Lessons of Enlightenment

By Cosmic Awareness

Published by Cosmic Awareness Communications PO Box 115 Olympia, Washington 98507 United States of America www.cosmicawareness.org www.transactual.com ISBN: 1441426167 EAN-13: 9781441426161
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This book is dedicated to

you

Acknowledgements
With tremendous gratitude to the Cosmic Awareness Communications staff, the Interpreters, and every entity around the world who made this book possible. You know who you are.

Contents
Preface I II What is Cosmic Awareness? The Philosophy of Cosmic Awareness 3 7 16 37 51 72 94 116 133 156 174 202 247 274 290 318 1

Alpha: Human Nature Lesson 1 Overview of the Human Condition Lesson 2 The Spiritual Nature of Humankind Lesson 3 The Mental Nature of Humankind Lesson 4 The Physical Nature of Humankind Beta: The Feeling System Lesson 1 The Emotional Nature of Humanity Lesson 2 The Emotional Behavior of Humanity Lesson 3 The Six Basic Feelings Lesson 4 Emotion: The Sixth Sense Gamma: New Beginnings Lesson 1 New Tenets of Human Existence Lesson 2 The Power of Habit Lesson 3 The Life-Giving Habits of Self-Expresssion Lesson 4 Universal Values and Needs Delta: Implications for Personhood Lesson 1 Implications for Self Concept Lesson 2 Implications for Child Rearing Lesson 3 Implications for Human Development Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3

Epsilon: Implications for Human Interaction Implications for Morality 346 Implications for Interpersonal Relationships 376 Implications for Group Relationships 398 Zeta: Implications for Social Structures Implications for Religion Implications for Government Implications for Education 423 441 485

 Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3

Eta: Implications for Health Implications for Mental Health Implications for Physical Health Implications for Holistic Health Theta: Implications for Evolution The Spiritual Compass in Evolving Gestalts of Consciousness Human Evolution Omega: Conclusion Epilogue

510 536 555 582 683 622

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Preface
Cosmic Awareness Introduces the Book
(Cosmic Awareness channeled message)

The time has come to impart the Lessons of Enlightenment, for the ushering in of the New Millennium. The Lessons are offered to facilitate the unfolding of the New Age, which symbolizes the restoration of humans to their intended evolutionary pathway, which allows for the maximum evolution and expansion of Universal Consciousness. It is an era of renaissance through which entities can awaken from the sleep-inducing, dogmatic and manipulative assertions of mankind and realign with the divine source of universal knowledge which lies within. It is a time to celebrate the reconnection between the individual and the totality of All That Is. It is a time to become receptive to the Divine Grace, the love and faith that has been placed in humankind. It is a time to honor the faith, to acknowledge and reclaim the resources and abilities that empower humans rather than allow them to remain mired and enslaved within their own earthly illusions. It is a time for every soul to rise to the challenge of realigning the spirit, the will, the mind and the body. It is a time of joyous self expression. The Lessons provide the light, but it is the task of the individual to enlist the will and to actively choose the pathway to receive the light. This requires the trust that each individual was created with the innate capacity to know, to experience, and attune to an inner guidance. This requires the courage to set aside those beliefs, and habits of thought and action that now severely limit the soul, yet masquerade as the very truths for which humans feel compelled to fight and to die. For the feelings are indeed instrumental in such choices, but not without the understandings to be imparted in these Lessons. The Lessons Of Enlightenment will arrive like pearls of wisdom, for each entity to assemble into an invaluable adornment which can become an enduring talisman against external manipulation and a symbol of the choice for, and 1

Lessons of Enlightenment

commitment to individual empowerment, soul development, to individual, social and spiritual evolution, to love replacing fear, to light replacing darkness, to the rejection of evil, and to the unwavering faith in the Universal Divine. It is to be worn with honor, legitimate pride, dignity, compassion and self respect. It cannot be worn if there is insincerity, a refusal to question existing beliefs, denial of spiritual impetus, denial of will energy or violation or denial of others. For such denial not only negates the soul, but also denies Universal Consciousness and each individual's rightful place in the connectedness of All That Is. The actions of the wearer will always defy any such attempts at deception, for legitimate actions will always spring from a new motivative source, demonstrating the understanding, the awareness and the grace that the Lessons embody. The actions of entities automatically provide testimony to the degree of alignment between spirit, will, mind and body. Indeed, upon grasping the understandings that the Lessons provide, human essence, human nature, human behavior, human evolution and human destiny will all become far less mysterious. This is like a vessel of opportunity. This is a time of great potential. This is a time for each entity to rise to the challenge of participation in the turning of the tide and in the laying of the groundwork for accelerated development. This is the time to realign with the Universal Divine, the Love Force, the Universal Consciousness of All That Is. The vessel of opportunity has arrived. Welcome aboard.
(End of Cosmic Awareness channeled message)

I
What is Cosmic Awareness?
(From the Editors)

Cosmic Awareness is the Force that expressed Itself through Jesus, the Buddha, Krishna, Mohammed and other great avatars who served as channels for what is commonly referred to as God. The messages do not come from spirits, ghosts or discarnate entities, but directly from the sourceUniversal Consciousness. Early in 1962, a voice expressing itself as Cosmic Awareness began speaking through Ralph Duby, a university lecturer and ex-army officer who had been through the Bataan Death March in Philippines during World War II. The voice spoke whenever the subject was in a state of self-induced trance. Since that time, much valuable information has come through to us on this earthly plane from a source so high it staggers the imagination. When the question was asked of Cosmic Awareness: What is Cosmic Awareness? we were told that Cosmic Awareness is the total mind that is not any one mind, but is the Universal Mind. It does not represent any unit other than that of complete and total Universality. We were told that we are all part of Cosmic Awareness and that we all have that God-cell within that can be contacted. No need to run off to psychics or priests or spiritual mediators. Cosmic Awareness said that you can channel Cosmic Awareness, too. Everyone can. From Cosmic Awareness, we have learned from the tens of thousands of readings It has given, that It has many names. Some call it God, Jehovah, the First Cause, the Great I AM, All That Is, etc., but Awareness has said It is not a single entity, not the anthropomorphic concept that It was often defined to be by most religions. It has defined Itself as Beauty, Purity, Concentrationand above all, Truth or What Is. It has called Itself anti-matter, pure space, pure nothingness that is everything and the everything that is essentially nothing. It has described Itself 3

Lessons of Enlightenment

as being that which is next to that which does not and cannot speak because it is the highest form of energy in the universe. It corresponds to the highest impersonalized concepts of Godthe Clear Light. It has said that as it speaks through a modern-day interpreter now, in the past It has spoken through the great avatars: the Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, Jesus, Krishna and others who served as Its channels. Cosmic Awareness has made Itself quite clear that It is not an entity, a disembodied spirit or anything of that nature. Awareness is pure energypure everythingor the natural God. Cosmic Awareness is that Universal Consciousness that permeates all living things in the universe, that sees all and experiences and discerns what is without judging or condemning. It is the Cosmic River of Life, the Stream of Consciousness, the Eternal Essence of Being, the Divine Spirit. Cosmic Awareness is not a personality, but a force that is personal in nature. The name Cosmic Awareness is unlikely to become confused with any personality who channels or expresses this force, avoiding any form of worship toward that person. It can be experienced by anyone who goes deep enough within oneself to touch that level of Cosmic Awareness. Cosmic Awareness is the sea of life that not only fills our cells with living energy, but fills the air we breathe and the space between galaxies and the molecules. It is the living universe. Like water filling a sponge, Cosmic Awareness fills the spaces between molecules atoms and subatomic particles, and binds them all together into one gigantic Universal Being. Like cells in a microcosmic body, we blend together as souls in a macrocosmic body whose consciousness is Cosmic Awareness. The communications have reduced what a true religion should be to the simple fundamentals of service to one another. God is revealed as a universal set of cosmic laws, not a personal deity subject to capriciousness, wrath or vengeance. Cosmic Awareness has taught us that there is no actual personalized God, apart from the many that human beings have created; there is no personalized Devil apart from the many that men have promulgated. The communications are deeply spiritual, but essentially non-religious and non-secular. The communications never cease to stress the supreme importance of spiritual life and the necessity for compassion in our dealings with all people. In the messages from Cosmic Awareness, there is to be found the same supreme dedication to helping to ease suffering and tragedy among humanity and a reverence for all life that is the hallmark of the great saints and the teachings of the great religious leaders. 4

II
The Philosophy of Cosmic Awareness
(From the Editors)

Cosmic Awareness has stated that purpose of the information being released is to lead people on earth to find out Who, In Fact, You Really Are. This is a key phrase that is repeated many times throughout the tens of thousands of readings and literally millions of words. There are several interesting aspects of Cosmic Awareness that consistently permeate all of the readings. First, Cosmic Awareness refers to people as entities because It indicated that they have all played the roles of being a man as well as a woman. All of us have both a masculine and feminine side, and we decide which role we will play in a given lifetimewhichever sex will provide the best opportunity in that time and place for our soul to grow as it evolves back toward its source. Yes, Awareness explains reincarnation, and if the doctrine has never made much sense to you, reading this book may put the subject into a very different lighta light that not only makes sense, but may lead you to wonder how you could have ever thought differently. Another major theme that runs through all of the Cosmic Awareness readings is that there is no death. None whatsoever. What we call death and mourn about is nothing more than a simple transition to another vibratory rate that Cosmic Awareness refers to as the Inner Planes. During sleep, Cosmic Awareness tells us, we often leave our physical body and travel around the various planes, of which there are manysome high and some quite low. These inner planes are what are generally referred to in various religious teachings as Heaven, Hell, Limbo, Purgatory, etc. We travel to these planes to attend schools, to help others and to basically learn what we need to learn.

Lessons of Enlightenment

One interesting aspect of death is that Cosmic Awareness says that we will no longer even have to go through a physical death now that the earths spiritual ascension is nearthat is, if we dont want to. Awareness tells us how to reorient our minds to the new concept that aging is merely a projection of our own mind, which is playing a tape over and over, over and over, programming and hypnotizing our bodies into getting old and disintegrating. Aging can be stopped and Awareness explains how. As you become familiar with Cosmic Awareness, these concepts and many more will begin to fall into place. Your daily actions will begin to reflect a new philosophy. Indeed, you will find yourself becoming aware of Who, In Fact, You Really Are. Another important conceptand this is very importantis that Cosmic Awareness tells us not to believe anything, not even Cosmic Awareness, but to question, explore, doubt, and discover on your own what the truth really is. Cosmic Awareness will only indicate and suggest. Cosmic Awareness asks not that you sacrifice to It, not that you believe in It, not that you bow down in worship to It, but only that you love one another, serve one another, and that you yourself grow spiritually, become cosmically aware and find out Who, In Fact, You Really Are. Cosmic Awareness tells us that at the time of passing over, which we call death, each and every one of us must answer one, and only one, question (asked by yourself to yourself, not by any sort of spiritual judge): How many have you served, and how well? We should consider what we will be able to provide as an answer to ourselves.

Section Alpha Lesson One: Overview Of The Human Condition Introduction There is a great urgency for human beings to understand and correct their current situation. Humankind is and has been experiencing far more disconnection, disorientation, pain and suffering than is necessary. This creates an interruption in the flow of Universal Divine Love Energy and a virtual frustration in the ever-expanding consciousness of All That Is. Each and every earthbound entity is an apportionment of the Divine Spirit and maintains a connective strand, a communicative channel, through which inspiration, guidance and divine intention can be experienced. Along with this information channel came the innate ability to transmute Universal Energy into physical form to create events and physical manifestations pleasing to both the individual and the ever-expanding Universal Spirit. The power to intuit, the power to create, and the freedom for willful action, are all far greater than humans imagine---for they have become obscured, blunted and limited.
This information represents what has been described as the literal "Keys To The Kingdom", a Kingdom that exists both within and without, as well as independent of the time/space characteristics of this physical world we elected to maintain as our reality. The barriers that exist between "It" and our consciousness are maintained by our programmed, limiting beliefs. This material can remove those barriers.

Communication and The Fluid Creative Reality Since time was young, humans have had the challenge of utilizing that power to create unlimited, ever-evolving tools and methods to develop and express their soul potential in earthly existence. Development and expression of Spirit was the individual objective within the overall goal of continued expansion of Universal Consciousness. Such tools have manifested in the physical technologies, including everything from stone carving tools to the Internet, as well as mental technologies including knowledge, beliefs, cultural customs, political systems, legal systems, social codes, religious and worldviews that exist today.
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The evidence of our innate creative ability is all around us, but it stands like the trees which blind us from the all-prevailing forest of our possibilities. Our blindness to the evidence has been well programmed into our thought processes and is maintained by the mental tools placed under the control of those who place power over wisdom and worldly rewards over spirituality.

These tools were originally to be developed by an individual for that individual's personal use to accomplish the maximum possible development, expression and expansion of his or her individual consciousness. The tools were intended to be temporary, flexible transient and ever-changing---like cloaks to be designed, worn and cast aside as new, more effective versions were inspired and created. There was no "right" or "wrong", no "good" or "bad" tools, no judgments or limitations were placed upon the creations of man. The only legitimate quality assessment was how well the tools and ideas accomplished the development and expression of the soul potential. The "reality" was highly individualized. It was negotiated and created through the communication between individual and universal spirit and the application of will power. The action choices of entities were validated by the spiritual responses experienced through the feeling system.
We are a species that has had to learn much about our true nature by the process of trial and error. It is one of the consequences of the quality of Free Will. It is when the consequences of "reward" and "punishment" are applied to this process and the terms of "good" and "evil" are integrated as control elements, that the barriers become erected between what we instinctively "feel" is true and what we are taught to believe is "true", but isn't.

Those tools that were most effective at meeting the expansion goals of the spirit were pleasing to the spirit, and those that were less so were not so pleasurable. Those that did not work or lost their effectiveness over time would restrict, even frustrate the spirit and the feelings would be not pleasing---they became even unpleasant and painful.
The physical, mental and emotional pain we have come to experience are the clues that should lead us to the enlightened conclusion that a course correction to our continued state of being is in order.

These pleasurable or painful feelings were experienced within the individual as an ever-present reminder of the goals of the spirit and of how well they were being attained. This was the reality: an information
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exchange and feedback between the spiritual, mental and physical realms, each working in concert to maximize and expand individual and Universal Consciousness. There was no mistaking that earthly reality was fluid and within the constant control of the individuals, no matter how "real" and valid the earthly creations and events may have appeared in the physical realm.
The principal/system remains in place. It seems only to vary according to our perception of physical reality, i.e. when we give power to outside influences, to that degree, we ignore our innate ability to create our own reality.

Disconnection & Rigid Physical Reality But over time, humans began to believe more and more in the validity of their creations and rely less and less upon the internal communicative spiritual guidance. The methodologies and beliefs began to take on a life of their own, to become more real, as they were shared between individuals and eventually passed along between generations. Such ideas became real when adopted through willful choice---regardless of whether or not that choice was a conscious one. In fact, most humans empower beliefs without even realizing their choice, since "facts", values and ideals are indoctrinated into them from the moment they are born.Cognizant or not, humans direct their will power into the belief, which then entraps them within its limitations.
This is the metaphor and meaning of the fable of the Garden of Eden and the eating of the apple by Adam and Eve. We chose to turn our ideas into our reality, and perpetuate that 'reality' by passing it along from one generation to another. Free will then surrenders to belief and that is how our reality becomes limited.

Not only did such limiting judgments become part of earthly reality, but they actually have a physical counterpart that exists in the form of energy fields wherein potential energy has been frozen into habitual pathways that grossly limit the human capability of selecting or creating alternate tools or ways of thinking. The beliefs become physically empowered with the human energy that is willfully invested in them. The more times a particular "truth" is uttered and energized, the more it takes on a physical reality that in turn limits the perception of a myriad of other possibilities.
With our minds we create our physical reality, and with our belief systems, we
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keep it in place by sustaining and limiting it. We are both the creators and the victims of what we have been taught and what we will continue to believe. Those who master us through fear, master us for life.

Instead of the evolution of many coexisting equally useful tools of spiritual expression, certain ideas become dominant, overarching and "the way" for all to be. Such limiting beliefs and judgments have interfered tremendously with the natural communicative pathways between embodied entities and All That Is. They have greatly reduced the creative ability to transmute Universal Energy at will, all but eliminated the original fluidity of reality, and entrapped humans within the very tools which were intended to empower them. The result is that humankind has become mired within an illusory "reality" of their own creation, cut off from the overarching reality, guidance and direction of All That Is.
By our own enamored state of self-importance, we have forced ourselves away from the metaphorical Garden of Eden and into a state of reality which excludes a clear line of communication between our physical/mental selves and our spiritual nature.

The human condition is now such that the expression and development of individual spirit, as well as the expansion of Universal Consciousness, has been tremendously impeded. This "misuse" of human freedom has become known as "the Fall from Grace" in many existing origin stories and religious doctrines. For with the self-imposed limitations due to having bitten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge, humans have lost touch with those very facilities with which they were endowed to protect and guide themselves.
While the story of the "Garden of Eden" carries the seeds of the truth expressed above, it has been so distorted by religious institutions that we have come to feel it is only appropriate that we continue to exist in a degraded state with only the protection and guidance of those institutions as our salvation. As we sought information from the "outer" world, we abandoned the "inner" truths that once guided us toward spiritual evolvement, it would seem.

Attempts At Re-Empowerment In the course of human history, there have been many sages, Avatars and wise "men of God" who have attempted to re-empower humans. These seers incarnated with a clear destiny, a broadened awareness and with
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better command of the innate power that all humans were intended to possess. Their task was to awaken humankind to the tremendous potential and power that lies within their grasp, yet which remains unclaimed. For every human being maintains that connective strand through which Divine Spirit Intention can be accessed and utilized, offering vast benefits and direction for the restoration of humanity to the intended evolutionary path. Their offerings have made a positive impact; but there has also been a tremendous amount of distortion of the teachings---perversion and dogmatic assertions used for manipulation and control by misguided, power-seeking humans, perpetuating the myth that direction can only come from external forces and guides.
We are all familiar enough with the "sources" of these controlling influences. Many of us rely on weekly contact with such in order to maintain a socially comfortable position in our social settings. We surrender our judgment and our spirit to those who tell us how to conduct ourselves. In doing so, we elect to shrink our very natures.

The sages' message of re-empowerment was lost in the shuffle. The ultimate result was the implanting of a nearly universal belief that human beings are innately evil, rather than innately good, and that with such evil nature they require external control. The coming of the sages reinforced the belief that some external Omnipotent intermediary has the sole responsibility to create the events necessary for successful human existence. And that since man was innately evil, that unpleasant events were his "due" as retribution from that almighty force. This further disconnected humans from their inner informational feeling system, with the adoption of conflicting ideas about feelings themselves. This created the related belief that emotional suffering is an inevitable, necessary and uncontrollable part of living.
We have surrendered the driving forces of our spiritual life to a "back seat driver" and done so through a commitment of conformity.

But the belief in the need for external control cannot change the ultimate reality that the individual has, and will always have, internal control. The belief itself cannot remove the individual's capability and his or her responsibility to manifest their own destiny. It does not in the least diminish the power they possess, only the conscious control they have over
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that power. The belief in externals cannot change the physical transmutation process or alter the individual causal link between energy and willful manifestation. It merely shifts that power into the earthly illusions and conflicting beliefs which become the external controllers. In adopting an external intermediary, humans cast their power to the wind, rather than honoring themselves as the creators of their own destiny.
We cheapen ourselves while at the same time, adopting a false attitude of moral superiority over those who elect not to follow the crowd.

Many unexpected and undesirable events that occur in the lives of individuals and those which evidence decay in societies around the world, are a direct result of misdirected, misunderstood human will power. Humans then scramble to react to the oncoming events that seem random, chaotic and meaningless, rather than creating the desired events as originally intended. The information signals of human feeling go unheeded allowing hurtful, limiting beliefs to take root and flourish. The realm of human mind is now choked with many such debilitating beliefs, most of which masquerade as highly esteemed ideals and values. If the innate guidance had been understood, there never would have been such a virulent spread of misdirected energy. If the innate guidance had been understood, humanity would now be master rather than slave.
If we can objectively observe our environment, both as an individual and as the race which populates the planet, we can see that there are collective attitudes which contribute to unjustifiable levels of suffering. If we probe those states to the origin of the problem, we can not but help arrive at the above conclusions.

Regardless of the illusions, the reality of the human condition is still that each individual has the power and the biological capability to receive information and transmute energy directly from the Divine Source. This is the originally intended inner communicative flow ofvalidating feelings of the spirit. Humans are intended to use the conditions and events that they desire. The information process has long gone unnoticed and the lack of intuitive guidance has all but removed the individual's capacity to create the reality that is most pleasing to the spirit. As a result, the individual spirit is frustrated, as is the Universal Spirit. When the spirit is frustrated and cannot expand, this is made known through the feeling system of the individual--- as has always been the case.
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Prayer, especially the redundant type, is little more than a one-way conversation which results in the speaker gaining little when he/she elects not to listen, as well. If the majority of our Western religious institutions emphasized the act of meditation as strongly as that of prayer, their members might experience accelerated spiritual growth on a yet unimagined scale.

The Feeling System - A Spiritual Safety Net The feeling system is the one system that is not susceptible to the realm of earthly illusion. Although belief can color the feelings, they cannot deny the anger, fear, and sadness of a frustrated spirit. The feeling system is the communicative strand that provides a safety net to keep humans attuned to the Spirit regardless of the earthly illusions. The feeling system also plays a major role in the transmutation of energy that creates events, both desirable and undesirable. The preponderance of negative events and frustrating experiences in one's life is a direct result of the level of frustration of the Spirit. Humans have also developed ways to escape the haunting feelings of a frustrated spirit through escapism or aggression or self deception. But true and lasting relief can only come through the identification and rejection of those beliefs that have been internalized, which frustrate rather than develop and express the spiritual potential .
It would seem that these "feelings" serve as the energy form that converts our "beliefs into our created reality. The stronger our particular beliefs, the more expanded our creative results. Some would call this "simple faith", but it is more complicated than that. We can successfully connect the two if we are willing to make an honest evaluation of our inherited beliefs. Also, we can drift far off course, but we can not sever the tethering line which keeps us connected to Thee Spirit. Thus, with intent, we can reestablish a course correction at any point in our existence.

These beliefs, and any others which limit human development and expression, are no longer to be tolerated. The state of the earth becomes less and less stable as more and more energy is fed into the existing limited beliefs. Now is the time for the piece-by-piece dismantling of the dense energy network that stifles the spiritual, mental and physical evolution of the human species. The dominant formative energies are fear, anger and sadness, which spring from the grossly frustrated Universal Spirit. Without direct intervention, these energies will continue to create individual and social and eventually, physiological and geological upheaval.
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Of particular danger to our physical reality are those "gloom & doom" predictions of earth changes that many stand poised to accept. Those who seek a brighter future for the human race have a heightened chance of experiencing such. We can strengthen our physical world by connecting with our spiritual nature. It's our choice .

The Task At Hand It is to be the task of each and every earthbound entity to reestablish a connection with the inner guidance that they posses, and to regain understandings regarding the nature of their own power and how best to use it. From there, they are to identify and reject any beliefs they find within themselves that are limiting to the Spirit. They are then to identify and to participate in the active removal of such beliefs from the world itself, from the realm of mass consciousness.
This is not a challenge for the faint of heart or those too old to visualize a better world than the one they currently occupy. To meet such a "challenge" will require a certain level of commitment. The needed energy will be supplied.

With these direct actions, the energy can be disengaged, unit by unit, belief by belief, and returned to the individual. This energy can then be refocused to increase those positive, uplifting, joy-inducing ideas and beliefs which facilitate spiritual expression. The mass reality can ultimately be restored to that state of fluidity wherein the tools and strategies remain flexible, creative options for individuals to select, based upon their ability to develop and express their unique spiritual potential.
Once one becomes engaged in this river of revitalization, the meaning of "life" will become more pronounced than has ever been experienced. The division between current status and spiritual potential will melt away.

These lessons will include the specific advice and understandings necessary to restore the inner communicative information channel within earthbound entities. They will explain the nature of the human feeling system---an unexploited sixth sense---and how it has become lost. They will detail how to interpret the signals from the Spirit, and exactly how to actively respond to the advice offered. They will draw parallels to the feeling system and the misdirected transmutations of power in the creation of events. Ultimately, they can usher in the understandings that will replace the myriad of debilitating beliefs that frustrate the Universal Spirit and
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cripple the spiritual, mental and physical evolutionary potential of humankind.

This is the promise of a "process" which, once launched, can not be run aground for it will free qualities deep within this vessel of body/mind which can never again be reversed. We can and will become the Captains of our own destiny. There is a "base-line" of Spiritual Guidance, individualized to meet our respective needs, available upon request and confirmed through feelings.

Just as sages and seers have appeared in the historical past, there are active entities today working together to carry out their group mission of restoring the inner guidance to earthbound entities. There are many existing, enlightening ideas in the realm of mass consciousness that can be assembled and utilized. There are offerings from every realm, from the arts, from the sciences, from religious, educational and political institutions which all can contribute to the understandings that these lessons embody. As the millennium progresses, there are ever-increasing inspirations, put forth like puzzle pieces to be assembled by humankind. There is a building energy force, toward a critical mass that fuels these inspirations, and makes the necessary understandings more accessible to every human being.
Our current technology need not be a detriment to our spiritual growth, but rather a compliment and a vehicle of enhancement. These very words are being spread through a means which has no end. From the proliferation of "ideals" will come the "ideas" necessary for success.

It is now the challenge of each and every earthbound entity to realign themselves with the Inner Guide, through which they can be welcomed home.
The ultimate purpose of creating a "security based" economic system is to enable humankind to rise above the mundane preoccupation with the physical necessities of survival (food, clothing, shelter, etc.) and focus on the mental and spiritual unfolding and reconnecting with the Universal Consciousness as it moves forward in the evolutionary process.

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Section Alpha Lesson Two: The Spiritual Nature Of Humankind Humanity As Spirituality As Divinity From the moment of the creation, or what has become known as the "Big Bang", the Universal Consciousness of All That Is fragmented Itself into a wide variety of physical, material forms, so that It could gain selfexperience and self-expansion. As apportionments of this Divine Universal Spirit, human beings are essentially spiritual beings.
While the "Big Bang" was a physical happening, it was first and foremost a Spiritual Happening. As the physical portions of this expansion were mere reflections of Spiritual intent, so we are the physical/mental segments of a Greater Whole expressing its Dynamic Nature.

It has been a time honored tradition for philosophers, religious leaders, poets, artists, scientists and politicians to ponder the nature of man. Indeed, it is a motive of Divine Spiritual Intention that humans understand their nature. The divinity whispers within every human being, stirring selfcuriosity and the need to seek purpose and meaning. In answer to this inner urging, throughout the ages the question has been asked: Is man good? Is man evil? Perhaps a bit of both?
But the question that need not be asked is: "Is man?" For if man were not, he/she would be incapable of expressing that doubt.

There is plenty of evidence leading directly and completely to one conclusion: that human beings are indeed good. There are many beliefs and judgments placed upon that evidence that lead to quite another conclusion: that humans are wretched and wicked. Thus, the answer has been quite difficult to find. Instead, there now exist many conflicting thought systems, generally within the religious realm, that describe the human being as both good and evil. With each system comes an elaborate set of understandings and rules. These rules are quite specific in ordering the human being to make certain choices which will ensure that he or she always stays on the "good" path---the straight and narrow---ever vigilant against the evil impulse rearing its ugly head.

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Such has become the justification for most religions. Each religion puts itself ahead of the other and so each member of such religion regards himself/herself better than the members of a different religion. In the name of that presumption, a great deal of harm has been perpetrated.

The logical flaw within such thought systems is the premise that human nature can be altered by human ideology. Humans will be humans and will act human regardless of any dictates to the contrary. Societies have no hope of ever successfully controlling human nature if they insist upon working against it. The very concept that human declarations can alter the motivational essence of humanity is absurd. All humans respond according to their nature. No matter what race or culture, no matter what religious affiliation, no matter what social or economic "station", no matter what physical, sexual or intellectual orientation, no matter what errors or aberrant behaviors have been chosen, no matter what level of success at attainment of universal intention--- all human beings are one and the same at their natural core. Each are apportionments of the universal divine. All human beings are divine.
It may well be time that the human race make the necessary quantum leap to get ahead of the current curve, beyond harsh judgment of itself and on to a state of self-realization not yet imagined.

Although there are widespread beliefs to the contrary, the fact is that humanity is spirituality and divinity in chemical clothing. Humans are as divine as each and every deity. As divine beings, the trust, faith and grace was placed in humanity by All That Is, with the endowment of Free Will to manifest and control individual destiny. This divine freedom evidences the "creator's" trust and assurance of human goodness.
Just as each wave contains the salty essence of the whole ocean, so each human is endowed with the essence of All That Is. How could the "Whole" not trust the nature of its parts?

This fact goes unnoticed, even minimized, with every passing thought that human beings are any less than embodied divinity. But such thoughts have been accepted time and again and have become firmly imbedded attitudes and beliefs---even justifications for misguided thought and action.
Divided by the concept of "good" and "evil", a constant struggle is encouraged as a group which judges itself to be the "good" seeks to destroy the other, which
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it judges to be the "evil". With very little manipulation, this state of misconception can be kept ongoing.

The belief in evil is not completely unjustified, given the historical evidence of vicious and heinous actions and violations that humans have perpetrated upon one another. Given these actions, it is understandable why there would be so much confusion and suspicion cast upon human nature.
But evil is a perception more than an actual state of being. Those who appear to be committing their "evil" justify it as being for the greater "good".

But without exception, each and every "evil" act is the direct result of miscommunication between spirit and mind. Humans will act in predictable ways when the inner divine communication breaks down. It is only when man-made ideas overrule the innate guidance of spiritual wisdom that this communication breaks down.When this happens, humans are in trouble. For all individual and social chaos springs from this miscommunication. At present, humans are indeed, in very much trouble. For their very freedom has wrought imprisonment.
When we surrender our "inner guidance" to the control of those from without who convince us that doing so is for our own good, we risk all that is good about ourselves. In the truest sense, we know better.

The inner divine guide remains hidden within the many layers of misconceptions, self imposed limitations, attitudes and reactionary choices,--- but it remains. For the Universal Spirit not only provides unlimited freedom and communicative guidance, it also provides insurance that humans can never completely stifle the spirit.
We are about to discover the "truth" of the above statement. We need only open ourselves to a greater flow of information and a trust that lies within.

Frustrated Human Purpose and Evil The ultimate purpose of human existence is for a given spirit to develop and express its unique potential in physical form. This translates within the body as needs which facilitate self development and expression. As each individual achieves personal fulfillment of this purpose, a corresponding experiential expansion and fulfillment occurs
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within All That Is.

If we begin with the statement that we are made in the image and likeness of "God" or the All That Is, we can see that just as our experiences result in our "expansion", so the same applies exponentially and ubiquitously.

The astronomical genetic uniqueness of each embodied spirit seeks release as an equally unique and necessary contribution to human civilization. Each successful contribution joins the totality in the manifestation of Divine Intention. Self expression is the goal of the Creator. Regardless of what form this expression takes, no matter how seemingly insignificant or how substantial, no matter how public or private, no matter how acceptable by human judgmental standards, each unique contribution is an equal, valuable and necessary portion of the whole. The spiritual impetus is so important that humans are embodied with physical insurance that the needs of the spirit will be expressed.
So we stand mid-point between the microcosm and the macrocosm, time space being relative, each state of existence being a point of dynamic evolution.

The opposite of expression is frustration. Spiritual frustration is the antithesis of the Creator's intended purpose. It also signals its own presence through the feeling system. Frustration is acknowledged by unpleasant emotions. The spiritual insurance against continuous frustration comes in the form of self-preservationary reactions to unpleasant feelings which are hard-wired into the body. Such reactions virtually override the mind where the human limitations reside. The emotions contain creative arousal energy which moves the individual to corrective action. Such a force is the natural spiritual aggression, yet missing the intentional focus. Such corrections preserve the species, but since they lack intention, they do not facilitate human purpose. At best, they buy time.
While "buying time" does not necessarily mean we own it forever, it does enable us to expand our consciousness and continue to open our "spiritual" eyes until we can eventually recognize the pattern and purpose of life's meaning.

Evil springs from the impediment of Divine Intention. Evil acts are selfpreservationary acts, not those of self-development and expression. One cannot both preserve and develop the self simultaneously, can one? Selfpreservationary reactions were hardwired into the body as a last ditch safety net through which humans can protect, even rescue themselves from
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their own creations. The self preservation impulse ensures the continuance of the species, but relegates humans to a minimal existence.
Like the emergency brake in an automobile, it exists as a final preventative to keep us from rolling backwards as we travel upward and onward. To become too attached to "it" will get us nowhere.

The evil acts of humankind are nothing more than innate selfpreservationary reactions of the spirit crying out for understanding. The symptomatic pain and anguish, fear and violence shouts the frustration of spirit, but still it goes unheeded. Humans have become so mired within their own man-made ideas that they have severely altered the life experience by grossly limiting their receptivity to innate guidance. They are operating on half power at best and short circuiting themselves at worst.
"Evil" then is little more than the decision to relinquish a willingness to listen to the inner voice of our innate spiritual nature, a guidance system which is so close and, yet, which we elect to place outside of ourselves.

Humans operating on such a base level of existence reflect the sorry state of mass consciousness. And there is a predominance of unnecessary suffering. The emotional symptoms will eventually lead humans to wisdom for they will not go away until the spirit is understood. But this is a harsh and unnecessary course, tantamount to hitting rock bottom in order to gain enlightenment. There already exist such severe conditions both within individuals and societies that understanding must now be facilitated. For human beings cannot hope to begin to utilize their nature for the intended purpose, if they cannot even grasp an understanding of it.
Hitting oneself on the head with a hammer is the more difficult way to learn a lesson in physics. There are many more gentle and intelligent ways to gain an education. The potential for discovering such is always there.

But regardless of this present state of sub-humanity, the divine tie remains. When it is accessed and utilized, the evil acts that have sullied the reputation of human nature will become less and less frequent. The primary step toward this goal is the reestablishing of the inner line of communication between spirit, mind and body. When the feeling signals of the spirit are interpreted accurately and acted upon optimally, the spirit achieves the self expression it desires. When humans act correctly upon
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these natural impulses, they cannot help but be moral.

They cannot also but help to become smarter!

