that state; and when they grow a little further, they will leave and isn’t that nice.  You don’t get saddled with followers that way – for long.  Thank goodness.

 Do you break the heart over those to whom the teaching does not appeal, and do you try to reach them by prayer and exhortation?

 You know, really get with it and pray over them and everything else.  Thank goodness it won’t appeal to them.

 It is well. All hearts that can break shall break, in order that those hearts that are strong shall remain.  Yes, try and reach those in whom the belief does not appeal.  For this trying will affect both them and you.  Not in the way you desire, but in the further development of bodies, both yours and theirs.

 So it’s worth it that they don’t accept it.  So let it try and it’s valuable to you, and it may be valuable to them.

 Do some of My religions appear cruel to you?  And do you say, “Nothing can justify cruelty”?  Yet I am cruel unto the personality and will utterly destroy it.

 To all the not-I’s, very cruel and will utterly destroy.  Give it a little time and it will utterly destroy by cruelty.

 I am cruel to be kind, developing the brain until you can become conscious of Me.

 I think that’s pretty worthwhile, get some consciousness and not not-I’s.

 It is well if you can see the beauty in any one of My religions.

 That’s seein’ it from within.

 Each one, as seen from within, teaches the crucifixion of “self”,

 The not-I’s.

 and if any one of them can lead you into the consciousness of freedom from self, you shall know that I have sent it unto you for that purpose.

 And that’s the only purpose that any religion can really do is to crucify the “self,” the set of not-I’s that makes up the personality.

 Have you read that in times past, they who profess to be My ministers have spread darkness instead of light, and kept back what you call the progress of civilization?  Behold, I have ever been alive as I am now.  I have ever provided for the development and organization of the formation of character as I saw fit.  You know now part of My workings in those dark times, and I have put it in the heart to question My wisdom of the partial knowledge.

 So it’s well to start questionin’ things at any time because that’s the way you begin to see a whole lot more.  If we assume we already know, we don’t question; we only condemn or justify.  That bout right?  You quit questionin’ things, but questionin’ is a pretty worthwhile thing to do.  It shows that you’re not quite as gullible as you could be, huh?  That right?  Question – keep on askin’ questions.  And question don’t only mean to ask questions, it means to ask yourself, “Has this got any validity for me?”  Now it may have a lot of validity for somebody else, but does it have validity for me?

 Yet learn this, that all things worthy to survive thrive best on opposition.

 With a little Second Force, as we call it, runnin’ around.  Anything that’s worthy of surviving, survives best and grows with some opposition.

 The principle called civilization is one which gathers strength through the hand of him who would keep it back.

 In other words, the people who attempt to destroy civilization are the ones which makes it the most powerful.  If there was no opposition to it, it gradually falls apart.  It becomes very decadent, very rapidly.  So when we live in a time where there’s no opposition to what’s called civilization, you see decadence beginning to arise cause there must be a resistance or it don’t grow good.

 Could you know all, then you would say, “Even then the Lord knew best.”  But though religions have ever led men unto a knowledge of Me, it is not through religions alone that I call you.  I call by everything of which you are conscious.

 Everything – business, beauty and art and music and conversation and books and every other thing.  They all work just as well as religion does and maybe sometimes even work better.

 I call by everything of which you are conscious.  Every voice is My voice. Every sweet influence of life in flower or tree or animal is My influence.  Every bitter or severe or cruel jolt which can come unto you is from Me.

 They’re very useful.  If we didn’t have ‘em, we probably would never wake up.

 Do I speak severely to the personality by the voice of religion?  Yet I speak still more severely by the voice of experience I send you.

 That’s the one that really hollers out loud, isn’t it?

 Every experience is from Me.  Perhaps you do not see how your experience can be dictated by Divine Love.  “If God sends this,” you say, “then He cannot be a God of love!”

 Know that a parent may love a child – very, very, very dearly, but it doesn’t mean it always agrees with the kid.  If the four year old, three-year-old kid wants to run in front of Mack trucks, you probably would make a little bit of noise to stop it, is that correct?  Would that be because you were cruel, or because you truly loved it?  You may do something to convince that child not to run in front of it – Mack trucks and Kenworthy trucks and so forth, is that right?  Might work at it anyway.  Would you feel you were being cruel?  No.  You were expressing love.  The child would probably say you were a “meany.”  You know I saw a child cry very severely one time because it wanted to pick up a bright red coal in the fireplace.  It wanted it’s pretty and it was beautiful.  And it was very angry with its mother for holding it back from the fire.  But it would have been more cruel to say, “Well, let it grab it,” you know.  Which one would you do?

 (Hold it back.)

 Ok, but the kid would say you were very cruel, you just didn’t want it to have that pretty, wouldn’t it?  You’re a mean old woman.  Then you understand what this just said.

 Behold it is well for you to speak thus for a season, for this blindness shall give place to a great light.

 As you can begin to see sometimes.

 Then shall you know that my love is so great that I do not let a hair of your head be touched except by Me, and for your advancement only.

 So a lot of times we have something that seems to jolt us, but if we look back a little while, we see that sure was good that happened.  Huh?  It opened up gobs of things for us.

 So I say unto you that it is My voice which calls you, whether by the words of sweet home songs and mother-taught prayers, or by the wild tempest of rough experiences.

 I expect experience teaches us more.

 Whatever voice appeals unto you is My truth for you, to nurse you until I shall lead you into all Truth.  And this is the Tenth Mystery, that each brain believes a different doctrine and different historical facts, and I feed them thereon, giving each the best possible food for such a brain.  And you are yourself a proof of My care; for even in this I do not let you believe what you read unless that belief shall be the best food for the brain.

 So let’s say that the Mystery is that all that appeals to me is valuable to me – in some way or other – for me to grow.  All that appeals to me, all that appeals – to me, not to somebody else – is valuable to me.

 And you don’t go around with a bunch of regrets that, “Oh if hadn’t only involved myself in so and so, look how much better off I’d be.”  You don’t know.  Do any of you know whether you ever made a mistake in something or not?  I’m not talking about adding up a column of figures.  Did you ever make a mistake in some of your action in life?  Huh?  You think you did.  What woulda happened had you done something else?  You don’t know.  You don’t know what had happened.  You might not have been here if you’d turned a corner in the other direction.  We don’t even know what would have happened had we not went down the road that we didn’t intend to sometimes.  Hmm?  Do you know whether you ever made a mistake in any course of action you ever took?  Because you would have to know what all the other alternatives were and what would have been the outcome of them.  I don’t believe any of us can say, “I made a mistake” in that sense.  Sure we’ve added up a column of figures and got an incorrect number, but that’s not a mistake – that’s not what we’re talking about.  We’re talking about did you make a mistake when you moved to Dallas instead of going to Buffalo, New York, huh?  You’ll never know that.  You don’t know what woulda happened.  Did you make a mistake when you went downtown one time and got a parking ticket?  You don’t know.  You don’t know what would have happened had you went some other direction or parked somewheres else, is that correct, huh?  You don’t know.  So I don’t think we can ever say with full correctness that we ever made a mistake.  I don’t know whether I did or not; and I have no way of knowing cause I would have to know all the possible alternatives that I could have done, then, and what would have been the outcome of them two weeks, two years, twenty years down the road.

 (Is it safe to say that there aren’t any mistakes?)

I don’t know.  You can say anything, but whether it’s true or not is another question. (laughter)  I just said I don’t think we know whether we ever made a mistake or not.  Do you?  I have no way of checkin’ up.  I don’t know.   Accordin’ to what it says here, no, you couldn’t have made a mistake because Life chooses the right turn.  And even though it wound up with you gettin’ all kinds of bumps and cracks and spots on your head, why, that was still what you could use best at that moment.  That’s what it says.  I don’t know.  See, I’m only reading the book out here.  I don’t know, Honey.  I’m just the reader here.  But I doubt if you ever made a mistake, ok?

 (Ok.)

