Exerpt from 'Inner Man'

Roam with them outwardly,

Inward separation,

A true hero won’t bark

At the obama nation.

From the song entitled, "Inner Man"
Written by Gabe Choate and Randall Smith
performed by The Ghost and Jimi Gabriel

Enjoy your Thanksgiving! Go Cowboys! Go Horns! blessings, r

Upon Further Review

It is absolutely and positively correct for you to totally and completely accept yourself right now. That acceptance is who you are this very minute. You are definitely who you are suppose to be right now. You do not need words or thoughts or any other positive influence for this wonderful acceptance. There is nothing wrong with you nor in your life and there never has been. You are exactly in the right path. You can let this wonderful life be lived or you can keep trying to define it. Christ's exact words were, "I did not come for the righteous I came for the sinners and repentance". Repentance is your aid. There should be no negative connotations with it. It simply means to turn and look behind you. It is simply a casual act of examining and recognizing the desire-oriented activities of your imagined self and upon the recognition of those traits (guilt, shame and judgement, etc...), quietly and consciously release them. That is all there is to it. This is what is meant by "awakest thou that sleepest." Enjoy this wonderful day! blessings, r

Dinner Bell

"Give us this day our daily bread..." Many are familiar with Christ's shining example of how a person should pray. What is meant by "bread" is everything necessary to sustain human life. This would be everything not of the spirit. Granted everything we need are provisions made possible by God. Daily bread would include food, money, possessions, clothing, homes, cars, recreation, leisure, health, etc... Christ also stated that, "Man cannot live by bread alone." It is very important for a man to understand that he cannot live by these provisions alone and that these provisions are merely blessings and are not meant for us to become possessive nor obsessive with them. It matters not if a man has many or few. He cannot simply sustain himself by bread alone. Man, however, is basically evil and it is in this evil nature that he falsely and ignorantly assumes that it is his possessions, or the quest of these possessions, is the meaning of his life. They are not and his inner misery and doubt proves it. "To be born of the spirit," is when an unsatisfied man reaches the end of his fill and quests for worldly bread. It is in this place where he is given the opportunity to, at least, entertain the idea that there is something that can sustain his life. That sustained life he so desperately seeks is not of bread, but of spirit. He finds something he cannot touch, buy, save for or barter for. The good news is in his questions to himself about it. His questioning alone proves of its existence. This opens the door, and though we may blunder a 1000 times, the door will always be opened to a sincere and honest heart. Be of good cheer. Travel lightly and don't push so hard at understanding. Don't be so concerned with how to do it or if you are doing it properly. You have everything you need whether you realize it or not. If life becomes difficult, if you sense a certain emptiness, find a quiet place and pray. Talk to God and admit to him that you don't know what to do and that everything is getting in the way. If you need to cry, then cry. This the good stuff, be grateful that you have come to this place. This is the realness of your life. How wonderful it is that Christ promised he would never leave us or forsake us. If you need to put your books down for a while then do that. Throw out all "bread" if necessary to get to that special and quiet place. It feels really good to let go in this manner. Don't worry about finding it, he will find you. Be persistent. You are already well on your way. Blessings, r

Signals

"I am the way, the truth and the light" John 14:6. Most of us are very familiar with these timeless words from Christ. It is one of the greatest forms of strength any individual can experience. This experience resounds the warmth and nurturing of the complete personal surrender of the heart, (not the head). I often ask myself why it is that these words seem to lose their hold on me so often and so frequently. The answer always comes from this important observation: The evil one, darkness, the ego, the false self, whatever you want to name it, says it too. Yes, darkness steers his attacks, disguising himself as you, and he will use EVERYTHING to steer you away from the light. One of his many tricks is to making you think that YOU are the way, the truth and the light. That you are entitled to keep this all to yourself. That you never have to share this with yourself (or anyone else) and that you are the cynical center. He will go to any length to keep you prisoner, even with these most chain breaking words. The center of his mastery is your ego, the governing seat of his illusory headquarters. He declares his reign through your passions, your slothfulness, your desires, your so called "rights", your obsessions, your guilt, your condemning nature, and especially your, seemingly unscathed, belief system. It is during these raging storms that one must hunker down. Without looking for an escape route, I must allow any resistance to the light to pass, (even if the only way is right through me). I can take it. I can watch without entering the arcade. I can alertly observe without screaming out for help or running to the next book or discipline. This is what darkness wants from me, total confusion. I can choose to fight, run or just sit back and watch, knowing all the while that I am obligated to nothing he can offer. It has already been done for me. It is in these times (it matters not the length of the storm), that I can be still and know that everything is okay. The light from the head is darkness. The light from the heart is itself. blessings, r