Natural Morality The intended state is that humans operate from self-developmental and self-expressive impulses. This state is that of uninterrupted flow of spiritual Divine Love energy. When in this state, humans access their innate,natural morality. Yes, humans are innately moral---how can they not be as apportionments of the Divine Spirit? Each and every destructive act that has been cited as evidence of man's innately evil nature is the floundering of a frustrated, disconnected soul in self-preservationary mode. Evil is the absence of the life force, as pain is the absence of the love force.
Based on simple reasoning, how could one not conclude that the source and the result would be the same. There are those who might argue with it, but does the wave have a different nature than the ocean? The only difference is that that "wave" is not equipped with the gift of free will, which gives it the right to alter its course and learn from its errors. That "gift" is but a greater expression of the love of All That Is. It is said that "to err is human, but to err, to learn from that error and to be able to make a course correction in the process of evolving, is truly a Divine Gift.

All actions which spring from self-developmental and self-expressive impulses, spring from spirit. Regardless of what the numerous ideologies of mankind have asserted, divine human impulse operates upon the pleasure and pain continuum of human feeling. Pain signals the frustration of spirit and pleasure signals its expression. Humans are spiritual hedonists. This is in the divine and "good" way. Pleasure is the experience of the Divine Love force unimpeded.
Keeping in mind that we're talking about the concept of feeling, the pain referred to is more emotional than physical. The concept of feeling "good" or "bad" about our actions really expands the concept of conscience from something that just bothers us when we do wrong, to that which links us to a more expanded source of conduct and guides in a feeling way toward or away from appropriate or inappropriate actions as a whole.

The word "Hedonism" itself has been sullied, just as has been the
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reputation of human nature. But the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain is a pure, simple and beautiful principle that allows humans to know whether or not their spiritual energy flow has completed its circuit. There are many activities, pursuits and inclinations that have been deemed "bad", selfish, immoral, unacceptable, even illegal within every society. When in the spiritual sense, if they are what the spirit requires for expression, they are, by divine dictate, necessary and naturally moral. Many man-made judgmental dictates impede rather than facilitate morality.
One example of this might be the "love-making" act between two people of the same sex. One group might label it as a form of sodomy. Another might regard it as nature's way of birth control. The point is that different groups have different mores and guidelines that end up conflicting with each other, because they are dependent upon cultural guidelines rather than Divine Spirit.

This is not to say that humans should haphazardly cast all caution to the wind and pursue self pleasure with gusto at the expense of other humans. In fact, any act which violates another is one of self preservation. The essence of natural morality can be distilled to this golden advice: "Hurt not others with that which pains thyself." This credo can be adopted immediately. But before spiritual hedonism can fully operate as intended, there are some additional, crucial understandings necessary.
Natural and true relationships require that we consider the consequences our actions might have upon another. We are, after all, a portion of a collective whole.

The Civilized Planet Although modern humans consider themselves quite savvy, sophisticated and culturally astute, civilization does not in fact occur until natural morality is understood and accommodated within all social structures. Following misguided notions about evil capacity, human social, religious, political, educational, judicial and economic systems have attempted to control human nature. As rigid rules and restrictions deny the spirit, selfpreservationary systems take over. The fear-based, win-lose proposition of competition overtakes the joy-based, win-win underpinnings of cooperation. As self-preservation becomes the dominant motivator, individual and social chaos, fear and aggression then become the norm.
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This is the present condition upon the Earth. If this current course continues, the violence resulting from fear and anger of frustrated spirits will continue to erode civilization.
When a clear varnish of more enlightened guidelines is applied over a society governed by the more unenlightened restrictions, as are referred to above, the latter tends to show through and make the more spiritual guidelines difficult to retain in predominance.

A primary goal of these "Lessons" is to impart the wisdom which can reverse this course. Once the intricacies of human hedonistic nature and how it has become effected by mass consciousness are understood, the spiritual advisory connection can be restored. Humans will have far more freedom than has ever occurred and they will use it toward moral purposes. The dominant motivators will be self-development and expression, not the base, self-preservation impulses that now exist.
The community will have a vested interest in the success of each of its members, for it will be realized that every success benefits the whole. It is for this critical reason that these "Lessons" must not only be read and reviewed, but must become the central essence of all who are exposed to them. They may just be humanity's last, best hope.

Such spiritually directed actions are indeed hedonistic, as well as moral in the highest sense. There is no need for external codes, rules, mores or even laws, when humans are operating up to their intended capacity. As individuals heed these "Lessons" and act upon them, society will slowly begin to restructure. There will be the removal of unnecessary restrictions and the development of avenues of equal human opportunity that do not yet exist.
Is it possible that common courtesy could replace traffic controls at intersections? Yes, but many would argue that is not likely. But the difference between possible and likely is only a degree of intent. For survival purposes, the "possible" might be our only and final alternative. A movement away from courtesy is a movement toward rage.

As freedom and opportunity are restored, the spiritual connection strengthens, the spirit is allowed development and expression. Creative mode will replace survival mode. Energy directed into destructive acts and undesirable events will be redirected into those that are productive and
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desirable. Humans will get back the tremendous amount of power that now lies dormant. Future generations will enjoy a less and less constricted level of mass consciousness. And ultimately, mass consciousness will evolve to accurately reflect Universal Consciousness as it did In The Beginning.
Freedom of expression and action is a responsible quality that needs to be nurtured and appreciated. Because most societies now operate from a fear base, control is considered a necessity to avoid chaos. In fact, order is a natural state that exists in the simplest life forms. Surely we can learn to emulate that, for then we shall have paradise restored.

This is the direction. Now is the time to take the first steps. The understandings are of critical importance, but will most definitely conflict with many existing beliefs and tenets. It is suggested for this reason, to open a new mental space to receive this information totemporarily set aside---not discard---but temporarily set aside existing beliefs, and to actively, openly consider alternate ways of thinking and being. Your spirit will tell you of the validity of any and all information---once you understand how to listen to it. There is no need to abandon existing beliefs completely, as this would be far too painful. (As soon to be explained). Simply place this new information in a special compartment, and keep it together, without placing judgments upon it. You will begin noticing how it manifests in your life.
It is not necessary to create a vacuum in order to experience fresh air. Evolution is a process that creates less resistance than revolution and far less anger. Education is simply the examination of new information and the comparison of "it" to what we already believe.

Now, in order to understand the genesis of the misunderstandings regarding the nature of humankind, as well as to reverse them, it is necessary to begin back at square one, discussing the nature and parameters of "spirit". Human Spirit: Consciousness and Intention & Consciousness (Itself) Individual Spirit can be defined as that essence which manifests Divine Consciousness and Divine Intention. The individual spirit of a human being has also been termed "soul", "entity" or "higher self" and these
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words can be used synonymously with spirit. Consciousness, also known as Awareness, is generally the definitive quality assigned to spirit under common conceptions of the term.
When human consciousness can reach that point where contact with "Divine Consciousness" has become clear and an automatic consequence of intent, the Spirit State will be perpetual and totally satisfying. We are not that far from experiencing this state right now. These "Lessons" help us to proceed in increments.

It is generally understood that when a spirit is embodied within human form, that form is alive, it is conscious of itself, it is aware of its experience. The condition of death is marked by the complete disconnection of the spirit from the body. Although there are altered states of consciousness (such as temporary unconsciousness due to physical trauma, or the so-called "subconscious" dream states), the spirit is still engaged within the body.
At times, our connection with our Spirit State is made when our normal conscious state is dormant or more accurately, set aside. But it is when we have reached that point when we can come to trust in our higher nature when in a state of full consciousness, that real spiritual progress can be made.

There is much to be learned through and about altered states of consciousness, but humans are not yet able to achieve much progress due to their entanglement within belief systems of their own creation. Humans will learn far more about their own consciousness and its abilities as they become more attuned to their innate abilities. The first step to mining the riches of spiritual consciousness is to learn the language of spirit and begin its active liberation.
It is the point and purpose of these Lessons to lead us on this journey of discovering our inner selves and, in turn, supply us with those tools of information which will liberate us from the confines of limiting beliefs.

Consciousness For our immediate purposes, many of the existing concepts regarding consciousness are in need of some clarification. First, there is a wide25

spread belief that there is some vast, hidden, dark, inaccessible pool of information and impulses within the human mind known as "the subconscious". The belief in such a thing severely limits understanding, for it provides a handy place for humans to divert any unexplainable event or behavior. It provides an acceptable, even fashionable, outlet of blame for outcomes of what are actually willful choices.
It is a part of a pattern of belief and behavior which seeks to place responsibility for the consequences of our actions in some hidden place or upon some arbitrary source beyond our control. It is sort of a "The devil made me do it" mentality which, when examined closely, can not be taken seriously by rational minds. Even though Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, introduced the term "subconscious" to the field of psychology, it was never meant to be regarded as the instigator of all mental misdirection.

Instead, a replacement understanding is recommended.There is no such thing within the realm of mind. All knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, impulses and relevant experiences---even dreams (with practice), are contents of the realm of mind and can be accessed at any time. Of course, there is a limit to how much information a given individual can ponder in the moment. There is an immediate field of vision or spotlight of consciousness known as short-term memory. This is the realm where thought is being entertained in the present moment, where the attention is directed. This spotlight is also known as the "point of power" consciousness. The rest, which is known as long-term memory, is simply a storage area of information awaiting retrieval. There is no unreachable pool of information in the mental realm.
"Short-term memory" in computer terms, could be referred to as RAM (Random Access Memory) which, because it occupies physical reality, has its limitations. What is also involved is a point of concentration or focus. The "longterm memory" is describable as HD (Hard Drive Memory). Computers are little more than limited reflections of our unlimited genius.

Even dream states are intended to be remembered and utilized for the wisdom they contain---with one major qualifier: Dreams exist not only in the mental realm, but in the spiritual realm. When the spiritual realm is involved, there does exist a pool of complete information likened unto the subconscious, but this is a pool of Universal Consciousness. A critical understanding is that the realm of spirit and the realm of mind are
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distinctly separate "locations".

Dreams could best be described as bridges between our physical/mental state of reality and our spiritual state. They can take us from the limited to the unlimited. However, since Spirit speaks to us through a more sophisticated medium than our native tongue(s), the trick is in learning to build the link.

Altered States of Consciousness The present point of power consciousness travels to alternate spiritual locations when in altered states. While the body is asleep, for example, the consciousness of spirit is simply attuned to a different vibratory focus, as evidenced by the varying levels of brain wave activity. In fact, humans enjoy a rich and varied existence in these dream realms and a great deal of productive activity actually occurs therein. Since the point of power has such mobility, humans command a great deal of creative energy while they suppose they are unproductive and "unconscious". Humans can---and many do---effect physical bodily changes, promote health, plan and create events, communicate with other entities (earthbound or otherwise), as well as with past, present and future selves all within the dream realm.
Apparently, the most productive part of one's day can be when one is asleep. What "dumbcoffs" we are not to prepare ourselves better to utilize this marvelous, built-in system. Why are we so slow to recognize an obvious spiritual truth? Could it be that we are so programmed to only accept the so called "proven" scientific information we carry around in our minds? Because this so influences us that, consequently, we can't get beyond the intellectual fog?

Dreams have become far less accessible due to the many limiting beliefs surrounding them that exist in the realm of mind. Because they are not understood and therefore are not utilized, they are ignored and they eventually become less and less significant. Dreams are not even acknowledged as useful in most societies. But even with limited understanding, dreams provide messages from the self to the self, from the spirit to the mind. Control of this power can be tremendously advantageous, but even as the mind and body lie sleeping, dreams often spontaneously correct physical and mental imbalances that save the very life of the entity.
Regarding our state of physical health, one has to wonder why many states of
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physical discomfort, usually minor in nature, come into our lives and hang around a few days or weeks and then leave, only to be replaced by some other annoying discomfort. Could it be that such states of imbalance get corrected when they become boring? More likely is that we are our own best physician, with a master consultant standing by to assist us when called upon.

This is the frustrated spirit at work, freed a bit, when the mind is at rest. This is testimony to the tenacity of spirit in doing what is necessary to circumvent the entangled mind and offer its wisdom through vicarious routes. With conscious understanding within the mental realm, the mind can assist the spirit and body in accomplishing the benefits of the dream process in ways now unimaginable. Dreams are, in fact, highly spiritual, creative, significant and pure. As stated earlier, they exist to bridge the gap between spiritual and mental realms.
Imagine, we can be either our own worst enemy or our own best friend. It is and always has been our choice. The ancient or aboriginal cultures probably had or have a better understanding of this than we modern sophisticates. Could it be that the fulfillment is tied to an exercise of nothing more complicated than a

designed request? But waking consciousness is focused in the mental realm. Daily reality springs from mind. An essential preliminary understanding, however, is that the mental realm is intended to be fluid and not nearly so rigid as it has become. Memory, for example, needs reinforcement and active use or it will fade. If certain learning is not utilized, nor relevant, it will abdicate in lieu of incoming information which is more current and useful. Those who have experienced the study of a foreign language, or higher mathematics, yet having never applied it in an actual setting, can attest to this fact. This mental flexibility is the intended state. Neurological connections in the brain strengthen only if they are utilized. Useful tools are the only ones intended to remain.
We tend to remember what we need to and as we get older we come to realize that much of the information our memory is plagued with, is not worth keeping, so we do the practical thing and forget it. Of course, "active use" is a key to retaining what is worth keeping and we do usually find that the quality of memory when used, is retained.

Consciousness and all mental abilities are mechanisms through which the individual spirit can create his or her own reality. Reality is intended to be
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highly flexible and individualized. In fact, memory itself has very flexible qualities not generally acknowledged. Created visions can easily become part of one's experiential memory, whether or not the event actually occurred. Imagined creative visions are accepted within the mind and body as actual.
One of the advantages of this capability is that we can take an unhappy experience and relive it as a happy one, with such feeling and focus that the latter replaces the former and our lives can go on in a more pleasant state of mind. Whole cultures have done this to the benefit of the collective consciousness.

This ability is related to the mental and physical receptivity to spiritual intuitive wisdom and guidance which often comes in the form of creative imagination, inspiration, visions and dreams. Taking this one step further, this mental flexibility allows individuals to create intentionally desired events in the physical realm. With these abilities of consciousness, we can begin to see how consciousness and intention interact within spirit.
Intentionally revising our history brings both a better state of mind in many cases and also aids us in exercising our creative qualities. In turn, this capability can be applied to our current needs and desires.

A summary of the consciousness component of human spirit would be that consciousness makes possible the mental and physical experience of being. It plays a role in the development of the mental realm, in the reception of divine direction, in the power to imaginatively create desired life events, and in the transmutation of energy for physical manifestation of those events.
All these qualities stand ready to be recognized, appreciated and improved upon. We need only exercise our free will through intention. However, in order to move in that direction it shall require some supplemental self-programming. But even this can be accomplished in our "sleep state".

The Illusory Fragmentation of Spirit and Will Still, the general idea of spirit having something to do with consciousness is fairly well understood. But there have been some distortions and
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misconceptions regarding the intentional aspect of the spirit.

distortions we can learn to live without.

For spirit not only has consciousness with which to know itself, it also has intention through which it can experience, feel, manifest and direct itself. This intention has become disassociated from spirit in the realm of human understanding to the degree that it now needs its own name. It has been termed Divine Will. It is through this disconnection that so many no longer experience the guidance of "Godly" intention. It is through this disconnection that self preservation has become the motivational norm. It is through this disconnection that events seem to come out of nowhere, rather than to be creatively designed and attracted by the individual through willful choice.
Probably the most distorted and misused phrase in today's lexicon is the utterance that it is "God's Will". Dragged to the fore at every unpleasant experience in life, it is used to placate those who have adopted and accepted the victimization mentality so nourished by the full spectrum of our religious, political, economic and social institutions. Nothing could stretch us further away from the obvious truth. Not only does it stamp out the spiritualization of humanity, it reduces humans to some type of warped cogs of an erratic wheel of destiny.

It is time to reclaim this aspect of spirit for a more complete understanding of and participation within the human condition. Although the term "Will" is utilized, it should be clear that it is still part and parcel of every human spirit.
So many of the terms we use in daily life are tossed about with little appreciation of their meaning and influence, but we can correct that. It requires little more than quiet reflection and a willingness to connect our words with those beliefs which bring about the consequences in our lives.

The purpose of human existence is for a given spirit to develop and express its potential in physical form. This is also the intention of Divine Spirit as carried out by Divine Will within each individual. Both are manifested in body, with the spirit experienced as consciousness and the will, experienced as "feeling". Will power is raw emotional energy. Both aspects of spirit are to remain in balance with each other as two halves of a whole.
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Consciousness and Will: Complimentary qualities in the process of human life. We can only hope that this new millenium will bring a true understanding of their value and utilization. When this comes about, we will be more than we have been and more than we have ever hoped to become.

In a manner of speaking, spirit relates to light and will relates to darkness. Consciousness is the fastest vibratory aspect of spirit, and will is the slower more physical magnetic vibration which exists as a porthole of sorts into physical existence. Consciousness is the point of power and will is the focus of that power. The will vibrates the darkness to receive the light of spirit in the physical form. It is through this process that imagined thought forms become physical objects and probable events become actual physical events. Together, consciousness and will create the desired intended reality.
Imagine a "porthole" below the waterline on an ocean liner. We can open that porthole and the ocean will flow into our environment. We need only to trust in our ability to control that "flow" in such a way that it can serve to give us say, a comfortable shower. While this might be most difficult to imagine, just think of all the technical miracles the human race has already brought into its reality and how many more are in the process stage right now. We have harnessed vast rivers to bring light into our nights, for example. Now, a greater enlightenment awaits us.

It was the original intention that humans would live the physical experience under the complete direction of spirit carried out by magnetic will energy. Spiritual direction was to be received and converted by will to the slower vibratory level necessary to be actualized in the physical realm. When this occurred, spirit and will remained in balance, and the human could act spontaneously upon every feeling and the most beneficial outcome would be attained. Each moment contained a fresh challenge and new opportunity with which the spirit could develop and express itself. The desires of the spirit were manifested as desires of the body. If completely accepted and allowed expression, such feelings would always lead to the most fulfilling self experience.
Spirit and Will were not designed to be our enemies. They serve as our life blood and the tools of our being. Used wisely, they can take us wherever to do whatever. What pain we experience in their use serves only as the guideposts of our personal evolution.
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The acceptance and manifestation of all spiritual intention was the task of the will. The will had freedom of active choice of any method within the imaginative mind to give life to the intention of the spirit. The choices would lead to physical events and outcomes in which the needs of spirit were accommodated. Once the complete expression of the feeling had subsided, there would be certain understandings available to the individual. This was to be a cycle of learning through experience so that an array of mental strategies could accumulate that which would provide choices for spontaneous actions. Flexibility and spontaneity facilitated this cycle. The cycle would be repeated with new, often surprising and inventive situations created through magnetic will energy. Each facilitating spiritual intention, and a contribution to the expansion of All That Is.
This system remains in place, like a poorly operating vehicle in need of a tune up. The purpose of these "Lessons" is to aid us in doing that "tune up". As we learn by our experience, those experiences become a part of the data base of the Divine Spirit/All That Is. In turn, because we are a part of this All That Is, we also expand our own data base. Just as the database of our personal computer can become a part of the Internet - so the Internet can expand our personal database.

Together, spirit and will made Divine Intention or predestination compatible with Free Will. With a balanced, uninterrupted flow between spirit and will within body, events were created from the inside out.This was the optimal condition in which earthly events sprang from spiritual intention. All such events were pleasing to the spirit if they allowed for its development and expression in physical form. The human experience of pleasure was reassurance from the Divine Spirit that Its flow of Universal Love Energy had not been disrupted. When the Divine Love flows unabated there is a successful completion of the energy circuit between the individual and the totality of All That Is. This was to be "The Way". This was to be as the path of least resistance .
There is nothing standing in the way of what is described above becoming ordained reality, other than our personal intent to make it otherwise. Time is our illusion and, too often, our excuse. The next "time" the reader turns on a garden hose and watches the sprinkler begin to spread water on the other end, think about what can be when there is no disruption in between. If in the course of traveling from the faucet to the sprinkler, the water had to travel through a
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series of filters, blockages and just plain grime, by the time it reached the sprinkler, it would not only be much reduced from the initial pressure it began with, but it would probably have lost a great deal of its purity. If we could cleanse the hose of its obstructions, what we would end up spreading around would do our personal "Garden of Eden" a great deal more good.

Human limitation frustrating the will creates obstruction and resistance to The Way. Disconnection from intention allows will energy to follow selfpreservationary pathways. Reactions that simply buy time, do not eliminate the obstruction nor achieve the corrective balance. The limitation continues to signal its presence with negative emotion. Will energy, either positive or negative, still creates experience.
To put it another way: "Argue for your limitations, and they're yours." We will ourselves to remain in a stagnant state and reaffirm that state with our belief system. It is our limited beliefs (or contrived excuses we give ourselves) which stifle our creative capacities. We even create negative consequences in the false belief that doing so will bring us greater benefits at a later point in our existence. For example: The more you suffer in this world, the greater your reward in the next. This little gem of a rationalization keeps the powerful and wealthy in a falsely elevated state of comfort.

Negative, painful experiences are attracted through the negative emotion. The events are intended to draw attention to the belief which frustrates spirit. But instead of understanding this message, it simply appears to the human that "bad stuff" is happening for no apparent reason. Events seem to come from nowhere, from the outside in. This facilitates further limiting beliefs and superstitions, which are designed to protect against imagined evil, external controlling forces at work. To say the least, disconnection from will is disempowering.
While we are told that we have the gift of Free Will, we are also led to believe that we can only exercise this gift in a limited fashion and that we are tethered to a controlling Being who is perpetually testing, rewarding and punishing us in some arbitrary fashion. We are led to believe that this is a "state" we can only hope to pray ourselves out of. Meanwhile, as the bumper sticker states: Shit happens.

Upon examining the will as a separate entity to learn its function, it is now necessary to conceptually place it back within spirit where it belongs. Will is not separate from spirit. It shall now be recognized as its feeling aspect.
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Feelings shall now be respected for the spiritual intention that they communicate. Feelings shall now be respected for the powerful creative will energy that they contain. Feelings both communicate intentions from spirit and magnetically bring them into physical reality.
"Feelings" have a dual and equally valuable purpose. They serve both as a guiding force and as a magnetic force. We have the capacity to bring into our physical reality that which is in our best and higher interest. However, as a result of the gift of free will, this "capacity" can also bring that which is not in our best interest. With understanding and practice, we can acquire the former and avoid the latter.

Thoughts empowered with emotional energy will be more likely to become reality. Whether the thoughts are surrounded with joyous expectation, or dread, worry and fear, they will create events connected to the imagined mental scenario. The mind does not know if an event has been good or bad, but the spirit does. Spiritual intention has been accomplished in physical reality when the feeling pleasure is experienced. If there has been interference from the realm of mind and spiritual intention has not been accomplished, a painful event will result.
The question immediately arises: "How strongly do we feel about what we desire?" Emotion is little more than raw energy waiting to be directed. It has no sense of direction and relies upon the guidance of Spirit through mind to achieve a manifestation of a reality experience.

Pleasure and pain, the spiritual judgmental pronouncement. Make no further mistake: there is no other accurate judgment.
Imagine driving a car down a road with high curbs on each side. The more we gyrate from side to side, the more we are knocked out of alignment. The greater our speed and more reckless our judgment, the greater the damage to our steering mechanism. On the other hand, the more attention we pay to our driving, the safer our journey and the greater our progress.

Spirit is consciousness and intention, and is experienced as thought and feeling. Uninterrupted spirit, aided by images of mind, create desired physical experience.Pleasure is the validation and reward of spiritual fulfillment. Through this path, the Universal Spirit is allowed to sense Itself through many widely varying experiences carried out by all the physical forms. Each form, whether it is vegetable, mineral, animal or human offers its unique portion of the totality of experience by
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accomplishing its own expression. Indeed, every unit of matter is imbued with conscious spiritual intention following the pleasure/pain, attraction and repulsion principle---including subatomic quanta .
When we envision a goal or destination and infuse it with strong emotion, we will find ourselves progressing toward that destination with a minimum of distraction and interference and as the journey continues, it will also bring greater joy into our lives, for we attract to ourselves all the necessary matter and energy to reach that "vision".

Forms less complex than humans enjoy the clearest channel to spiritual intention with less interference from their own experience. The behavior of animals, often highly organized, intelligent and mathematically precise, exposes the communicative clarity between spirit and will. But this clarity goes largely unrecognized and is dismissed by humans as"instinctive" behavior.
Presuming that they are in an obvious state of superiority, humans fail to recognize and appreciate the more subtle forms of advanced spirituality around them. Nature is the great and patient teacher, for it best represents a state of the balance of Spirit. The higher up the evolutionary chain, the greater the possibilities and responsibilities.

What these lessons seek to impart is that humans are also attuned with such guidance in their own form of predictable, organized and mathematically precise instinct. This is their creative development and expression. This is their natural morality. It should not be so puzzling that a colony of ants can interact together as one conscious entity, with each individual carrying out its part of the whole. This should be no more mysterious than quanta operating in concert to form atoms, than atoms operating in concert to form matter, than cells operating in conjunction to form organs operating together to form systems and systems operating together to form human beings. Human beings interacting together to form civilization should be at least as successful as ants---should they not?
It is humans who add to this picture the very qualities that drive them to try to destroy what should be an ever-evolving cultural paradise. If we look closely at the lowest form of cultural organization and observe its symmetry and ask, "Why do they succeed so splendidly, when we are threatening to destroy ourselves and our environment?" The answer to that question is not so impossible
to find.

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Every unit of every thing is a unit of Universal Spirit. Every unit has consciousness and intention. Every unit meets success and fulfillment if there is no resistance. Every unit has a unique experience through which the totality of All That Is can find pleasure in experiencing Itself.
Every unit is susceptible to a more evolved state of being. We can be a part of this process and accept our role of leadership or we can succumb to our lesser instincts and suffer the consequences.

The difference with humans is that the path of least resistance operates uniquely, for it now has to navigate through the realm of "Mind".
Q. "Wish to explore this further?" A. " Don't mind if I do!"

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Section Alpha Lesson Three: The Mental Nature Of Humankind Enter: The Realm Of Mind Far and away the main factor behind the illusory separation from Spirit is the evolution of human mind. The mind has been mentioned and its overall function is assumed, but what exactly is "mind"? The mind must be singled out from such concepts as spirit, body, will, brain, soul, ego, personality, self, etc., and clearly defined. The mind, when understood, can be humankind's greatest gift. If not understood, it can be our greatest burden.
The first step is that of differentiation of mind from the brain, for it is not a physical tool and/or a physical part of the body. It is often confused with the latter and the terms are likely to be used interchangeably. Nothing could be further off the mark. What follows will help to clear up some of this confusion.

Due to the conflicting and imprecise information which exists regarding human nature, attributes of the mind are often confused with features of spirit, of body, of experience, or of culture. But a precise definition of the parameters and functions of mind is an important underpinning in the emerging explanation of human nature.
To define is to place parameters on a subject. However, this is not to place limitations, for
mind has no limits other than those we select for it. That said, we will now proceed with that limitation, strictly for the sake of discussion and illumination.

Although spirit exists in every time and every space simultaneously, mind is limited to the physical realm.Mind is actually a focal point of consciousness, the seat of physical, waking awareness. The mind is intended to be steward to the spirit. The mind can be thought of as a specific location, necessary for physical experience, while humans are oriented to a slower, denser vibratory rate and less attuned to their broader accelerated essence. The mind focuses experience within time-space and creates dependence upon the physical senses of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste. Mental processes are necessary to order and retain sensory information and to creatively develop and utilize ideas which can accomplish the purpose of self development and expression.
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Does mind exist after physical death. It would have to, or we would not experience a state of consciousness, nor have the ability to focus that consciousness. There may be some dispute about "life after death" in some circles, but there's some pretty persuasive evidence that it exists and is universally experienced.

The mind can also be thought of as a receptacle, a tool kit of sorts, housing ideas, memories, beliefs, attitudes and certain aspects of the personality. Thus, the mind can be defined as the collection of experience, the working knowledge, skills and strategies, accumulated through the senses from the moment of the entity's birth until the end of the lifetime. Any features of personality that are a direct result of experience relate to the contents of mind, as opposed to the enduring spiritual aspects of personality.
Because the mind is a non-physical aspect of our make-up, it is literally impossible to apply measurable qualities or physical technology to it. We can observe the consequences of its activity by observing the functions of the brain with instruments, but we can not even establish the confines of the mind's state. For example, in an out-of-body experience, the mind leaves the physical body and might travel to another room or another planet. It has no limits.

The mind is also dynamic, like a computer. Its location and receptacle aspects interact to allow for spiritual, imaginative and sensory inputs; rational, analytical information processing; data storage; and logical decision making outputs. All mental processing capabilities and features exist to facilitate a fluid spiritual existence in the physical realm.
It might be akin to watching a computer operate but being unable to determine the presence of the operator of the computer or the programmer who creates the software. This might be especially troubling if the observation of the operator could not be determined through the use of our five senses or instrumentation.

The mind operates then like a location, a receptacle and a computer--which sounds a lot like a brain. The brain, of course, is the organ in every human that houses the mind. But the mind is far more than the objective brain. While the normally developed brain is fairly similar among all humans, as are computers that roll off the assembly line, the mind is highly individualized. It is extremely personal and subjective.
Because the mind reflects the creative aspect of the human being and because it is exposed to so much information which is individualized by time and space, it is nearly unlimited when it comes to unique memories and creative opportunities.
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But it does not come that way. Just as a new body arrives with each birth, a new mind is born for a fresh beginning. Each human being arrives on Earth with a blank slate to be impressed upon by human experience. A blank slate upon which each individual can create their own desired reality. Humans have complete freedom of will to determine what the contents of mind are to be. With this feature, the mind is not so much like a window to the world, or even a mirror of the world, it is more like a canvas upon which the world can manifest. Like an artist paints a picture, each entity can create a mental landscape like a portrait through which he or she can experience life. The mind holds pictures of the existing world, and adds creative improvements as well. Thus, humans have the fantastic mental agility to create as many unique realities as there are unique human beings. This individualized mind is intended to support and orient the embodied human upon his or her particular destiny path.
The idea that we can build/create our own experiences in this reality and thereby gain knowledge and wisdom is alien to our current societal outlook. Fear and a victim mentality drive our system. The adverse consequences of this state of mind are everywhere. There is an old Chinese proverb: "When one is foolish enough long enough, he/she eventually becomes wise." There are many reaching that point daily. As it was used in the above paragraph, art is the metaphor for our spiritual evolution. We need only to learn to appreciate it.

The mind also operates like a converter. The mind was intended to assist in converting spiritual intention into earthly experiences, events and technologies that could bring ever more creative ways of expression. Not only does the mind create this reality within the consciousness of its owner, but it also assists in the transmutation of spiritual (will) energy into actual physical events. It is the mind's ideas, visual creations, thoughts and beliefs which define and flesh out the raw spiritual intention. Then, when powered with emotional and physical energy, these subjective images and events can become objective and actual occurrences. The mind was intended to be temporary, fluid, highly personal, subjective and dynamically evolving at the direction of the spirit.
Edgar Cayce called mind the builder and so it is. But it is the spirit which points the mind in the direction of optimum growth and that which is most spiritually beneficial. Mind can listen or ignore what spirit is suggesting, but it can not fail to eventually make the link essential for the evolving process to continue.
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Physical reality is the mirror which reflects our spiritual progress. Recognition of this fact is essential for growth.

But this conversion aspect has some inherent limitations. It is important to note that the communication between mind and spirit is conditional. Although spirit is aware of everything in the realm of mind, mind is only aware of spirit if specific understandings are in place---or more to the point, if certain limited beliefs are not in place. Such understandings need to be deliberately inscribed upon the blank slate, to prevent disempowerment. The conversion process goes on quite on its own, whether or not the intention is present in the result. The human ability to manifest events and transmute matter is far more powerful than humans suspect.
In much of our current environment, it is the "limited beliefs" which are the first things to be inscribed upon our personal slate. From that point, the opportunity for controlling our life experience is relegated for a far longer period than is beneficial. There are those being born into our physical reality that are much more aware of this than previous generations and as a consequence, these children will lead us out of our wilderness.

In summary, the mind is at once a location, a receptacle, a computer and a converter. Mind contrasts distinctly with spirit; while universal permanence, ubiquity, biological integrity, primacy, and divine intention mark the spirit, the mind is characterized by temporary transience; subjective, experiential and cultural flexibility; creative imagination; and unlimited growth potential. Both interact to achieve the maximum self development and expression. Both comprise what is known as personality and both comprise what is known as self.
In playing their respective roles, mind and spirit compliment each other, while creating an environment of growth and understanding. There are so many methods for enhancing this growth. The choices of which to utilize are unlimited and equal in value. We need only to begin to appreciate the dynamics of this complimentary potential to bring greater meaning to our lives.

The Goal Of Mind Spiritual Intention is reducible to two goals: 1) self development and 2) self expression. The mind is the major facilitator of self development. Its singular goal is to provide tools to accomplish self growth. A scientist
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would describe such growth as adaptation to one's environment. The more adaptive tools one acquires, the more successful they can be in an everexpanding "turf" of various environments.
The mind has a tremendous potential for flexibility. It can learn quickly and adapt to emergencies much faster than usually imagined. It has this ability because one of its primary functions is to protect the physical body, for without this "body", the mind could not occupy the physical environment in a manipulative fashion, and it could certainly not carry out any type of "selfexpression".

The word environment, in this sense, includes not only the physical, geographic landscapes but also the social, cultural mindscapes and established systems within which modern man must now operate. This means that the broader and more inclusive the person's reality, the more they can successfully interact with other people and their own unique realities. Without such development, successful expression is unlikely. The overall developmental goal is to be completely free to express the spirit in any and every physical and social situation without hindrance.
One characteristic of a well-developed mind is one's ability to be at ease in any type of situation. The intent of recognizing the positive qualities in others and practicing a natural inquisitiveness about one's surroundings (including other people) will reflect an honest appreciation for the spiritual qualities of all human beings.

A scientist would call this personal growth an adaptive, evolutionary process. A teacher might call this process,learning or education. A psychologist might call this personal growth becoming, self discovery, or self actualization . A poet might call this process the unfolding of the petals of the soul. A religious leader might call this transcending human limitation and attaining the divine. A spiritualist might call this processthe individual contribution to the expansion of All That Is. Each would be correct in their assertion.
The above expressed observation should make it clear that all truth is directly connected to the quality of perception and that these varied "perceptions" contribute to a better understand of the whole, providing that these perceptions are shared in a positive and loving environment by the perceivers. There is the illustration of the blind men examining the various aspects of the elephant and describing such on the basis of what part they were touching, i.e. the trunk, the
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tail, the leg, etc. Only in sharing their personal conclusions of their respective examinations were they able to develop a more complete picture of the elephant. So it is that truth evolves.