I’m sure none of us know whether we ever really did or not.  I doubt if we did, but that I can’t be certain of.  But I am sure that you don’t know whether you ever made a mistake or not.  That I’m sure of, ok?

 (What is it that makes us feel like we have made a mistake?)

 Well, because we feel that there is only two things coulda happened – wonderful and terrible.  What happened was terrible, so, “If I hadn’t a’done this, it’s bound to have been wonderful.”  But it was, maybe, many degrees of lousiness coulda happened.

 (As long as we don’t compare.)

 See that’s the way we look at everything.  “If I hadn’t a-done that,” ya know.  That guy says, “If I had’a just invested in that buildin’ over there, why I’d a-been a millionaire today.”  He may had more law suits in his hand than he could have ever settled, couldn’t he?  And, “If I just hadn’t a-done so and so, I woulda been a millionaire today.”  “If I hadn’t-a-married that woman I woulda really been happy.”  I don’t know what you woulda done if you hadn’t done that.  Do you?

 So let’s just say that I don’t know that I ever made a mistake cause I have no way of finding out what woulda happened had I took some alternate route, ok?  That at least we know.  So we can’t sit around, beat ourselves over the head with a hammer for having made mistakes.  But I don’t know about it, and I don’t think anybody else does.

 But, you know people do a lot of regretting about the “mistakes” they made, huh?  And I don’t know that we ever made one.  I’m sure we’re conditioned to believe that if everything didn’t work out with a bed of rose petals, we musta made a mistake.  Mama always told me if I do the right thing, everything would work out well; but the old lady forgot to tell me what the right thing was and I had to worry about that for 20 years.  Huh?  That’s why we work on it.  “If you do the right thing, son, everything will work out fine.”  So when it don’t work out so good, and so you still, with Mama now internalized, said, “See, you didn’t do the right thing.  That’s why you got into all this mess.”  Huh?  But you don’t know what the right thing is.  She told me to do it but she never let me in on what it was, do you see?  Did your mother tell you always do the right thing?  Did she tell you what the right thing was?

(Sometimes she did.)

Which was something you didn’t wanna do?

(Right.)

Or that would prevent you from doing what you wanted to do.  Is that correct? And if you tried it, you still might have not worked out so well and then she said, “Well you didn’t do it right.”  The folks up in Salt Lake City say, “Well, you did the right thing, but for the wrong reason.”  That really blaps you.  You see there is no “out” when you get caught in all these games.  You did the right thing, but for the wrong reason.  Good lord and little fishes!  There’s nothin’ you can do right and you’re really caught up now.

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.

Below, please find Week 8 of the Life’s Word Experiment.  

We love to hear your feedback and comments!  So here’s a few ways to contact us:

** You may contact Marsha, Tian and/or Howard at marsha@marshasummers.com

** You may read (or copy) the entire workshop at: 

http://www.marshasummers.com/innerman/lwworkshoppart1.htm on Marsha’s website.

** Marsha’s website can be reached at  www.marshasummers.com

** Thanks to Steven Coleman, the workshop is available to listen to: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3zd34dd8r8kh3s1/rsBi6noLwx

(You cannot reply directly to this email as it’s a “send only” address.)

** You can unsubscribe yourself if you like or just send an email to Marsha at Teachings@MarshaSummers.com requesting to be unsubscribed.  

Enjoy~

T.

VIII

Eighth Mystery:  Regeneration

Ok, we will start then with the Eighth Mystery which is the Mystery of Regeneration.  Now, regeneration means a rebuilding, or renewing, or a new Life, or being born anew, etc.

 

You cannot obtain this mystery by striving, nor by study, nor by belief.

 

Believe all you want to, study all you want to, it won’t be there.

 

It shall be a growth of the character of the body.

That’s the only way it comes about.  

Unless you have suffered the seven first mysteries in the body, and have left the body free to be controlled by Me, you cannot feel in the body this Eighth Mystery.

So these others are essential for this one to happen, or as I told you, I believe, when we started, you would really recognize one of them because they carry all the aspects of the others with them.  So regeneration can happen.  You can’t say, “Well, I’m going out and regenerate myself,” because all you’ll do is screw it up.

In past times, I revealed unto my people the mystery of generation…

Not ‘regeneration’.  

…generation and marriage, and sanctified the bodily union of the married unto generation, that by generation after generation I might develop a body capable of regeneration.

It seems to be that Life has a purpose to finally build, create, develop, do R & D on or whatever, until it has a body that can fully express Life immortal – an immortal being.  An immortal being with immortality.  It seems that is its purpose.  And it says so here, that in times past, it seems to generation which was to keep on developing bodies after bodies, generation after generation while it experimented on ‘em and worked on ‘em, and used the things it’s been telling us about here until that the end result was to build a body that would directly regenerate.  You know, we old wrecks would all of a sudden go back the other way – you know, reverse the procedure until it would be regenerated.  And in that case, then we would have come up with the body who can be immortal – a living being, Life, expressed through a body consciously with immortality.

Now if we try to get that, I guarantee you, you won’t.  But it says it could happen, ok?  Let’s see if we can allow it to happen, but not try to make it happen.  

(Bob, does that mean that, say, a thousand years ago that couldn’t have been?)  

I would imagine that’s probably about right.  They’s all sick then.  There wasn’t any of them built up capable of regeneration; but that only given time, maybe they coulda been. I don’t know, but it’s only been a few people, apparently, that could be regenerated.  But at least, you and I are lucky enough to live in a time when it could happen.

If you have not developed the Seven First Mysteries in the body,

this Mystery of Regeneration is not for you.

Don’t even bother with it.  

Then it is well for you to cling steadfastly to the ancient mystery of marriage and generation, rearing children in love and tenderness,

in the sacred, true, and faithful marriage relation.

In other words generation is necessary as well as regeneration.  

But when you are inspired by Me and have cast aside, as no longer part of your nature, all desire and fear and all striving after your own pleasure, then the marriage will reveal unto you the Holy Mystery of Regeneration.  Herein is this mystery that the body will not act the same when inspired wholly by love as it did aforetime when governed by desire.

 

That, I think, you can observe without any big hassle.  

When it is inspired by love, it will strive only for the pleasure of the mate

and no longer for its own pleasure.

It might be as a by-product, but it won’t be the striving.

Then the sacred distillation of the strength will not spend,

but will be redistilled unto the renewing of youth.

Now that’s something I don’t think too many people have seen, have you?  That you’ve seen somebody that was an old wreck and they turned around and regenerated into a youthful looking person.  I have had the occasion to see that in some degree; and so I know what it’s talking about.  And that it is within the realm of possibility, and is not some fantasy.

You will not suddenly enter the life of Regeneration.

That says you won’t do that suddenly.  

The body will not change completely when the first inspiration of unselfish love comes unto you.  Many times shall the old feeling of desire come back to you, but ever will I aspire you more and more with the sweet patience of My pure love, and you will more and more realize the Life that I am living within you.

It is beginning to realize that Life lives in this body, not the not-I’s.  That it is doing everything.  That becomes more and more certain; and as it does, more and more regeneration takes part.  Regeneration is very much like generation.  It starts very little and grows into a full being.  It doesn’t just say, “blap!” – you go to bed looking like an old wreck and wake up the next morning lookin’ cutie. It won’t quite do it that way.  It grows.

Do you say, “The mate which I have taken is not now my ideal”?  Yet shall you see that the mate is the best one for you, and that I, Myself, have provided such a mate for you that I might teach you unselfish love.  For I will inspire the heart with love that you will ask for no return, no faithfulness, no kindness, no support.  And I will give you such joy in that love that the body will be glorified and rejuvenated.

That seems a little strange, but only in some sort of relationship where there is love without desire, does it say that regeneration takes place.  When there is love radiating, not being sought for.  Being sought for and trying to get it seems to be degenerating.  