Faith

The wonderment of not knowing what life is all about. If I am going to build something I must have the tools, materials and instructions before the tasks begin. Before anything can be accomplished, preparation must be done. Now, ask any contractor where he spends most of his time in a project and he will tell you it is in the preparation, or "prep" work. A good job is in direct accordance to how much diligent preparation goes into the job, before the first nail is struck. These are the most important areas that usually goes unseen by most, but are the greatest contributors to project failures. A project is efficiently completed when orderly preparation precedes the project, and that that regime of order is maintained throughout the entire construction process. So, let us tie together both faith and work. When you are diligently following a plan or are carefully following the instructions of a project, do you worry about the end results? If you said yes, then you have probably not thoroughly prepared, have left out a specific tool required or have shorted your materials list. In this case, you may have skip over something in an attempt to hurriedly get to the end results It would be wise to stop and re-evaluate (through one's own self-examination). Faith, on the other hand, is not knowing if the plan will work, but because we have seen that we are, in and of ourselves, inept, we consciously surrender ourselves to, at least, the possibility that it may. This is where most stop, but through endurance and perseverance all things are possible Spiritually speaking, Christ prepared a way for us to complete a wonderful life project. This preparation was given to us with very specific instructions needed for the creation of a beautiful work of art. We do not have to, nor can we, create the instructions. We need only follow the instructions laid before us. (Caution! here is where the ego wants to play and in it's effort to substantiate itself, will try everything within its power to isolate you from the desire to follow to the need to lead, be in charge, judge, condemn, etc...). The preparation has already been completed. Your diligent effort of review is vital. You can find these instructions in what I refer to as the red print. These are Christ's words, his instructions to those who are willing to pick up their cross, daily, and follow him. Let me warn you that these instructions cannot be implemented collectively, but only through one's own diligent efforts. Your success in your life project is your daily efforts and your daily efforts alone for the great plan and the knowledge of that entity are his. Carefully review your prep work (I can't, he can, so I think I will let him). The results belong to God, leave it at that for success is sure to come. blessings, r

A Key to the Kingdom

Another way of existing to yourself, to become more aware of the important focus of what we should be striving for, would be to not think too much about what we're not doing. This sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it? But, pause for a moment. An unrealized life process doesn't exist. If I am not conscious, if my minute by minute goal is not oriented towards complete awareness of the ever present now, then I do not exist to myself. I am merely chasing whatever pops into my fantasy filled, thrill-seeking head. It is this mental chasing with one thing while mechanically performing another, that I am speaking of. There is no difference between fighting illusory demons or entertaining pleasure seeking dreams, they are both life robbers and the really sad and bad part of it, is that we allow it. Shame on you and shame on me. Vernon Howard stated during a lecture that human beings sell their soul by the minute, not by the year, not by the week, but by the minute to whatever comes along. This realized truth should bother you, it did me. So what is your next unrealized step? Will you discount it because it is too painful or will you allow the truth to help you. These types of truths is what Christ tried to awaken an asleep world with. They are not disguised by anything when seen nor can they confuse. They may cause pain, but what pain are you be willing to endure to awaken to something new. Blessings, r

red rover, red rover...

Vernon Howard's
SECRETS OF LIFE (R)

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"By refusing to chase around mentally, you gradually weaken the
power of useless thoughts. False ideas can be compared with a
huge fan whirling at furious speed. It blows out a destructive
gale. But if you don't empower that wheel, it slows down, loses
its destructive force."

Psycho-Pictography, p. 67

Marriage is a consumate agreement between two people. Weddings are an excuse for ordinary people to become neurotic. blessings, r

Bare Necessities

There is a small nucleus of principles which govern the entire universe. Find them, stay with them and live fully. blessings, r

Pier and Beam

Quote of the Month:

"The soul's communication of truth is the highest event in nature...and this communication is an influx of the Divine Mind into our own mind...Every moment when the individual feels invaded by it is memorable." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)




Falling in Love with the Light

Picture yourself down in a deep, dark cellar. There is a beam of light that breaks through the door above. Your work is to fall in love with the beam of light - to become fascinated by it. Falling in love with the beam of light increases the light. It opens space inside of you for more of the light. Now, without really thinking about it, your false attraction to the dark cellar begins to fall away.

Eventually you climb out of the cellar and on to the earth. Now you can go anywhere you like. For example, there are giant libraries full of books for you to read.

As you continue to love the light more and more, you are lifted off the face of the earth even more. Your home becomes the stars.

Author Vernon Howard conveyed this illustration in one of his classes. He added, "The beam of light will tell you everything - even what books to read."