Thus, the mind has a very important task in the larger scheme of things. The human mind is a tool kit of creative resources, as well as a factory for their assembly. The mind is meant to be filled with ideas and beliefs--mental tools---of an ever improving nature to provide freedom and avenues of opportunity to the individual. Experiences are to be analyzed, mined for the learning, and significant skills and strategies retained for future successes. Within the fluidity of mind, old strategies are cast away as new improvements are discovered that drive a constant mental evolution.With the contents of mind, each human can envision and create whatever thoughts, images and events that they find pleasing to the spirit.
In a dynamic universe, a dynamic mind is essential. A static mind is equivalent to a state of reversal, which leads to uncertainty, which leads to fear, which leads to anger and aggression. Close the mind and the world around it soon dies, including the physical vehicle one occupies.

Mental Tools Can Be Double-Edged The gift of mind came with some inherent risks. It was Divine Spiritual Intention that the mind be an accouterment, a grand toy with which humans could more realistically engage in the game of physical existence. It would allow a crystallized individual experience for each spirit in flesh to enjoy a unique reality designed exactly to their desired specifications.
This is another validation that we can and do use our minds to create our physical and social reality, including both our pleasurable and painful experiences. If we create positive experiences for ourselves, we experience the accompanying joy. If we create the opposite, we experience consequential physical and emotional pain. If not misdirected by falsely contrived belief systems, we can quickly learn and evolve in a trial and error system. (Or we can exercise some of the logical qualities of the mind and avoid some of the pain of error.) On the other hand, if we are taught that suffering in this world will lead to greater happiness in the next, our natural learning process becomes "short circuited".

But such boundless freedom can be seductive. The realities created can
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become quite convincing. The tools can linger past their point of effectiveness and create conflict---even become hurtful. Limiting ideas can take on a life of their own, setting the stage for separation from spirit. When the contents of mind muffle the voice of spirit, the rational mind, the computer, operates on incomplete information. The wisdom of spirit that transcends space-time is not factored into the logical calculations. Information that does not fit a nice physical linear picture, is not allowed into consciousness. Events appear to happen to individuals rather than to be created by them.
This is how the victim mentality gains preponderance in human activity. Institutions which foster and feed limited belief systems offer solutions, but on their terms. I was once told in an institution for higher learning that since nations do not have souls, they only way they can be punished for collective wrong doing is through war. Hence war, because of this belief system, becomes essential and inevitable.

This is the seduction of earthly existence: when mental creations that are intended to be subjective and fluid, become utterly believable, enduring and entrenched objective realities---this is known as being lost in one's own physical camouflage (a major theme in Eastern religious traditions). In Hinduism, for example, humans are under the spell of Maya, the magical drama created out of the Brahman, the unifying spiritual essence underlying the creations.
Religious philosophies and institutions that play down the ability of creating reality from the list of human qualities, also play a major role in reducing individual responsibility for one's actions. If a person is not responsible for his/her own actions, someone or something else has to be judged and blamed when things go wrong.

The seduction of physical reality can lead to the perception of isolation. An enlightened Western philosopher once identified the isolation potential through the assertion "cogito ergo sum" or rather: "I think, therefore, I am". He points out that humans define their very existence by their thought process, a statement that historically attests to human entrapment within physical camouflage. This is the condition wherein the mind believes its reality to be the one and only, negating all spiritual reality beyond the bound of its physical limitations. His next progression of thought was that of a primal fear springing from the isolated human notion that one could not be absolutely sure of anything even existing outside one's own
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conscious mind. An insidious, but perhaps inevitable, fear that he termed Cartesian Doubt.
Eliminate the quality of "spirit" from human make-up and the existence of everything that is observable comes into doubt. The only thing left to cling to is one's own existence and that can only be kept through irrefutable logic which went something like this: "I think, therefore I am. For if I did not exist, I would not be able to doubt my existence, therefore I must be." But what, then, are we? We are more than the obvious, the observable or the consequence of logical reasoning. We are also spirit.

Isolation, of course, is not real in the greater, spiritual reality in which all things are connected. That feeling from "connection" provides the pleasurable faith and optimism which evidences unabated love energy. But once this isolation has occurred, the spiritual energy is frustrated and an unpleasant emotion will occur. The predictable fear then arises in which undesirable events of the past are projected into the future effecting it with equally undesirable, yet perhaps impending, scenarios. (This is the basic principle of karma in Eastern traditions, although the term has become mired in limiting beliefs).
The very process of reliving the unpleasant memories of our lives in the mindset that we were the victims of some arbitrary and capricious fate, or worse yet, a enigmatic Deity with a human-type personality, can do much to color the future we are constantly creating for ourselves. Whereas, if we apply a true cause/effect formula to our existence, we can come to understand that consequences are little more than learning experiences. A test-in-time, if you will.

Thus, there were spiritual cautions that were offered with the evolution of human mind. Cautions specifically regarding how essential it was to remember that this earthly reality was illusory and that any "knowledge" or "truth" of this realm would only be so if it reflected Universal Knowledge and Universal Truth. The rest were simply temporary, flexible, and evolving tools chosen and used to achieve the most complete earthly existence. There were specific cautions regarding the illusory isolation, the seduction of the camouflage, and the potential disconnection between universal and individual consciousness, between spirit and mind. Still humans immersed themselves in physical experience.
The history of life in this physical existence is perpetually open to interpretation by those who review it. Without factoring in the spiritual aspect of human
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nature and its true role in our development, the lessons to be learned are seldom completely understood. Hence the reason why history, with human error so apparent, tends to repeat itself.

The Biblical Fall From Grace Humans enjoyed the freedom to create their own earthly reality and went about it with relish. The spirit communicated through a finely attuned will, using the tools, skills, strategies and abilities of the mind to create any desired reality. The game became so enjoyable that humans expanded their mental empire, with the mind reigning supreme, and the illusions of individual reality becoming utterly believable.
This was how is was in the beginning. It was a true paradise. Apparently it was also an
environment where it was easy to develop an expanded ego which enticed us humans into believing that the "illusion" was the "real thing" and that individual mind could supercede Spirit.

As the belief in "individuality" became more and more powerful, the feeling of isolation began to creep into the human existence. The Universal Spirit began to cry out through its individual spirits for the reconnection that is its natural state. In answer to this cry, humans took steps within their mental realm to reconnect with other humans.
It was a case of becoming too self-absorbed. This led to a crevasse developing between the mental and spiritual qualities. But it also led to an attraction among all humans and the sharing that when followed brought about an expansion of the whole.

They would share the ideas that they had created. They would trade beliefs, creating a shared reality and enriching each other's existence by doing so. They escaped isolation and quieted their fear by negotiating a group reality. They began teaching their mental strategies to their offspring and offering them a head start toward building their own strategies of living. They built languages, worldview, monuments and other mental and physical vestiges of civilization to indoctrinate every new human being into this shared existence.
They became, in a word, worldly in their orientation. As individuals developed individual views and formed into colonies of these shared views, a form of competition evolved and truth became that which was held by a particular group.
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As time passed there accumulated a tremendous amount of shared knowledge, enduring ideas, strategies and tools that existed in a common realm. This created an illusion of some higher objective, truthful, reality that began to replace whatever mental remnant of spiritual reality that had existed. This was the first stirring of a mass consciousness, a group reality which has become to be known as culture . Human culture is that collection of energized ideas that takes on a physical reality of its own. This lent further credence to the cause and effect rational interpretation of random events that distanced humans from their own creative freedom and fluid reality.
Today, we call this reality science, or religion or philosophy. It represents a school of thought. These various "schools" evolved into various cultures and even nations. As these varying cultures became convinced that their beliefs were the only correct ones, differing views eventually escalated into physical violence. Nowhere is this better exemplified than in the 20th century and its numerous World Wars. The 21st appears to be extending that mentality.

With the advent of human culture, came what has become known in Western religious tradition as "the fall from Grace". Human individuals, already partially separated from their creator's guidance, became convinced that this group reality was, in fact, the ultimate reality. An underlying assumption was that there had once been a caring, loving creator, who directed and enriched the lives of humans, but who had become angered and no longer provided such services. "Right living" would restore this relationship, but not until death could humans enjoy the "Kingdom Of Heaven". In the context of Eastern traditions, this same separation happened when the Brahman then became lost in the Maya such that it was unattainable without Karmic redemption.
In each case, religions sprang up. The concepts became institutionalized and control of the masses became a subsequent consequence. The larger the religions became, the greater the barrier erected to block the original connection to spirit. Fear and guilt became tools of control and a vague and a barely defined state following physical death became the justification for accepting the confined thought process while still in physical reality.

Both traditions, for the most part, leave the power as well as goodness, outside the hands of humanity. As the world now exists, man-made belief systems virtually replace the remaining strands of communication with All
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That Is. They promote conformity, standardization, dependency, and ever increasing separation between body, mind and spirit.
Once recognized, this status quo can be altered within. As these individual alterations begin to multiply, the strength of the worldly power centers will decline in influence. What will follow will be a return to a unification of the above named qualities. And when that happens, there truly will be a new heaven on earth.

Current Mass Reality: The Mind Of Man What was intended to be a highly selective, subjective reality within the mind of each human being, is now something far more. It is externalized, public, and has taken on an "objective" life of its own. This objective mass reality, can also be termed the Mind Of Man.
The intended system went from individual to collective. This is not necessarily a bad thing. While it has introduced an expanded element into the relationship between body/mind and spirit, it has removed from the mix the innate capability of humans to make a direct, unfiltered connection to spirit. If and when this "direct connection" can be understood and utilized, such can result in an anticipated expansion of consciousness.

For man is greatly affected by it in many ways.Energized thoughts from every individual mind have created a dense network of group thought which constitutes a group mind. As this external reality is reinforced over time, it becomes the dominant influence in human existence. With every passing generation, humans are born into an ever narrowing realm of possibility. So much exists as "truth" within the realm of mass reality that it severely limits the blank slate situation that is necessary for full and complete freedom for development of individual mind.
Group mind and all that it entails is no match for Spirit and, rather serves as a distraction and obstruction to that which is available to the individual. To correct this situation, the individual must intend to remove the substituted and limiting belief systems and replace them with that which is available from within, i.e. Spirit Guidance. The practice of meditation might be a place to start.

Choice itself becomes illusory as a large amount of the contents of any individual mind are "chosen" inadvertently and by default. So much information is imparted onto the blank slate from the outside, that entities
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have little hope of even becoming aware of the many alternative potentials that can exist through the conscious attunement to the spirit. The individual mind has largely given way to the mass Mind of Man.
Imagine suggesting to a parent in today's society that the best road to true knowledge and enlightenment of his/her child is to teach the child the art of meditation and the practice of tapping into the wisdom of dreams, as an alternative to the formal and accepted form of "education". It would take some powerful and numerous examples of success before such a radical format could even be considered. But there are some among us who are living examples that this can be done. Many of them are socially ostracized or institutionalized, but their unique qualities are beginning to be recognized.

The situation that exists today within mass consciousness is indeed severely limiting. Humans are so utterly caught up in their mass reality that most no longer experience true freedom. The conflicting and limited information that exists within the social, political, economic, religious and educational institutions of human culture severely limit the opportunity humans have to design their own reality. They have little hope of developing and expressing the spirit without basic freedom and opportunity.
The qualities of basic freedom and opportunity still exist and each individual in any society can exercise the right to think and envision any and all that he/she wishes. Bringing that fact to the mind of humans may be the greatest challenge. On the other hand, this very information is being passed along from one to another via this utilized system. This internet, itself, may well hold the key.

This is not simply a metaphoric situation. There is a physical manifestation of mass consciousness. There now exist myriad dense energy networks surrounding the planet that affect human experience profoundly. As each human adopts and empowers the individual belief in something, its validity in the mass realm is strengthened by the energy. This energy network interferes with the reception of spiritual insight. This energy network also plays a major role in the events which human beings draw to themselves, particularly the ones that seem to come from outside. These are usually unwelcome experiences that limit freedom and opportunity, while leaving the spirit feeling frustrated.
The question is not whether or not creating one's reality is possible. We can already observe that reality is being created and influenced.The question is: Can
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humans recover their basic ability to realignthat reality with the highest Spiritual Principles while operating in an environment which is contrary to such an intent. I would leave the answer and the challenge to the reader to decide.

The Divine Spiritual Safety Net It should not be so surprising that earthly existence is not what most humans would like it to be, given thatindividual reality has virtually given way to mass reality. The limits within mass consciousness are selffulfilling and self-perpetuating cycles.
It can be a bit overwhelming to a singular soul entering the realm of physical reality, especially when the first essential information fed to this soul is that which establishes a life of limitations.

The wonderful truth of the matter is, however, that humans still create their own individual reality. For each spirit embodies the form with hardwired signals which can provide a reality check. This reality check ensures that spiritual intention is made manifest. It ensures that the contents of mind include only those items which facilitate self development and expression.
What is not revealed to humans is that there are tools of creation available that are innate to their very being and that when tapped, can far exceed the capability of our most sophisticated technology.

It is now up to the individual to honor the purpose of mind and to restore humanity to the fluidity state that was originally intended. It is time to sort through the contents of the mind to sift and change those ideas that frustrate the spirit. This begins with the examination of the contents of each and every individual mind. Such house-keeping of beliefs, ideas, attitudes, will facilitate the identification and rejection of any and all which limit development and expression in any way. Changes within each individual mind will create energy changes within mass consciousness so that those limiting ideas will become less and less influential.
This may be a slow process for humanity, but it can be a relatively quick process for any individual who wishes to excel beyond his/her current state of being. This material can help lead the way. It can open doors and pull us through them into an expanded way of thinking. Of course, to do so, it has to be read and integrated into one's being.
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But mental changes alone will not suffice. Active changes are also necessary. Appropriate communications of dissatisfaction over specific limitations of the social, political or economic systems within human cultures, must be expressed. Existing mechanisms for social change, (political activism, civil complaint processes, legislative mechanisms), are those useful and positive tools within mass consciousness. Even simple communication can create external change and successfully champion human freedom and dignity. This is not to say that certain personal choices are to be foist upon others; simply, that group limitations are to be removed to make way for individual freedom and equal opportunity for all humans to develop and express their spiritual essence.
How this can be done should be a matter of open discussion. No one individual has all the answers. Nor should any one person be burdened with bringing about the necessary changes. After all, the very founding of the political freedoms we enjoy in this country was not brought by a particular individual. It took the Founding Fathers acting with intent and determination to alter the course of history. The result of their efforts can still serve as an example to us all.

Many such positive actions already occur. They are motivated by the urgings of a frustrated spirit. For the insurance policy remains within the biology of every human being. It ensures that spiritual intention will not be ignored without certain symptoms becoming apparent. These are the symptoms which present themselves as painful dissonant feelings within individuals and societies.
If we feel pain and see examples of pain around us, we should note that such is a service, a motivation to act. There would seem to be no shortage of such "opportunities". It should also serve to show us that we are much more than the total sum of our thoughts . We are also our feelings.

For the spirit is embodied in flesh, and despite the interference of mind, it speaks that language of spirit---it speaks the language of feeling. The rational powers of the mental realm can be overridden by impulses of the physical realm.
The fact that spirit is embodied in flesh serves as evidence that the flesh need not be weak when it comes to effecting the material world. We already know that this can be done. Nothing man-made in our environment could have come into existence without someone's flesh being involved in some manner. But of course, it has to begin with mind as the builder and spirit as the motivator.
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Section Alpha Lesson Four: The Physical Nature Of Humankind Spirit As Self In Physical Form With Lessons Alpha One and Two, a conceptual boundary between mind and spirit has been established. It is now possible to discuss certain aspects of man's physical existence that have gone unnoticed, for it is the physical response of the body that ensures the preservation of the integrity of the spirit. It is essential to understand these physical processes, for they underlie most of human motivation and behavior---including, of course, those actions which wreak havoc upon civilization.
It is when we fail to experience physical/mental pain feedback that we are truly cut off from Spirit. In a world where acts of violence are paraded before us on a daily basis, there is likely to be a certain propensity to become callous. With this comes the deterioration of the body/mind link with spirit.

The body is spirit in the flesh, and the body's prime directive is to ensure the continuance of the physical form so that Spirit can be developed and expressed.The body has a built-in knowledge of what it is andwhat it is not. It operates upon a self/not-self distinction, with a primary goal of selfpreservation.
Some have termed this the instinct of survival, but this is usually interrupted to apply to the limitations of the physical, not considering the ultimate point of 'surviving' being the preservation of the environment necessary for the spirit to function in physical reality. This "instinct" enables us to acquire necessary survival information through and beyond our normal five senses. For example, we can get warnings in dreams or hunches. Spirit makes every effort to assist us.

The body has a tremendous amount of mechanisms that operate toward the goal of self-preservation. Science has acknowledged this fact as a basic foundation of evolutionary theories and explanations. But lacking an overall framework with which to interpret their findings, many highly important systems remain misunderstood, resulting in confusion within the Mind of Man. The spiritual nature of humankind, as well as the interference effect of mind remain mysteries, and therefore obstacles to human progress. Humans remain cut off from the very biological process that can lead to their salvation.
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Because humankind's attention is almost entirely outwardly directed, the accelerated progress we have made in technology is not matched by the necessary awareness of our inner nature. While psychology and psychiatry have been important areas of study in the the 20th century, basic presumptions of our spiritual nature have frequently been ignored or rejected. I suspect that this is about to change.

Nevertheless, this spiritual safety-net is still quite successful at keeping humans from complete befuddlement within their own camouflage, for when the messages of the spirit fall upon deaf ears, the body takes over. Unfortunately, when it operates outside conscious understanding, the physical reactions can compound problems until the spiritual message is finally heeded. It is now of central importance to understand the spiritual defenses and how they operate in the body. When this process is understood, humans can begin the evolutionary journey that has thus far been postponed.
The writings of Louise Hayes, in their own way, bring across the suggestion that our physical bodies are clearly tied to our emotional and spiritual state of being and serve as reflectors of the divergence from our spiritual path. When applied to the above paragraph, we begin to see that physical (and even mental) suffering is not conditionally imposed upon us from an arbitrary and capricious universe, but are rather the channel markers in place to keep us moving along the course toward our individual destinies. We are all destined for greatness, in our own good time.

Human Emotion: An Undiscovered Sixth Sense The one process that crosses the spiritual, the mental and physical realms is that of emotion---human feelings of pleasure and pain. This is the singular, most powerful---yet equally misunderstood---human system.Vast benefits lie dormant, and unnecessary suffering results when this power is not harnessed. Indeed, human emotion exists as an undiscovered sense, and perhaps the most powerful of them all. Like physical pain, emotional pain grabs the attention of the individual and cries out for solution. But feelings remain profoundly misunderstood.
If you have ever heard the admonition: "Don't lose your temper, use it!", you are hearing the suggestion that anger is a legitimate form of energy and when directed in a positive way, can accomplish a positive result. Likewise, when anger is turned inward (stifled, if you will) it can do serious damage to our mental and physical natures. Love, also an emotional energy, can drive the saintly among us to inspirational achievements that make for a better world.
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In describing this sense, it is helpful to contrast thoughts and feelings, for the two are often confused. l)Thoughts identify, organize and categorize information, always leading to other thoughts. Thoughts exist within the bounds of mind. 2) Feelings only arise when "the self" is involved. The self is the spirit as it is experienced in the body. So unlike thoughts, feelings involve the body as well as the mind, and they lead to actions. Although they are related, feelings and thoughts are completely different experiences. For example, it is one experience to conceptualize the features of a bear with such mental thoughts as: the bear is a member of the mammal family, it's skin can be used to make warm rugs (when it's dead---while alive, it tends to object), it lives in caves and eats honey. There is quite again another experience when looking such a beast in the eye, and thoughts turn to the fact that the bear is likely to be dangerous to self-survival. Fearful feelings and active responses, perhaps flight, will result.Thought is a process, while emotion is a communicative and active sense.
Feelings sometimes transcend "thoughts" in the form of instinct or intuition, suggesting a course of action that supersedes the rational process. Feelings, being closer to our spiritual nature, would seem to tap into a broader (and fortunately quicker) sense of awareness than is usual with the rational thinking process. When we hear the crackle of a tree falling behind us, we would not likely bother to make a mental review of the geometry of it's angle of descent. We'd instinctively seek to be where the tree is not going to be, and do so with great expediency.

As a sense, emotion not only offers sensory input, it has three essential interacting functions: Human emotion is the l) language of the body, as well as the 2) language of the spirit, and is 3) intimately connected with the contents of the mind. For the spirit, feelings communicate intent and how well it is being carried out. For the mind, feelings give feedback regarding the suitability of mental tools at carrying out spiritual intention. For the body, feelings motivate the person to actions which carry out spiritual intention, and if frustrated, those that accomplish self-preservation. Together, these three functions of emotion drive human behavior.
Could it be that when we fail to carry out our "Spiritual" intention in a timely manner, our bodies and minds experience physical and mental discomforts? I think this material strongly suggests that to be the case. This would explain and
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assure us that the reason we experience existence in this physical realm, subject to the laws of time and space, is so that we have a greater degree of motivation to make progress toward a refinement of physical, mental and spiritual development, particularly the latter.

Without the intended flow of feeling communication, mind and body can often work against each other. When this happens, the spiritual selfpreservation of body can override the goals and intentions of mind. This is a last ditch effort to preserve the needs of the spirit, but can serve to bring about results quite unbecoming to the divine human.
I think we see this best reflected in those who suffer from severe mental impairments while, at the same time, experiencing effective physical processes. In the case of a mind with it's surroundings seen through a perspective which lacks the spiritual qualities factored in, the body exercises its own consciousness in a way that preserves its state of balance while the mind goes out of balance. In other words, we mentally suffer from the consequences of failing to integrate our full nature.

Such behaviors are intended to communicate that a level below which the spirit cannot dip, has been reached. Instead, such defensive maneuvers tend to become habitual and accepted as inevitable, albeit undesirable, human behaviors. Not to mention that death can, and often does, result if mind and body continue to oppose each other---the spirit simply chooses to vacate, acknowledging a lost cause.
There is a line from Richard Bach's book, "Illusions", that goes something like this: "There is a test to determine whether or not you have completed your purpose in life---If you're still alive---you haven't". It might be appropriate to add an addendum to that quote: "If it becomes clear that your state of mind is preventing you from achieving that 'purpose' and you're pretty intent on not changing, you might as well exit stage left and audition for a new play.

This misunderstanding and miscommunication can no longer be tolerated within the species of man. The events of the past century show that selfpreservationary acts can actually destroy the planet. Humans intuit the spiritual way, and although it is far afield from what they have created, they still desire to attain it. This last five decades in history have been a wake-up call that humans for the most part, have begun to answer. The key to a turnabout course is the reestablishment of this inner communication between spirit, mind and body.
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During that period between the l950s and l998, the standard response to international differences has been military conflict or preparation for same. The in-depth reasons for this knee-jerk solution are just beginning to be explored. It would seem that these 'Lessons' are a part of that exploration. It may even be a part of an overall shift in perspective which will lead to a much more peaceful and prosperous world culture. I am not speaking of some New World Order of security at the price of freedom, but rather an environment where freedom is the guarantor of security.

The secret to restoring the inner communication lies in understanding the physical feeling system, listening to its wisdom and learning to operate within its parameters. Only then can humans return to their intended evolutionary course from which they have strayed. This begins with the understanding that the emotional system is part of the physical immune defenses.
The importance of the physical "immune system" has grown dramatically in the past half century, to the point that the strengthening of the "system" is regarded as our best deterrent to illness, or more positively, the preservation of good health. There is also some convincing evidence around that how we "feel" about ourselves does affect the state of our immunity. Is this another link in the chain of evidence pointing toward the premise that we indeed do create our own reality? It might seem so.

Feelings And the Human Immune System Self-preservation is the goal of the human immune system. It operates upon a highly sophisticated range of abilities and features that distinguish self from that which is not-self. The immune system is best known for its role in fighting disease processes. It is poised to identify and eliminate any foreign invaders which threaten the health and vitality of the self---the body.
If the physical was the total extent of our nature, this "system" would suffice. But since we know we are also mental and spiritual beings, it would stand to reason that this same "system" would be naturally extended to the other two.

For example, if a virus should enter and reproduce within the body, the immune system springs to action. It elevates the local temperature, organizes helper, killer and memory T-cells, enlists macrophages to
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consume or "eat up" the invader. It then produces antibodies so that future invaders of the same type will quickly be recognized and eliminated. It accomplishes all this by recognizing the chemical difference between cells that are part of the body and belong there and those that do not. Antibodies mark invaders with the "non-self" red flag so that they cannot reinfect the body. It is overall a very elegant bodily system of self-preservation.
Again, the efficiency of the physical system is illustrated and serves to reinforce the veracity of our total physical/mental/spiritual nature. As mentioned earlier in these "Lessons", that part of us which keeps us on course whenever, wherever possible in our path to growth, sees the dangers of our misdirections and, using physical/mental experiences of pain and discomfort, corrects us and erects the barriers to repeating our errors.

Scientists are finally awakening to the interrelations between mind and body, and specifically how emotions affect physical health. They know that inadequate emotional expression is correlated with a heightened stress response, impaired immune functioning, cardiovascular disease, psychosomatic illness and a predisposition to develop cancer. But they have not yet made the obvious conclusion that emotion is a part of the immune defense system.
It seems that while they (scientists) are 2/3rds of the way to the total picture, the inability to recognize the spiritual nature of human beings is their glassdarkened barrier. Once this final aspect is factored into the picture, it is likely that physical health will cease to be a significant factor in the course of our lives.

As part and parcel of the human immune system, the emotional system plays an immensely important role in human self-preservation. It functions as the physical aspects of defense, but it operates also within the realm of mind. Just as the cells of the immune system signal invaders of the body, so do emotional feelings signal "invaders" of the mind. Likewise, as the active responses of the immune cells remove the invaders, the hardwired reactive behavioral responses to human feeling are intended to make corrective adjustments that include removing invaders.
Our minds are being 'invaded' on a daily basis, the invasion coming from parents, friends, media, educational and religious institutions and, attitudes that reinforce limiting beliefs. This storm of emotionally supported misinformation can't help but take its toll on our physical/mental/spiritual stability. But, fortunately, our safety net remains in place.
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This is the spiritual safety net in action. In the case of emotion, the invaders are beliefs that are chosen and retained which do not contribute to, but limit, self development and expression. This is an ultimate realitychecking device that can ensure that the portrait each human paints of reality includes the very essential qualities necessary for the expression of spirit. Any limiting beliefs are, in fact, invaders.
Planted in our earlier years, along with more spiritual beliefs, like carrots, these "invaders" must be rooted up for the more positive beliefs to flourish. Limiting beliefs, no matter what they are, have the consistent effect of limiting our growth along spiritual/mental/physical lines. Certain diseases are forewarned to most likely lead to death. Mental tests that allegedly measure our intelligence, encourage us to limit our mental activities. Spiritual experiences are conditional upon satisfying someone else's criteria for truth. All such "arrows" point inward as the barrier to our expansion.

The feeling system is the long sought interactionary device between mind and body, theorized by philosophers uncomfortable with scientist's reductionism and mechanistic view of human nature. (Humans are not merely machines without free will, self-direction and intention. And the mind is far more than simply "a brain"). Such a mind-body communication device is the only escape from the mental isolation (and imminent fear) of a mind set adrift from external "reality", let alone spiritual intention. Mr. Descartes himself, (our enlightened philosopher), suggested that human emotion was the interactionary device between mind and body, yet he was met with disdain due to the many limiting ideas within mass consciousness.
Even today, there are still plenty of limiting ideas around. I have to wonder, though, how the other so-called enlightened minds of his time could conclude so easily that an inter-reactionary device could be absent between mind and body or that whatever did link them could be so certainly devoid of feeling. Had the masculine mentality of the time become so dominant that anything other than rational thinking was out of the question? Considering the "reasoning madness" the first half of the 20th century held for mankind (to the point of near annihilation), the philosophical bent of the l9th century was clearly off the mark.

As a key defense then, emotion operates as a feedback device which exchanges information between mind and body. The goal is to keep the mind aligned to the needs of spirit which are biologically encoded within
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the body. This system virtually takes over when most spiritual communication with mind has been interrupted due to limited beliefs. The spirit sneaks in the back door, so to speak, through the feelings and reactions of the body, to bring about the intended need fulfillment of the spirit.
The phrase "biologically encoded within the body" suggests more to the role of the DNA/RNA characteristics than we may yet appreciate. With further understanding of this connection, we may be able to reprogram our physical nature through acts of meditation and visualization to potentials yet unforeseen.

This is not the easiest way to communicate, mind you. But it at least makes some communication possible, when humans are so completely enmeshed within their own mass creations that they no longer have direct, conscious, mental communication with their own spirit. This is the physically encoded information that spirit will not let humans go without. It will haunt them with individual and social pain until they finally "get it".
The goal, at this point, would seem to be to transcend the limiting belief system we are programmed with, recognize that we have within ourselves a biological/spiritual connecting system that not only keeps us whole but can, if understood and stimulated by our emotions, take us to physical, mental and spiritual levels we can not yet even imagine.

Feelings Communicate Essential Spiritual Needs What will haunt humans until they are met, are the essential needs of the spirit. These needs are biologically impressed upon the body to ensure a minimum of spiritual development and expression within the physical realm. When these needs are met, humans can successfully go about the business of self development and expression. When they are not met, humans flounder in frustration, bad feelings and misunderstandings.
No doubt, the material environment we occupy during our physical sojourn is the predominant factor in the success or failure of our efforts to develop and express ourselves. An essential step in creating our reality might begin with creating a favorable environment in which to achieve those "needs".

There has never been any consensus in the Mind of Man regarding essential human needs. Thus, with no official recognition, acceptance or
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definition of them, it is not likely that they are well accommodated within human civilization. Wherever the spirit is not accommodated, there will exist a predominance of self-preservationary behavior.
The question might be: What are these essential needs? The answer will be supplied in due course. Meanwhile, the "need" for an environment where those can be met is predominant as essential for the new millennium. As the 18th century brought forth the birth of political freedoms to apply to the governing of society, the 21st century will have to bring about birth of spiritual freedoms to move the human race forward to the stars in a metaphorical sense and, possibly, a physical sense.

Now is the time for simple, yet complete, acknowledgement and acceptance of human spiritual needs. There are two main categories of human need. l)The Individual Needs, and 2) The Connection Needs. These needs exist within every human being, they are inborn. Regardless of the widely varying cultures and systems of living, the tacit goal of all social structures is to accomplish need fulfillment. When the individual's needs are met, they can share their effective methods with the world. From these offerings rise social structures.
These "needs" are no more evident then at the time of birth. The newborn child has the obvious need for nourishment and, not so obvious but just as essential, the need for human contact and connection with other human beings. These needs continue throughout life and are an essential compliment to the growth of humans on all levels. It is in the "sharing" that we grow.

Those cultural institutions that have endured must contain some successful need-meeting tenets, but for the most part, mass consensus is choked with conflicting dictates due to the lack of understanding of human needs. These "invaders" must be purged from the individual and mass consciousness for evolution to proceed unimpeded. This, of course, is not possible without first understanding the needs themselves.
While the word "purged" may sound quite strong and arbitrary, it is exactly what will have to be done in order to surmount the barriers that currently confine our spirit. The connotations of this word might suggest some sort of physical violence, but we know that true growth comes from the efforts of mind and spirit, with the physical simply falling into line.

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The Individual (Power) Needs The individual needs take precedence over the group needs. If individual needs go unanswered, the self-preservationary reactions will occur. Such acts often go directly against other individuals, or the mutual goals of group living, but are intended to preserve the individual. For without individuals, there can be no groups.
My first reaction to this paragraph was, "Well so much for the right of Eminent Domain." I think the point here is that when you deprive an "individual" of certain basic rights and freedoms, you create a frustration of spirit that expresses itself in aggressive and negative ways against other individuals. When applied to groups of individuals, wars can ensue. One of the moral justifications for killing in time of war is that it is an act of self-defense (self-preservation), but the flaw lies in failing to examine the circumstances that lead to a person being in such a position. Killing each other for the sake of self-preservation leads to a definite decrease in "groups".

Although the need for group connection is very strong, the need for survival is necessarily stronger. This way the spirit is assured that although groups, even civilizations, will come and go, the individual will always survive to create new ones. Thus, it should be accepted that the individual needs will always take priority over group needs. It should then be no surprise that when societies do not accommodate the needs of its individuals, that they will act out against the obstacles. This is inevitable. This is right. This is just, in the highest sense of the word. This is spiritual intention."
It doesn't necessarily follow that the "act(ing) out against obstacles", has to lead to violent action. Ghandi was able to lead a revolt against the domination of another country by exercising a principle of resistance through non-violence that avoided, for the most part, the physical violence that usually accompanies massive revolution.

What are the individual needs? The human physiological needs for air, food, warmth and procreation are already fairly well understood. It's quite obvious what happens when the needs go unmet. Therefore, most social structures are fairly successful at accommodating them. But there are individual psychological needs which are impressed upon the body by spirit and which speak through the human emotional system. These are the needs that are unrecognized, dishonored, denied and for the most part,
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remain frustrated. But they are experienced in some form within each and every human being the world over.
Because they "are impressed upon the body by spirit", they are destined to be expressed at some point in the progression of human expansion. History records these expressions in the past and in the present. Much of the violence going on in the world today is linked directly to individuals (as groups) struggling for expression of these higher needs.

The individual needs are about development and expression of spiritual (or genetic) potential. They translate into the need to explore, create, find meaningand successfully interact with the environment, the need for power and equitable freedom to control one's own destiny; and to ultimately contribute their unique offering to humanity. Although there are many forms through which these essential needs can be met, they are at the core of human motivation and behavior.When an adequate level of individual needs are being met, then the group needs are experienced.
There is, I believe, a misconception being promulgated upon the planet's population in the present era which suggests that an economic system can be put in place that will furnish the material needs of individuals and nations, assuming that peace and prosperity will reign universally in an orderly fashion. Unfortunately, any "system" imposed from without, whether it be an economic or political system, is inculcated with the very flaws that will undermine it.

The Group (Connection) Needs The group needs are essentially about maintaining an awareness of the spiritual connection with All That Is. They translate into the need to commune, affiliate and interact with other humans and life forms, to be accepted and recognized as unique, to love and be loved, and to experience a spiritual connectedness with the world.
This appears to make the point of the unifying spirit that permeates all forms of life, "like the ocean permeates each wave". We are, in essence, tied together by the universal spirit that makes us what we are. We can not truly ignore It and certainly can't function without It.

These needs interact, of course, and there are no hard and fast rules about priority, other than that an adequate level of individual need must be met
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or it's frustration will interfere with the relational group needs.These needs and their fulfillment are the biologically ordained translation of spiritual intention. They are the level of spiritual expression below which humans cannot dip without emotional, physical, and social repercussions.
This is how we know if a community is in harmony with Spirit. If its members feel good about their group and themselves, this serves as confirmation that they are in harmony with their spiritual nature. Also, humans may drift, but they can't get totally lost without their spiritual tether pulling them back within workable boundaries.