As long as the heart is not ready for the inspiration of My love,

Well, you know, “That sounds all right, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to be with somebody who doesn’t do so and so, so . . . ”

you will seek to obtain love from others,

and will be dissatisfied with what you do obtain,

Nothing.  

for you can only live in the love radiated from within your own body.

That’s the only love you really live in, is that which you radiate.  

But when the fullness of My life shall come unto you, you shall rejoice in the mate you have and shall love that one with a gladness that shall triumph over every fault.

In the first place, there wouldn’t be any faults.  If I see you as not having any faults, you haven’t got any, is that right?  That’s how I choose to see you.  

For a selfish mate gives you the opportunity to be unselfish.

And a lot of other people give you that, too.  

Also a cross mate gives you the opportunity to be sweet-tempered.

  You can be sweet tempered anyway, but only when you got somebody that’s kind of cross once in a while does it really help, is that right?  You like to be around cross people?   Because what happens to you when you’re around cross people?  Right.  They control you.  But if it was Life livin’ totally… that’s the false personality that get’s all crossed.  But if they are, so they get cross?  So you just be nice to ‘em.  So what?  It’s really not all that difficult to do.

Yet have patience and know that if you are not yet a radiant center of love

and unselfishness and sweet temper, still you shall become such.  

And to that end do I send you trials that you may learn to exercise those qualities which others seem to you to lack. So it is well for you to cling to the ancient sacrament of marriage in the days of desire, and in the days of inspiration, for it shall be unto you a trial and yet a joy, and out of it will grow the real strength. 

Yet I do not command you to heed these words,

Don’t pay any attention to them if you don’t want to.

for My message is only what you can receive, and if you do not believe these words to be My message, yet then, shall the disbelief have some affect upon you, and whatever the affect upon you may be, THAT is my message to you.

So somewhere it had some kind of message to you, didn’t it?  What?  It’s possible for the human being to regenerate.  Most useful people could regenerate a whole lot.  So we’ll just put as the eighth one – “Regeneration.”  And we’re going to run out of space, so we’re going to have to quit because we only got room for about one more here. So that will be nine.  So we’ll do that one.  

We love to hear your feedback and comments.  So here’s a few reminders:

** You may contact Marsha at (386) 405-1988 or marsha@marshasummers.com

** You may contact Tian at (505) 504-2462 or kymu49@me.com

** You may contact Howard at (505) 877-3003

** You may read (or copy) the entire workshop at: 

http://www.marshasummers.com/innerman/lwworkshoppart1.htm on Marsha’s website, reached at  www.marshasummers.com

** Thanks to Steven Coleman, the workshop is available to listen to: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3zd34dd8r8kh3s1/rsBi6noLwx

** You cannot reply directly to this email as it’s a “send only” address.  

Enjoy~

T.

VII

Seventh Mystery: Humiliation

Now, this one that’s comin’ up sounds kinda peculiar, but I will give a little preliminary if I may.  It is the Mystery of Humiliation.  Now, the only thing that ever needs to be humiliated or can be humiliated is the “self” which is all these little things – the complainer, the blamer, the pleaser, the sticker-up-for rights, the quoter of authority, and the self-improver.  Now we can either humiliate it by ignoring it… you know, that’s the biggest humiliation you can give, is ignore somebody on the street or whatever.  You become a “no person.”  So we can either do that now, or we can let it go on and on until it’s forcibly done.  I choose to humiliate the not-I’s right away.  Ignore them, act like they’re “no-people.”  That really humiliates them.  Now if you don’t, they will take you through a lot of humiliations.  If you want to do it the hard way, more power to you.  If you want to do it the easy way, that’s wonderful, too.  But one way or the other it will happen if you continue along attempting to be a conscious person.  One way or the other the humiliation will come along.  The easy way is to ignore the not-I’s which humiliates them – cause, that’s the only thing that’s gonna be humiliated is the not- I’s.  But you see, most of us identify with them and so we wind up with lots of humiliations, right, Mary?  Hmm?

(Getting better.)

Getting’ better?  (laughs)  Might as well stop it, then it’s not getting any better – it’s gone, okay?  So we will go through this one with that little preliminary that the only thing that ever is humiliated is the not-I’s.  If you identify with them – with the complainer, and the sticker-up-for-rights, and the blamer and the pleaser, the quoter of authorities and the self-improver – then the whole thing will experience humiliation.  

The Seventh Mystery is the Mystery of Humiliation.  Before I make you conscious of Myself, I cause you to struggle with a sense of separate existence.

You see, the not-I’s are separate.  They feel “I” and “I” have a mind, “I have a body and God’s off in Heaven somewheres, wearin’ a purple throne and got a yellow pad, makin’ marks on me.”  But… you know, one, two, three, four, psssst.  [He makes like he’s checking things off a list.]  You pray to something off into the blue yonder and you wonder if it heard you.  Really, Life is so here that it can’t be not here.  It does everything you say you wanna do.  

So before I make you conscious of Myself, I cause you to struggle with the sense of separate existence.  When the sense of separate existence is overcome, then you can be conscious of Me.

So when you realize that there is nothing that can say “I” that is real (not-I’s), that the only thing that can really say I is the Awareness Function of X, and the function is not a separate thing – it’s only a function of something that really exists.  So you could be over it right now if you choose to look at it.  So when all this sense of separate existence is gone, “then you can be conscious of Me.”

And that struggle will have developed the organ of the mind so that consciousness will be a great joy unto you.

Now if there was consciousness probably without anything, it wouldn’t be a joy. But if you been through all this struggle, then it is a tremendous joy.

Now, to overcome the sense of separate existence, you must be humbled.

That’s that which identifies with the not-I’s.  

That individuality which seems to you to be yours exclusively, is really Mine, not yours.  That sense of deserving which you have, applies only to Me, not to you.

 

You know, you really feel you deserve to be treated a lot better than you are.  And you deserve to feel better, have more things, be treated nicer, right?  You deserve that?  How come, I don’t know.  You not only “deserve” it, you’re “entitled to it” cause you were born, huh?

Who are you, apart from Me?

In other words, what would be left if Life departed from one of these bodies here today?  What’s left?  Nothing – a corpse, a stinky mess you got to get rid of somewhere.  It’s very expensive to dispose of ‘em these days, too.  So what are you other than that Life which dwells in this body?  What are you?  Nothin’.  Maybe that’d be easy to get through our heads.  Just imagine if X says, “pluup” and takes a ride this afternoon.  Fires up its helicopter and takes a run.  What’s left?  Hmm?  Nothin’, okay?  

Learn that there is no such person as the “self”.  Learn that I, and I alone, exist and animate the body; that I, and I alone, do all things that the body does.

X does it all.  It digests the food, walks, talks, eats, sleeps – the whole schmeer.  We don’t know how to do it.  Did you ever try to force yourself to sleep at night?  Didn’t work, did it?   

(You’re talking about last night.)

Learn too, that I take the responsibility upon Myself for all that the body has done, is doing or will ever do.

So you don’t have anything to worry about, ok?  

To another age I gave this Mystery of My responsibility for all things by the symbol of the cross;  teaching them that I took their sense of guilt upon Myself, and purged it upon the cross.

The Christ said He took the sins of the world on; He’s responsible for all of it.  So He got rid of ‘em.  So He left you and me scot-free.  So if you will take it, you don’t have anything to be guilty about now.  Life said it took it all that everybody has done, is doing, or will ever do, okay?  So you don’t have anything to fret about.  

But unto you I give the Mystery of Humiliation, teaching you that you are nobody at all,

Period. “I” is a “no thing”, not a “nothing”, a “no thing”.  That’s what the word nothing means, isn’t it?  A “no thing”.  Now you’re a nobody at all; and

and that it is I who live in the body.

X is the one lives there and that sense of separate existence is only a dream.  Like a grasshopper dreaming he’s a man, or man dreaming he’s a grasshopper, you know.  

You can have no guilt, and you can have no merit.

So don’t pat yourself on the back or feel how terrible you are; you’re neither.  Period.