From my friend Tom, blessings, r

Fresh Step

I used to discipline my cat for going out side the litter box, then I realized all I had to do was keep her litter box clean. Oh, what our animals can teach us! blessings, r

Amazing Grace

I don't feel good because the world is right. The world is right because I feel good. Sometimes it is better to turn off the TV, pass on the morning read in the local newspaper or wake up to the alarm rather than the radio. To just move about without the dirt of outside media. Emerson once said that for every step a man takes forward, society takes two backwards. Actually society has never advanced. It is impossible for an unawakened society to do anything but rely on its many, handy sleeping pills. How often do we, ourselves, get caught in the mist of prejudice, judgement and opinionated triviality. Admittedly, I have found myself in this slumbering fog. I allow myself to be hypnotized by what others deem important, when it actually has little to do with me (even Americanized propaganda). The news and its paper are best epitomized by Mr. Thoreau, "if you've read about one cow getting hit by a train, you have read about them all." Nothing "out there" is ever really new. It is just dressed-up redundancy disguised as something you need to know. As for me, I must be watchful of my thought processes and not allow myself to become one of their statistics. It is not difficult. Follow them around, consciously, and see for yourself. Filling time is easy for an unattended mind. The next time that inner voice tries to coerce you into following him, refuse. I, personally, am spending the next 48 hours watching the antics of these "so-called" production managers. Observe how important what they are trying to motivate you to do, really is. Enjoy a quiet day. Try something new or do something familiar, different. blessings, r

X Files

Vernon Howard's
SECRETS OF LIFE (R)

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"Q: What is behind this constant fear I have that another crisis
is coming my way?

A: This is called self-prophesy and is one of the most foolishly,
valuable possessions that any human being ever has. Now, not just
this lady, but the rest of you have the same dreads, don't you?
Don't you have the fear, the apprehension that something bad is
going to happen to you tomorrow or the next day or a year from
now?

You know there is so much to learn, and let's take just one of
them for now in reply to the lady's question. As long as you
are living in a time-condition nature you will always fear the
future because the future is a part of your time nature. You can
rise above it and live fully and freely right now, this very
moment, in which there is no future for you at all because you
have it all right now.

You had better investigate why you don't find this present
moment of living for yourself in this higher nature. Find out
why you don't discover that. Find out why you prefer, incredibly
to go day after day and month after month worrying over tomorrow,
and I mean this right down in practical things like worrying over
money. Nothing is excluded."

DVD # 4, Talk 4 Questions and Answers

Jack Of All Trades

Dear Friends,

Do not be alarmed by what you read. Most of my encryptions are merely summations of daily influences that pass through my mind. It is my writing that allows me to see simple truths about what I live, make decisions about, whine and wail over or let go of. There are always lessons to learn and new obstacles to overcome. The bottom line is I am trying to find out how this mechanical machine, I call my mind, really works. In order for me to do this I must stand alone for brief periods of time, or longer, until I reach that level of understanding and I must do this no matter what the costs. I must face all of life with all of me, otherwise, nothing will ever be truly learned. All of my negative influences, and yours, reside within us. We must choose what is best for us using total life exposure, including nuances others throw on us as to what we need to do (or should do) about whatever. Personally, no one ever hurt me as bad as I have hurt myself. The blame game stopped some time ago, but it took many years of turmoil and heartache for me to get to a point where I began to see this. The crescendo of guilt and condemnation, then, really began to rare its ugly head. That is what I work on the most, nowadays. The dragons in the darkness of my mind work on me feverishly. Cunning they are, constantly using mental pictures to gain my interest. That is really all they want, my attention. They carry nothing of any real value. They are simply dirty little thieves disguising themselves as who I (falsely) think I am. Shame on me for falling for the bright and shiny hoaxes. Let me explain what little I know about the light. It is not anything like the cheap imitations paraded in front of me by the dungeon ones. No! It is nothing like that. Unfortunately (and the fact that I am completely stubborn), the light cannot be on this level. The light will come with hard work, dedication, persistence and endurance. I am speaking of inner work not digging a ditch or making a million dollars. That is the part I choose to play. The benefits are nothing like dark benefits. The dark side is characterized by uneasiness, conflict, doubt, despair, sleeplessness, obsession, thinking about oneself, etc...

One such dark spot, that intervened when I was a small boy, was my grandmother commented to me that I "was a jack of all trades, master of none". Today, I realize that this was the ultimate compliment, but as a small child I misconstrued this to be a derogatory remark. It would not be necessary to go into any great length as to my mental make-up at the time (most of which is still coming to me), but it would be obvious that I had already begun to suffer from a low sense of self-esteem. The fields were ripe and my misunderstood conception on that one comment, sent me into a downward spiral that has taken years to come to the surface. I am not a child anymore, nor am I eligible to blame anyone for those awkward, circumstantial events. It is my responsibility to go on a search for the truth in my own mind. I will not excuse myself, nor discount any feelings, that I have today regarding my responsibility to detect those itinerant dragon heads. I am one to become aware of how these learned, adopted attitudes influence every emotional storm that may come about in my life. Folks, this is not weakness. This is real, unheralded courage. This is the constitution of real genius. Know that this kind of wisdom, which supersedes all intelligence, is the fruit of true knowledge. I hope you have learned something about what you are to do about yourself. I know I have. Blessings, r