The feelings constantly report the spiritual need-fulfillment status. This is the human insurance policy that prevents the species from complete severance from spirit and complete disorientation within their own camouflage. Humans should be extremely thankful to their "good fortunes" that they are endowed with such insurance. They should be highly reverent of these needs, and the feelings that communicate them. At bare minimum, they should be aware of them. Humans should ensure that every society accommodates them fully and equitably. For this embodiment of need, of course, is not simply due to lucky stars, need fulfillment is the goal; it is indeed spiritual intention.
If one's concept of the All That Is is highly personified, then the above should make one feel all warm and fuzzy inside. If, on the other hand, one views the All That Is in more abstract and ubiquitous terms, then this concept brings justification for strengthening the emotional/feeling part and understanding of our truly divine connection.

Human need is the principle upon which the information is exchanged between mind and body when spirit is essentially left out of the loop (as is now the case). Emotion is the language. Human feelings signal need fulfillment, or lack thereof, through the experience of pleasure or pain. It is an information exchange system---a feedback system---both mental and physical .
As long as there are humans, this principle will remain in place. But, it will be enhanced exponentially when we are able to factor in the spiritual part of our nature and rely upon it as the ultimate guiding factor in our existence.

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Feelings As Feedback Between Mind And Body But what is feedback you ask? Feedback is an information exchange system, that relates the status of two things and keeps them at some preset level of balance. Feedback systems are elegant and abundant in biological systems, from chemical reactions within single cells, to complex ecological interaction in the biosphere. It is one of nature's favorite systems to keep physical forms in their required state of balance.
An example of such happening in the human body would be a state of imbalance resulting from a virus running rampant in your system. Your temperature increases and holds its higher level until the invader is brought under control. It also sends an uncomfortable message to the brain alerting it to the crisis. "Feedback" alerts the mind which instructs the brain to stimulate the body to take the necessary action to overcome the invading virus.

A feedback system compares two things, signals an imbalance, then effects a corrective change to restore the balance. For example, a home heating thermostat. The desired temperature is compared to the actual temperature and when the balance is upset, the heat clicks on or off to restore the balance.
Another example, in a more metaphysical sense, might be a dowsing rod, but that's a separate area of exploration, in itself. The above is a good, practical example and something most homes have today.

Spirit is experienced as emotion within human mental and physical realms. (This is the disconnected "Will" aspect of spirit). The feeling system is part of the immune defense system. Thus the two things that are compared by this feedback system are internal and external worlds---self and non-self.
I hope this becomes more clear in the next paragraph!

The human feeling system exists to mediate humans in their physical world. If internal mental thoughts lead to external actions that result in meeting the needs in new and creative ways, the person becomes aware of this through positive, good feelings. Likewise, if thoughts lead to actions which do not meet needs, or external obstacles are encountered, this is known to the person through negative or bad feelings. These are the comparative and signaling aspects of the feedback system.
There is almost always a "pleasure" obtained from doing something creative. But the pleasure some might get from doing something destructive (even in a
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creative way) can likely lead to a depletion of the spirit, if we sense that it is not in the best interest, or complimentary to the spiritual quality of humans.

The Hardwired Responses The next step in the feedback cycle is the corrective action. The emotion comes with physical arousal---body energy---that is intended to motivate corrective responses. These corrections can be mental adjustments or they can be physical actions. But they are intended to be corrective in the highest sense of the word. They are the singular process preventing utter human enmeshment within the Earthly camouflage. Emotional reactions are the final vestiges of a vital, unbreakable, spiritual, communicative tie.
Our society tends to discourage "emotional reactions", especially among young males. Be strong, don't cry. Stay cool. What we develop in the young is not just bravery, but ultimately, indifference and non-feeling. We, in effect, handicap ourselves emotionally just a surely as if we took steps to reduce the capacity of one or more of our five physical senses. Because we are such conformists, this physical deterioration follows with age, but such emotional deterioration may begin within youth.

If humans had come to earth and become completely enchanted by their own early creations, they still would have had this corrective safety net. If such enchantment had led them to choices which endangered their very lives, they could fall back on automatic responses that could rescue them. These"active responses" follow emotional arousal and are often acted out without much conscious thought or mental involvement. Or, "they" are often acted out with highly creative mental involvement. They base nearly every human action, yet their nature is grossly misunderstood. Each and every evil act of human beings, as well as most every individual and social ill, is traceable to one of these self-preservationary responses or a perversion thereof.
We are tied to our spiritual nature like an unbreakable rubber band. We stretch it but as the "stretch" increases, the tension to bring us back to origin, increases in like proportion. Often that very "tension" clouds our judgment and we act out of fear and anger, in ways that are destructive to ourselves and those around us.

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The two general categories of hardwired corrective response are to approach and to avoid. It is the basic spiritual directive to "approach" that which causes pleasure and to "avoid" that which causes pain. The "approach" response accompanies good feelings. It is intended to lead us in those same directions we are going---those that are working, or improved directions that meet needs in new and creative ways.
Again, creative activity brings pleasure to us like gravity pulled our sled down a snow-covered hill, as a child or; as adults, pulls our creative impulses out into physical action to view and experience with our physical senses.

The "approach" can be in the acquisition and implementation of a creative idea, belief or strategy. It can be a repetition of an existing strategy or a refinement following a pleasurable outcome. It can be a simple physical approach to that which is attractive in any sense. This is a "hard-wired" self preservationary response that can also facilitate self-development and expression. This establishes a cyclic relationship wherein the pleasure becomes the goal, the evolving beliefs and actions to attain it are finely honed, thus verified by subsequent pleasurable successes. Although there are some cultural complications, following positive feelings to attain positive ends is quite intuitive. For the most part, it happens very naturally and without too much mental interference. For the positive feelings of joy are the resonance of a satisfied spirit, and humans know this within every fiber of their being.
When we say a "cheering" word to someone who seems depressed or not feeling well, and watch a smile cross their face, we feel that spark of momentary "joy" that joins us with that other person in something above the mundane activities of our lives and, in doing so, we contact that spiritual quality.

The "avoid" responses can be quite a bit more complex.These are the responses that get humans into a great deal of trouble. They are generally known as the responses of fight and flight. They exist so that the human can forcibly remove, or escape from, an obstruction in the external world. The avoidant responses can be productive and positive, or they can be extremely destructive and debilitating.
Here is where our "feelings" play a strong role. Our society honors bravery even when it costs our lives. We may feel guilt from doing nothing more sensible than avoiding our physical destruction. Circumstances that put us in situations that
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confuse our spiritual priorities are to be avoided, I would think, whenever possible.

We will be discussing these responses at length, for they are the core of self understanding and the place where positive action, rapid growth and change, can occur, once they are understood in their entirety. But first, it is necessary to have the underlying conceptual foundation of the feedback system and how it has been effected by the evolution of human mind.
We are in a constant state of "evolution", even though it may seem, at times, that "regression" is more predominant. If we keep in mind that we are a learning species, then even our mistakes (when we learn from them) are positive experiences.

The Fully Functional Feedback System The emotional feedback system is part of the physical immune system. But, this safety net offers far more than simple self preservation. When it is allowed smooth, unimpaired functioning, humans operate upon the hedonic principle of approach and avoid. This follows spiritual intention and motivates innately moral responses.
QUESTION: Would this be another way of referring to what we have known as our conscience, a form of inner guidance that self-corrects us when we act in such a way that runs contrary to spiritual nature? However, when manipulated from an outside influence (or institution), it (the conscience) can grow beyond rational proportions, to the point where it can threaten our emotional stability and to where this guidance system is ultimately abandoned.

Humans read the feedback feeling signals to understand the nature of their relationship with the outside world, as well as with the other humans they encounter. They use their feelings to judge how well the contents of the mind are doing toward creating a reality that meets an adequate level of human need. They can continuously adjust the beliefs and other mental tools so that they are afforded maximum self development and expression. They can take external active communicative steps to remove unnecessary cultural obstacles. They experience far more pleasure than pain, they experience balance between mind, body and spirit, and they experience glowing, vital, energized, physical health. Civilizations can evolve based upon the individual contributions without unnecessary restrictions that
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inevitably reflect in social symptoms of fear, anger, violations and despair.

Just as an automobile has an accelerator, brakes and a steering wheel--so we have intellect and free will (along with a moral compass) to adjust to the happenings around us. When we find ourselves in traffic situations that continue to stifle our progress, we can seek out other paths to follow. If those around us are likely to move in a fashion that proves a danger to our well-being, we can elect to look for other means of transportation or even move to an environment where such circumstances are minimal. Of course, we can also put energy into altering the behavior of those around us through education or legislation, such as "Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD)". There is even statistical evidence that collectively practiced Transcendental Meditation (TM) can have a positive effect on crime and traffic accidents and the reduction thereof.

Thus, the feedback system can, at minimum, accomplish self-preservation. At maximum, it can assure self development and expression---and in doing so restore the inner spiritual guidance that has so long gone unrecognized. When the spiritual messages received through inner communication are acted upon by individuals, humans will automatically begin disassembling the rigid mental constructs which now inhibit other spiritual communicative pathways. There will be an unfolding of inner senses that existing beliefs flatly deny.
QUESTION: Could this suggest a state of mind, body and spirit that transcends where we are today, to the point that awareness of our true nature would be so permeating that institutional governing would become obsolete or, better yet, evolve into a state of universal self-guidance? This would suggest a recognition of the "spiritual" in all of us and "All That Is".

This is the path to the raising of human consciousness.This is the first and direct path, for without understanding these core features of human nature, free will is misdirected and the status quo of self-preservationary actions will continue, and continue, and continue, ad infinitum.
Imagine a system of personal guidance and expansion that does not require a person, title or institution to make it work. All that would be necessary would be an awareness of a state of inner knowing. We would exist in a perpetual state, tapping an inner source and accepting that everything in our environment is here to point and assist us in our individual and collective growth.

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The Self, The Mind, The Body History has been limited to this cycle because of the lack of understandings that these Lessons seek to impart. They are reasonably straightforward and elegant in their simplicity. Indeed, many of the core ideas already exist as general knowledge, but certain subtleties have allowed the bigger picture to remain hidden.
What these Lessons seem to be attempting to do is fill in the holes in our metaphysical piece of Swiss cheese. Once complete, the sense of partial emptiness we now experience will fade away.

A major subtlety is the relationship between emotion and the immune system. Another major subtlety is the confusion over such concepts of mind, self, spirit, body, where one leaves off, and where another begins. We have offered the very important distinction between mind and spirit, and now must build upon that understanding and define "the self". For these two subtleties interact to create a major impediment to the fully functionally emotional feedback system.
The above having been promised, what follows should be the fulfillment of that promise. So far, these Lessons have not let us down.

We know that the human immune system is driven by a self versus nonself distinction. So is the emotional system---with some crucial differences. Within the immune system's biological definition of self, everything inside the skin constitutes self and everything outside the skin (in the outside physical world), is defined as non-self. It is due to this rigid biological definition of self that part of the communication system breaks down. For the biological parameter of self makes no distinction between mind and spirit, for both are considered as self, for both exist inside the human body.
It would seem that that which keeps us functional, is also that which has the wisdom to ignore the distinctions that science has incompletely devised about our nature. But even science is beginning to understand that our state of mind directly effects our state of physical well being. It may soon follow that the state of our spirit is also an integrated part of the whole picture.

Initially, when humans first donned the chemical cloak, there was virtually no mind, merely straight-line communication between spirit and body
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through inner senses which now lie virtually dormant. This refers mostly to the receptacle aspect of human mind, for ideas could ebb and flow like tides in and out of physical consciousness. The feedback system compared inside and outside worlds, just as it does for immunity. The entire inside world is self-mind, body and spirit. Once the individual mind and The Mind Of Man began to accumulate and retain information, externals became the overpowering controller, and the internal system became skewed. This was "The Fall from Grace".
We now live in an environment where our belief system dictates that the more knowledge we acquire from without, the more evolved we become. QUESTION: Is the above paragraph suggesting that the acquisition of more information from the outside world might be acting as an obstruction to the reestablishment of our original link to our spiritual nature? Is the Garden of Eden story an attempt to suggest that we are better served by remaining closer to the innate lessons of nature around us than the multitude of belief systems that are pumped into us from outside sources? It would seem such.

Mind now exists as an interloper, a monkey wrench of sorts, smack dab in the middle of the feedback system.The problem is that mind not only is part of the internal environment---the self---but it is also part of the external environment---not self. The collection of man-made ideas that are passed down from one generation to the next, come from the Mind of Man---the outside environment, the not-self. They then become absorbed into the self concept as they are accepted and retained within each individual mind. The feedback system necessarily compares self against not-self. Therefore the dual nature of mind confounds it.
This is the true "duality" that confuses us as to our basic nature. It is also the duality that leads us to divide every element of our reality in two and judge one or the other as right or wrong. The difference between judging and discerning is the difference between condemnation and observation, the latter leading to greater understanding and growth.

This is the underlying reason why emotions are no longer understood as motivator of desirable behavior, let alone spiritual intent. They often seem to spur unwanted, even destructive actions. Part of the reason for this is because needs of the spirit are not understood and are often further obscured and contradicted by the cultural dictates within the Mind Of Man. Thus, the emotional signals seem random, chaotic and the bane of
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human existence. For despite the association between physical illness and lack of emotional expression, virtually every society has rigid rules in place to suppress or control the effects of "understanding" emotional human nature.
These "rules" are rules of conformity, compliance and adherence to guidelines of behavior which psychologists and sociologists would tell us are necessary for a smooth functioning society. Yet, the true progress/genius in our society has usually come from those who press the envelope beyond what is expected and into the realm of the creative. In the fields of art, music, prose, theology and even science, it is those who connected with realms beyond the "normal" who tapped into the more inspiring ideas.

The rest of the reason is that humans do not understand the nature of the corrective signals of the feedback system, nor the most spiritually desirous way of responding to them. The solution to this problem lies in a universal understanding of the divisional boundary between mind and spirit.
Someone once defined the difference between prayer and meditation as the first being the act of talking to God and the second being the act of listening for a response. Most religions put a great deal of emphasis on the former and very little on the latter. That habit carries over into how we relate to the world around us.

This is why it is now crucial to understand and honor boundaries and features of mind as distinct from those of spirit. We know now that mind and spirit have very different attributes, as well as virtually conflicting goals. Spiritual intention is at minimum, self-preservation. It is, at maximum, self-development and expression. (The spirit cannot be expressed if it is not preserved.)
It would seem that staying alive in the physical sense is essential to evolving in a physical world. The physical body being our primary tool, the mind being the creative instrument and the spirit being both instigator and the end result. The picture is that of an evolving feedback loop.

Even without the potential development, some expression is better than none. Thus the self-preservationary goals are hardwired within the body to at least ensure that humans have vehicles for spiritual expression. But once they are there, they have the goal of developing the mind in ways that maximize such expressions. So there are conflicting goals within the
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body---to both mentally self develop and to spiritually self-preserve.

This is a "conflict" that should resolve itself as we gain a greater understanding of the importance of comprehending and appreciating the valued role of each.

All emotional signals are based upon the self-preservationary directive--without regard for the mind that evolved later. The emotional system does not in and of itself consider mind at all. It simply signals faithfully the message to self-preserve and motivates certain actions which support that goal. The answer to the dilemma now facing humans is to embrace the language of emotion and realize that it requires one interpretation for features of mind---to self develop---and the exact opposite for features of spirit---to self preserve. This will resolve the seemingly conflicting messages of human feelings and reestablish the inner guide.
Hopefully, the Lessons that follow do much more to edify this conflict and guide us toward that resolve.

To this end, we can now turn to a more specific focus upon the emotional nature of humanity.

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Section Beta: The Feeling System Lesson One: The Emotional Nature of Humanity Reclaiming The Lost Emotional Sense With the understandings of the major spiritual, mental and physical components of human nature, we can now rebuild a most accurate conception of human emotion. For each of these pieces of the human being affects the feeling system in very significant and inescapable ways. With clear understandings of the nuances of the system, humans can reclaim the tremendous value that now lies outside their grasp.
This is a statement of significance in that it goes directly to the heart of human potential. It is also a direct threat to the "victim" mentality that allows us humans to lay aside our responsibility for our own circumstances.

Emotion is energy in motion. It is the very stuff that creates physical events. When thought is enveloped in emotion, it attracts a like experience. As long as humans continue to misunderstand the nature of the emotional system and its modern constraints, they will continue to live with unintentional, but very real circumstances. Such a reality will mirror the contents of mind. It will either rejoice and celebrate with successful beliefs, or it will painfully reflect the problems of limited beliefs. Before humans can truly begin to explore this creative power, they must understand the nature of the feeling system. For if it is not working toward human intention, it will be working against everything but selfpreservation. This major problem lies in the realm of mind. It all hinges upon the mind's contents, the belief systems chosen and housed therein.
There are changes occurring in the political/economic realm that appear to be altering the mindset of victim-hood. However, it seems that some of these changes lack the necessary amount of compassion for those who are most affected by these "changes" and without such, there can never be true growth.

We know now that humans each have unlimited freedom to choose the contents of their mind. We know that the mind is self-designed to create an accurate portrait of the world. We know that mind is a storehouse of information drawn upon for life's need-meeting challenges. We also know that certain external ideas can be chosen inadvertently, that stifle self expression, ignore individual need fulfillment and limit life to the choices
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of others. We know now that the mind can become frozen rather than the intended fluid state of continuous self-development.
QUESTION: On the presumption that we can and do create our own reality, is it also possible to create the reality of others without their acquiesce. I would presume not and would further presume that the ability to do so would only be in place by mutual agreement and as a consequence of a non-awareness of true human potential. Would this be so?

We also know that the spirit has encoded the body with feelings to identify beliefs and to distinguish those that work from those that do not. We know that the feelings signal these imbalances so that they can be acted upon with corrective responses. We know now that if the mind doesn't make the needed changes, the body will do whatever is necessary to preserve itself, through fight or flight responses. We know that the need for self development is in direct conflict with the need for self-preservation. We also know now that for this reason, humans are no longer attuned to the emotional feedback system the way "The Creator" intended.
It is not just enough to survive. There has to be an emotional investment made toward spiritual growth. Our worldly institutions perceive such an idea as a threat for it shifts the perception of control from outside ourselves to within and to appreciation of our true nature.

We are beginning to understand how the mind as converter, draws to us those events which our thoughts and beliefs design . We are beginning to understand that emotion is the energy which carries thought into physical reality. In any individual's life, there will be a percentage of negative emotion that directly corresponds to the percentage of his or her destructive beliefs. Likewise that same percentage of unpleasant experiences will be attracted into the life of the individual. As long as the emotional signal is not allowed to do its communicative job, its creative power keeps humans trapped within a base level of existence a good percentage of their life.
The bad news is: We create our own reality. The good news is: We create our own reality. By our belief systems, we are entrapped and by our innate and natural belief systems, we can set ourselves free.

In order to gain control at a higher level than base self-preservation, the human task is threefold: 1) Humans must learn how to clearly interpret the
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feeling signals; 2) Humans must learn how to avoid inappropriate selfpreservationary responses; and 3) Humans must learn how to actively choose the spiritually intended corrective response. Then, and only then, will the feedback system of human emotion be allowed to impart its spiritual wisdom. Only then can humans be restored their birthright of all six senses. Only then will humans be re-placed upon their intended evolutionary path. Only then can humans begin to be fully human.
Here is the essence of the Lessons and the goal of their intent. It requires a "reprogramming" of the way we look at our own true nature. It requires a stretching of our imposed envelope. It is a risk only in the sense that we will begin to think in expanding ways and evolve in a world that offers little support during our individual time of growth. But once we can put the outside world's limitations aside, we will discover the strength that comes from the primary source of All That Is.

The Interpretation of Emotional Signals There are a few critical understandings necessary for accurate interpretation of feeling signals. First, that feeling signals always identify contents of mind which are not successful at meeting human needs in the immediate situation. This appears to be a straightforward statement, but truly grasping it and acting upon it will require tenacity and commitment. For there are an incredible number of well established beliefs that are never even examined, since they are completely accepted as fact. Many of them severely limit the choice of need-fulfillment activities. In fact, many of the most cherished religious dictates (with their misconceptions regarding man's evil nature) do just that.
One that comes to mind is the suggestion that we are all born sinners (flawed, in other words) and are doomed to eternal punishment if not baptized, circumcised or whatever, and equally punished if we foul up in the course of living our lives in this physical environment. Imagine a parent putting a child under that kind of pressure from birth. "Mess up, kid, and you're grounded until legal adulthood and beyond! Oh, by the way, you're basically no good to begin with.

While feelings cry out that "the emperor is naked" the beliefs continue to present him as adorned in his royal robes. At present, beliefs are given supremacy. For there is a steadfast belief within Mass Consciousness that ration and emotion are opposing forces. It is common "knowledge" that
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emotion has no place within a modern reasonable mind. But we know now that ration and passion operate in concert and that one without the other is severely handicapped. All the logic in the world cannot accurately judge the contents of mind without the emotional signal of spiritual intention. Until the role of feelings, as well as the spiritual needs themselves, are well known this will continue.
In a dualistic world, we are conditioned to choose between two opposites instead of considering that both might be essential for balance. Imagine having to decide which was more valuable to us, our left hand or our right, our hands or our feet. Inner guidance (emotion) may have value for no other reason than its singularity and pureness of source. Outside guidance (beliefs) are often more accepted than considered and most of them are planted in us before the age of reason, but many are later rejected on an emotional level.There is nothing wrong with the concept of "beliefs". The point is whether they are imposed from without or discovered within.

Humans have indeed been quite arrogant in their "logical" assumptions and insistence that man-made dictates can somehow overrule those of The Creator. Although the individual and social pain continually points out these errors, this ignorance continues. The logical flaw is the idea that external dictates can ever overrule internal ones.
Again, too often religious personalities and institutions give us their respective interpretations as to what "The Creator" wants. This suggests that the almighty "Creator" doesn't have the wherewithal to communicate to us directly but has to have a bureaucracy in place to spoon feed us into a state of spiritual enlightenment.

Validity and Judgment Of Knowledge To be very clear upon the nature of internal and external dictates, perhaps a discussion of epistemology, (the study of knowledge), is in order. It is critical that humans understand the difference between two types of knowledge. First, there is natural knowledge which is a universal objective, physical fact. This category includes the spiritual wisdom, and factual information about the nature of man and the universe. This type of knowledge is permanent and unchanging in its validity. This type of knowledge exists within the consciousness of All That Is, it is evident in the creation, and is encoded
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within the human body. This type of knowledge is an internal dictate.

This is the knowledge we tap into, I presume, when we meditate or make contact through some form with the All That Is. It enables us to have spiritual insights into our particular problems and challenges, or comforts us in time of need.

Second, is man-made or cultural knowledge which is subjective, local, consensual and subject to change. This type of knowledge exists within the Mind Of Man.It is an external dictate . Cultural knowledge is not true, valid or real in a universal sense; it is relative, as time is relative. But cultural knowledge is very useful for humans to agree upon doing things in certain ways.
It is acceptable knowledge as long as it not only preserves our physical and mental well-being, but also creates an environment where we can naturally grow in these areas and also spiritually evolve.

For example, think of traffic patterns in most cities. It is quite handy that everyone knows to stop at a red light. Drivers share the knowledge that green lights mean to go, and that red lights mean to stop. All (noncolorblind) drivers know the physical difference between the colors red and green. This is natural, internal knowledge, universal among humans due to their visual sensory apparatus. But the fact that the green light means to go, is purely consensual and contingent upon learning. This is external, cultural knowledge. It is only by agreement that this meaning exists.
In England, where they drive on the left side of the road, the government decided to form a committee to study the process of switching to driving on the right side of the road, in order to comply with the driving patterns of most other countries. They decided to make the change in stages, starting with trucks. Is it wrong to drive on the left and right to drive on the right? That depends on which country you're in.

We know now that the emotional system feeds back information to balance body and mind. The mind holds both kinds of knowledge. Natural knowledge relates to body as cultural knowledge relates to mind. The emotional signals in effect serve to separate those aspects of cultural knowledge which conflict with natural knowledge. It also means that with the flexible nature of cultural knowledge, that some pieces can conflict with others. Such conflicts become particularly apparent as humans travel
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about operating within the many diverse cultures that now exist. (The experience of "cultural shock" results from such conflict). Knowledge that might apply in one place may be quite useless even detrimental, in another.
A country like the United States (and there is no other country particularly like this) is made up of many diverse cultures. Europe also has many cultural diversities, but in the age of nationalism, this led to much conflict. The consequence of emphasizing the negative aspects of the diversity of cultural knowledge, has too often resulted in physical and emotional suffering, not to mention out-and-out conflict. Natural knowledge does not suffer from such consequences when spirit is involved in making us aware of it. This is the difference between our inner wisdom and our outer information.

Belief can be placed in any kind of knowledge, but generally the difference between their natural and cultural essence remains unnoticed---except to the watchful eye of the emotional system. The reason these two types of knowledge are pointed out, is to impart the understanding that cultural knowledge is included in the flexibility and fluidity of the mind---not as enduring and "sacred" as natural knowledge.
Because cultural knowledge comes from outside of ourselves, it can be manipulated by the source; and beliefs can be instilled that allow the source of the knowledge to introduce an element of control. Natural knowledge includes an opportunity to exercise free will in a creative manner, with a feedback system that guides us in our spiritual evolution.

Human judgments abound regarding which cultural knowledge is the best, the moral, the Godly, the right way to think and act. But Spirit totally disregards such human judgments and wholly accepts all free choices. Indeed, free will is logically inconsistent with a judgmental God. Spirit "judges not" what humans choose to create as knowledge and belief. But it does judge whether or not those ideas meet human need.Natural dictate is the only legitimate judge and spiritual need fulfillment is the law upon which its decisions are based.
If societies placed more emphasis on "natural knowledge" than is placed on "cultural knowledge", there would be less need for societal controls and human relationships within such societies would be more harmonious and pleasant.

Human judgments must be cast aside for the feedback system to operate unimpeded. This new belief should be emblazoned upon the sky. The only
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true quality determination or judgment that can be placed upon any belief is the pronouncement of Spirit communication through the feeling system. It has been the relinquishment of power to external judges that has perpetuated manipulation by others, brutal self-preservationary acts and loss of personal freedom.
When we surrender our power to others, we surrender our lives and put them in the hands of those whose belief systems may be quite in contradiction to natural knowledge. If we surrender to Spirit, we retain our free will and are encouraged to create our own reality along spiritual guidelines. Is this latter not the quality we attribute to the noble among us?

Humans do not realize that they have free will to think whatever they want to, or to actively manage that responsibility. As a result, there is a tangle of both workable and destructive pieces of "knowledge" within any given individual. The most destructive beliefs are those which attempt to defy nature through dogged faith in ideologies which deny human needs. Less insidious but also destructive, are those cultural beliefs which conflict with one another. Conflicts can peacefully coexist as knowledge within the mind until an external situation arises in which they are called into the same context. But this peace is illusory, for in the meantime, they have a powerful influence upon the limits of thought, action and creation of life events.
I believe that as we grow in this awareness of "free will" and realize its compliment to our creative capacity and responsibility, we move away from outside restrictions in our thinking and become more comfortable with our inner guidance. This is a natural process and happens while we're hardly aware of the subtle changes going on in ourselves and the world around us. It happens while we're keeping our eyes on the prize and it's happening on this planet now.

For example, if a person believes himself to be good in certain of his beliefs, and evil in others, then he has conflicting directives through which his Will Energy will create the life events. He will have a mishmash of conflicting experiences, that will take him one step forward and two steps back. He will also be plagued with conflicting feelings that signal the presence of these beliefs, and lots of negative emotion when the intent to remove them is not carried out. As mentioned, this is very common.
Much of the uncomfortable feelings we have in our lives arise when we try to grow beyond our preprogrammed belief systems. All societies suffer from mental
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inertia because a belief system at rest, tends to stay at rest. Most of the members of the society devote a certain amount of energy toward maintaining the status quo. So the strength for growth has to come from an inner source.

If any of you recognize yourselves in this situation, and accept this, regardless of any feelings of inadequacy, or personal guilt, or tendencies to deny it, you have already taken a dramatic step forward. And each step will be rewarded by your own emotional system with feelings of joy. Acceptance , is the first step, then, of course, to commit to a process of purging all such beliefs from the system. It is critical to sort through the contents of mind and separate the wheat from the chaff.
Some of this "sorting" can be done with more ease than we suspect. We open ourselves to signals from our surroundings each time we examine a new principle or belief. Ever buy a new or used car and suddenly begin to notice how many other cars of this make you see on the road? Our attention becomes attuned to a new belief and examples of its merit crop up all over the place. Eventually, the old "car" and the old "belief" are just memories we recognize occasionally.

You will have the innate feeling guide to help you. This is the gift of the emotional signal. You will also have ration(ality) to help you see the cause and effect relationship between useless beliefs and outcomes, so that you can discard them. Ration(ality) will also identify conflicting but related beliefs and help you assemble them all into one over-arching, spiritually intended belief upon which you can successfully operate. But without the fundamental understanding and respect of emotion's judgmental function, its message is surely lost and ration(ality) is left to run circles around itself. Beliefs As Gems and Slivers It is essential to understand that every painful problem boils down to belief systems, pieces of knowledge that drive thoughts and actions. There is no evil force, there is no need for suffering, there is no karmic explanation necessary for when bad things happen to good people.It is all brought about by belief. Thoughts empowered by emotion create events. You get what you concentrate upon ---there is no other accurate explanation.
Up to this point, this is probably the most important paragraph in the Lessons. It nails down the essence of our ability to create our own reality and it eliminates much of the provincial wisdom of the day and the destructive consequences.
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The only thing that stands between the truly desired events and what actually does occur, are the conflicting ideas within the realm of mind. This is why the rational examination and housekeeping of the beliefs is an essential commitment. At this point, it may be useful to coin terms for those beliefs which are productive and good for the spirit and those that frustrate it.
This is why we all don't go out and walk on water, or heal the sick, or multiply loaves and fishes. We may be convinced that such is within our grasp to do so, but our early programming and current collective mindset set up an ongoing "conflict" that thwarts our Spirit-given potential.

The negative debilitating beliefs act as slivers within the system, festering until they are removed. They make their presence known through emotional pain.Slivers are those beliefs which deny human need, or those that conflict with each other. Slivers are the necessary risk that comes with the benefits of the free mind.
Had we not been created with a "free mind", we would simply be programmed computers, capable of carrying out any directed task but lacking the ability to expand our horizons. Our existence would be that of limited bliss---sort of the state we are told we enter after physical life ends, provided we were "good". Because we are more than "programmed computers", we can and do experience emotional pain as a part of our growth process, but eventually we will be capable of minimizing this as we learn the pleasure of exercising our true, divinely instilled nature.

The other category defines the positive, productive, creative tools which facilitate human spirit and successfully meet needs. These are the gems. They are to be creatively mined, safeguarded, shared, polished and occasionally, re-cut. Creating and accumulating gems is the very reason for mind's function as a receptacle. Gems are identified by the successes they bring and the spiritual validation of pleasurable feelings. All facts within the category of natural knowledge are gems. But anything goes within cultural knowledge, the mind cares not what you put into it. The gems are those ideas that do not conflict with spiritual, natural knowledge. Or they are the local consensual knowledge which are meant to undergo continuous refinement.
You might even say that these "Lessons" are gems because they are undergoing "continuous refinement". They are like foundation blocks upon which to erect
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our particular states of expansion. Each of us is building our "house" if you will, designing it, creating it with those materials we elect to attract and adding additional rooms as our consciousness expands.

Slivers can be touted as grand gems within the mind of man---and many are. As the world exists today, there are wonderful, diverse gems of various cultures that are extremely successful at meeting some of the human needs. But there are also many conflicting and unnecessary slivers, often embraced as part of a package, that thwart or deny other human needs. There are then quite elaborate explanations and rituals devised to vent or vilify the emotional frustration resulting from the inadequacies within these packaged doctrines. (We will later be discussing the individual and social symptoms at length).
Although not specifically described above, no doubt many of these "slivers" are elements of control. After all, you can't maintain a "package" without the bindings that keep the outer wrap in place. Our institutions (political, religious, economic) maintain a constant vigil against a deterioration of our "wrappings".

The task now is for each individual to separate the slivers from the gems within their own life and to make the necessary external contributions to mass consciousness The latter will be the optimal way to use the selfpreservationary response. As slivers are discarded within individuals, they will then make active responses in an effort to remove them from social systems. Political action, negotiation, persuasion, conflict resolution, even simple communication are examples of such responses. As the slivers are removed, freedoms are gained. The self-preservation is then a healthy one because it preserves spiritual need, not slivers. When the need for freedom and control is validated, respected, and accommodated, the spirit sings its approval.
It's always amazing how the light from a single candle can spread light throughout an entirely dark room. It would suggest that the negatives in a society would have little success in withstanding the spirit influences for very long. That said, there is still the difficulty in lighting the candle when darkness has become something we're so used to experiencing.

It is not necessary to reinvent civilization simply to remove the obstacles that are presently imbedded. As this process unfolds, there will be a renaissance within individuals and within societies. Self preservationary
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responses will give way to developmental and expressive actions. As the spirit achieves its order, there will be a reacquaintance with many "latent" human potentials and abilities.
The first area of change will be noticed within ourselves and as our perspective begins to shift, we will tend to see instances of like-kind in our surroundings. Those around us who are not experiencing this "shift", will find more of a problem in relating to us in the present than they did in the past. Consequently, our lives will change in more ways than we expect.

This is the task at hand. If it sounds simple, that's because it is. But it does require a commitment through the acceptance of judgment only as deemed by spirit---not by man. (This was the central message of Christ, to "judge not"). This commitment to spiritual intent will ensure the restoration of Grace that has been given humans by All That Is. The function of the emotional feedback system is to assist each individual in the process. The feelings---when fully understood---shall be the inner guide. If the commitment is made to honor this internal judge, above all others, our discussion can continue.
Why would it seem so difficult to trust that which we are the closest to, the spiritual nature of our being? Could it be that we fear what we know the least about? How far do we need to travel, in physical terms, to make that reconnection? Not far at all. Yet, if that journey were a thousand miles, we would know that it must begin with a single step.

The Effect of Mind Upon Emotional Signals This is not to chastise humans for their continued, but unnecessary, suffering. It is merely to highlight the problem so that it can be corrected. For simply listening to and following feelings is not quite enough. There still exists the interference factor of mind, and its effects must be internalized as well.
It would be well to keep this first paragraph in mind as we read further. Also, to keep in mind, is the apparent intent of this source, which is to free us from our mental shackles and help us to soar.