Now, that in you which thinks it is a person shall suffer humiliation after humiliation until it dies, leaving the body free to enjoy Me.

Now we might as well let that not-I clan die today cause I am not separate.  I am nothing, I am a no – thing.  Only X lives in this body and this idea of personality that I’m separate from Life, and I can tell it what to do.  You know, did you ever go to church and the preacher gets up and prays, “Lord, have it rain, and Lord, get the floods out of the way, and Lord, cure all the sick, and Lord do this and Lord do that,” like you didn’t know enough to get in out of the rain, so you have to tell him.   Can you imagine that?  That really takes audacity.  Humiliation – you can see the necessity of it in cases like that.  

Many pray, “Lord, make us humble”, yet when I visit them with humiliation, they recognize not My hand.

You know it’s like the guy that prayed, “Oh Lord, give me patience and do it now!”  

Humiliation is the most painful thing the pride can suffer; yet must it suffer before it can die.

….because as long as it gets all of it’s way and everything goes on, so it seems that it would be to our advantage to give it the suffering, you know, and just say, “You’re a no – being. You’re a nothing, you’re a not-I and you don’t belong to me and you don’t have anything.”  I know people say “my not-I’s” do this, do that.  They even claim the damn things!  

Has the pride hopes that it shall save the personality?

Oh yeah, everybody wants the personality.  That’s why, you know, a lot of folks believe in reincarnation.  That means, “You ain’t gonna get rid of me all that easy.  I’m gonna come back and haunt you next time around.”  And so forth…  It’s inconceivable to many people that the personality, which is nothing but the not-I’s, could ever cease to exist.  And it is going to cease to exist.  You can do it the hard way or the easy way.

That it shall find favor or gain power?  Has it hopes that it shall be judged “good”, or that it will live forever?  Learn this – that there is no hope.

…for the not-I’s.  

In deep humiliation it [the “self”] shall die and pass away, and I alone shall live.

So let’s get that kinda straight.  There’s none of us is gonna hang in here as the personality.  Now if we get rid of the personality, all sorts of possibilities are open, but as long as it sits there, it’s a bunch of foolishness.  

Yet has the imagining of the personality been good for the body, for it has developed the organ of the brain which shall hereafter become conscious of Me, the One Infinite Personality.  You think that the personality dwells in the body, and is more important than the body.  But I will hereafter reveal unto you that I am caring for the body and have provided it with the proud sense of personality to develop it, and that when the body is developed so that it shall have no further need of that proud sense, I will send thee deep humiliations.

So let’s get rid of it now so we don’t have to put up with the deep part of it.  But the whole bit is that personality is only education, pure conditioning, and has absolutely nothing you need.  Now Life says it has used it to strengthen the body because of all the turmoils and it made you stronger by having it.  And you appreciate getting along without it.  But it has purely bits of conditioning.  Had we grown up in a country where it was wonderful to eat, uh, that we had to hide away in a little private room when we eat, and that we could do all the bodily functions out in public, we’d be very humiliated if somebody saw us eating, is that right?  Now it would have been just as easy to have put on you as anything else.  Right?

Now in certain areas in this world, you know in medical school, why the boys could take their shirts off; the girls only could expose their back and the girls could let it all hang out, that woulda been all right.  [Bob notices a butterfly that came in through an open window.]  One of the little butterflies come in.  That’s what Lake Whitney’s known for – its butterflies.  It would be just as easy if you stop to think about it.  You could have been conditioned any way there was.  You were conditioned to speak English when you were born.  It coulda been just as easily you’d a been conditioned to talk Chinese or Japanese or something.  And you would have thought that English sounded real weird.  Even your name sounds weird sometimes, don’t it, Tina?  

(Well, if the personality didn’t exist.…)

Oh, it exists, as an illusion.  

(Okay, if it exists as an illusion, then what makes us all so different?  Why is it that she’s different from me and….)

We’ve been through that all the time here.  Everybody’s built different, but the conditioning is about the same in everybody.  Thank goodness there is an “Infinite Personality”.  “Infinite” means without end, doesn’t it?  So this body will express one way, that body expresses another way, that body expresses another way, this one another way, and that one over there another, cause all these bodies are different and they will express differently when only Life runs it – Infinite Personality.

All these personal ones… you know they’re so similar, it’s unbelievable.  I can make almost everybody fight at me by sayin’ the same group of words at ‘em with the same tone.  Now see, I can say a word with one tone and you purr, and I say the same word with another tone and your claws come out, Tina.  Hmm?  That part’s pretty standard, isn’t it?  That’s pretty standard.  But the real person will all be different and they’re spontaneous and totally unpredictable, ok?  Cause each one of us is different from anybody else.  Bodies are different and X expresses through those bodies as they are.

…I will send thee deep humiliations.  Then shall that proud sense be brought low and die.

In other words, the not-I’s will die.  

So when any humiliation comes to you, let the personality tremble, for its end is near; but let the body rejoice, for its freedom is at hand.

That’s nice isn’t it?  

You think you have an aspiration to do good or benefit mankind.

You know I run into all kinds of people that know they have a great mission if the Lord would just let ‘em in on it – what they can do for the world.  Tell ‘em the best thing they can do is shut up.  

But all desires, ambitions, and aspirations are of the personality and shall die with it.

When it dies, all these great aspirations to “do well” and to “cure the world of all of its ills” and “to really do a great mission” will all die with it, thank goodness.  We won’t have to be bothered with all the do-gooders then.

Many pray, “Lord if thou send wealth, I will use most of it to benefit others to Thy glory.”

That is, until I get it.  Then I’ll use it for myself.  That’s just a gimmick to try to get Him to give it to you.

Indeed, would you help Me to develop and benefit mankind?  Do you know better than I do what others need; and would you supply unto others that which I withhold from them?

You know, you’re gonna go straighten out and interfere in the work of Life to benefit and fix everybody.  You know, one of the greatest things to do is mind our own business.  

That wish is simply the personality trying to assert itself.  Yet let it try and let it fail, reaping humiliation from all of its efforts and bringing humiliation to others, for thus do I use it to develop the body, and also those other bodies.

So you see that all these people’s out savin’ the world.  Out in California, everybody’s in the “people savin’” business these days.  Are they here, too?  There’s one little magazine put out in San Diego called “Holistic Living” and everybody has an ad how they’re gonna save you.  I suppose there is at least 200 ads every paper comes out.  Everybody going to save you in their way.  Then, thank goodness, to balance it there’s a little magazine put out same day called “Wolf”.  Wolf.  And it pokes a little fun at all these holes, you know, kinda keeps the balance going.  It’s a little fun you can see what a joke all this crap is, you know.  I think every community should have a “Wolf.”  Have a “Wolf” Magazine.  They have ads in it that are fake-o ads, but they’re offerin’ all these great and wondrous things, you know, that everybody else is, only it is a little bit humiliating to the others.  So that is where I think Life is running “Wolf.”  It humiliates the others, the personality.

 This Seventh Mystery is very hard for the conceit to learn.  But when you shall have suffered the humiliation yet in store for you, it will be a season full of joy.  For behold you will be free of that conceit and the body will be an instrument of My joy alone.  If you cannot yet receive these words, it is well that you should reject them.  [Please.] The present pride is as much My work as the humiliation will be.

So we’re building you up for a sit down, you know.  

For the body it is well that pride rules with it’s ambitions and desire until it works its power on you.  When its work is perfected, thou shalt cast it off, and the body shall arise from the death of the pride, strong to express Me.

This is the story of the Phoenix, the bird that burned up and out of the ashes arises.  The false personality goes by the wayside and the real personality is born from the ashes of it.

So the only way the real I, or that Infinite Personality will arise (which is different in everybody but will be very, very much expressing, radiating life, love, truth, health, etc.) can only arise out of the ashes of the false personality, the not-I’s, being destroyed.  The only way they can be destroyed is humiliation.  Now, that’s the one thing they can’t stand is to be laughed at.  They get very upset.  Now as long as they can scare you, frighten you or you wanna fight with them they’re in pig heaven.  But if you laugh at them, they are in a mess.  So it is well to laugh at them – for yourself.  Now if you laugh at ‘em in somebody else, you may not live to get rid of yours.