Recall that the system compares internal and external worlds (self and
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non-self). This means that essentially, it compares the mind, which is the portrait of the outside world (the not-self), with the body which is the vehicle of Spirit (the self). The goal of this system is to ensure that the portrait of mind is an adequate enough representative of the external world, so that spiritual needs can be met.
The primary point and purpose in taking on a physical existence is to assist us in the acquisition of those experiences which will enhance our spiritual growth and aid us in understanding our true spiritual potential.

The problem with interpretation of emotional signals to a modern human, is that the mind is neither here nor there, but it is also both here and there. The mind is both internal and external. It is not only the internal portrait of reality, it is also the external Mind Of Man---the collection of gems and slivers that are handed down as knowledge, tradition and truth. (The mind has become so external, in fact, that children are indoctrinated with lifelong beliefs from the Mind of Man before they reach the age of ten years).
There is a particular religious order which brags that "if you give us your children to the age of seven, they are ours." It suggests that a child can be most easily programmed up to the age of reason and, thereafter, reason will defend the foundational knowledge previously planted in his/her mind.

But to the physical defense system, the mind is definitely part of the internal realm of self, and it treats it as such. Thus, it seeks to preserve itself, and therefore any contents within the mind will be defended just as it defends the cells and organs of the body. Such defense is the exact opposite of the spiritual goal of mind which is to continuously develop, adapt and refine itself in accordance with external environmental change. The emotional signals of pleasure and pain then give confusing signals, since there is no clear boundary between internal and external realms, between mind and body. It gives one set of signals for two sets of circumstances.
Such, in fact, is a sort of mental immune system, fighting against those ideas which would be considered threatening to the pre-established status quo. But the physical immune system preserves the physical body so that the "Spiritual Goal of Mind" can have an environment to achieve its goal of "continuous development.

The only solution to this problem is for humans to actively make this internal/external distinction themselves. Then, and only then, can they
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reclaim the understanding of the signals. This can be done in one of two ways.
which will follow shortly.

Mind & Spirit: The Twin Selves The first, and perhaps the easiest, is to maintain a clear distinction between the realm of spirit and the realm of mind. This is why such emphasis was placed upon the difference between them in Lessons Alpha 1 & Alpha 2. In this sense, spirit is synonymous with body. If a clear understanding is achieved, then emotional signals that spring from the spiritual realm (the inside) will be interpreted in one way, and those from the mental realm (the outside) in another. This will restore the accurate interpretation of the signals.
This is what is apparently meant from the bible admonition to "know thy inner self".

The other way is to conceptually divide the internal realm (the body, "the self") into two sections: an inside self and an outside self. For within the defense system's self definition, there now exist Twin Selves, that correspond to spirit and mind. They are the Genetic Self and the Cultural Self, respectively. They also correspond to natural and cultural knowledge. The Genetic Self---like spirit---includes all innate personality dispositions, physiological functions, needs, instincts, intellectual aptitudes, raw talents and everything else biologically inherent in the individual.The goal of the genetic Self is to self preserve. It is the intended beneficiary of the selfdefense system.
Again, if the Spirit is to function within the physical, it must have a haven to do so and a system that keeps this "haven" from breaking down during that period of time the Spirit elects to remain in the physical state.

In contrast, the Cultural Self---as mind---is the collection of mental tools, language, beliefs, attitudes, memories and skills that are learned through experience. The goal of the Cultural Self is to self-develop. The opposing goals of the Twin Selves, will distinctly separate them. This understanding will allowaccurate interpretation of two distinct types of emotional signals, even though the defense system only has one.
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By connecting with our "inner selves"', we can become aware of the difference between what is Universally/Spiritually true and what we have been programmed to believe is "true". The former will lead us toward hope, creativity and self-assurance; while the latter has led us toward fear, insecurity and a victimized mindset.

Remember, all aspects of self will elicit the self- preservationary emotional signal, if a need is not met. But using this rational interpretation, each feeling can be traced to its source, and acted upon accordingly.There will be distinctly different choices for signals from each of the Twin Selves.
What we will find ourselves doing, presumably, is letting our inner feelings guide us toward those actions that are meant to evolve us Spiritually, and away from those actions which do the opposite.

In effect, the feedback system now signals balance between each aspect of self. It compares the Genetic Self to the Cultural Self and if the Cultural Self does not accurately reflect the Genetic Self, the painful signal sounds. Or, it can be thought of as comparing spirit and mind, or internal and external worlds. The feedback cycle continues as it always has. But with the rational distinction made between these two aspects of self, humans can compensate for the simplistic nature of the defense system. Although it only has one signal, humans can divide it and recognize that it has two meanings.
An English professor wrote the words, "Woman without her man is nothing" on the blackboard and directed the students to punctuate it correctly. The man wrote: "Woman, without her man, is nothing." The woman wrote: "Woman, without her, man is nothing." The information we see and hear, can have different meanings to each of us, depending upon our perspective. As our perspective broadens, so does the meaning of our existence.

If the signal springs from the contents of mind, or Cultural Self, then a self-developmental act is in order. (Quite often, even the simple recognition that the belief was learned, communicates that mind is the source). Or on the other hand, if the signal springs from spirit, or the Genetic self, then a self-preservationary correction is needed. This is a relatively easy distinction to make, once it is known how necessary it is. Later, there will be an even easier way to make this distinction, but for now this division between aspects of self (or between spirit and mind, if you prefer) will suffice.
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In most of our conscious activity during the day, our minds are preoccupied with worldly decisions and reflections of those things immediately around us. It is only in our quieter moments, when we are 'off guard' so to speak, that the valuable insights to a situation seep into our consciousness. To set aside a particular time and place for the quieting of the mind would appear to be a key to opening this most important door to our Higher Selves.

The Effect Of Mind Upon Motivational Responses With the tool of the Twin Selves it will be quite natural to accurately interpret emotional signals. It will be readily apparent which aspect of self needs the corrective attention. But there will still be only one set of hardwired responses to act upon the two different spiritual directives. Recall that the feedback system compares internal and external worlds to signal imbalances. Whether it be an internal mental sliver, or an external cultural restriction, both will signal a bad feeling and motivate a corrective response. The correction will fall into one of two possible arenas.
There is no question that there will be a signal to make a correction in a view or an action. The system for initiating that signal in clearly in place. The process only requires a commitment to listening with inner detection.

The action can either change the internal realm (the self), or it can change the external world in some way.The imbalance will always be an obstacle of some sort to need-meeting efforts. We just learned that for accurate interpretation of the signal, the mind is considered in the outside realm. But in the response part of the cycle, the mind must be thought of as the inside realm. For mental changes can only be made within the mind; the spirit (the other inhabitant of the internal realm) is unchangeable. External changes are effected to the outside world, generally in responses of approach, fight, or flight.
Herein lies the significance of free will and our ability to create our own reality. We exercise these qualities with our "minds" and are most in control when we are in a state of action within versus reaction to the "outside world".

Originally, external responses were all that was needed. Therefore, the body was limited in its hardwired responses. But with the advent of mind, came the necessity for a new type of response. Although it is not hardwired, it is easily within reach through rational choice. For mind not only brought the problem, it brought the solution.
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Once we can develop the faith that our problems and their solutions are interlinked, we can move more quickly to the resolution of those problems. We can stop regarding ourselves simply as victims of outside circumstances but instead the sculptors of our life experiences.

The Right Response Indeed, since the advent of culture, there has been yet another response that humans often intuitively choose instead of the fight and flight selfpreservationary responses--- a self-developmental response. This is a postmind response that seeks an internal change. This response actively revises the portrait of reality to accommodate new external conditions. It is a mental shift, resulting in a purposeful addition to the individual mind.
The consciousness of human mind is an evolving state, as is the quality of All That Is. Being its image and likeness, human beings can elect to expand to other alternatives which hold the promise of higher development.

We shall call this response "The Right Response." It can be likened to the righting of a sailboat that has listed too far port or starboard. One cannot always fight or take flight from winds of change, but one can always right oneself. This is the internal corrective response, wherein a change occurs within the realm of mind. The right response is, in effect, a learning experience. It is an outgrowth of human mind, and a very necessary one at that.
Using the analogy of the "sailboat", we can consider the "right" response as a course correction which we can elect to make when we receive the feedback feelings which are telling us that we are off our course from where Spirit is trying to steer us. Each of us is equipped with a compass to keep our individual ship of destiny on course. This compass is anchored in Spirit and is an essential part of our being.

Each addition or revision of a mental tool, a belief, idea or piece of knowledge is this right response. Like the fight and flight responses, the right response directly follows emotional arousal when the self is involved (in this case, the Cultural Self or the mind). The term also has meaning in that an internal shift is often the optimal, moral, responsible, and therefore the "right" corrective choice.
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There is a form of guidance going on here. It involves putting ourselves in the place of someone else and exercising compassion, possibly. It might involve the practicing of that "Golden Rule" of relating to another as you would have them relate to you.

The root of most human problems lies in the fact that the role and parameters of mind are not considered within the physical defense system. Anything taken into the mind, becomes associated with the self concept and the tools of self preservation. So although a self developmental response is needed, only self-preservationary responses are motivated. Making a right response is exactly the opposite of the motivational impulse, which seeks only to self-preserve.Thus, the reactions of body negate the very spiritual intentions they seek to preserve.
The very act of "fighting" is an action that puts the body in jeopardy. Flight exercises an act of fear and not just limitation but is withdrawal physically and mentally. A response to a situation that reflects a higher form of guidance can transcend both fight and flight consequences and lift the individual into a higher state of being.

For this reason, with the birth of mind, came a corresponding relationship born between learning and pain. Whenever a learning experience is in order, it will signal the threat of self-preservation through pain. This pain can range from mild, almost imperceptible, anxiety to gripping fear. The more of the self concept invested in the limitation, the more powerful the feeling.
So long as we consider ourselves little more than evolved animal life, we will be inclined to perform as such. However, once we accept the fact that we are truly spirit beings operating in a physical/mental environment, we can feel more comfortable in choosing alternatives that reflect a higher state of consciousness.

It should be completely accepted that a small amount of pain will accompany every discovery of the fact that mind needs some fine-tuning. But with automatic responses, the motivation instead is to escape it, to deny it, and defend the parameters of present knowledge. A perfectly human response, yet completely devoid of spiritual intention. This is how the fluidity of mind becomes stifled and limited to certain versions as dictated by external standards. This explains how slivers in both individual minds and The Mind Of Man are allowed to remain, and are actively
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defended, often to the death.

Those moments of emotional pain, a feeling that what is accepted, proper conduct is not quite right, are the signals which must be examined and listened to, regardless of the "standards" one is expected to comply with. For example, the refusal to take another human life when expected to, would be acting out a belief which suggests current accepted practices are in conflict with a higher spiritual qualities.

This insight is the major way to accomplish the number two task at hand, learning how to avoid self-preservationary responses when they are inappropriate. A small amount of pain is perfectly bearable, even energizing, particularly if the signal is understood while the problem is still small. And the pain should be acknowledged as an indicator of a sliver, or the need to polish or re-cut a gem. Its intensity will be in direct proportion to the lack. With this strategy, the Right Response can be immediately effected and the problem solved. Instead, caveman-like avoidant responses happen, preventing the needed change, and become accepted as an inevitable part of human nature. Certain social codes and assumptions then pop up which perpetuate the problem.
We know these "slivers" as pangs of conscience. They draw the attention of mind to that of a feeling. They guide us to reconsider our thoughts and actions. If we feel totally comfortable with this mild form of guidance, we should act accordingly.

For example, human error has become something to be ashamed of and avoided at all costs. This is contrary to the learning cycle. For it is through the feedback of pain and pleasure that all learning occurs. Mistakes should be greeted with compassion to self and others who make them. They are the simple message that the portrait of reality does not yet match the requirements to meet an adequate level of the human need in any given external situation. Instead of getting out the paints and making revisions, humans often seek to hide the inadequacies and pretend to be perfect. Punishment is often given for mistakes, both to self and others, and this is quite backward. Compassionate guidance should be offered to add the missing knowledge, belief or skill. Each such addition will be rewarded by positive feelings.
Misdirected actions are little more than exercises of poor judgment. Such actions
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are often based upon basic insecurities resulting from a lack of knowledge of alternative actions. Punishment is the most basic form of corrective action. It is more traditional than practical. It also tends to relieve the frustrations of the punisher which are, in turn, based on a lack of knowledge.

Such pain that accompanies learning should be welcomed and acted upon with right responses as soon as the feelings are detectable. This is an easy task once humans know the difference between thoughts and feelings, and the parameters and goals of spirit and mind. A concept such as "growing pains" should be utilized in which humans realize that without pain there is no growth. Or as the bodybuilders say: "No pain, no gain".
Pain, in any form, should be considered a positive educational tool, an indication of a need for a course correction. We need not punish the ship to alter its course. We need only to develop the equipment to guide it safely and gently through the threatening waters of life.

This is not to say that humans should endure higher levels of pain than this small feeling of personal anxiety we now can call a growing pain. Nor is this to say that making this right response will always be the spiritually intended corrective action. Indeed, there are still very valid reasons for both fight and flight responses-but only under certain conditions and at certain times. We will be discussing these conditions at length, but first, we turn to the result of these automatic avoidances, which we shall call emotional boundaries.
It need not be a case of either/or (fight & flight versus right and light actions). The guidance given here is meant to expand our thinking with greater alternatives, not simply replace one attitude with its opposite.

Emotional Boundaries Humans have lived for many thousands of years without understanding their own nature. Thus, their emotional system has worked against them in many ways. Most destructive has been the tendency to preserve, when change is spiritually desired. Self preservation and conservatism is always appropriate when needs of the spirit are at issue. But it is never appropriate in the realm of mind. Yet, one merely needs to look around and one can see abundant evidence of incredible efforts to defend cultural knowledge. Everywhere, and in every time, one can witness passionate
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efforts to conserve that which is actually personally limiting. Such efforts appear externally as acts of communication, persuasion, political activism, violence, and even war, that seek to narrow the freedoms of others in order to validate the cultural choices of some.
There are 'Fundamentalists' in most realms, not just the religious. It is not that this attitude is essentially wrong or bad, it is that without a broader understanding of our spiritual nature, many retreat to the limits of belief that were imposed in formative years - along with the "fear" doctrine that dictates maintenance of the status quo.

For example, nearly every religion espouses to be the one true word of God and that all others are misguided at best and evil at worst. Historical colonialism evidences how some groups exert their power over others and force their choices upon them. The holocaust was an extreme example of cultural ideology enforced as natural law. Yet, in each of these cases, many felt passionate in their beliefs and emotionally empowered to live by them and carry our their dictates. These feelings seemingly guided them to amoral even heinous, actions. This is when feelings can be ineffective behavioral guides.
Although 'colonialism' of the 18th and 19th century appears to have waned, it, in fact, has simply changed form. New economic treaties have begun to spread a financial net throughout the planet. Wealthy nations are creating spheres of influence while keeping the planet's population in a greater state of dependence through the instituting of 'easy credit' and 'mass consumption'. Through getting people into a perpetual state of personal debt, control automatically follows.

But this is due to a perversion of the natural system. These are those very self-preservationary actions that directly conflict with spiritual intention. These are actions that should have been self-developmental, not preservationary. These are actions that spring from passion without ration. Such emotions are signaling that the contents of mind are not adequate and should be changed. They signal that a boundary of the mind has been reached, which needs expansion for spiritual expression. Instead, this limitation becomes a defensible boundary of self, and the actions then seek to carefully maintain these boundaries as if they are sacred aspects of self.
There has to be some type of litmus test that alerts us when we are floundering in the "self-preservationary" state, that helps us to make the course correction necessary to get us back on track toward spiritual evolution. It might be when
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the collective conscience begins to feel less than totally positive about the future, or when the examples of our appointed or elected leaders are such that we feel uncomfortable with them.

These are actually boundaries of mind, but since they are signaled only by emotion, we call them emotional boundaries . It is crucial to understand the tendency to protect and maintain emotional boundaries. It is equally crucial to resist the temptation to do so. It is an easy out, for defending one's ignorance is simpler and requires less effort than actually effecting the Right Response.
"It says in the bible". As long as we maintain the security of our emotional wombs, we can not expand our potential. Just as nature requires physical birth at a particular point of development and a mother bird literally pushes its young from the nest, so we can only find true fulfillment in passing beyond the edges of our emotional envelope. This requires a willingness to take risk. The young take risks because they feel they are immortal. The old take risks because they are sure that they have little to lose.

The concept of emotional boundaries should become a permanent fixture within each individual mind. The boundaries of self should be continuously expanded---never defended. On the other hand, there should be compassion and respect for the boundaries of others to the degree that many diverse choices and levels of personal growth can coexist. But there should never again be the mistake that boundaries of mind should be preserved, nor that the boundaries of some are the correct boundaries for all. The human mind is in a constant state of evolution, as is the Mind Of Man. And this is as it should be in the highest sense. For to limit the expansion of mind is to frustrate the spirit and stymie the expansion of All That Is.
No religious, political, economic or social system came into being out of the mind that defended the status quo. No great work of art, music or sculpture was achieved by someone who was satisfied with that which already existed. It was only after these radical concepts became the norm, that they ended up being defended by organizations and lost the essence of spirit. I believe it was Pythagoras who said, "Organization is the death of an idea".

On the other hand, if the emotional boundary is one due to a spiritual dictate or need relating to self expression, rather than a mental belief relating to self development, then it is a boundary that should be
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maintained and protected. These are the healthy boundaries of self. These are the boundaries of Spirit, necessary for the expansion of All That Is. These are the minimum spiritual requirements below which humans cannot dip without serious repercussions. Defending them is true self preservation, as the spirit intends.
If our values are spiritually based, we need not and should not sacrifice them for a new idea, unless we are confident that the "idea" will be a compliment and boon to the "spiritual" principle.

But the majority of requirements and limitations that erect defensible boundaries exist in the realm of mind. These should be avoided so that the continuous expansion desired by spirit can be attained. For true and lasting fulfillment, development, and expression ,the emotional boundaries of mind should be as vigorously avoided as the emotional boundaries of spirit are to be reinforced.
Probably the most dangerous term in any language is "ism", for once a concept has been labeled with that description, it has become defined and defended with moral authority by the very institutions whose "moral authority" is in a state of decline.

With the understandings of the pitfalls to the emotional system, as well as their corrections, we can now proceed to discuss the number 3 task of reclaiming the emotional sense. This is how to go about choosing the appropriate responses to each of the emotional signals.

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Section Beta Lesson Two: The Emotional Behavior of Humanity Emotional Motivation Throughout human history, despite many sage offerings, the mystery of human behavior remains just that. What motivation could possibly underlie human behavior and explain the many differences as well as the similarities? What could motivate the orderly, cooperative, altruistic and moral behavior, as well as the chaotic, competitive, heinous and the evil acts of humans? Why humans do what they do seems unfathomable. This is particularly true if one believes humans to be a good and capable lot.
Maybe our problem is how we define the term 'good and capable', or rather why we should presume that it is natural and normal for humans to arrive at this state, without straying from "the path" in the process of learning the value of being in this state. Nothing in our environment is created in a perfect form. Not the clothes, the jewelry, the vehicles we drive, the children we raise. Each starts with raw, unrefined material and ends up being the consequence of much human effort.

We now have certain understandings that hint at the truth. So we shall go straight to the heart of the matter.All human behavior springs from emotional motivation.
"emotional motivation" ...These two words describe energy and direction. Both are essential ingredients of any type of progression.

The "good" behavior flows from spiritual intention. It is purposeful in pursuit of self-development and expression. It utilizes all human faculties for their intended purpose. The "bad" behavior is absent of spiritual intention, except that of basic self-preservation. It is undertaken without utilization of human ration. It is the by-product of the misunderstandings of the emotional feedback system. It is incidental, if not accidental.
One of the great puzzles is how people who pride themselves on their state of moral superiority, usually founded on attendance at a religious service with consistent regularity, can still indulge in behavior that contradicts "spiritual intention". The key might just lie in the word "pride", a sliver to the Mind of Man.

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If each and every human act is examined within the framework of understanding that these Lessons impart, it shall become apparent that emotion is at the very core. It will be fairly obvious that humans approach that which brings pleasure, and avoid that which brings pain. Of course, the avoidance of pain has become the dominant motivator since very few countries even claim to afford humans the right to the "pursuit of happiness". Avoidance of pain is at the root of every act that takes humans from their intended course, it is at the root of every evil act. It can be extremely subtle in avoidant self-deception, or it can explode upon the world in atomic rage---hardly an application of a rational selfpreservationary strategy.
Why do we indulge in and support military action against another group. We usually act out of fear of losing something which would cause us discomfort or "pain". It might be oil or real estate. It can even be abstract things like selfimage. Whatever it turns out to be, it is it usually based on the fear of loss, which we feel emotionally, if not physically.

It is merely due to the lack of rational interpretation and rational response to the emotional signal that self-preservation has become the norm. With this understanding, humans can examine their own behavior, identify the motivational feelings, and trace them back to the gems and slivers upon which they operate. They can readily see which behaviors were motivated by self-development and expression, or those that were motivated by selfpreservation. This is rational use of the emotional feedback. This is utilization of the undiscovered sixth sense. This is livingon purpose, in spiritual intention.
The development of our "sixth sense" would seem to be directly related to our "feelings". As we become more aware of the value of this capacity, we begin to see more harmony in our lives, more coordination in our relationships and activities. It can be subtle at first, but it eventually becomes more apparent, until it becomes the norm versus the exception.

Now is the time for humans to successfully live on purpose. Until now there has been relative darkness. The light that shines the way is human feeling. But in order for humans to fully embrace this newfound ability, there are further clarifications necessary. For it has become habitual to act within the system in ways that grossly misuse it. And there are many slivers within Mass Consciousness that accept, even promote such
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misuses. The solutions to problems inherent in human cultures can only come from within individuals as they remove the source from their own lives, inside and out. So the individual subtleties of emotion that humans face must now be examined.
This is the point of these Lessons, to examine a state of being, to define its flaws and to move toward corrective action. In the end, it is only a shift in perception that should result in growth in a more rewarding direction.

The subtleties yet to be discussed lie in the corrective response part of the feedback cycle, the behavior itself. This is where the rubber hits the road. Right use of emotional feedback can provide lifelong, moment-to moment spiritual guidance. This means that certain feelings will suggest certain behaviors. But the benefits of such guidance are contingent upon effecting the optimal corrective response. For optimal corrective responses are within spiritual intention, and all others are merely self-preservationary. Wrong use of the system is abundantly evident in certain "evil" motivations. It's easy to see how angry violent behaviors can wreak havoc. But some detrimental human motivational habits are well disguised. To expose them, we now turn to the responses as they operate in the modern world.
It would be possible to become as adept at living in a spiritually guided manner as we who drive have become adept at moving about from point to point in a vehicle, without doing harm to those around us and achieving our point of intention without incident.

Recall that all corrective responses can be made to either the internal or external realms. An internal change is applied to the mental landscape. An external change is a behavior acted upon the external world, the physical or social landscape. The response choice is how humans effect evolution. Internal changes are how humans acquire culture. It is how they selfdevelop, learn and adapt to their world. External changes are how humans create culture and express their internal contributions in the external world. Certain choices will be optimal and empowering, others will be detrimental, causing individual and social chaos and slides from the intended evolutionary tract.
Again, I would apply the metaphor of operating a vehicle in a safe and intelligent fashion. In fact, not only do humans keep refining the vehicle but
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expanding our technology and aiming at more distant points in our environment. Where we commit errors, we self-correct our behavior, in most cases. Our intent is always to make ourselves more safe and surviving in order to keep living and evolving.

Mistakes of response choice will create further symptomatic pain. This is the spirit's way of calling attention to mistaken choices of action and beliefs. We will now discuss the uses and abuses of all responses in both internal and external realms.

The Approach Responses Right & Light The approach responses naturally follow positive emotional signals and are very intuitive. It is quite natural to approach that which feels good, to reinforce those ideas and strategies that satisfy the spirit. It is inherently rewarding to promote situations and relationships that are spiritually fulfilling. All optimal approach responses result in self-development and expression, as the spirit intends for them to be.
There was an expression out of California some years ago that went: "If it feels good, do it!" Moralists thought it was just a reflection of the loose life style of the times. In some ways, I suppose it was, but on a deeper level, it reflects the above paragraph as a guideline to our higher development.

Approach responses can also be in answer to painful, negative emotions. In a modern world, approach responses are often preferable to the selfpreservationary avoidant responses which are hardwired. The approach responses are about acceptance. What they have in common is that each is an open approach in acceptance of a situation without resistance. Approach responses are the path of least resistance. There are two basic approaches, they are the Right and Light Responses.
There are significant points in the history of mankind when the act of nonresistance has had a greater impact for good than military action and violence has ever had. These were moments when a portion of mankind was at its finest.

We have already introduced the Right Response. These are selfdevelopmental approach responses that are effected by the internal mental realm. Most Right Responses are approach responses---all adaptive ones are. This is when current ideas, skills and strategies are upgraded to provide maximum need fulfillment. Self development is learning, but only
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learning in ways that promote the needs of the spirit.

What we learn from actions that result in positive "self develop" can and does become a part of our hard wiring, to the point that the course of our lives becomes both smoother and broader.

Although the Right Response is very functional and optimal in many cases, as with any response, it can also be abused. But basically, the only mistake that can be made with the Right Response results from the misinterpretation of an emotional signal. If there is no clear boundary between the spiritual and mental realms, the person might "approach" an idea of mind as if it were a directive of spirit. This is when cultural knowledge is confused for (and is in conflict with) natural knowledge. This is learning something that is limiting to the spirit, the introduction of a sliver.
Any action that is a gem (rather than a sliver) is easily recognized by how much natural joy it brings to those involved. If it is spiritually uplifting and results in better relations between human beings, than it would likely be spiritual in origin.

Another way of thinking about it, is the misuse of the Right Response pits the Cultural Self against the Genetic Self. This is illogical and will never work, for the Genetic Self represents the embodiment of spirit and cannot---nor should not---change its essence. The specific pains of this symptom will be fear, self guilt, self blame, sadness and eventually depression. Individual mental and physical ills ultimately result when this mistake is allowed to remain.
We are burdened with many attitudes that exist in the "Cultural Self" and originated in the religious, political and economic institutions as instruments of control. To free ourselves to practice the "Right Response", we have to examine the motivation behind those attitudes.

With this error, the sliver which has been introduced into the mind further frustrates the spirit. This sliver will make its presence known through increased emotional pain. In this case, anger. Anger is indeed the signal of a frustrated spirit, stifled from its expression. But as long as the person continues to empower the belief, this in effect, turns the anger inward against the spirit, causing increasing levels of anger. Then the person must
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find escapes or safe ways to vent the anger.

Anger unexpressed is like hot air in a balloon that continues to get hotter. At some point, the balloon will destroy itself. By flipping our perspective (the balloon) a full 180 degrees, we can allow the anger (hot air) to escape out into the universe and refill our balloon with more stable (enlightened) air.

For example, one human culture has a truth regarding the relative inferiority of women. This belief is interwoven throughout many of the traditions of these people. This belief serves to meet the power and control needs of men (who generally lack such freedom as fringe members of a more mainstream culture), by domineering the woman of their group. This creates emotional dissonance within the women of this group, for it denies the integrity of their spirit.
There are many areas in many cultures where one group exaggerates its own importance at the expense of another group. It is only when it is accepted that each human being is a reflection of divine spirit that this attitude and this practice will fade from the current paradigm.

Being female is a choice of the spirit and one that cannot, nor should not, be changed or minimized by any cultural dictate. They react to this frustration with anger toward themselves which further perpetuates the belief. This feeling is experienced as shame and is even institutionalized as "feminine shame" for their inherent "dirtiness". They have customs such as washing men's clothing in separate pots so they are not defiled by the "dirt" from female garments. They must also cover their faces when men other than their husbands enter the room.
The beliefs instilled in the minds of children are the most difficult to alter, but once looked upon from the full understanding of the reasons they were so instilled, the pace by which they can be revised can accelerate.

The women of this culture are unhappy. But instead of rejecting the belief, they have developed an outlet for the continuing frustration. They have traditional poems which they utter frequently whenever a negative feeling arises. These poems communicate their hurt as well as their sanctimonious religious standing from being such wonderful martyrs. Yet they continue to perpetuate the very ideas that keep them frustrated, for the slivers are deeply ingrained in their worldview.
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There is a more common practice in our society, carried out with religious zeal. It involves the saying of repetitious prayers in the conviction that the more they are repeated the greater will be the reward in the next state of being. Unfortunately, it only tends to compartmentalize one's spirituality, while relationships with others are free to follow a less charitable course.

Placing a belief of mind above the dictates of spirit may seem like a silly and unlikely option in more mainstream cultures. But in every culture, there are ideas which ask just that of their members. For there are many perfectly acceptable ways of meeting spiritual needs that are deemed socially unacceptable or even taboo. This is why it is crucial to understand that correct use of the Right Response seeks only to change the mind to accommodate the needs of spirit. Humans should never respect or follow guidelines within any world view that rejects, or worse, defiles a perfectly right and just spiritual need.
All institutions must capture and maintain the respect of its members if they are to sustain an existence that compliments the spirit. Those which don't are doomed to ultimate failure and decay.

Errors of this response are not likely, however, if the distinction is clear between spirit and mind. And for the most part, the Right Response is a very good choice of approach. In fact, it is the recommended first choice option to all emotional signals. This approach ensures that ration has been applied to the situation, that the entity has first examined the mind to see if learning is necessary. Once this has been done, if there are still negative signals within similar situations, then other responses will then be appropriate. But this cannot be known without first trying to effect these internal self-developmental changes.
Any planned course of action or any commitment to belief will need to be examined internally until the full acceptance is felt and our spiritual nature is comfortable in its being.

The Light Response The other kind of approach response seeks instead to change the external world to restore the balance. Self expressive approach responses are actions in the external world that seek to share wisdom, creativity or otherwise contribute to the outer environment. They are acts of simple
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communication, persuasion, compassion, altruism, or any method of creative expression. It is an act of taking who you are to the people. We shall call this approach, the Light Response. For this is the way humans offer their individual light to other spirits to which they are connected.
We all have the opportunity to do this, each time we come into contact with another human being. We can all be healers in a variety of ways. If we sense that the clerk in the check-out line looks a little tired or depressed, a kind word or a compliment can make a difference. It costs us nothing but it makes more of a difference than a "money-valued" gift.

Light responses are always offering the ideas, tools, skills perspectives and help which promote the self-development and expression of others. It is the exchange and sharing of gems. It is the spiritual expression of the innate cooperative capacity which reflects the fulfillment connection need. The underlying assumption of this choice is that this is surely a cooperative, win-win situation, where both parties can benefit from this response. It is the exchange and sharing of feedback when one person sees something in the other of which they are unaware and would benefit from understanding. This is actually an approach to a negative emotion, one vicariously experienced within another. The Light Response is offered with respect and compassion in the genuine desire to contribute to the wellbeing and happiness of the received.
In a world environment of too frequent violence, it is apparent that diplomacy is a "fig leaf"' upon the body of collective intelligence. We fail in our efforts to resolve problems on an international scale because we have such limited experience in communicating with each other on a local scale. The same problems that stir the planet are macrocosms of those issues that divide us as family, friends and neighbors. The above paragraph points to a way beyond this. The "exchange" possibilities mentioned above are now possible through this very median, for those who would elect to use them.

For example, a child observes another child during a baseball game. He sees this child's frustration at the fact that he cannot seem to strike the ball with the bat. The first child, who is emotionally healthy and empathetic, feels this pain. He knows he has some information that he has gained that can solve this problem. His response to the feeling is the expressive approach, the "Light Response". He feels the spiritual impetus to offer his help. Thus, he approaches the child and respectfully suggests that he can
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give the child some pointers if there is consent. If even one helpful idea is exchanged, both children will experience a positive emotion. This pleasure will signal that the receiver has accomplished spiritual development, and the giver has accomplished spiritual expression.
Too often, the Little League parents will be so obsessed with making sure that their own child stands out in performance of the needed skills that they will fail to encourage their child to adopt this more charitable type of conduct. With the monetary rewards of success in sport skills being so large, a child that is particularly skilled at something is rather encouraged to center upon himself and thus regard his teammates as possible threats to his own success. What's wrong with this picture?

A key understanding is that the Light Response must only offer ideas which remove existing limits. They must be consensual and respectful of the existing emotional boundaries. This type of approach basically communicates: "I feel your pain, can I offer some light?" Although this may sound schmaltzy to the modern mind, it communicates connection, respect, compassion and an invitation for growth, without provoking the defenses. For specific words to use, some alternative suggestions: "I hate to see you struggling, can I offer some help?" Or even, "Can I help here?
These are not complicated suggestions, and the consequences of such a simple act can have exponential effects. It is akin to the metaphor of lighting a single candle and the flame from that "candle" being passed along until we have enlightened the whole world. There is no sacrifice on the part of any "candle" which passes its flame along. Like the journey of a thousand miles that begins with a single step, we each have an opportunity on a daily basis to take that "step".

Of course, if the receiver does not desire your "light" and permission is not granted, then your job is done. Whether or not the receiver is in a ready, receptive state, you have achieved your needed spiritual expression. Emotional boundaries which create the defensive, self-preservationary responses must be compassionately respected. Regardless of the receptivity, the gesture itself is spiritually desirable. At minimum, it gives the person pause for thought and bolsters the idea that humans are good and caring. A person who initially rejects such offerings of light, will be all the more receptive to the next expressive gesture. Each such gesture wears away at maladaptive beliefs that hold humans to be less than compassionate, caring, connected, trustworthy and "good".
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In our initial efforts to step beyond ourselves and offer help to those around us, we might be met with a non-response or, sometimes, open rejection. This can be used as our excuse to refrain from further efforts. Maybe such a gesture on our part, might be deemed by those who know us as being out of character. (Trying it on a stranger may be safer.) But with time and persistence, the other person, if not accepting of our offer of help, might be a little more open to the effort of someone else. The response we get from those who know us might be a more enlightening lesson than we are prepared for, but it could be the most valuable lesson we need because it gives us a valuable insight on how we are perceived by those who know us best.

The Light Response also works in the reverse. It is often highly desirable to ask others to share their light, to seek advise and counsel which can precede a Right Response. This is an optimal combination of internal and external self expressive and developmental response to emotional signals. Of course, respect, consent and cooperation are still required.
God protect us from presuming that we have all the answers to everyone else's problems. Who among us would presume to be so perfect. Those who care about us (or even those who don't) could well have insights about our habits and character that could end up being valuable gems in the crown of our behavior. Also, it can be conceived as a compliment to someone when you ask them for their help.