So we will take another here without any further break: The 8th Mystery.  Now, the 7th one is Humiliation – the not-I’s must die.  Period.

(Dr. Bob, it’s like the man with the acorn in his pocket.  He said, “This acorn is going to be a mighty oak, but it’s not going to be unless it get’s out of your pocket.”)  

Right.  Leave it in the pocket so it won’t be any oak.  So it is humiliation.  Humiliation is the way we laugh at the not-I’s.  They can’t bite you, they just carry on and make a lot of fuss and frighten people and everything.  They’re really polished.

Happy Sunday from Tian and Marsha!

Welcome to Week 6 of the Life’s Word Experiment.  We hope you’re finding it most interesting as it works on you; Marsha (marsha@marshasummers.com) and I love your feedback.  Remember, you can also post your comments for all to see on Marsha’s blog.

Jason (aka James) is still in hospital, mending up from his motorcycle accident.  Thank you to all who’ve sent good wishes, accurate reporting, and prayers his way.  I will continue to send the weekly reminders until  he’s back on the job.   Thanks for bearing with this one as the waters are navigated for the first time!

Remember, you can read (or copy) the entire workshop at: 

http://www.marshasummers.com/innerman/lwworkshoppart1.htm

on Marsha’s website:  www.marshasummers.com

And thanks to Steven Coleman, you can also listen to the chapters by going to: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3zd34dd8r8kh3s1/rsBi6noLwx

In joy!

Tian 

kymu49@me.com

PS: As always, please do not reply directly to this email, but to teachings@marshasummers.com or to the entire group by posting on Marsha’s blog or to our personal emails.

VI

Sixth Mystery:  Giving

You wanna take a break or you wanna wait ‘til I get through with the next little mystery here?  Ok, we’ll go to Number 6.  We got five.  So far they all look kinda sensible even, don’t they?  We’ll take a break after this one here.

 The Sixth Mystery is the mystery of Giving.

 Now this really gets with it.

 Behold I have set My sun in the sky, and the light in which it lives is the light that radiates itself.

 That’s the only light around the sun is the sun it radiates, ok? 

 It is not lighted by reason of any light which comes to it,

 Nothin’ out there brighter than it is or gets anywheres near it.

 …but only by reason of that light which goes out from it.  So unto you I have given the power to radiate My love, My happiness, My health, My wealth, My vitality and My wisdom.

Ok?  “I have given the power unto you.”  Each and every one of you.  “So unto you I have given the power to radiate My love, My happiness, My health, My wealth, My vitality and My wisdom.”  You already have that ability, ok?

 And as the sun cannot live in any light except that which it radiates or gives out, so is it impossible for you to live in any light that you do not radiate.

 …nor have any Life, and love, and happiness, and health, and wealth, and vitality and wisdom, which is all called light.  That’s what is meant by “light” – all those things.

 Now the only bit of that I will ever live in is what I can radiate.  So why not just radiate me a whole gob of it if I like it, huh?  There’s nothin’ wrong with it, nobody keepin’ me from it.  Is there, Mack?  Nobody keepin’ me from it.  So if I want to have light which is love, happiness, health, wealth, vitality, and wisdom, that is what is meant by light – not light comin’ through the ceiling up here.  That is the light that we can live in – is that which we radiate.

 You cannot obtain love by getting it from without,

You know, I would never know whether anybody loves me or not.  I can know how they treat me.  I can see when you treat me nicely and caringly and all that.  I can see that, but I don’t know whether that’s from love or you figured it was to your advantage to do it that way.  I don’t know.  It may be a big act for all I know, huh?

 You cannot obtain love by getting it from without, even as the sun cannot obtain light by getting it from without.

 The sun don’t get any light from outside of itself.  It’s got its own source goin’, huh?  So if you love, you will feel that everybody loves you.  But if you don’t love, you’re always questioning and wondering and doubting and all that good stuff – that about right?

 Happiness is constantly yours to the extent that you do give it out.

 So if you pitch out a little joy as you go through this world, an awful lot you’re livin’ in then.  You don’t get back – you’re just living in it.  You’re already spreading it around you, so it’s like you’re sitting in the middle of that light thing.  It’s all around you then.

 Seeking happiness from without and drawing it to the self is its own destruction.

 Now I’ve had many people come to me and say, “I’d just give anything to be happy.”  I said, “Well fine, the day you don’t give a damn whether you’re happy or not, you’ll find you are.”  Try it on for size someday.  As long as you’re tryin’ to be happy, you’re checkin’ up every minute and it don’t seem you are.  But if you don’t care whether you’re happy or not, what kind of state are you in?  Wouldn’t trade with nobody in all the world, you know it?  Because you’re not tryin’ to make yourself happy.  You’re not checkin’ up on it.  Happiness is like a body.  No self-respecting body will work well while being spied on; and happiness couldn’t stay around if you’re checkin’ up on it every minute.  So…

 Happiness is constantly yours to the extent that you do give it out. Seeking happiness from without, and drawing it to the self, is its own destruction.  The desire to obtain happiness from without gives the sense of the lack of happiness.  This sense is the only unhappiness.

 Isn’t that funny?  And that is a fact – I’ve checked up on that one for years.  The only way you ever feel unhappy is when you’re tryin’ to be happy by trying to get it.  “If I had this”, and “if I had that”. . . .

 For a while, I run a little thing on Tuesday nights.  We give a talk for an hour or so every Tuesday night out in California and there was a bunch of people came, and they would bring me letters of all the things they wanted.  One lady started in with what she wanted.  Started out with a yellow corvette, and then it went to a man who makes ten million a year and already has a lot, and he would let her have an affair every year with some guy named Erhardt or somethin’ or other – and this went on and on.  Now this is all she required to be happy.  It was about eight pages.  I still have the thing; I’ll let you read it sometime. About eight pages of just this and this and this, and then she’d be happy.  Now, if she had all that, she wouldn’t be.  I know that.  Because she’d know she must have forgotten something.

So as long as you’re trying to be happy, you won’t be.  And when you say, “What difference does it make?  Who am I that I should be happy?  It’s pretty wonderful just like it is without it,” you’ll find you are bubblin’ over with joy from there on.  You like to be happy, Mary?

 (Yes.)

 Good.  You see there’s no reason not to be happy because it’s already been given to us as a gift.  But we ignore the gift and start running around lookin’ under rocks trying to find it.

 All things drawn towards the self prove, when obtained, to be but the mirage of the desert.

 Isn’t that funny?  When you’re gonna try and get it, it’s gonna make you happy.  When you get it, it has about the same validity as the mirage in the desert.  You know it can look so real out there.  I’ve been driving across the desert and see a beautiful seashore with palm trees and even a big pretty boat in it.  When I get up there, it’s just sand hills. It just all disappears.

 The anxiety to get for the self from without proves always disappointing.

 That’s when we settle it – one simple little statement which we throw around.  You know I don’t think in these terms, these pretty words.  “Whenever I make anything important, I am anxious.”  You wanna try that one out?  Anytime you make anything important, whether it’s to feel good or be happy, or be helpful or contribute somethin’ great to the world, to be creative or all these wonderful things that people lay out that they just want – as long as you make it important, you will be anxious.

 Whenever I make anything important, I am anxious.  When you see that nothin’s important – it’s just a very interesting, delightful thing set up here that Life’s runnin’, why then you’re not anxious.  So the anxiety or the importance to get for the self from without proves always disappointing because all realities radiate from within.  Where does health come from?  I radiate it out.  Where does joy come from?  You radiate it out.  We have talked about that if you act a certain way, you will begin to feel that way.  In other words, you begin to radiate it, right?  So if I act miserable, how will I feel?  If I act very joyful and happy and delighted and see nothin’ but expressions of Life around me, what am I radiating?  What am I doing?  I’m pushin’ it out.

 Health is from within only.  All attempts to gain health from without are likened unto the sun should it attempt to draw back light unto itself.

 Can you imagine givin’ the sun a couple of pills?  You know, so it will work better?  Thing’s got spots on it, you know – it’s got pimples.  You know that every day – the thing’s got pimples all over it.  Can you imagine us getting us some good pills and getting a big gun and shooting them up there for it to get rid of its sun spots?  It’s got pimples on it – probably ulcers.

 Such an attempt would, if it could succeed, result in darkness.  When you do receive my health, whether I inspire one of my other bodies to draw it forth or whether you are inspired with it, you will find it to be a fountain within you and not an external force which you can draw unto you.

 You’re not going to find the Fountain of Youth out there in Florida, New Mexico or Alabama or any other glorious spot in the country.  You’re not going to find health in a bottle or in pills or in anything else.  It’ll come from within or you won’t know about it.  It comes from within when you begin to express health.  But most people express illnesses.  As I said, you ask, “How are you?” and you get an organ recital.  Hmm?

 All that you are you give out.  If, therefore, you give not anything, you, the self, are not that thing.  To be anything is to possess that thing, so I say unto you that you have nothing but what you are.  Yet you are I, Myself, and therefore do possess all things. Herein is the Sixth Mystery.

 You own everything that you care to express.  You want love, express it – then you have it.  You want joy, express it – you have it.  You want peace, express it—you have it.  You want wealth, express it – you have it.  You want energy, express it and you’ll have it.  Whatever you can come up with.  You only have that which you care to express, and you already have it because Life is what you really are, and Life is all things if you will but express it.

 Now, it’s not gonna run away with you.  It’ll let you sit there and listen to the not-I’s and be mournful and miserable and pathetic and really need sympathy.  If nobody else, you can give it to yourself, can’t you, Mary?  You won’t believe it, but you are.

 My wealth is the possession of all things.  Gold unused is not wealth.

 You can’t eat it, wear it, play with it or much of anything else.  All you can do is leave it sitting around, huh?

 Silver or lands or houses or raiment – not one of these is wealth unless used.

 Gotta use it or it’s no good to you, is that right?  You could have a closet full of beautiful gowns, and if you didn’t wear ‘em, they might as well been old cut up newspaper patterns hangin’ in there, is that right?  Wouldn’t do you any more good one way or the other.  Had millions of dollars all stored up in money market funds, why, you’d be just as poor as you could be, still be eatin’ out of garbage cans.  Most people don’t eat out of garbage cans physically.  They do mentally.  But…

 So I say unto you that use is the only wealth.

I think that is worthwhile remembering—“use is the only wealth”.  If I don’t express happiness, what’s the use of havin’ it, huh?  I couldn’t say I had it unless I expressed it or use it.  Not one of anything is wealth until used.

 So I say unto you that use is the only wealth.  He who spends a small silver piece with a free hand is wealthier in that moment than he who has hoarded millions, and used them not.

That right?  He went out and spent you a quarter for something and really enjoyed it, and the other man got millions and he had to hang onto it and he’s afraid to spend it because somethin’ might happen to him.  Who had the most wealth?  Who’s the wealthiest at the moment, huh?  Not who has it, but who is the wealthiest?  The man who’s enjoyin’ the quarter.

 The Divine sense of wealth is from within and radiates outward.

 It’s not from numbers on the outside radiating inward.

 It is not helped nor hindered by external circumstances.

 It isn’t hindered by having a few million dollars layin’ around.  It isn’t helped either.  No problem there.

 Neither debts and slavery nor piles of gold and mastery over others, at all affects Life.

 Doesn’t do a thing for it, doesn’t affect your sense of wealth at all.

 If you feel rich, you give out that feeling and freely give to whatsoever you do feel like giving.

 So if you really feel wealthy, man it’s pretty liberal, is that right?  But if you feel poor, no matter how many millions you got, you’re hard up.

 But giving with a desire to accomplish some purpose is not free giving and is not a sign of My inward wealth.

Now, that one you know.  If you give in order to get a write off, why you’re really wasn’t givin’.  You was just maneuverin’ a little bit.  I have a lot of people call me up and says, “Have you got a non-profit corporation or somethin’?  I’ll give you some money.”  That’s so they get a write off.  But you know I say no, I don’t have those things.  Just drop it on me, I’ll spend it.  “Oh, well, I don’t get a write off then by just givin’ it to you.”  So well, now then that kind of gets down to where the givin’ is, do you see?  There’s no giving when you’re just gonna get a write off.  That’s just maneuverin’ Uncle, hopin’ you can maneuver a little bit out of him, isn’t that right?  What’s wrong with just givin’ somebody something if you want to?  I think the post is, we don’t wanna give, we wanna get a write off.  You see, there’s a difference.  So then we can say, “I give,” but really I didn’t give, I bought myself a write off somewheres on a tax-deductible item.

 But giving with a desire to accomplish some purpose is not free giving and is not a sign of My inward wealth.

 …this feeling of wealth.

 Whatever the purpose may be, whether it is to alter the circumstance of others for their good as you see it, or to satisfy those who make a demand upon you, or to put others under an obligation to you,

That’s a pretty good one you know.  You give somebody something, now they’re obligated to you.  They gotta give you somethin’ back.  They don’t give you something and then, “After all, look at the way you treated me, hmm? After all I have given you?”  That is to put people under demands.  That’s makin’ people sign a promissory note without them knowing they did so.  That’s really trickery.

… to put others under an obligation to you, or to obtain the world’s praise for your generosity you express –

 That is a good one, too.

 yet it is “your purpose”, and the giving is done to accomplish your own will, and is not free giving, but is a buying [of something].

 Whether you’re buying approval, whether you’re buying obligation on somebody or whether you’re buyin’ a write off, or whatever it is, it’s still buying and is not giving.

 Yet, do I not forbid you to buy thus,

 You can buy all you want to. Life’s not gonna tell you not to.  It’s not going to forbid you to do anything.

 for until you can be free, you must be bound.

 Not because Life’s going to bind you, but because you won’t take the strings off.

 If, then, you have the thought that love can be obtained from others – from without thee – you feel lonely and unloved.  If you have the thought that happiness consists of outward things, or can be obtained through them,

 “If you have the thought that happiness consists of outward things, or can be obtained through them,” …you know, new cars, new homes, new clothes, trips, etcetera and etcetera, and all the other little prestige items… then it’s kinda kiddin’ you. 

 you do thus create for the self a torment of unhappiness.

 And how.

 If you have the thought that health is to be obtained from without, from diet, or medicine, or influence, and do therefore endeavor to draw health towards the self, then you do cause the condition you call sickness.

And it can be not only sick from trying to be healthy, but you can get sick from tryin’ to be happy.  It all works on any of those things, if you want to call them that.  Anything you’re strugglin’ to get which is gonna make you happy or healthy or wealthy or wise – when you try to get it – will usually have the affect of making you rather sickish to say the least.

 My law is a Mystery unto you because I say you live in what you do radiate outward, and you die in what you call towards yourself.

 What you’re trying to call into the self.

 Herein is this Mystery, that getting destroys, and giving giveth life.

 That’s the Mystery here.  Getting destroys and giving gives life.  Now we’ll just put it up there now.  So getting destroys.  That’s the struggle to get.  Giving gives Life.  That’s Life, a continuation, going on, light – all those things.  That getting destroys and giving gives Life.

 Call suffering unto you, and behold, it loses its power to hurt you.

 Now come on, do your bit.  I’m free to have all the discomforts and all these things.  And you know, if I’m free to be miserable, you just can’t stay miserable very long.  Did you ever freely try to worry up a storm ‘bout somethin’?  What happened?  It just falls apart right there in your hands.  You can’t even do nothin’ with it.  So if you’re free to die, you know, you’re still alive.  But if you’re trying “not to get dead”, then there’s death around every corner, isn’t there?  It’s hanging everywhere. It’s poisons and filth in the air and there’s destruction in the food and the water – all sorts of things.  It’s just terrible.