There are also mistakes made when choosing the Light Response. There are rampant examples of those offering "light" when it is not desired, and when it, in fact, adds limitation. Any true act of light broadens opportunity and expands emotional boundaries. Many religious proselytizers seek to change the world to meet their mental portrait instead of the reverse. There is often an arrogant and self-righteous attitude that lacks compassion, is disrespectful and downright backward. The same is true for political parties. Humans should always ensure that they take in as much light as they seek to give out, lest they simply be maintaining their own emotional boundaries rather than expanding them. This is the reason why the world experiences social and political gridlock and holy wars continue to be fought.
In a sense, this is why all wars are "religious" wars because they result from a difference in belief systems, whether they be based on an interpretation of the nature of God, or an economic philosophy, or a political style of government or even a perceived threat to any of the above. The above paragraph, when truly
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understood and accepted, could probably avert most of the military confrontations on this planet.

We have only discussed the approach responses, and have already encountered the source of many human ills. But for the most part, approach responses are still fairly easy to use appropriately. It is a good rule of thumb to go ahead and act upon positive feelings, as well as compassionate negative ones. For those approach impulses will lead to learning, whether or not the road may be bumpy along the way. With honest evaluation of the feelings, the feedback they provide, and a timely corrective response, diversions from the intended path can be quickly rectified.
There are times when the only way we are able to learn the lessons we need to learn is to experience the consequences of a negative act. It is the higher part of ourselves that must lead us to polluted waters, so to speak, in order for us to appreciate the "pure". This might seem cruel at times, but it is intended to give us that experience necessary to correct our course. We know this is true of children and certainly nearly all adults carry remnants of childish behavior.

The more ominous aspect of the approach response is when humans approach in order to avoid. If certain needs are not met to an adequate level, it often becomes an automatic tendency for humans to approach to create pleasure to escape pain. When this is the case, we are no longer in the realm of approach responses. We are no longer in self-developmental mode, we are in the realm of self-preservation.
This could be akin to the all-too-well-known "one night stand". Seeking pleasure on a momentary basis in order to avoid the emotional pain of being unconnected. It is the equivalent of taking a drug to quell a physical or mental need, be it an aspirin for a headache, caffeine for a boost, or something stronger and taken to an uncontrollable degree.

We have just learned how mistakes in approach responses can cause certain individual and social ills. But these mistakes of self-development and expression are relatively harmless in comparison to the mistakes of self-preservationary responses. We can now turn to the most insidious of the response choices, the avoidant response.
I can hardly wait!

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The Avoidant Responses We have briefly introduced the Fight and Flight Responses, but now we shall delve into their complexities. They are still valid responses to specific circumstances at particular times. But for the most part they are grossly over-used, resulting in nearly every remaining individual and social ill experienced by human beings.
To that degree, we are limited. But this limitation is by choice. We have creative capabilities that are yet to be tapped and this material is designed to do just that.

Avoidant responses are about resistance. They refuse to accept a situation as reported by the emotional signal. Resistance to objectionable ideas which defile or reject human needs is a good and necessary response. Resistance is still a useful tool, but one with a sharp double edge. In learning situations, avoidant responses can wreak havoc and throw humans from their evolutionary path.
There are ways to avoid "learning situations". It begins by avoiding human contact wherever possible. Or one can be so self-absorbed that adverse experiences have little impact on our personal growth. We all know people like this and some of us have seen them in our mirrors.

In receiving the Light Responses from others, avoidance closes doors to opportunity. But avoidance also fosters more sinister and nearly universal human ills. Avoidance (not money) is perhaps the root of all evil.
We can not experience what we choose to avoid.

Take particular note of this information, for recognizing and consciously controlling these responses in your behavior will be tremendously liberating and greatly rewarding.
What follows are the particulars to the above admonition. It could carry us to levels we haven't even considered before now.

The Flight Response The Flight Response is that innate urge to run away from danger. When humans experience fear, the body is filled with arousal energy for movement away from the dangerous situation. The underlying assumption
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for choosing this response is that something very threatening must be avoided, for this is a win-lose competition and the self would surely be the loser. This is a very adaptive strategy when there is clear and present physical danger. This was particularly true before the advent of mind. For as we know, along with the mind came the need to self-develop and the challenge of achieving spiritual expression through its filter. We know now that even a signal for self-development feels like one for self-preservation, prompting avoidance and escape.
When we meet that bear in the woods, taking flight is still a very practical course to follow. However, in modern life, we tend to avoid that experience for less physically threatening ones. More often, our "bears" are the mentally and emotionally threatening. How we relate to them requires a different tactic.

Therefore, there are some particular sticky results from these constraints upon the Flight Response. First, running away is rarely appropriate. In fact, it should be a last ditch response only when all other options have met with failure. This Flight Response now takes the form of physically leaving an environment that does not accommodate need-meeting efforts. This can be the retreat from a relationship, a marriage, a job, a club, a religion, a country or even a life, if needs cannot truly be met due to immovable obstacles. It can be a temporary retreat to cool off, to regroup, to restrategize; or it can be a permanent retreat to more free and opportune systems, relationships or geographic locales. This is the only appropriate form, and is a final option.
The action of "last resort" is often selected before other options have been considered. It's the old proverb of the grass looking greener on the other side of the fence. It's only after we spend some time in that other "grass" that we come to perceive that it wasn't all that much greener. A "retreat" is a less emotional action if it includes an intent to review and reconsider. The final departure from a situation, in a certain sense, can be premature and a lesson-avoiding experience.

The Flight Response is very automatic and shows up in very subtle, yet insidious, ways. For example, with the advent of mind there came the option of internal retreats---internal flights from perceived danger. The word perceived is used because this perception may or may not have an external validity, of which we know the mind does not know or care. It operates as if every content is actual and real, as is its job. Worse,
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whenever a learning experience is necessary and a growing pain is experienced, the first automatic and easiest response is one of avoidant defense.
This is one of our tougher challenges in life, i.e. accepting unpleasant "experiences" for their educational value. At the very moment we are in them, they may likely seem of little value, but once completed and reflected upon, they turn out to be pure gold in the economy of spiritual growth.

All mental flight responses are maladaptive, nonproductive and hurtful. They are rationalizations, placing blame, scapegoating or otherwise finding alternative explanations for deficiencies. They allow virtually anything except entertaining the possibility that problems lie within the self. Each mental flight is a psychological retreat---an act of selfdeception. Such escapism always slows or stops self-development and can be quite damaging, yet such reactions are extremely common.
In a society where materialism is encouraged, we are conditioned to believe that acquiring some "thing" will automatically bring us a greater level of happiness. Why fix it when you can replace it. Just as this tends to rob us of the opportunity to exercise our personal ingenuity, the flight from unpleasant emotional situations tends to rob us of our ability to relate to our fellow beings in more human terms.

Escapist actions are apparent everywhere. Humans seek mental retreats from emotional pain through defense mechanisms, withdrawal, avoidant tendencies, distractions, and compulsive behaviors. Such mental escapism is all captured within the umbrella concept of denial.
How many times have we heard the comment, "Oh. He's in denial." Or "She isn't facing the reality of their relationship." Sometimes we tend to maintain the status quo by mentally avoiding the obvious. This, too, is a form of "retreat" from reality.

Denial is the tendency to avoid that which is staring one right in the face. The information is avoided because its acknowledgment would be painful. Denial can be a subtle escape from (or avoidance of) any situation which could cause the emotional signal. This includes even the minor anxiety of growing pains. This means that learning experiences would be avoided. This is not spiritually desirable, but the human defenses are prone to do just that, without rational understanding of the feeling.
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Our society is one that is founded on the Anglo-Saxon code of relationships. We tend to maintain a certain distance from each other, a restraint seen in most European countries such as England, Germany and the Scandinavian cultures. Southern European countries have much less difficulty expressing emotional relationships and, in fact, tend to be quite vulnerable to each other, when carried to an extreme. This, too, can be a handicap.

In our baseball example, if the struggling child would not admit his own need for assistance, a mental escape would allow him to "save face". He could come up with any number of ideas that would explain his lack of success at hitting the ball. This is self-deception, but it offers relief from the emotional signal by adopting an avoidant idea.
We suffer from the illusion that to "ask for" or "accept" an offer of help, is an admittance of weakness. We males are more prone to this condition. After all, what do we do when we're lost? First, we don't admit it and then we avoid asking for directions as long as possible. Adults are often nothing more than oversized children.

Humans are extremely resourceful in their denial. It is a subtle, even subconscious, habit that must be guarded against. But denial is not a lone avoidant strategy. For humans also have many other creative diversions that successfully avoid and quiet unpleasant feelings.
After all, with our physical, mental and emotional components, we are rather complex beings. Complexity can be a plus, but only if the parts work in unison toward a positive end.

Distraction is also a handy Flight Response. Humans distract themselves from bad feelings by behaving in ways that bring pleasure. They can escape into safe and fantastic imagined realms through books, television, films, or other entertainment; they can focus intently on distracting or thrilling tasks, they can eat, socialize, work or make love. Certain of these diversions are harmless, even quite rewarding, in moderation.
It is when a "distraction" becomes an obsession to the point of shielding us from our overall areas of growth, that it needs to be examined from a more detached perspective.

But any such activity in direct response to (or avoidance of) emotional pain, does nothing to resolve the imbalance. In excess, they can even become neurotic compulsions and the feelings will only get stronger. They
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will linger continuously, smoldering just beneath the surface of consciousness, prompting further mindless, non-productive, compulsive, bizarre, or unhealthy actions. This cycle can continue indefinitely until the basic underlying sliver is removed, or the body wears out. This avoidant strategy would yield a painful, hellish (and perhaps short) existence.
In a way, when a Flight Response becomes a clear avoidance from a reality we should be facing, and becomes a sliver in need of removal, it has gone beyond merely an educational experience. It has become a threat to our natural progression. As we become more sensitive to the internal signals designed to keep us on our intended course, we will also experience declines in our tendency to digress from our intended path. An analogy might be our experience when first learning to drive a car. Unsure of ourselves, we might have over-corrected when steering our way down the road. In time, we felt more comfortable and found that we hardly had to move the steering wheel at all, much less focus all our mental powers on that specific act. A practice once learned, is not forgotten. This is equally true of the creative thinking process.

Another psychological Flight Response is the human practice of actually altering the physical chemistry to relieve emotional dissonance through medicating the body with alcohol, nicotine and other drugs. Of course, chemical manipulation of a healthy emotional system can only rob humans of its advantages and indeed, can cause irreparable harm.
There is a difference between taking a drink to relax and guzzling an excessive amount in order to put a troubling reality out of one's mind. The former can possibly enhance our health while the latter is a direct threat to it.

One need not look far to see liberal, reckless use of the Flight Response. But optimally it should be chosen with foresight and exercised with caution. It does not resolve the conflict, nor restore the balance, and it can desensitize one from their own emotional signals, to the point where they deny the feelings themselves.
We need not look far to find examples in our surroundings. Sometimes, no farther than our bathroom mirror. But a great deal of our limitations were planted in us at an early age by those well-meaning people who suffered from the same type of programming. In fact, we too have done the same. We need not expand that pattern. Free will is still our heritage.

In short, the Flight Response should be saved for a last-ditch corrective option, and diligent efforts should be expended to avoid this particularly
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tenacious, hardwired, avoidant response.

If the above material doesn't make that point - then experience will.

The Fight Response The other avoidant response is, of course, the Fight Response. This is the active, expressive form of resistance in which external force is used to overcome the danger or to change it in some way. It is a relative (perhaps the evil twin) of the Light Response, but without the acceptance of the situation nor the spirit of cooperation. It is the competitive response to limitation, obstacles, lack of resources or opportunity.
This is the glorified 'Response', the one we most often honor with statues and speeches. For many, it is a sport - for others, it is an enterprise. Nations rise and fall on the success or failure of this 'Response' and we build our economy and culture around it.

The Fight Response seeks to correct or reshape the external world so that it can better accommodate a need-meeting effort. Initially, the Fight Response ensured that humans would survive by meeting their needs through competitive brute force when necessary. The assumption justifying this response is that only one winner can emerge, that this is surely a competitive win-lose proposition and a win is necessary to self protect.
Today, that mentality is used as a justification for working long hours, putting up with treatment that humans should not have to tolerate. It maintains the fear of being without as a result of not having a source of income. We reward and glorify the winners and curse or forget the losers. But there is a balance in nature that guarantees that all winners eventually become losers.

Until societies fully acknowledge human nature and accommodate the need-meeting choices of their citizens, this response will still be appropriate, for resistance to any ideas or codes which deny needs of spirit is what the Creator desires. If this were not true, humans would not experience anger, the self-preservationary aggressive response. Political resistance, even revolutionary actions, which stand up for human rights are historically evident and understandably beneficial. If the oppression is mighty, even war can be beneficial.
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Differences that escalate from the opportunity to reason to the state of combat, whether it be on the battlefield or the court room, are ultimate proof that reasonable effort has failed. The final value of extreme consequences is, hopefully, the lessons learned from the experience. That should be why we study history.

However, this is merely due to the misunderstanding of human nature and needs, and the miscommunication between spirit, mind and body. Such limits continue to exist within societies, but in an enlightened society, Light Responses are received and assimilated which continuously expand freedoms and opportunities. They ultimately evolve away from the need for spiritual resistance.
Just as computers can be taught not to make the same mistake a second time, so we can learn the value of a broadened approach to the normal frictions of life. Someone once said that the words"Please", Thank You", and "Excuse Me", were the lubricants of social interaction.

When such limitation still exists, the Fight Response is a necessary choice. Of course, a modern version would be to communicate the problem and your non-acceptance of it. Doing this in a peaceful manner, within the acceptable avenues of change already in place within ones society, is the best method. This is why there are social, judicial or political processes in the more enlightened societies for the resolution of such conflicts. Usually, however, by the time a Fight Response is necessary, the limitation is firmly entrenched and accepted within the social order.
When so-called "more enlightened societies" practice the use of these "social, judicial or political processes" within their respective societies, but revert to the "fight response" in dealing with other societies they have differences with, they set an example that makes it more difficult for those societies with less history and tradition in using the social, judicial and political process, to follow the "enlightened" path. Example is the most effective form of leadership.

There still exist many societies on earth wherein the credo is "severity for those who resist". Such countries fail to recognize the individual needs and the fact that they take priority over the group needs within its members. There is much institutionalized suffering as a result. Any country that feels it needs a wall to contain its members has mistaken operational directives, clearly not aligned with spiritual intention.
Of course, the walls are starting to come down. But when a physical wall falls, it
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is only a metaphor for the intellectual and emotional walls that can follow. But, if the mental attitude is still one of winner over loser, (or one system claiming its superiority over another) then the struggle/conflict atmosphere will remain in place.

Fortunately, the world has now evolved to the point that there are countries that do provide escape from oppression, which ensures that Flight Responses, when necessary, can be effective. Eventually, those ideas that perpetuate the spirit will win out, if enough interaction between cultures is allowed. But progress could be increased exponentially with the understandings which restore spiritual intention to the process.
The communication technology is expanding "exponentially" and making the above more possible every day. This web/e-mail process is its own example. Although these Lessons may not be traveling across borders, the potential for them to do so is present. Of course, "borders" is also a term that can be applied to each individual mind, as well as to geography.

The United States is an excellent training ground for such an exchange of ideas, through promoting values of freedom, equitable opportunity and happiness. This country recognizes both the individual and the group needs, in a world where it has been traditional for societies to choose one over the other. Although they have yet to attain the optimal balance between the two, this is evolving well. With the worldwide communication and mobility, many American ideals are rapidly being spread throughout the world, some of which are beneficial to global evolution.
It would be comforting to believe that our more spiritually oriented ideals are spreading into other portions of the planet with the same zeal as our economic practices, i.e. NAFTA and GATT. The success of the former would be tied to a more enlightened motivation.

Rejection of resistance is also the basic premise within most religions. Their method of oppression is through introducing further slivers when any conflicts are exposed. They offer bribes and threats to talk humans out of their basic needs, rather than accommodate them The confessional booth for example, often brings to light conflicts between human need and religious dictate. Although it is unlikely that the priest will take certain suggestions to the Pope, this is exactly what the spirit---The Creator---is requesting. It is suggested that individuals within any religious
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organization, make Right Responses to reject any limiting dictate and keep only those which satisfy the spirit, so that they can enjoy the benefits of religion and without suffering the grossly misleading costs.
This may sound like the source is picking on organized religion and, in a sense, it is. But spiritual institutions which represent spiritual ideals must be willing to risk an alteration of the status quo in order to experience growth. If these "institutions" fail to grow, the whole process is handicapped. Then, what growth does take place, has to come about in the form of Fight Response types of action, more commonly known as revolution . This "r" word is too often a "last resort" course of expansion.

Summary Of Behavioral Corrective Response Each and every human behavior, be it thought or action, falls into one of these categories. Each is motivated by a feeling. Although many such feelings are subtle, there is a constantly available, yet changing emotional energy underlying every human motive to act. If each action is analyzed, it shall become apparent that without exception, it will be motivated by either a Right, Light, Flight or Fight Response. Within the feedback paradigm, emotion is exposed as the crucial communicative tie which either unites or separates, mind, body and spirit.
This suggests that "emotion" or feelings, not reason or logic, are the primary motivators of action. How we feel about things and people governs how we relate to them. Ultimately, it is probable that our perspective is strongly influenced by our emotions and we conduct ourselves accordingly.

With this crucial information at the disposal of humans, they can begin to monitor and utilize the essential messages of the spirit. They can understand their behaviors by finding the underlying feelings. They can identify the gems and slivers by following them to their source. They can make reasoned choices for their corrective responses to imbalances. These can be optimal choices which contribute to individual and mass evolution. They can even make plenty of human mistakes, but they will be far ahead of the game with such a strategy. For this inner gift will always be present to guide them even from the darkest, most painful moments back into the light.
When it becomes particularly obvious that some action we took has led to less
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than positive consequences, we can now analyze it from a state of detachment and determine what our original thought was that led us to where we are and where we are going to be, if we continue along the same direction: Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character. Watch your character, it becomes your destiny. WATCH YOUR THOUGHTS, THEY BECOME YOUR DESTINY.

Each such soldier of light can contribute to the wave of consciousness expansion which shall soon crash upon human shores. Even with minimal understanding of the subtleties of the emotional sense, anyone can join this effort. They can do so simply by following some elementary behavioral guidelines. All it takes is a genuine commitment to self-development and expression, honest self-analysis and logical order in the choice of corrective response.
If we think of emotion as the power source and logic as the decision making process, we can relate our actions to that of driving an automobile, again. The fuel (emotion) drives the engine that propels us forward (or backward) and is controlled by the accelerator and the brake (self discipline). The steering wheel (reasoning mind) is used to make the necessary course corrections as we proceed on our path of destiny. So much of our life is a reflection of these simple principles of activity, without which societies would not be able to function.

Many scourges upon humanity are the direct result of humans choosing the response choices in the wrong order. There are certainly notable exceptions, but for the most part self-preservation creates the "normal" urge to action in the following order: 1. Deny feelings, take Flight from pain, (even growing pain) 2. Fight to maintain emotional boundaries 3. Right if unavoidable 4. Light when possible
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Changing this pattern alone can create enormous and immediate growth.
When we first begin to drive, we are more preoccupied with operating the automobile than with getting from point A to point B. Eventually, we develop more faith in ourselves and our vehicle, and the pleasure of the trip increases. We move from fear and lack of confidence to joy and fulfillment, as this new experience becomes a natural part of our living process.

Although there are more understandings to come, anyone wishing to join the forces of light can simply follow this simple strategy to guide their behavior and to experience tremendous progress. To live within spiritual intention from this moment forth:

1. Listen to feelings; resist denial of emotional messages. 2. Right first. 3. If obstacles persist, cooperate and offer Light. 4. If obstacles persist, resist, compete and Fight. 5. If obstacles persist, take Flight.
It is amazing what a little focus and caring can do to smooth out the bumps in life. As stated earlier, just as the words "please, thank you and excuse me" can lubricate the communication between people. We all tend to respond positively to being treated with respect, once we come to respect ourselves and all those around us.

Each successful day of living within spiritual intention will allow evermore complete understandings to unfold. With this simple behavioral guidance, the spirit can begin to sing.
Not much can be added to that statement!

We can now press on to examine the specific feelings themselves. Each understanding will assist in the full restoration of the innate emotional sense, understanding of the Language of Spirit---The Language of God.

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Section Beta Lesson Three: The Six Basic Feelings Emotions Of Spirit With the understanding of the intended feedback function of human emotion, the feeling signals become honored as crucial communicators. Although the simple behavioral guidance for choice of response is already a tremendous aid, full utilization of the sixth human sense is assisted by heeding the specific messages of each of the signals. For each emotional signal has a specific purpose, related to a specific spiritual need, and each calls for its own specific response.
This "sixth human sense" referred to above can probably best be tapped by placing oneself in a light trance or a meditative state. We might also consider tapping the dream state in sort of a question/answer routine in which questions are put to our unconscious/spiritual nature before retiring and answers are reviewed as soon as we awaken.

In the earlier discussion regarding interpretation of emotional signals, the tool of the Twin Selves was offered to redefine the boundary between mind and body, or internal and external realms. This distinction allows humans rational interpretation of their feelings so that they can choose the correct response. During that discussion, it was hinted that there was an easier way to tell the difference between mind and body to help interpret emotional signals. This is because there are specific emotions connected with each of the selves. There are specific emotions which automatically suggest that the imbalance springs from limitations in the realm of mind, and others that communicate from frustrated needs of embodied spirit.
What will follow in this section is an examination of these various feelings. But first we will examine the difference between the emotions of body and the emotions of mind.

Although the order of response is still as recommended, those feelings which come from contents of mind will automatically suggest selfdevelopmental behaviors (Right Responses), and those of body will suggest self-expressive or preservationary (Light, Fight or Flight Responses). We can now examine the feelings themselves and reacquaint ourselves with this most wondrous, yet misunderstood spiritual communication system.
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The Emotions Of Body In the beginning, there was one basic emotion, joy. Joy, of course, is the conscious experience of Divine Love. Joy is the intended state of spirit. As we now know, when humans donned the chemical cloak they became susceptible to interruptions of spiritual intention. To ensure an ever-present spiritual connection during the physical journey, the body (the Genetic Self), was encoded with protective devices to save humans from themselves. This is the homeostatic feedback device which signals when spiritual intention is frustrated, and motivates corrective actions to get back onto the track of joy. In this system, feelings both signal the problem and motivate the corrective responses.
There is more than just the instinct to survive buried within in us. There is an innate self-awareness of what we truly are and what we must do to continue to grow. These are the controls we exercise to progress along the trip using our metaphorical brake, our accelerator and our steering wheel--so to speak.

Encoded within the body to do this job were two basic human emotions. They were joy and fear. They equated simply to spiritual expression or frustration, to the Divine Light or the darkness in its absence, to pleasure and pain. Joy motivated a human approach and fear motivated an avoidance. Fear was intended to ensure the preservation of the species as a corrective signal when needs were unmet as well as a hardwired avoidant response that could over-ride the mind when necessary.
In a complicated world, even then, there were challenges to the acquiring of food and lodging, that even the best of environments offered. Threats to survival stimulated the mind just as beauty satisfied the soul.

These two emotions, when interacting with the cognitive abilities of the brain and the need-meeting actions of early humanity, soon branched into the emotions of anger and sadness. And then there were four.
Frustration at failing to meet a goal became "anger". Loss of a possession or relationship became "sadness". In today's society, we have chemical drugs to stimulate pleasure and reduce physical pain. We are less successful at dealing with these latter two, but are moving in that direction, i.e. tranquilizers and happy pills. Unfortunately, not only are such drugs temporary but, in the long run, probably harmful on levels that are not universally understood and
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appreciated.

Anger sprang from the human need for freedom and control. Anger would grow from fear over memories of frustration and future projections of concern over interference with efforts of spiritual expression. It motivated active "fight" responses to ensure that external obstacles were not to be tolerated. Sadness sprang from loss experiences. Most specifically from losses of people and the severance of ties that satisfied the group needs. Sad feelings were meant to motivate actions that promoted new, replacement alliances and protected against further loss.
Anger and sadness, in themselves, aren't necessarily experiences to be avoided. They can have value in our growth process if they don't lead to physical and mental harm against someone else or ourselves. We can go beyond these states when we elect to do so. It is part of exercising our creative abilities.

Thus, we now have four basic hardwired emotions: joy, fear, anger and sadness. They should be thought of as emotions of the body or the Genetic Self. These hardwired feelings are present at birth and displayed in early infancy. These are universal emotions, experienced for the same reasons by all humans regardless of culture. They should be understood as indicators that self-preservation is truly the message.Joy means that needs of the spirit have been fulfilled, while the pain of anger, fear and sadness means that needs are frustrated by obstacles which must be removed. These four emotions motivate universal mental and physical responses of approach or avoidance to ensure self-preservation.
Keeping in mind that we can not progress if we are not "preserved", it is easy to see why these emotions are "hardwired" into our nature.

It is important to mention, that although these emotions spring from body in the feedback situation, that they are filtered through the perceptions and beliefs of mind. So for this reason, the Right Response should always remain the optimal first response choice. This would be a quick, nonresistant, (non-defensive) accurate analysis of underlying beliefs about the emotional-invoking situation. Any conflicts discovered could then be immediately resolved. This will ensure that objective, rational assessment of the situation has been achieved and that the obstacles are not internal, imaginary or self-created. But once this has been ruled out, this feeling signal in a similar situation can accurately be understood as indication of
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an external obstacle that must be removed by an expressive response.

There are many experiences that are self-generated and can just as easily and quickly be altered when we realize the source and how the actions that led to the situation can be corrected. In a truer sense, all experiences are self-created and serve as stimulants for our true growth.

The Emotions of Mind All other emotions are outgrowths of these primary emotions and are secondary softwired emotions. Although they are rooted in human biology, they are not present at birth; they develop with age, interaction and experience. They develop entangled with the culture values, knowledge, memories and beliefs of the mind. They exist in the realm of the Cultural Self. Their meaning can be as complex or simple, as straightforward or convoluted, as supportive or debilitative as the human mind in which they are experienced. They are directly related to human experience---in other words, they are learned. They can be attached to most any human idea that can exist within the realm of mind. The summations and beliefs that invoke them can very widely.
We are programmed at an early age and those "programs" become the memories and beliefs of the 'Cultural Self'. Many of them govern our actions for the remainder of our physical lives. They even continue to damage us (and those around us) long after we learn the adverse consequences of their presence. Yet, because they are not hardwired into our being, they can be "deleted" and replaced with beliefs that are more compatible with our true spiritual nature.

The emotions of mind include guilt, shame, hope, pride, embarrassment, remorse, confidence and any other subtle shade of feeling not mentioned in the above category. They relate directly to contents within the realm of mind---to the gems and slivers---and indicate that self-developmental responses are in order. These learned emotions of mind call for learned responses of mind, Right Responses. We know now that these are not hardwired. They must be actively chosen and undertaken, often in the face of opposing urges toward avoidance.
We often see governments projecting "knee-jerk" reactions to situations considered threatening, often leading to military action, which incorporates death and destruction, usually of the more civilian portion of a population. Such
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governments presume they are reflecting the will of the public, but a more enlightened course of action might reflect a deeper sense of the public's true nature. That "nature" would likely turn out to be quite in contradiction to what ruling institutions presume to know.

This key understanding will cast many situations into an entirely different light. It will be shocking as it exposes rather entrenched and universal emotional boundaries. But it is now extremely necessary to shock humans back into understanding, to break through the haze of denial and self destruction.
Time is running short for the mass of humanity to adopt a broader paradigm. The responsibility for creating our own reality is now an essential realization. Within this "realization" lies the hope of the world.

For example, when a situation arises in which guilt is experienced, this will now be understood as a message from the spirit that some external dictate has been internalized which has frustrated or limited a need. This is exactly opposite of what most humans are taught about the experience of guilt. In fact, this emotion has been utilized to inspire conformity to external dictates at the expense of internal ones for thousands of years.
Guilt has an essentially positive purpose, until it is used as a weapon of control and punishment. Institutions seek control to sustain themselves. It doesn't matter if they are governmental, economic or religious institutions, they are all susceptible to falling into that pattern of behavior.

With such slivers, the first impulse upon the experience of guilt, might be a trip to the confessional or some such action which shares the concern and allows getting the issue off one's chest. This is good, it can actually be an expressive Right Response wherein one seeks external counsel, enlightenment or understanding so that the internal changes can be effected. The result would be a change in belief systems which would prevent the same situation from being repeated, thus the feeling signal would be quieted and would not arise again in similar situations.
Those moments of guidance in the confessional could be truly beneficial in a lifelong sense. However, in order for this to occur, it would require a willingness on the part of the religious institution to step back and trust in the innate spiritual nature of people to come forth. Prayers of penance don't do much to alter attitudes and behavior. Rather, they assuage the conscience and allow behavior
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to remain basically unchanged.

But this is not an optimal action if it leaves the sliver in the mind. No amount of cultural or religious appeasement will actually remove a need that has been stifled. The spirit will diligently protest the sliver and the situation and its resulting guilt will arise again and again. For as we know, slivers are often conflicting ideas that humans believe, which give them conflicting directives and create confusing impulses. Once these conflicts are exposed and eliminated, the directives can be those of the spirit, not those of a confused mind.
Confused minds are essential to those who need to maintain control. A clear mind governed by one's own innate spiritual nature has no need to be controlled from without, and no need to seek assistance from institutions. When this has become the new reality, these institutions will have to find a different role to play in society, one that compliments the spiritual aspects of humanity rather than stifles them.

For ultimately, humans will find that any action that brings a feeling of guilt will be the result of a maladaptive response to an emotion-invoking situation, driven by conflicting beliefs and misunderstandings, or good old-fashioned laziness. There is no evil, there is no inherently wrong act, unless it violates the needs of the spirit. Guilt is not the only misconceived feeling; each has become muddled and entangled with an incredible amount of human "knowledge".
This last statement may sound anti-intellectual, but what we sometimes interpret to be "knowledge" is really nothing more than ingrained belief systems that are passed on from one generation to the next for the primary purpose of controlling behavioral patterns from an outside source. True "knowledge" can be tapped from within ourselves and is capable of a great deal more infallibility.

Since there are so many misunderstandings regarding feelings, we now turn to a careful analysis of each of the major emotions. Together the emotions of mind and body now comprise six basic feelings which underlie every subtle feeling. All of which are affected by contents of mind, two of which are exclusive to the contents of mind. With clear understandings of the six universal feelings, rational analysis of each subtle experience can be attained.
These SIX now follow:
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The Emotions Of Mind - Six Universal Feelings, i.e. Joy, Fear, Anger, Sadness, Envy & Guilt 1. Joy Definition: A very glad feeling, happiness, delight; anything causing this.
As children, we experienced this, even before we knew it had a name, or a definition.

Range: Mild, pleasant contentment, to rapturous ecstasy.

Everything from a Grandmother's soft smile to a teenager's leaps of "joy".

Source: Genetic Self (body/spirit), in its drive for preservation and expression; Cultural Self (mind) in its drive for development.
In either category, it can be a plus experience.

Stimulus Conditions: Rewarding, situations. Hyper accommodation of physical or psychological needs; getting better than expected results; creative and spiritual expression of the Genetic Self, and development of the Cultural Self.
Much of Joy is relative to creative activity.

Instinctive Response: To approach; to recreate stimulus circumstances to bring about the feeling again and again.
Some religions have taught that Joy is an experience to be shunned. This may be because our concept of God seldom includes a joyous state of being. But the natural state is a joyous state even for God.

Intended Function: To accomplish self-preservation, development and expression by identifying those experiences which should be cultivated, reinforced and recreated. To provide motivation to continue along paths which are successful at spiritual need-fulfillment.
Once you have one joyful experience, you can build upon it until it becomes a treasured structure.
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Pitfalls: The possibility of creating artificial, escapist or induced pleasure through compulsive actions or through biological and/or pharmacological manipulation; Joy entangled with reproductive drive (infatuation and other lesser forms of love)---beware.
This is the danger of relying consistently on outside sources for the joy we need in our lives. Such sources can exercise their free will and abandon us and leave us vulnerable to self-destruction.

Recommended Course Of Response To Joy: 1. Any approach (developmental or expressive), behavioral responses which increase the stimulus and recreate the feelings of joy, for genuine reasons, which expand goals, broaden arenas, elaborate and improve strategies that are already working, and sharing them with others. Joy leads to its own reward.
Some cultures know greater levels of 'Joy' than others; and those cultures are not necessarily the technologically superior.

2. If any negative emotions arise from such Right and Light behaviors, analyze the stimulus conditions and proceed through the recommended course for those emotions. They will expose conflicts in belief that need resolution. Caution: joy is so powerful that no one wants to lose a source of joy, even if that source is also the source of great pain. This conflict spurs the automatic Flight Response of denial (denial of the negative aspects of the source in order to continue to enjoy the positive aspects of the source).
Those involved in abusive relationships will often remain in those relationships because of the accompanying moments of 'Joy' that are also experienced.

Food For Thought: "Be happy, it's one way of being wise". ---Colette "Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls".---Mother Teresa

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2. Fear Definition: Anxiety caused by real or possible danger. Range: Mild anxiety to blinding, heart-stopping panic. Source: Genetic Self; in the drive for self-preservation. Stimulus Conditions: Threatening situations. 1. Internal beliefs, thoughts, ideas, attitudes or memories which cause perceived danger or potential threat to need fulfillment. 2. People, things, or situations in the external environment which threaten health, safety or need fulfillment. 3. Emotional Boundaries of self cause mild anxiety in developmental or learning situations (growing pains), since development is a threat to selfpreservation. Instinctive Response: To take flight, to retreat or escape Intended Function: To motivate the avoidance of, and the escape from situations which threaten to diminish need fulfillment opportunities or efforts, (and ultimately, threats to survival). Pitfalls: Imaginary threats can create very real fear feelings. Fear prompts avoidant thoughts and behaviors quite naturally, but such denial fails to address or remove the underlying source, perpetuating a cycle of fear and further avoidance as well as narrowing mental emotional boundaries. Overly closed ideological environments can promote paranoia, avoidance of (and ultimately hate of) other different environments and their members. Fear of the unknown and avoidance of growing pains, can thwart selfdevelopmental need fulfillment efforts and stymie learning. Recommended Course of Response To Fear: 1. Right Response: Examine beliefs and interpretations of the fearinvoking situation to be sure that it is indeed a verified threat, not an imagined or self-created one. Discard any doctrines or beliefs which perpetuate irrational fear. Put valid memories of fear-invoking situations in
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their proper historical perspective. Seek knowledge. Often, knowledge alone can replace fear of the unknown. Remind yourself that risk is the necessary price of glory. 2. Light Response: Alter the situation to reduce the negative component, if minimally threatening. 3. Flight Response: Get away from a truly threatening situation long enough to evaluate strategies, to resolve or eliminate the threatening situation; or retreat permanently if necessary. Food for Thought: "Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood".---Marie Curie "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship". ---Louisa May Alcott
Most fears are self-implanted and self-sustained. We give fear the power to maintain itself within us or the power of others to hold it over us. Most people who try to inflict fear on others, are susceptible to it themselves ---more even than those they are trying to influence.Therein lies its weakness, for fear is no match against hope and resolve. There are some physical situations that require immediate flight (such as a falling tree) but our programmed instincts will stimulate us to take the appropriate action, i.e. move out of harms way ASAP. The rest are pretty much of our own making and can be "unmade".