 Call suffering unto you and behold it loses it’s power to hurt you.  Call happiness unto you and it loses its power to please you.

 You try to get happy and you get all the things gonna make you happy and they don’t please anymore after you get ‘em.

 Give suffering unto others and it eats into your own heart; give happiness unto others, sing unto them a song of gladness and joy, and it shall fill the heart with the beauty of sweetness of My love.

 You know you can’t make anybody else happy, but you sure can pour a lot of pleasant stuff around.  Sing ‘em a song.  You don’t have to know a note to do that.  You can sing a song.  You can purr around them pretty good anywhere.  But if you run up and give them your organ recital hoping they will be sorry for you, they walk away.  Hmm?

 You have no wisdom of your own until you hear My voice speaking from within the heart outward.

 You know you really can have that happen to you, that you don’t know what to say, but you open your mouth and out comes a bit of wisdom.  You even get to listen to it so that’s pretty nice too.   Let that voice speak.

 In that hour, you shall open the mouth and I will speak through it, and you shall live in the wisdom you give out.

 Now that’s only when you don’t know what ought to be, and you open your mouth.  This is in the Scripture in the New Testament.  The man said if you’re called up before the judges, don’t prepare your piece as to what you’re gonna say.  Just go down there and open your mouth, it’ll come out all right.

 Yet it was My will that you should have long sought for love, trying to obtain it from without you and failing.

 You know, that’s the only way you’re gonna find out anything is through experience.  So it was wonderful that all of us went out searching that we would feel love by finding somebody to love me.  “I’d be happy if I just had somebody to love me.”  I’ve set through a lot of people that have told me that sad story.  Said, “I’d just be so happy if somebody would love me.”  I said, “Well, are you loveable?”  Wouldn’t hurt you a little bit to be a little lovable once in a while, you know.  Usually somebody will love you if you’re loveable.  That seem reasonable?  And maybe you’d have so much fun bein’ loveable you wouldn’t know whether they loved you or not and wouldn’t care.

 And it was My will that you should have eagerly searched for happiness only to find that such a search is the only unhappiness.

 Again, you learn from experiencing, not because somebody told us so.  But maybe through all your searchin’ for happiness, you finally catch on to the joke.  You know, you have a practical joke played on you enough times, you finally learn not to bite.  So it’s a big practical joke to try to find love and happiness and wisdom and all these things out there.  When you find out that the longer you struggle for ‘em is the only thing that keeps ‘em from bein’ there, looks like we would catch on to the joke.  Mack, are you old enough to remember snipe hunts?

 (Oh, yes, I was the farthest one.)

 One. It’s been goin’ on since the day we been alive.  (laughter)  Don’t you see that?  You been on more snipe hunts…

 (I still got the bag.) (laughter)

 All those other guys are goin’ out there, beatin’ the bushes and runnin’ the snipin’ attack while you sat out there all night waitin’ for ‘em, is that right?  Are you catchin’ on?  That’s what the whole world is – one big snipe hunt – while we’re all standin’ around holdin’ the bag.  Can’t you catch on to that?  Huh?

 (Yep.)

 Okay.  I thought maybe you would finally catch on to that.

 It was my will that you should seek health in vain among all the external imaginings of the brain.

 That you should run from here to there and go to Mayo’s and back to Baylor and down to Houston.  You know, the best place to go get well is a far distance.  You know that.  You know, the people in California go to the East coast.  They go to John Hopkins.  People over there come out to California to go to Pritikin Institute.  Had an old gent, a very wealthy old man come in last week.  He come from Connecticut out to Pritikins.  Well, you know, all Pritikins does is starve you and walk you.  And you can do that anywheres.  Pritikin had taken his booze away from him and his cigars away from him, so he come to visit me.  So I took him to lunch and he had two martinis and two cigars.  He said, “God that feels good.”  I said, “You’ll be back in the same boat you were in fore you left Connecticut.”  So, you know, you’re gonna find it somewhere.  He was feelin’ fine as long as he wasn’t killin’ himself.  He hasn’t caught on.  He’s still on a snipe hunt.  

 And it was My will that prompted you to think that wealth consisted in getting.

 Another snipe hunt.

 So I have called you that you may know by failure and heart burnings, that you cannot obtain anything from without you; and that you might struggle to be strong and thus develop the organs of the mind and the body to be fit to perfectly express My perfect love, My perfect happiness, My perfect health, My perfect vitality, and My perfect wisdom, from within.

 You already got it, but you’re standin’ out in the swamp, in the cane break in a little narrow hog trough, holding the sack waiting for somebody to run the snipe in it.  Huh?  That right, Mack?

 (You’d think you had the wrong size bag, right?)

 No doubt, they’d run out before you could shut it.

 Take the gift where you will.  If you give it freely, you can only give it unto the self.

 If you give out something, you actually give it to you.  So if you radiate health, you’re the one that’s gettin’ healthy, not all those other jerks that’s not entitled to it out there.  It’s you.  If you’re expressing happiness, it’s you that gets the happiness; the others may be amused, laugh for a few minutes, but they’ll go back to mournful ‘fore morning.  So you only give it to yourself.

 Give in order to receive a blessing, if you will, but know that such giving is not giving at all in My sight.

 Now, you can tell people, you know, give ‘em an order – get with it.

 Give unto the preacher of different views of My truth to help the view you see is right, if you will.  But know that such giving is really to serve your own purpose and accomplish your own will and is not giving at all.

You know if you give to the preacher to go out and convert the world to your viewpoint so you won’t have to bother with it, just give him a few thousand, you’re really doin’ it for yourself.  You’re not giving anything, you’re buying more of “your way”, is that right?  You know ‘what you ought to have’ so you’re trying to buy it while you’re away.  Mordida.  You know.  Ever go to Mexico?  If you want some little favor from any official, you leave some coins around when you shake his hand, preferably long green ones, and you get it done.  That’s called “mordida”.  And you didn’t give him a gift; you was buyin’ something.  He treats it as a gift (non-taxable) and you freely gave it to him  – under duress – if you wanted to get it done.

 I require no man to give.

 Life doesn’t care.

 If you give because you think it will please Me, know that I’m already pleased with you,

So you don’t get anything done there, ok?  So if you think, “Well, this will please Life if I go out and give something,” forget it.  Life’s already pleased, pleased with you.  And you’re not gonna influence it in that way.

 and nothing which you can do can alter My pleasure nor can cause My displeasure.

In other words, you’re not going to upset Life, ok?  Do as you will.

 You have all favor in My sight now, and I would not have you do anything with the object of gaining My favor.

 You know there’s a prayer we’ve told people sometimes to try to get the point across a little bit.  We say that the perfect prayer is that you say, “Oh Lord, if I serve you because I desire to gain a heaven, deny it to me; and if I serve you, Oh Lord, to escape a hell, throw me in.”  Now if you can do that, why you’re not really trying to do anything for a purpose, you know.  One man said, “I said that prayer because you told it to me and he did throw me in.”  It really wasn’t the way it works; but anyway, that’s the way he saw it.

 Give love to obtain love from others if you will, but know that what you give with an object is not love, but desire.

 So if you go out and, “I’m gonna love all these people so they’ll love me”, you’re just horse-trading.  And you probably will lose because they may not want to exchange for your horse.  So you might as well keep it to yourself.

 That which you love for a purpose is blighted unto you by that desire.

 You love it because it will do this for you or that for you.  It’s already destroyed, it’s blighted; and it’s all made sick.

 You have lost all you have loved, if the love has been only a desire to keep them.  Learn then this Sixth Mystery, that you live only in what you radiate.

 Now we put it here that “getting destroys and giving gives Life” which is that you’re living or dying in one or the other; so everything you have is in what you radiate.  Now is it fairly easy to radiate whatever you would choose to do so?  But most of us never think about radiating or givin’ it out.  We think about getting it, that right?  We are a “getting” society.  We have been taught from infancy that if you get enough things and situations and circumstances, you’d be healthy and respectable, is that right?  Hmm?  If you own your own home, you can get credit and so forth.  If you can pass the test, you can get credit.  And you may not have any credit if you don’t do all properly, is that correct?  So then, it’s quite free that we can have whatever you radiate.  Now, let’s all kinda check up once in a while to see what I want to radiate.  Now, it’s no certain thing.  You can radiate whatever you want to, but it might be interesting to find out what we are radiating.  You spose, Mack?  Ok?  Any more questions, comments, what have you here?  We’re gonna take a break for a few minutes and then we will proceed to number seven. 

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, your 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 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 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 and 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 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. 

Pray earnestly, if you will, that certain conditions

which are obnoxious to you, be abolished.

Ok, and then we’ll start somethin’ else, you know.  Let black folks sit up front in the store and we’ll put the smokers in the back.  So what’s the difference?  And, of course, people are wantin’ to abolish smoking.  You know, they want to do that.  California is pretty good at it, you know.  They look at you like you have the leprosy or something.  It’s kinda nice to come where most everybody smokes.  The rest of ‘em are closet smokers.  I work in a building where I and one other person are the only ones that openly ever light a cigarette.  Whole company full of people.  But I go to the washroom and it’s always just loaded with smoke.  That’s what you call closet smokers, and these are bathroom smokers.  So, man, every so often they got to run in there and smoke in the bathroom.  But, now outside they’re, “Why don’t you quit that filthy thing?”  I think that’s funny too.

Pray earnestly, if you will, that certain conditions

which are obnoxious to you, be abolished.

Let’s get with it; pray and ask the Lord. 

Strive with your fellows unto that end if it seems right unto you.  Pride yourself, if you choose, on exercising a strong influence against such conditions.

You have really done much to end these evils in the world.  Pat yourself on the back.  Just be careful and don’t disjoint it. 

I will be with you in all such prayers and strivings.

…and laughin’ up a storm.  Can you imagine at the laughing and the joy of the sense of humor that Life must have?  Hmm?  To answer all the prayers for everbody! 

Yet know that I have provided those obnoxious conditions on purpose to exercise the heart and the hearts of all those who are affected thereby,

and will sanctify them unto you, even your deepest distress.

You’ll really be upset, more and more of it’s come on. 

That which you deem a disgrace to the times, to the City, or to you,

is intended by Me to work great advantage unto you.

You might finally get so you recognize that everything’s ok – just like it is.  You might even get there sometime.  That would be kinda nice, wouldn’t it?  But without all these things happening, you would never get to the place you could agree that everything was all right.  You could never get around to the second mystery here. 

Yet, I will that you shall fight, as if it were an enemy,

if you see it as an enemy, and herein is this mystery!

Things are as you see them.  They aren’t like you like they might be, but things are to you as you see them.  So it’s about purity, but that’s what purity is.  So if you should see all things as pure, so the fifth one here – all things are as I see them.  To me, of course.  All things are to me as I see them.

So now, that is a mystery.  We talk about, “Well, that’s the way it is, that’s a fact,” and so forth, but it may or may not have anything to do with fact.  So it is to you as you see it.  Now if I choose to see you as a wonderful person, what kind of a person are you to me?  And if I see you as having a bunch of durn faults and I got to struggle with you to get you straightened out, how do I see you?  As a very flawed person that really needs a lot of my ministrations to get you straightened up so you’ll be like you ought to be, is that right? 

Now suppose that today we could begin to see everybody as an expression of Life, an individualized expression of Life – God, if you please; X, Spirit, whatever word you want to call it.  What kind of world would you live in then?  If you saw everybody as being an expression of God, Life, Spirit?  You’d see everybody as the Christ then, wouldn’t you?  Wouldn’t this be a terrible old world to live in?  Like the woman said the other day, “Who wants to stay here?  Get out and go into the realms.”  Forget it, I’m better acquainted here.  I wanna stick around.  So what kind of world is it when you see everybody as being an expression of Life including yourself, dear Louise?  I couldn’t figure out an improvement on it, could you?  Could you? 

(No.) 

Well, that’s pretty close to what it is.  I don’t know if that’s the way it is or not, but that’s the way I choose to see it.  And everything is as to me as I choose to see it, ok?  You are to me as I choose to see you.  And you are to me as I choose to see you, and Marcy is to me as I choose to see her.  You are, and you are, and on and on.  Hmm?  Now if I see everybody as an expression of Life, and that whatever they’re doin’ is serving some contribution to the whole, it is Life working.  Maybe it’s just having fun.  Oh, I don’t think Life has to be so serious all the time, that it never plays jokes or anything.  It has a good time, but there is absolutely nothing that you can get all torn up and upset about because everything you see is an expression of God, Life, Spirit, whatever word you’re comfortable with, huh?  Now that’s just about what it said here.  It says It’s quite pleased with us.  You obviously notice that when Life’s not pleased with you, it seems that you’re invited away from the party.  We’re all here, so it must be puttin’ up with us quite well, Mary, huh?  Now we’re here, you’re here.  So I guess Life is pleased with us.  Why can’t I be?  It’s pleased with everybody around – they’re all right just like they are. 

Somebody says, “Don’t you wish everybody in the world was conscious?”  I said I’d have a hard time makin’ a living.  I need a few sleepy folks to take advantage of every now and then.  That right, Mack Harris?  If you, as a peddler and a maneuverer in the business world, had all conscious people, it’d be rough to make a living, wouldn’t it?  Thank goodness we got a lot of ‘em sleepin’.  If you’re a doctor, do you want everybody in the world to be well?  You’d starve to death.  You gotta have a bunch of “sickies” around to keep goin’.  If you’re an undertaker, you don’t want anybody to go.  I have a friend that’s an undertaker up in Pennsylvania up in the hills and he’s forever calling me on the phone and says, “Bob, do something to get my business up.  I haven’t had a funeral in weeks.” I say, “Well, if I help Charlie out, I got to knock a few people out.”  I don’t guess I want to help Charlie’s business much.  The doctor says, “My practice has gone down.  I haven’t had a patient in two weeks.”  So I got to get some people sick so he can be busy.  I don’t mind helping out in some of these chores, you know.  But isn’t it all right?  You see, we really don’t want anything a whole lot different than it is, if you really think over it for a while.  Hmm?

Now everybody’s an expression of Life serving some purpose or other, and why should we be disturbed about it and try to straighten everything up and get all our causes and our situations going, and we do these great reforms and everything?  I think everybody’s all right just like they are.  Tina, don’t you?  You’re just fine just like you are.  Hmm?  You’ve then taken all the troubles out of the world, but then without troubles, how are we gonna survive?  We’ve got our whole society set up on fixing other people’s troubles, is that right?  Hmm? Can you imagine what a depression would come about if from now on nobody got sick?  See the biggest industries in the country are supplyin’ sick people—medications and medical instruments and medical devices of all kinds.  In this industrial complex I work in, nine out of ten of the businesses there are all supplying something for sick people – medical devices, etc.  But the whole thing would be a ghost town out there in a week if nobody got sick from now on.  What would you do?  We’d have a depression – unemployment would be rampant.  We’d probably go to 25% in this country.  You want that to happen?  Let ’em stay sick.   Keep the business going.  Too many of my friends are physicians.  If they didn’t have sick people, they’d all starve.  Besides that, they’re the greatest people for investments, aren’t they?  That right, Mack?  Where do you go when you need some risk money (without tellin’ them it’s risk)? 

You see, we just got to have all these things.  So for goodness sake, see that Life is pretty smart and that everything is just fine just like it is, ok?  Not tryin’ to change a thing.  Then you don’t have any problems.