The Emotions Of Mind - Six Universal Feelings, i.e. Joy, Fear, Anger, Sadness, Envy & Guilt 3. Anger Definition: Hostile feelings because of an opposition, a hurt. Range: From mild frustration to irrational, blinding rage. Source: Genetic Self, in its drive for self-preservation; stifled, confounded or unsatisfied individual needs for empowerment and control over one's destiny.
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Stimulus Conditions: Power/control loss situations. Frustrated needs due to perceived external obstacles. The attributed source can be either upon environmental obstacles or upon shortcomings of the Cultural Self, both of which are external to the core Genetic Self. Instinctive Response: The "Fight" response, outward aggression. Intended Function: To accomplish self-preservation by generating active expressive behavioral responses which successfully remove the obstacles from the external environment. PITFALLS: In interpretation: Anger can be invoked by perceptions based upon maladaptive beliefs, attitudes or mental Emotional Boundaries. (This is invalid and contrived anger). In response: Maladaptive, misdirected anger can result in violence and destruction of self and others. (Negative outcomes of these pitfalls can be avoided if response rules are followed) RECOMMENDED COURSE OF RESPONSE TO ANGER: 1. Right Response: Evaluate beliefs, attitudes and expectations that bring on the angry feelings. Look to self. Are outcome expectations realistic and reasonable? If not, the anger is contrived. Look to the world. Does the environment deny a just and equitable opportunity for need meeting? If not, the anger is contrived. In both cases, beliefs are to be altered accordingly. This step will remove the mental source of contrived anger. 2. Light Response: If Right Responses have met with failure and the obstacle is legitimate, it is time to effect external changes. Light Responses are behaviors toward the anger source which can successfully alter or remove the obstacle so that needs can be met. Respectful cooperative communication, persuasion and self expression can accomplish this goal. 3. Fight Response: If respectful cooperation is not successful, it is time to take a more aggressive, even revolutionary expressive stance in honor of the spiritual need. Such actions should be attempted within the established conflict-resolution processes that exist, but should escalate in direct
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proportion to lack of receptivity within the environment. 4. Retreat Response: If even after all expressive attempts, the obstacle persists, a Flight Response is in order. It is then necessary to leave the situation and find more free, just and opportune surroundings. Food For Thought: "The size of a man can be judged by the size of that which makes him angry".---Harry Truman
There is, I believe, such a thing as "righteous anger" that can be expressed in such a way as to make clear one's feelings about a situation to those we perceive to be responsible for our anger. If our state of mind is justified in a spiritual sense, then those who hear our anger will more likely alter their behavior to appease or, at least, respect our position. This would be the beginning of the process of diverting this energy into a more positive environment.

The Emotions Of Mind - Six Universal Feelings, i.e. Joy, Fear, Anger, Sadness, Envy & Guilt 4. SADNESS Definition: Having or expressing low spirits; unhappy, sorrowful, causing dejection; sorry (broadly includes grief). Range: Mild, unfocused "blues" to the depths of chronic, even suicidal, depression. Source: Genetic Self; in its drive for self-preservation. Stimulus Conditions: Loss situations. The perceived irretrievable loss of something need-fulfilling; be it a dream, a goal, a belief, a person, a thing, a self-image or exception. (Note: if the loss is impending but has not yet occurred, anger, not sadness is cued, the loss is perceived as certain and irretrievable when sadness is experienced). Instinctive Response: To take flight, to escape or deny the loss. Pitfalls: Lingering in state of denial that a loss has actually occurred can perpetuate continuing anger. Failure to adapt to a loss can result in long
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term depression. Loss can be purely imaginary or falsely perceived, and sadness is cued unnecessarily and unjustifiably; acceptance of such an imagined loss (or personal lack) can lead to the adoption of faulty and detrimental thought processes and self-defeating behaviors. Recommended Course Of Response To Sadness: 1. First Right Response: Accept that the loss has occurred when your external experience keeps telling you that it has. An attitude change is necessary which shifts the object of the loss (idea, thing or person) into a realm of the past. Although memorial fondness can continue forever, the object, along with its need-fulfilling gifts must be completely removed from future expectations. This can, and does take time. But such restructuring is necessary to usher in replacement strategies. If anger is experienced during this process, it shows that the loss is not yet fully accepted. 2. Second Right Response: Adopt replacements for the object of loss. Find new beliefs, things or people to provide the missing need-fulfillment. 3. Light Response: Actively make external changes in physical or ideological surroundings which can accommodate the adaptations suggested above. Extensive grief can be channeled in vicarious, yet positive, need-fulfilling directions.

Food For Thought "Adversity is the first path to truth". --Lord Byron
"Loss" is an essential part of life. The mere fact that we experience it is the proof that we have found something or someone of value and enjoyed that connection for a particular period of time. All of life is a gaining experience, but a losing experience, as well. When we dwell for too long on the latter, we deprive ourselves of opportunities for further gain. Because the Universe is a dynamic state, nothing can ever remain the same for very long nor should it.

The Emotions of Mind - Six Universal Feelings, i.e.

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Joy, Fear, Anger, Sadness, Envy & Guilt 5. ENVY Definition: Discontent or ill will over another's advantages possessions, abilities, etc., (broadly includes jealousy). Range: Mild self-conscious discomfort, to open hostility toward another. Source: Cultural Self, in the drive toward self-development (offshoot emotion, tempered by learning, but related to genetic anger & sadness). Stimulus Conditions: Negative comparison situations. When self and others are compared on some scale, the self is assessed with less of the desired qualities, skills, abilities, advantages or possessions than the other. Instinctive Response: To fight or take flight, to overcome or avoid the object of painful comparisons. Intended Function: To signal that the Cultural Self has not yet developed to the point of full expression of the Genetic Self and that further development is needed. This painful reminder comes when one sees another who possesses or has achieved higher levels of some desired quality. Pitfalls: Feelings can be misattributed. Personal lacks perceived can be irrational, defiling or neglecting spirit; prompting maladaptive, spiteful responses which attempt to lessen the other instead of Right Responses which bolster the self. It is often difficult to avoid Fight and Flight Responses. Recommended Course Of Response To Envy: 1. First Right Response: Take self-developmental steps to acquire skills, abilities, opportunities, etc., that are possessed by the object of envy. (But such changes should only alter the mind or Cultural Self). 2. Second Right Response: If the enviable ability or quality lies in the realm of the Genetic Self or body (i.e., physical beauty, strength, height, etc.), acceptance of corporeal limitation will end pangs of envy over qualities which simply cannot be changed. Instead, consider and work upon areas of strength which can be or have been cultivated. Give self129

credit where self-credit is due.

Food For Thought: "If it's painful to you to criticize your friends---you're safe in doing it. But if you take the slightest pleasure in it, that's the time to hold your tongue". ---Alice Duer Miller
As one Greek philosopher expressed it: "The greatest wealth in the world is the ability to get along with little, for there is never want where the mind is satisfied." There is no force more masochistic then envy. In the burning desire the have what another has, our misery can have no limits. If kept in, it becomes an infliction. If acted out, it becomes an addiction. The cultural world plays upon it and attempts to ostracize those who decline to conform to this weakness. Envy takes personal courage to resist, but that is true of any weakness.

The Emotions of Mind- Six Universal feelings, i.e. Joy, Fear, Anger, Sadness, Envy & Guilt 6. GUILT Definition: A feeling of self-reproach from believing that one has done wrong; (broadly includes shame and embarrassment). Range: Mild self-doubt to debilitating self-hatred. Source: Cultural Self, (offshoot relative of fear). Stimulus Conditions: When thoughts and behaviors fail to match with some internal ideal self-image or accepted code of behavior. Often guilt is experienced following a behavior which fulfills some physical, spiritual need, yet which goes against some learned ideology. Instinctive Response: To take flight, retreat from negatively assessed self qualities, actions or behaviors. Intended Function: To direct attention to conflicts within knowledge and beliefs, or to those which go against the needs of the Genetic Self.

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Pitfalls: Guilt is learned and can be attached to almost any behavior or thought, depending on the culture.Since it is a gut feeling, it seems to come from some sacred place within, while in actuality it springs solely from learned beliefs. It is common to subordinate the needs of the Genetic Self to the rules and codes of behavior dictated by one's culture. It is also illogical and debilitating to do so. Recommended Response To Guilt: 1. Right Response: Make sure your behaviors match your conscience. Do what you say you will do---walk your talk. But examine beliefs, alter or discard any which go against the needs of the Genetic Self. Develop positive accommodating attitudes toward every aspect of your Genetic nature. 2. Light Response: Use logic and persuasion to alter the external cultural belief systems which deny any aspect of your genetic nature. (Any such components are counter-evolutionary and will hamper even the most intelligent, best fitting cultural doctrines). 3. Flight Response: If the external environment fails to accommodate your nature, leave for better ideological or physical locales. Food For Thought: "Guilt is the price we pay willingly for doing what we are going to do anyway". --- Isabelle Holland "It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head". --- Sally Kempton "Sin is whatever obscures the soul". --- Andre Gide
It would appear that there is a correlation between the strictness of a religion or enforced moral code, and the volume of guilt that was made to be dealt with. Guilt is the ultimate instrument of control, enabling a few in power to control the many. It succeeds because it is implanted in the mind earlier in the developmental stage and kept in place by institutional means. To escape its punishing intent, one often has to sever all ties with those who were most important in one's earlier life. But then one comes to the true meaning of the refrain: "Free at last, free at last. Thank God, I'm free at last."
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With clarity regarding the feeling system, how it works and how it can be so easily misused, we can press on to discuss the practical usage of this system.

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Section Beta Lesson Four: Summary: Emotion - The Sixth Sense Heeding the Spiritual Directive Despite thousands of years of humankind's quest for meaning and self understanding, it has never been achieved. The slivers from the Mind Of Man have perpetuated confusion and false ideas which limit human power and defile human nature, stripping away the birthright of Free Will. It is testimony to the spiritual tenacity of human beings that they have evolved as well as they have under such severe conditions. For since the dawn of humanity, they have been struggling along without benefit of a major sensory system---human feeling. With this system, the spirit offers its directives for living in the light.
Clearly, there have been sparks of human "enlightenment" throughout our history who have kept us from totally abandoning our innate spiritual nature, which is hardly possible. It might be presumptuous to suggest that with the introduction of this material, we could now be on the way to a collective abandoning of our history of depravity.

Human survival can be attributed to the spiritual safety net of selfpreservation. They can operate upon rudimentary hardwired responses to the feelings in approach and avoid behaviors, which meet the minimal level of human need and promote the perpetuation and survival of the species without interfering with Free Will. But operating upon selfpreservation alone is only a slim percentage of spiritual intention and human potential. As free will is utilized in ways that accommodate spirit, humans evolve.
And we have "evolved". We may be able to think of a thousand examples of human conduct that suggests the opposite, but I believe we do continue to progress in increments. At present, what is between those increments are the influences of our fragmenting institutions, i.e., political, religious, economic, etc. The communication revolution has led to the exposure of this fragmentation and it has resulted in a certain numbness of our senses as we adjust to the ultimate truth that our virtue must come from within ourselves, rather than from without, which is what these Lessons are trying to get across. Once that becomes clear to us, we will finally be able to exercise our Free Will in a fashion which opens up to all the possibilities of creating our own reality.

As humans evolve, the spiritual directive is no longer limited to self133

preservation. It becomes self-development and expression. Acceptance replaces resistance, cooperation replaces competition, and Right and Light responses become the norm. Human civilization has now reached the point where living in relative darkness can give way to enlightenment. With the technological mobility, global communication and economic interdependence of humans, there is no longer the isolation that allowed competition to ensure survival. As worlds collide, cultures clash, and religions wage war, the global community should take note that survival now depends on cooperation. There need not be losers.
We are truly living in a "New World", thanks to such technological advances as that being exercised through this medium (e-mail, internet, etc.). Unfortunately, many living this New World experience are still being guided in their thinking by the "Old World" paradigm. However, it may not be entirely perceptible, but this latter guidance is losing its influence. The results of repeated efforts to bend wills to comply with other wishes, is failing in an almost predictable pattern.

As always, the spirit awaits patiently within, to offer its clear guidance for individual and social evolution. These Lessons are designed to allow the rediscovery of this most wondrous gift at a time when human consciousness is ready for a great leap forward---and it all begins with self understanding.
There are admonitions throughout our religious writings that give us clues to our ultimate potential. One of these is: Know thy inner self. This suggests that true "knowing" can only come when we are able to go within ourselves and tap that source of universal knowledge and guidance that waits to share itself with our conscious mind. Today in our society, many of us feel like we are in a perpetual state of "scrambling", always on the go, creating activity to fill the gaps of our empty lives. We even insist that our children follow our examples, to the point that the playful portion of our early lives (the imaginative and creative) is being almost intentionally eliminated. Against this, there will certainly be an "inner-driven" revolt.

If these Lessons sound a bit esoteric and abstract, think about it this way: Humans have achieved tremendous technological creativity, with global marketplaces for the exchange of goods and information. What if, perhaps, some inventor developed an incredible new machine that could communicate directly with the Creator, that could give moment-to-moment advice on how to act to create the most pleasurable and fulfilling existence. A machine that could greatly reduce pain, fear, anger and
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suffering. A machine to accomplish great learning. A machine that could enhance physical and mental health, as well as provide enlightened guidance for development of evolved civilizations A machine that could ultimately achieve world peace.
Like most of our technological "toys", we invent them, manufacture them, acquire them, improve upon them and, ultimately, discard them when the fad has run its course. This pattern is an example of our innate inability to sustain true interest in those things which come to us from our outside world, be they gadgets, information or belief systems. Even a machine with which we talk directly with God, would eventually become passe unless, of course, it was our personal creation and we were charged with the responsibility of maintaining it.

If such a machine were advertised, most humans would be quite dubious indeed. They might scoff that such a thing might be too good to be true. Or if it were, that it would come at a price most could not afford to pay. It would become an accouterment of only the rich and famous. It would also challenge many cherished religious and scientific beliefs about "man's place"---powerless within a vengeful, meaningless, or chaotic universe. They might immediately resist and reject such a possibility, driven by their beliefs.
"Beliefs" are like doors to our minds. They usually remain closed to outside influences and new possibilities. Some even remain securely bolted. Although we do have the keys to open these doors, when we use them it is mostly to go out and obtain the material necessities of life and then retreat back behind them as quickly as possible. We invite select portions of the world into our "dwelling place", but only when these portions are in alignment with our belief systems. Ideas and people who disturb our self-designed tranquility, are seldom invited back. Yet, it is these experiences that can have the most impact on our growth, even if it requires unbuilding a resistance to them.

And they would be dead wrong. For not only does this "machine" exist, it already belongs to each and every human being. It is the supreme human gift and it is free for the taking. Regardless of whatever human "station", or culture or financial portfolio, it can be immediately activated to begin providing all those services and many, many, more. This machine will be the great equalizer and unifier; for it will allow the meek to inherit the earth. Those that begin immediate activation of this force will be the pioneers of human consciousness.
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Isn't it amazing that such a paragraph ever got into print. It could be considered by some to be one of the most dangerous writings of our time. Established institutions across the land should quake at the possibilities suggested here. Collective mindsets should seek the source of this material and destroy it, before it destroys them. Too late! It's out and about and it can't be put back in the bottle.

Of course, this machine is the communicative feedback system of human feeling. It is the understanding of the sixth human sense--- the spiritual sense. It is the Creator's innate word and judgement regarding human survival, human connection and purpose, as well as moment-to-moment guidance in human interactions. It can make the difference between resistant, painful suffering, competition and base survival; and joyful acceptance, cooperation, spiritual fulfillment. It should be received and valued as if it had been purchased for millions upon millions of dollars.
Alas, in our society, we too often value things on the basis of their price tag when, in fact, our potential as human beings is priceless. Even the least educated among us is more sophisticated than the best computer made, as none of the latter are capable of the quality of free will or capable of creating their own reality. Unfortunately, we sometimes treat our machines with more care than our fellow human beings. In some cases, we make a virtue out of killing our fellow human beings with our most sophisticated machines. Aren't we odd!

These Lessons, for the first time in human history, have offered a definitive portrait of human nature. A portrait that is universal among all humans, regardless of the diverse cultures that now exist. This "machine" belongs to everyone. The feelings whisper the highest truth of human nature and purpose.
This gives a whole new meaning to the concept of Democracy. We truly are all equal and valuable to ourselves and each other. Anyone has the capability to achieve any higher spiritual state from wherever they are at the moment. The key lies in making the connection with the Divine Nature of our being.

Now is the time to activate this machine. Now is the time to attune to the spiritual directive. Now is the time to begin the experience of true humanity. To begin anew with a full comprehension of what it means and how it works to be human. No more guesses, no more assumptions of evil, no more need for external control---none of this is, or ever has been, necessary. No more will humans flounder in ambivalence and conflicting directives. No more will free will run amok. No more will humans be
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fooled by their own illusory creations. They will at last be able to "judge not". For they will hear the one true judge, the feelings which speak the wisdom of spirit.
We have always had this capability. A few have become aware of it. Now the rest of us can and will.

From there, new worlds can begin to open to humans as institutionalized limitations are removed. New levels of consciousness can be attained, new creative worlds, and new levels of joy. Human potential has many surprises awaiting those that answer the challenge of spirit.
This, truly, is an invitation to the Inaugural Ball. The great thing is, we don't even have to get all dressed up to go, unless (of course) we wish to.

Not only can tremendous benefits be achieved, but equally devastating disasters can be averted. The technological abilities of humans have outstripped their understandings of themselves. Resistance, competition and suffering are now the accepted norm. Without self understanding, the basic (yet maladaptive) responses of self preservation will continue; evolution will be tremendously impeded as well as the ominous possibility for the self-destructive demise of the realizations which instigated nuclear disarmament. The Light cannot help but spread if chosen, obtained and lived within by each individual. Let peace begin with Thee.
We are talking about possibilities here and the limitations to those "possibilities" are merely self-created. Just as the potential of such is self-created. We are Creators, each and all of us. "Where two or more are gathered..." is where a spark can become a flame that, while burning off our counter-productive beliefs, can allow us to become truly unlimiting.

To activate the machine, to choose the Light, is to completely accept the fact that the Creator endowed humans with inner guidance. It is to live the truth that the wisdom of "God" is not limited to Holy texts or other external dictates, but to know that it is possessed within. The Creator's purest word exists in nature and any human translation is less than pure. Human nature is no exception--- the answers lie within. This message has always been inherent in every great teaching, albeit lost within the cultural distortions.
Cultural institutions have always felt compelled to squelch this fact in order to
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maintain control over its members, fearful that without control, there would be chaos. Out of touch with their own true nature and presuming everyone in their environment was as well, those suspected of being otherwise, were eliminated for the threat they were perceived to be. However, the cat is now out of the bag, so to speak. There is communication going on right now that can no longer be controlled or even successfully monitored. There are phone lines nearly everywhere and this is a positive "virus" that can not be contained.

But what has always been missing from such teachings has been: Exactly how to listen and react to this inner wisdom. It is through the feeling system that this is accomplished. It is through the feelings that the spirit can inform, develop and correct the mind. It is through understanding the difference between automatic self-preservationary motivations to Fight or take Flight, and the rational, willful choice of Right & Light responses. It is through understanding of universal human needs and in designing of political, religious, educational, economic and social institutions which accept, value, honor, and accommodate them.
This is why we are beginning to feel the influence of the female perspective as we move into this spiritual progression. The male (psychologically) has always tended to turn away from the "feeling" portion of his nature. It was labeled as being unmanly. For men, this new paradigm will be most challenged by overcoming this barrier to understanding. Meditation can likely be a most helpful way of getting around this, if for no other reason than it has a positive effect on one's physical health, while opening up centers of understanding that currently lie dormant and ignored.

The Creator intended for humans to use this system to retain the connection with the Spirit of All That Is, to be guided toward the most fulfilled and joyous experience. Human joy is the Creator's joy. Human suffering is also experienced by the Universal Spirit. Its expanding consciousness, its joy and light urge humans to eliminate these dark spots that they have willfully (albeit accidentally) created. Despite the priceless value, the only cost is the commitment to the spirit itself.
Much of the above paragraph is highlighted because I underlined most of it when I read. it. The last highlighted sentence I underlined twice, because of its perceived importance. We have a "Spiritual Directive" that we would now ignore at our own peril. Ignoring this Divine invitation would not lead to our demise. Rather, it would be like turning down an invitation to a party and electing to stay at home and be alone.
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The Spiritual Commitment Learning the mechanics of the feeling communication system is the first and primary step. Understanding alone can allow the natural spiritual impetus to become dominant within each individual. In understanding their needs and the inevitable self-preservationary impulses, each person can become aware of their own habits of thought and actions. They can recognize those activities that truly bring fulfillment, as distinct from those that seek refuge from misunderstood feeling signals. They can identify destructive need-meeting strategies that will surely arise if constructive ones are not available. They will enjoy a new awareness of life.
This seems to be the appropriate time to insert the following again:
WATCH YOUR THOUGHTS, THEY BECOME YOUR WORDS. WATCH YOUR WORDS, THEY BECOME YOUR ACTIONS. WATCH YOUR ACTIONS, THEY BECOME YOUR HABITS. WATCH YOUR HABITS, THEY BECOME YOUR CHARACTER. WATCH YOUR CHARACTER, IT BECOMES YOUR DESTINY.

When we can see the connection between our "THOUGHTS" and our "DESTINY", we experience greater motivation toward paying attention to what we think. It would seem that there are no accidents, just consequences. This same principle could presumably apply to one's FEELINGS.

But awareness alone is only half the battle, and perhaps the easy half. It falls to the individual to act upon the spiritual impetus. This requires the commitment to actively choose and carry out the optimal corrective responses desired by the spirit.
The difference between thought and spirit is often attraction. By what we think, I believe, we bring into our reality those experiences that provide the opportunity to expand our perspective. Often those experiences are not pleasant, but they should always be educational.

This will be a difficult directive to fully embrace, given the historical

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dependence upon external codes, rules, counsel and advise. As always, there will be an automatic tendency to preserve ideas that have become comfortable strategies. (Remember, the Cultural Self is born of human knowledge---and all parts of self will seek preservation). One's very identity is often shrouded within beliefs outside of spiritual intention. There will be an automatic tendency to escape painful learning experiences which may be necessary for self development. There will be an automatic tendency for groups of people of like mind to stand together and hold tight to their beliefs, even if they are limiting instead of offering broader opportunity. This can culminate in the urge to fight and even die for certain traditional ideals.
Governments and religious institutions have known this for a long time and have repeatedly used it to keep groups loyal and to war against each other, when appropriate.

Thus, there is a certain commitment to Divine Intention that will take courage and strength to unravel the many distortions that exist as truths within the realm of mind. It will take tenacity to handle those powerful emotional responses that will expose the deepest, most enduring, cherished, yet spiritually undesirable beliefs.
Take a close look at the people in the world who are suffering in poverty, fear and ignorance. Those whose lives are being manipulated beyond their awareness; those whose only escape is often retreating into a mental institution or even physical death. All these consequential realities are the result of an unawareness of accepted mindsets that destroy us from within while punishing us from without.

But this intensity will surely abate as progress is made. There will also be verification from spirit every step of the way that will resonate, validate and reward the committed efforts with joyous feelings. This commitment marks the step up from an animalistic competitive consciousness, into the human spiritual cooperative of All That Is. It is several "giant steps" away from the door of the cave where humankind now huddles.
Oddly, we look back upon caveman culture as being primitive when compared to our technologically advanced state. Yet, when it comes to our spiritual advancement, there are aboriginal cultures that are more in touch with the natural laws of their environment than we can even dream of. In fact, they refer to their state as being their "dream time".
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This commitment will ensure that the person will then be replaced upon a lifelong track of self development and expression, which is the goal of the spirit. This is a highly rewarding track to be upon, but it requires courage and faith in the inner messages---particularly in the belief that the inner messages should always take precedence over external ones. When in doubt, you can find validation by identifying which spiritual need is being fulfilled by any belief or action. For if one strategy satisfies one need without violating another, then that action or belief is valid and good in the highest spiritual sense.
We read stories about people who say they heard a voice that directed them to go out and shoot their mother-in-law, so they did it. Tempting as this may be at times, the guiding principle has to be, Do No Harm. Any inner voice that is Spiritual in origin, will adhere to that guideline.

Living In The Light We can now distill the understandings into a daily living scenario which can be beneficial in bringing them down from the abstract realm, for immediate application. Each day forward can be life in the light as opposed to the previous flashes within relative darkness. (Darkness of ignorance, self preservation, and misdirected energy creating events that mirror the limits of Mass Consciousness, rather than those desired by spirit). A deliberate daily strategy wherein ration and passion combine to direct and create life events will accomplish the maximum growth and fulfillment.
Progress on this plane begins when awareness evolves into action. But what usually follows this awareness are the windows of opportunity. Once we begin to act upon these "windows" with sincere intent, the feedback/consequence becomes reenforceable.

As humans awaken each morning, they do so to a newly created world. They slip from one probability to the next without so much as a blink. As consciousness expands, it will become apparent how very much control each has over the creation of the desired events in one's life, and how they choose to actualize one probability over another. Certain thoughts should be reinforced such as: "I create my own reality" and "My spirit will guide
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me".
If we still have doubts about our ability to create our own reality, a little reflection upon our lives can provide the opportunity to see much of the consequences of our past actions, both in the positive things/experiences we have created, as well as those negative things/experiences. We might be tempted to attribute much to luck or chance, but in doing so would be less than honest with ourselves.

Each morning should be faced with reflections upon where one's life is going and how to get there faster today. Knowing that yesterday is gone, having been mined for its wisdom, that the power is in the present and nothing from the past can in-and-of-itself reduce it. Only belief in limitation can limit. Humans can actually split apart from their past and recreate it in the present with more supportive interpretations and beliefs about it. Remember that the mind has many unrecognized facets and tools, all of which can support spirit, or can limit it if misused.
One of the characteristics of this era is the newfound awareness many of us will be experiencing; the awareness that our minds are full of dormant tools that can be brought into focus on the many opportunities to grow spiritually. As these opportunities increase in number, our physical reality and our relationships will begin to reflect such. We will eventually look back upon this period as the most accelerated aspect of our lives.

Before actually arising, it is suggested that humans harmonize to the spirit by engaging in a two-way communication. This creates clarity and communion through focused attunement. As the mind slows its vibration from dream consciousness into the hypnotic nether-realm before full awakening, much work can be done. The mind is most receptive and least effected by beliefs in this realm. Lucid communication is a natural process in which the messages and interactions from the dream realm allow mind to intuit certain knowledge and ideas that can bolster the spirit's goals. Conversely, after listening to the wisdom offered, one can then answer, and communicate individual intention back to spirit. These are the nuts and bolts of creative reality.
Creativity is a two-way street...an interaction process. While people who talk to themselves are considered by most in our society to be a bit looney, consider this: Who is better acquainted with us than ourselves. We can truly be our own best friend. Considering that we talk to our pets and are usually satisfied with the
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responses we receive, communicating with ourselves should be no great leap. In fact, the better we come to understand ourselves, the better we will likely grow to understand our pets and even the people around us (in that order, of course).

Unbeknownst to humans, they create quite undesirable events by concentrating the powerful Will Energy of emotion upon beliefs and projections which they fear. Since emotion is the two-way language of spirit, everything operates as if humans are purposefully choosing such events. The spirit does nothing to alter the process in any way. It simply creates that which is concentrated upon and bathed in emotion. (The spirit does judge them, however, through the emotions which will accompany events and experiences when they are manifested in physical reality.) To counteract these unconscious directions of power that inevitably occur throughout the day, one must actively, consciously, refocus the Will Energy upon exactly what one desires.
This latter can be a challenge, particularly when so many of us have been programmed with beliefs that encourage us to expect some kind of Divine punishment on a regular basis. Many have been taught that the God of their belief system is constantly testing them with punishments and rewards, and they believe that whatever happens to them (or those around them) is simply part of this ritual and not at all related to the belief system they surrender their "will energy" to.

This is accomplished through the visualization of detailed images regarding each of the major life areas, empowering the vision with emotional (will) energy. Each of the following visuals will be flooded with positive joyous feelings of gratitude As if they have already been actualized. The energy communicates to the spirit what your mind intends to create, and is a critical essential ingredient in creating physical events. (The powerfully focused joy energy can negate other fearful images that arise and are mistaken for desired events). As you progress through the categories, upon completion, allow each one to ascend into Universal Consciousness, letting it go knowing that it will have made its mark.
Visualization is such a powerful (yet, generally unrecognized) tool in our creative arsenal, that utilization of it requires more practice and familiarity than any other habit of thought to which we are yet to be exposed. Because the following material is so significant, I won't be making my usual (and probably distracting) comments at the end of each paragraph, unless, of course, I just can't resist "popping off".
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The Daily Meditation I. FIRST, focus ration and passion upon the areas of Intellectual and Spiritual Development. Visualize yourself freely receiving Light and becoming one with the Universal Consciousness. See yourself learning, developing your mind to include all the creative tools which allow the spirit to sing freely. Visualize what the outcomes of such self development would look like and feel like. They could be travels, explorations, and adventures, physical, mental and/or spiritual. Become completely caught up in the images and feelings, until spiritual resonance and completion is experienced and the event has occurred. (Completion is when the joyous emotional energy peaks and gratitude envelopes the image.) When this vision is complete, send it forth, like a balloon into the heavens, clearing it from your mind. II. Next envision the Life Mission. This is about spiritual expression once certain development has been attained. This is the Destiny Path upon which you have embarked by designing this specific incarnation. If you do not yet know what your mission is, then focus upon a general completion of it without the specifics. Feel the fulfillment of a complete and satisfied spirit that has completed the Destiny Path. (In time, as you notice opportunities and act upon them, your mission will unfold to you). If you already know, then focus upon exactly what that mission would look like and feel like without any limitations whatsoever placed upon what you can accomplish. (Beliefs regarding limitations of time, of resources, of opportunity, or self-ability often arise in this area. But not so much during this altered, relaxed state of consciousness. Your spirit honors no such limitations and its wisdom is much more clear in this space). Visualize as if there is no limitation and energize this image with feeling. III. Third, envision the Professional Accomplishments desired. This can be in any chosen field or aspired direction where one makes a living as well as accomplishes spiritual expression. Visualizing specific events as well as long term outcomes can clarify intention, communicate and manifest desired events. If there is not yet a professional direction, education often substitutes. This need not be a salaried position, it can include home parenting, volunteerism, and such action that contributes to an overall
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focus of life energy. It can be creating a salaried position out of one's desired interests. The key in this area is to capture an outlet for creativity and to not include any limitations in the visions. The sky is not even the limit. IV. When completion is attained, the fourth area of focus is upon the Material Desires. This is the financial expectations as well as specific accouterments, like a house, a car, a particular book, a piece of clothing, etc. Anything that feels desirable is worth shooting for.Specific artifacts can be quite pleasing to the unique esthetic or tone of the spirit. There are no rights or wrongs, simply what is pleasing to spirit. Be careful not to think that to live a spiritual life, one must have an austere life style. This is a silly and limiting, even manipulative belief. (This belief was originally promoted to gain compliance and control over serfs who might otherwise fight for their rights). Envision in great detail a life filled with all the financial abundance and material items spiritually desired, again enveloping this image in joyous gratitude. V. The next area of focus is that of Physical Health and vitality. This is the area wherein specific body goals and maintenance can be empowered, as well as healing and transformations. Focusing empowered emotional energy upon any specific area of concern can be of tremendous benefit. Envisioning peak performance of all bodily systems and experiencing gratitude for the incredible physical form can help counteract the barrage of negative and limiting human "knowledge." Be sure to envision the correct balance between an underactive (for cancer prevention) or overactive (for allergic reaction) immune system. If it is underactive, envision little killer cells attacking that which is not self and keeping things tidy and in order. If overactive, tame those killers cells by showing them that which is "self" which may have caused allergic response. (Remember, this system thinks everything inside the body and mind is "self" and should be preserved, fighting against foreigner invaders. Food stuffs or other allergens should be embraced as self and enveloped in emotional joy to communicate and authorize your acceptance of them. Be very specific, and of course, empower the visions with joyous gratitude. There lies much undiscovered power in this area, but one caution is offered: do not be disappointed or discouraged if dramatic, miraculous
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results are not achieved immediately. This is the area where the most enduring and hard to dismiss beliefs reside; indeed, years of human energy have been invested in them. As individual and Mass Consciousness expands to understand the energy dynamics of the human body-mind, health and vitality will be far less elusive. VI. Next, focus upon Relationships. This is a prime area to satisfy the connection needs of spirit as well as general development and expression. If a primary relationship exists (a lifemate, husband or wife), then it can be envisioned in its ideal form. If not, one can be created in which such mate will be attracted into one's experience. Problems can be addressed and clarified in face-to-face meetings with loved ones or work-mates. Psychic communication between parents and children is quite beneficial also. This need not be limited to the realm of the living. If there exist issues that evoke negative emotions regarding departed loved ones, recent grief or old issues can be settled with face-to-face conversations, regardless of whether or not that entity is currently focused in physical reality. Envision an interaction which discloses hurt feelings and evokes an apologetic or explanatory response. This can replace resentment with compassion and forgiveness, allowing emotional release and attitude change. No limits to the imagination are necessary. Simply empower the vision with joy and gratitude. These six categories should cover the main areas of ones life, but it is recommended to tailor and personalize your meditation, making it your own. It also helps to envision a special relaxed and beautiful "nature place" in which you can mentally escape to perform such meditations. (This can be a real place, or any combination of geographic features or natural beauty that invokes spiritual peace and resonance. Be as creative as you can be---no limits exist in your imagination). In addition to the morning meditations, the effect can be bolstered by being repeated during the day or evening. (Deep breathing, about five deep connected breaths can help calm the mind and settle into a similar relaxed and receptive consciousness). The more creative energy the visions receive, the sooner they will begin to manifest in your life. The Meditation of the Clock
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This meditation is known as the Meditation of the Clock. It can be envisioned with each category likened to a number on the clock.(See illustration at the end of this section). Intellectual Development at #4, Mission at #2, Profession at #12, Material Desires at #10, Health at #8 and Relationships at #6). Having a visual format such as this can make this easier to manage and ensure that each major life area is allotted attention, focus and energy. This exercise can give you mental clarity. Perhaps you will be surprised to realize how many goals you have, or did not really think about. Do not worry if the goals seem incompatible with one another. Simply dismiss any limiting ideas as they arise. (Worry will be an important feedback clue, later on, to see how well you actually did dismiss them) . Simply declare that which you desire. The clarity will allow you to get acquainted with your needs and how they manifest in your life. You will also be able to determine a great deal about your beliefs when starting from this place of clarity, for now your spirit has something to work on and to relate to your experience. And now you know exactly what your spirit is addressing through your communicative feeling sense.
It is almost impossible to gain much from this exercise without focus and clarity. It would be like writing a letter to someone without an idea of what it is you want to convey. Of course, every letter has to begin with an intent. Often, what we say, doesn't clarify itself until we begin the process. So, for the best results, begin. The Meditation Of The Clock ( For daily spiritual communication)

The Daily Feedback Once you have begun the daily meditation you will be ready to watch for feedback from the spirit. It will seek balance between your desires and your outcomes, your internal and external worlds, between your spiritual intention and your physical experience. And it will signal whenever corrections are necessary.
This is simply the old-fashioned "feedback" system that alerts you through your feelings when you are straying off course. When you drive a car down the highway, you see with your visual sense when you are moving too close to the boundaries of your travel lane, and you automatically move the steering wheel to the degree necessary to keep you on your path. Eventually, you reach your destination, although you may exercise the option of pulling off the path for
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some need or adventure. So it is with the life process. Our instincts guide us along safe passage while encouraging us to interrupt the boredom of the trip.

Now it knows how you want to meet your needs, and it will do its best to bring about every desired result. But it will only have the freedom that your mind has afforded it. It will only have the mental tools of beliefs, the gems and slivers, contained therein. It can only operate upon your existing level of self-development. It will try to achieve your goals in the existing environment. To succeed, it will require mental skills enough to overcome external challenges. And it will most surely bump into your limiting beliefs. For it will create exactly that which you believe most strongly will happen to you---good or bad. You will feel the nudges of spirit when some event is not within your spirit's desires.
Imagine a carpenter trying to build a house with only a chisel and a saw. There might be some tasks that he could do with ease, such as cutting the lumber and notching it to fit in place. However, without a hammer and nails, the task would be most difficult. When tools are like "beliefs", we sometimes willingly elect to do a task in the most difficult way because we choose to deprive ourselves of those "tools" that, if acquired, would make the building of our lives so much easier.

Whether or not you do a daily meditation, your spirit already attempts to create the reality you envision, working within your mental boundaries. But mostly this is unconscious; and fear, anger, and guilt are the primary creative feelings. They can achieve certain levels of expression beyond preservation, but they can also empower scenarios and attract events exactly opposite to those that are truly desired. (The Creator allows this so that eventually humans will make the connection between what they reap and what they sow---between direction of the Will into beliefs and the outcomes they produce). Now, of course, is the time to understand the creative communicative power of human feeling and to harness it forevermore.
Let's suppose that up until now, whenever you drove your vehicle, you were in sort of a half-crazed state, angry and generally upset with the world around you. You would manage to get to certain places, but you would be very tense in the process and would broadcast that tenseness to the passengers in your vehicle and others on the road, most of whom would share your state of mind. There would be minor (and even major) accidents, when the environment became too crowded or hectic. Systems would have to be created to correct the consequences
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of those "accidents" and, eventually, those "systems" would become dependent upon the confusion that created this consequential environment.

Now that you know what the feelings mean and how to respond to them, they can finally do their job. And they will most certainly arise now that your intentions have clearly been offered. Any belief, attitude, or developmental limitation that stands between you and your envisioned goal will signal a negative emotion, so that it can be removed. As you go about your daily business, closely attune to your emotions, and what they are saying regarding your stated goals.
Emotions need no longer be the unpredictable acquaintances we are aware of but elect not to totally trust. As we come to recognize their value in our lives, we will begin to be more comfortable with them. That will lead to a greater level of awareness and reliance. Eventually, they will become our lifelong companions.

Your feelings will spring from your actions in the external world, and how successful they are at meeting your inner needs. As soon as you experience any emotion, stop and analyze the situation. There will be an imbalance or obstruction of some sort---either in the internal mental realm, or in the external physical realm. The feeling will signal this fact and motivate you to react correctively with either internal, developmental or external, defensive or expressive responses. (Of course you know now that you don't really want mere self-preservation! So watch for those autodefenses!)
Sometimes, the best signals to the misdirection of an action are the seemingly unexpected obstructions that arise between ourselves and an intended goal. If we heed these "signals", we take a second look at that goal and/or the process by which we are intending to achieve it.

Good feelings signal situations and underlying beliefs which support and add to your goals. Remember, all feelings signal imbalance between mind and spirit. But this type of imbalance is the kind humans like and are motivated to create as often as possible. This is the imbalance that says, " This is working---not just adequately---but wonderfully! What you are thinking and doing is bringing even more spiritual expression than you expected ---keep it up---keep it up---keep it up!!!!!'."
At this point, you have connected with pure joy. Considering all the years of past habits of thought, you may feel somewhat uncomfortable with this state. Hang in
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there. It will pass and you will actually become a very joyful person, to the point of being disconcerting to those around you. Pay little attention to this. You have a responsibility now to spread the joy .

Correcting this imbalance is easy. It will be some sort of developmental or expressive approach. This can be accomplished by making Right Responses (mental updates) in acknowledgment of good progress, bolstering successful strategies, relationships, skills, and belief and even broadening and expanding goals. This naturally bolsters self-esteem and confidence, resulting in faith toward overcoming future challenges--- this is empowerment. Light Responses (verbal and physical expressions) in which further skill and success can be offered to (and received from) others, are also effective behaviors in honor of positive emotional signals. They reap many fulfilling rewards.
Like a train moving from a crawl to its normal speed, one senses the acceleration of the motion and, after adjusting to this "feeling" begins to enjoy and find it comfortable. First, last and always, one is in total control, both in exercising one's Free Will and in Creating One's Own Reality.

All other signals will be bad feelings which call for other, more urgent corrections. These feelings are your spirit saying: "If you truly want this to happen, then why are you believing or doing this?" Or: "If you truly want this to happen, then this must be fixed!' Although the most painful, these are actually the most valuable feelings, for they expose the most debilitating conflicts and beliefs. The most important reaction to these feelings is to stay aware of them. As time passes, your successful selfdevelopment will reduce the situations wherein you will experience negative emotion. As you no longer need to blunt your feelings, your overall sensitivity will raise, turning the volume up on all emotions since most of them will be positive. As you clear away limiting beliefs, new creative insights will become evermore accessible. This is enlightenment and the expansion of consciousness.
The largest steps in our self-education will be the awareness of our own inconsistencies in thought, word and deed. It is these "inconsistencies" that we manage to hide from ourselves with such habitual skill. Once we crack that "nut", we will discover a much smoother pattern of spiritual growth.

Remember, living in the Light means living in Spiritual Intention---living on purpose toward self-development and expression of your full potential.
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This is the "high road". The low road is the self preservation, a mere shadow of true human potential. (This level of existence often severs connective ties in competitive defense, temporarily overcoming "an obstacle", but in the long run further frustrating the spirit's connection need).
This is going to feel somewhat uncomfortable at times, especially when we feel that we are out-of-step with the reality of the world around us---that which expresses the fear and self-preservationary mentality that permeates the society we live in. If we can shift from our envelopment with this "mentality" to a more detached and amusing view of it, we will gain strength from our own perspective. The evening "news" will no longer manipulate us with its latest concerns and we will come to enjoy the fiction of so much of it.

But the body will defend and self preserve. And the mind will help it ---Until these understandings are fully internalized. There may be many habitual, protective strategies in place to keep bad feelings at bay, but each and every one of them must be dismantled for the spirit to freely speak and do its job. Keep a vigilant guard against ineffective behaviors which compete, stall, excite and distract, yet do nothing to accomplish envisioned goals.
We are never more alive than when we are in the creative mode. To envision something and then bring it into reality (whether it be the remodeling of the basement or the painting of a landscape), it matters little. Creating reality is what we are meant to do; and when mind and body are harnessed together for this purpose, the Spirit sings.

The urge to self-preserve is quite powerful and habitual, also arriving in the form of defensive anger, in which blaming or any other skirting of the personal accountability for the situation occur, nearly automatically, The two major directives in such moments are to accept (resist not) your personal role in the situations as reported by spirit and thus looking within to seek improvements. (This is not to say that external ideas which selfefface or denigrate the spirit are to be internalized or tolerated. Once you have ruled out that deficits are in your mind, self-expression, even preservation, is essential.) The second is to operate from a stance of cooperation not competition, in which there need not be a loser or blamee.
I fully realize that to suggest that putting "cooperation" over "competition" as an ideal on the road to spiritual evolution, is to fly in the face of conventional
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wisdom; since we are programmed to accept the latter as part of the economic, political and social creed. After all, wasn't it communism that finally defaulted. And didn't it fail because it couldn't "compete" with the other system? Yes and no! The chapter is not finished yet and Spirit would seem to always bring all flawed (non-spiritual) belief systems down. Out of two extremes comes progress in moderation.

With cooperation, the connection need is always honored, even if the connection is one of simple compassion for ignorance of another. A hearty and mature spirit will always seek self-development regardless of how unenlightened the external forces may be. The spirit will sing its pleasure following this higher choice of action. This reward is far greater than any temporary rush from revenge or one-upmanship which may follow vented anger. The former springs from self-development, the latter from self-preservation.
We prided ourselves on our civilized behavior following World War II, as our occupying armies helped our defeated enemies recover from the ravages of war. Then came the Vietnam War and our military conduct became somewhat less than noble. We still tend to take advantage of the weak and less educated in the world. Our self pride tends to get in the way of our spiritual insight. But the weaker our fellow human beings become, the less strength we are left with to help ourselves.

Cooperative acceptance can set the stage for the accurate interpretation of the signal and choosing the appropriate response. The tool of the Twin Selves can determine if the belief that has frustrated the spirit exists in the realm of mind or body. If the belief is learned (of Cultural Self or mind) then a Right Response is in order. This is usually when there is an immediate need for self-developmental learning. This happens when mind needs to add skills or ideas to accomplish the need-meeting challenge at hand. This is always the recommended first choice. To look within and seek clarity and improvement. Or instead, the feelings may spring from the frustrated need itself (the Genetic Self or spirit), if the needed skills and ideas already exist, so an external change is necessary. In this case, a Light Response is in order, as an external expression to remove the obstacle.
Whichever the chosen response of the two, it is bound to be a spiritually elevating experience, not only for the person making the response but for the recipient or witness, as well. The rising Ocean of Thought raises all the individual ships that float within it; and each contributor to that "Ocean"
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benefits from the "rising".

In the simplest terms, if the imbalance springs from mind, development is at hand, if the spirit, expression.(Remember the rules: Right first; then Light; if obstacles persist, Fight; if they still persist, take Flight).These simple spiritual directives can guide your daily actions. If even a small percentage of actions are within spiritual intention rather than selfpreservation, great progress can be made. There is no need to beat yourself up if you catch yourself making an automatic defensive response. Simply analyze it after the fact and find the belief that allowed this, change it, and next time the results will be different. Honor yourself instead for this newfound awareness.
Sometimes, when we learn new information and elect to start putting it into practice, we judge and grade ourselves on our performance. This material is not the kind that requires one to be tested in the process. Rather, once exposed to it, we begin to alter our behavior in ways that bring positive results to our lives in ways that eventually become quite noticeable.

As you begin to become conscious of your choices and actions, you will open an entire world of self understanding. You will be able to see exactly why you have achieved certain successes and why others have eluded you. You will begin to notice an incredible tangle of conflicting ideas and directives through which your spirit has been trying to carry out your wishes. With reflection upon your personal history, you will later begin to notice that your beliefs do create your reality. You will also notice how your beliefs have been creating less than desirous events. You may feel awed, even afraid, of your power. This, like any other feeling, exposes the limited belief---in your powerlessness---which you now have proven to be obsolete. As these limits melt away, you will embrace and delight in your power.
"Power" is a key word here. This is a word that can be an ideal when applied to ourselves. The recognized power to control our thoughts, leads to the power to control our destiny. Unlike the "power" over other people (and their lives), this self-recognized power can lead to development of the kind of person that others gravitate toward, not out of fear, but out of hope.

You will notice your needs and how you have been meeting them, in both constructive and destructive ways. You will begin to become familiar with
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your own emotional boundaries, expanding those of mind and standing firm in honor of those of spirit. Your progress will rapidly accelerate as you purposefully accept your personal accountability for each situation, rather than resist it with denial. Your interactions with others will change dramatically as you realize how much more rewarding cooperation is than competition. You will begin to approach the limits of the world with compassion, yet achieve spiritual fulfillment by offering your Light.
From the bible come the words: "Know thyself." Now there is knowledge that can be put toward a very positive cause.

Creating Community Although living in the Light is perfectly possible without sharing your new approach with anyone at all, finding others of like mind is quite rewarding. The synergy of community is very powerful. It is highly recommended to seek others who have chosen enlightenment, cohorts with whom to share experiences, exchange wisdom and gather support. With even one close friend with whom to share your experiences, they will become much more meaningful and salient. Family units can set aside particular times to discuss the understandings, and the efforts and outcomes at creating desired reality. Establishing focus groups with regular meetings can help build community and build great networks for the Light.
Clearly, CAC has planted the seeds with the sharing of these "Lessons". How they fare will, undoubtedly, depend on the soil in which they land. We who till that "soil" could truly alter the course of history.

With these strategies in place, you can now begin to live within the Light and allow life to unfold as your spirit desires. So begin now, and you will never be the same again.
I can say, with honesty, that in my own case, this process has begun. The ability to create one's own reality has always existed. It is recognizing that we do it on a regular basis, that takes some extra willingness.

As you practice, your world will be affected by your newfound insight. You will discover that these understandings act as a small pebble tossed into a still pond. The implications will ripple outward in concentric circles until they reach the very boundaries of human existence---for the
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implications which logically follow the understanding of human nature, impacts every major area of life. It will be necessary to rebuild certain primary understandings to support your expanding consciousness. Thus, we can now turn the discussion to creating new beginnings.

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Section Gamma Lesson One: New Tenets Of Human Existence Existing Directives Although many gems---successful, creative, spiritual inspired ideas---exist within the realm of mass consciousness, the slivers are far more significant and far less obvious. There is no way to tell the difference between them, unless the spirit is invoked. Until these Lessons, it has not been apparent how to listen to spirit.
I suppose if the "slivers" were obvious to us, we would reject them out-of-hand without hesitation. However, they are subtle and kept that way for sustaining purposes. That is the key to control.

Thus, humans, their cultures and civilizations have evolved without the critical understanding or benefit of their sixth, emotional sense. Mind often stands between Spirit and body, and mass consciousness now stands between spirit and its physical expression. With these new understandings, mind, body and spirit are at last reunited. Spirit can direct the development of mind to achieve maximum fulfillment and expression. Wholeness of experience can be achieved. The Grace of internal guidance is restored.
Such a change in human nature opens up possibilities never before dreamed of, and the consequence of this "opening" can result in a freedom of opportunity that eliminates all the slivers of our environment.

This is a grand step forward in human existence. It is a step placing humans upon the intended evolutionary path, a higher road than simply self-preservation. With this step comes tremendous liberation. The very world expands when adding this crucial puzzle piece to the picture of human existence.
Up until now, most revolutionary ideas, be they Christianity or Communism, while evoking an ideal too often unattainable, have fallen short or failed completely. This has usually happened because they have slid under the control of organizations or bureaucracies. With this ideal (or expansion) control lies within the individual, where it was always meant to be.

It brings a whole new world---a world far superior to the one with which most are now familiar. Humans now need to look about, to see their
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everyday surroundings in this new enlightened perspective. Each facet of life must be reexamined. This is where the inner work begins. Right Responses are in order which redesign the mind to accommodate the language and wisdom of spirit. New knowledge must replace old. Spiritual directives must replace those of human origin.
It is the equivalent of what the Founding Fathers did in creating the constitutional principles by which the United States was meant to be governed. This "document" served as an inspiration throughout the planet. The time has come again, for a revival of that creative spirit.

Upon redefining basic human nature, the next logical step is to examine how humans operate within existing conditions and directives. For it will be much easier to attune and respond to the feelings of spirit if certain habits are first examined. New strategies of acceptance, development, and cooperation will be hampered by existing directives which predict and rely upon resistance, defense, and competition, assuming that they are the only natural impulses.
Human nature cannot evolve from its current stage to the next stage, without a full understanding of its present makeup, anymore than the manufacturer could improve upon his automobile without a thorough understanding of its current operation, or a composer could create original works of music, without studying the subject matter.

Scientific & Religious Directives We know now that many social structures are based upon misassumptions of human nature. They recognize and facilitate only self-preservationary behavior, and do not dare to presume something as optimistic as a spiritual intention. "Modern" human science pronounces the universe to be a machine, with deterministic forces interacting, concluding that all life results from a grand cosmic accident. It views the physical without regard or hint of the spirit, the order, the beauty, or the intention within. To scientists, humans are also theorized to be machines, driven by the prime directive of survival as the only human purpose.
The experience of getting lost while driving somewhere, is akin to where we are as a human race. Being male dominated, it's tough to admit it in the first place. Once accepted, the next difficult step is asking directions.
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Scientific assumptions of selfish generic determinism also underlie many physical and psychological health directives. People are seen as hopelessly diseased and disordered, with minimal control over the innate forces motivating them only toward survival. Spirit is never considered nor even mentioned in such discussions. Of course, this assumption is partly true. Without the mental conditions for the broader purpose of self-development and expression, humans do innately respond toward self-preservation. This is why evolutionary theory is based upon "survival of the fittest". But survival is a minimal spiritual directive to ensure physical forms continue---hardly the whole story of human potential. Many directives from health advisors must be reframed within the context of universal human needs, reconnection to spiritual intention, and the feeling system.
Scientists are the "high-priests" of the current state of western civilization, that force which is most influential in the world today. They support the so-called enlightened societies, while the religious institutions try desperately to pile spiritual meaning on top of a skeptical world. If such a state could be reversed, it would be the scientific community applying understanding to what would be a universally accepted premise of spiritual reality.

In contrast, modern religions do have faith in, and focus upon the spirit. They provide fulfillment for the spiritual needs for meaning and connection. Religious experience can invoke tremendous spiritual attunement and bliss. But more often than not, religions assume spirit to be somehow separate and unreachable except through beliefs (touted as unimpeachable truths), through rituals and intermediaries ---some of which have become very limiting, disempowering and dogmatic. And each ensures an innate evil nature which will most certainly dominate and lead humankind astray.
Like police departments, these religious institutions truly believe that they preserve society and represent a line of defense between order and chaos. They affirm that without religious directives to guide us, we would revert back to savages. This is why laws (and lawyers) are so omnipresent in the industrialized world. There is a presumption that without laws (religious and secular), we would all beat each other to death with "high-tech" clubs.

Such world views offer meaning at a high price indeed, often defying ration. They are saturated with ideas, which separate and maintain a
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distance between the Creator and the creations. They often enforce the acceptance of mental slivers and conflicting information. Such conflicts allow the reconciliation between the logically opposing dictates of "Thou Shalt Not Kill" and the practice of holy war.
Western civilization has set records in barbaric behavior toward itself and nonWesternized societies. We profess the Christian principle of "Love Thy Neighbor" in churches and then go off to slaughter for the justification of the moment. This conduct reflects the disrespect we have for ourselves.

They also manipulate the emotional system in ways that are counter to spiritual intention. They can instill guilt feelings connected to any behavior deemed inappropriate in a given doctrine, many of which are perfectly beautiful and good in the eye of the Creator. When the mind is ordered to overrule the spirit, this creates conflict and negative emotion in humans. If the human accepts that order, the result is deprecation, depression, and the "breaking" of the spirit. The faithful are then limited to appeasing these feelings within the rules, rituals and interpretations of the masters of their faith. They remain forever in need of external direction.
Breaking the bond between "self deprecation" and self-love, can be the greatest challenge most face today, for it requires turning away from the practices of accepted society and the shunning that follows, and exploring that inner compass which not only preserves us, but is there to direct us toward our expansive spiritual nature.

Each and every such directive should now be analyzed against the wisdom of spirit. When feelings are given the freedom to do their intended job, they offer the most valid and true judgments.
At some point in the future, those who ultimately come to appreciate them, will look back upon these Lessons as being quite elementary. Only then will we know how far we had to travel and how short the distance was.

Political and Governmental Directives Modern human political and legal structures also ignore spirit, and assume humans to be innately evil. They produce laws and codes that seek to control the self-preservationary impulses as if they are only impulses. They create societies with limited opportunities for humans to meet the spiritual needs, forcing them to compete rather than facilitating the innate cooperative impulse. For they are based upon scientific and religious
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knowledge, also without any concept of innate spiritual guidance. They also strive (albeit unconsciously), to meet the human needs. But in not knowing exactly what they are, it has been a trial and error learning process.
These "structures" are based on Old Testament Laws (the 10 Commandments) and a presumption that if "Laws" are good then more "Laws" are better. Control is in contradiction to Spirituality, which includes Free Will and Creating One's Own Reality. If caring about each other were the guiding principle, laws of control would be much less necessary.

Those systems, laws, and codes that have endured, must be meeting an adequate level of human need despite their inherent flaws, or they would have been rejected by humans and left behind as civilizations evolved. History is filled with external dictates that have been rejected in the most revolutionary of ways by humans. Indeed, many such rejections are abundantly evident in the world today. The most recent forms of government which have evolved are perhaps the most cognizant, accommodating and respectful of many human needs. But even they still struggle through trial and error approaches.
Most of the societies that exist with "laws" which predominate over the principles of "freedom", are experiencing a state of deterioration. Societies that encourage that trend, i.e. more law and fewer freedoms, are losing respect for their governing bodies.

Still, like science and religion, every existing political body or government contains assumptions that must be replaced with accurate ideas about human nature. These ideas will spring from the spiritual expression of individuals who are attuned to their inner guidance. Such people will make the accurate interpretation and response to their emotional signals. They will make Right Responses to develop the mind. They will offer Light responses to share their improved ideas with their communities. They will Fight when it is appropriate to stand firm for their spirit, never to deny its supreme wisdom again. And they will take Flight if all else fails, to begin creating new worlds that suit the spirit, steadfastly rejecting external control and allowing themselves the empowerment that is their birthright.
As long as there is freedom to communicate ideals and fresh ideas on how they can be implemented, such societies will have more Right and Light Responses
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and fewer Fight and Flight reactions.

The Power Of The Individual It is a common assumption that organizations lead and guide individuals. Schools instill knowledge, governments instill rules, religions instill morals and beliefs, each imparting information into the individual---as if humans are like inflatable balloons. Although such exchanges of information are essential to prepare humans with the necessary mental tools to succeed in physical experience, the external sources do not hold the power.
The only "power" they hold over us is the power we give them. Just as parents are (and should be) relieved of their power over the child when it moves from childhood to adulthood; so the human race should begin to consider its emancipation from the organizations that rule over it in the progression toward spiritual maturity.

There are tremendous beliefs to overcome regarding the powerlessness of the individual. In each of the human cultural institutions, there are deeply ingrained beliefs that individuals can only achieve knowledge and control from their institutions themselves, from within the Mind of Man. Humans subordinate themselves to the doctrines of their country, their faith, their political party, their parents, their social pundits--- to anyone except the wisdom of their own spirit. The generally accepted idea is that human development comes fromoutside in.
This is, in part, encouraged by certain practices of our physical activity, such as food, water, medicine, knowledge, etc., the things we take "in" in order to maintain ourselves. Yet, when we do something creative or inventive, we draw from within ourselves and bring it out into physical expression, i.e. a painting, a poem, or even a stealth bomber. Even a cure for some physical ailment could come from within someone's mind. Could we do this without having been educated in these fields? Obviously, someone had to have knowledge somewhere, or the knowledge in those fields would not exist .

But within the new understandings, one can see that all change---internal and external, individual and social---begins within the individual. All individual and social evolution springs from the inside out. No group could exist without the creative vision, participation and expression of its
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individual minds. There would be no mass consciousness without the combined thought of each individual consciousness .
A society that forgets the importance of individuality and sacrifices it for the sake of security, begins its journey down a slippery slope to tyranny. When spontaneity becomes less valued than conformity, we begin to die. As one Greek philosopher but it: "Organization is the death of an idea".

Yet societies have taken on lives of their own, due to the limitations and misunderstandings within mass consciousness regarding human nature. They often fight to maintain the status quo, insisting upon the outside-in mode, and rejecting individual contributions which may not fit with the existing ideas.
The religious and political history of the 18th and 19th century stands as an example of the rejection of the institutionalized control over the lives of individuals. In a true sense, in rejecting the dictatorial control of the religious institutions of western society, it ushered in a more spiritual opportunity for all the members of that institution. This was true, as well, in the movement from monarchy to democracy. Unfortunately, this movement did not complete itself to the point where other controlling institutions ceased to exist.

But human grouping that does not offer human freedom, power, meaning, connection and creative opportunities in some minimal form, cannot be successful in the long term. Spirit will reject them. The spirit has been evident in its rejection of such external control through individual and social pains and acts of self defensive violence. Individual members will Fight or take Flight. Such actions, when viewed through the distorted lens of Mass Consciousness, have only served to reinforce the inaccurate belief that humans are inclined only toward selfish, evil actions and that without external control, they will destroy each other. Thus, the misguidance continues and still more external control is attempted.
The military actions being carried out on the planet at this point in time are almost all about groups defying control from without and attempting to maintain control within the respective societies. The point of spiritual expression is not considered in the attempts to arrive at permanent solutions to the conflicts, at least not to the degree that it is noticeable.

History shows this cycle. Countries that have needed physical or psychological walls to contain their members will ultimately fail. Such
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controlling communities will be overthrown, or other, more enlightened civilizations will attract their members. For true power and control must spring from the individual. In respect of this truth, communication channels and efficient responses to input are essential in any organization, whether it be a family, a religion, a scientific or political community, a club, a company, or a country. It is the task of individual members of every social institution to be receptive to the expressions of the individuals, and allow the natural course of evolution to flow unimpeded.
Once the value of the human spirit (and its innate creative nature) is understood and accepted by a societal organization, then the needed intellectual and emotional energy will flow freely and it will continue to flow as its individual members continue to grow.

Now that the understandings and strategies for living in the light are in place, we can start exercising human power by redefining the contents of mind. You have begun a lifelong process of self-development, a redesigning of your mind, but this time, under spiritual guidance. You will be examining and sorting through your entire concepts and beliefs about life. You are committing to search out and reject anything and everything limiting to the spirit. This will require rethinking your philosophies, your political, economic, social and religious beliefs, and by reframing your life experiences in this new enlightened context.
This need not be done under a compelling pressure to succeed, accomplishing this within the confines of normal time and space. A lifetime can be as long or short as we elect it to be. The exercise of free will applies to everything in our physical environment, even ourselves. We are totally in control of the above indicated process, and we have a tremendous ally to aid us in this process, our individual, spiritual or higher self.

Be confident in the knowledge that the mind can be fooled by its own illusions, but the spirit cannot. The Mind of Man, mass consciousness, has become the respected source and supply of truth at the expense of spiritual intention. External guidance springs from mind and all outlets of external guidance must be subjugated to spiritual internal guidance.
What does that mean exactly? I believe it means that we have an inner guidance system that can keep us on course toward whatever destination we elect to enhance our spiritual possibilities. Getting in touch with that "inner guidance" is no more complicated than seeking guidance from our conscience. It can be
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accomplished through such techniques as meditation or a reflection on our dreams, when we give that part of our nature the instructions to provide us with the appropriate insight.

This commitment is not disrespectful of your mothers, or your teachers or your preachers. It need not diminish the wisdom imparted from the realm of mind in any way. Everything truly good for you will be saved and valued as always, but now you will have a way of knowing what is "good" in the highest sense. You will feel such validity from inside out. You will be utilizing your innate spiritual judge to tell you which ideas are gems to be kept and polished or which are slivers to be expelled. Your spirit will faithfully and tirelessly speak these pronouncements through your feelings of pleasure and pain.
This is what "spirit" does best when given the opportunity. It is only a matter of reestablishing that trust between our human nature and our spiritual nature and reaping the benefits of going with the flow.

Restoring the Blank Mental State It may be helpful to think of your mind as a house with various rooms. As you "walk about" in this mental house, you will be directing your consciousness into its various rooms. Your mental house is already filled with many beliefs and ideas. But the contents of every room must now be sorted and each idea tested against the spiritual judge. With this vision, empty a large room and place a sign upon the door which states: "Gems According To Spirit".
The capability of compartmentalizing events in our lives is one that can be used to our advantage. We have seen public figures exercise that capacity of late, seeming to be immune from the consequences of their actions. However, it is clearly not always the "gems" that are given a special room.

Then mark the door of an adjoining empty room with "Incoming Information". Think of this as a receiving room, a holding tank, where each and every incoming idea, belief or conclusion from experience will be loaded with potential information. Some good, some silly but harmless, and some quite hurtful. The feedback from your experiences provides an endless supply of highly valuable input for this room. Maximum mental development is contingent upon a continuing source of new experience.
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This room is like an interim, limbo room, where everything is welcomed and accepted, whether or not it matches existing values, knowledge and ideas. This is the room in which it is appropriate to "judge not". For this is the room where each piece of information awaits its spiritual judgement. But it is essential that everything must be allowed in. All mental emotional boundaries should be removed from the front of this door, to allow access to every meaningful result of experience. Guarding against defenses such as avoidance and denial will allow this room to function properly.
Filling our lives with prejudicial concepts is the equivalent to putting iron bars in front of this "Incoming Information" door and eventually, the hinges to this door become so rusted that the very concept of such a room becomes lost, as does our potential for growth. On the other hand, an "open room" is like an "open mind", essential for growth, which is the natural state of the universe.

Adjoining this receiving room will be a special judgment room where the actual spiritual determinations are made. The room can be called the"Spiritual Advisory". This is a very special, personal, even sacred room, wherein you can retreat to analyze the incoming information that has caused emotional dissonance. Use good, vivid mental imagery and create the room to any specifications. Design and decorate it in any way pleasing to your spirit.
Keep in mind that anything we create for ourselves on a mental or emotional level, is as real (and more so) as what we create on a physical level. Because our physical existence is so governed by the concepts of time and space, tying our spiritual development to these concepts can actually enhance the progress we can make in this familiar environment.

Whenever a negative feeling is experienced, your consciousness is being directed into the Spiritual Advisory, bringing along a belief from the receiving room. Such feelings will come and go throughout your day; the power is in understanding what they are telling you. In this feeling moment, the idea creating the feeling is "on the stand" in the spiritual court. With your active participation in this process, you can direct the belief where it belongs. Once a belief has passed inspection in the Spiritual Advisory, it can be placed within the Gem room. This process can take a quick moment of reflection and a simple mental shift. Or for more deeply held beliefs, you can mentally retreat into this room to focus intently upon the situation, your feelings and reactions to figure out the core belief. (The
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more powerful the emotion, the more entrenched the belief, the more effort required to pry it loose.)
Life is sort of an emotional mirror, throwing back at us the consequences of our beliefs. While the physical mirror image is a reverse to which we adapt our thinking, the emotional reflection requires both courage and honesty to deal with it. If those qualities can be brought into play, the benefits are even more helpful than the results from using our physical mirrors to enhance our image.

Of course, everyone's mental house is already filled with existing beliefs and this is good. But each such room will also now be treated as incoming information. Negative feelings will direct your attention to these rooms as situations arise so that you can assess and respond to them accordingly. Ultimately each room will be emptied and replaced with Gems, until every room is filled with nothing but Gems. This will be the Spiritually intended mental state.
In the end, your house will be an "abode of great peace", a sanctuary of comfort. Those who become acquainted with it, will feel most comfortable and uplifted.

Of course, even items in Gem rooms are always subject to recall into this Spiritual Advisory as outside circumstances, requirements and challenges change. They may need to be updated. Revisions to many existing beliefs will be necessary, gems can be polished and occasionally recut. Mental fluidity ensures the maximum possible spiritual expression and most rewarding, complete physical experience. Never fear, the feelings will always call forth that which is in conflict with the needs of spirit.
Our Spiritual Nature is that "final nature" which will never let us down. Because it is our "true" nature, it consistently works to bring our loose strands back to the source of our being; and because of our adventuresome nature, our ventures and experiences contribute to the value of our Spiritual growth. This is a natural process which, at present, is not encouraged by the institutions which govern our lives. Many acts of liberation are considered a threat to the protected status quo.

When conducting your mental housekeeping, you will find that you need a removal system. There should be a garbage chute in this mental house, wherein ideas can be discarded if they have been proven by spirit to be limiting. This should be marked with a sign "Slivers for Recycle." This might be easier than assumed. If valid replacement beliefs have been chosen and there are no other related beliefs, disposal is as simple as a
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decision to do so. However, if there are relatives, they will resurface in future experiences. They can simply be put through the process again. If disposal has been complete, there will never again arise a situation in which that feeling is experienced for the same reason. Adequate and continuous disposal increases over-all positive experience for this very reason.
Just as we work with our physical mirrors, perfecting what we want to see, so we can work with our emotional state until those beliefs which are a distraction to our growth, cease to be part of our nature.

The first step in living in the Light will be to place the new understandings in the recently vacated rooms. The knowledge of the spiritual communicative system should be the first and only occupant in the Gem room. From the moment the inner voice can be heard, each and every piece of information should be measured against it. Even the messages within these Lessons should begin as incoming information to be passed trough the Spiritual Advisory. Living in the light means just that, without exception.
Let's face it, if we are going to start making exceptions (i.e. these Lessons), then anything can become an "exception", until the intention of the system is compromised.

Any truth of mind which resonates with spirit can be considered just that. Any truth of mind which is discordant with spirit must be reexamined. Each act of mental housekeeping is an active Right Response. Each acceptance of incoming information ensures defensive Flight Responses are not indulged. Each acceptance of mental accountability is the owning of the experience, which minimizes the choices of Flight Responses and other external blaming or resistance. With accurate interpretation and optimal responses, your feelings will help you develop your mind and your world. The house of mind can be an incredible edifice, a huge expanse of gem rooms with tools for every situation, challenge and environment. It can be a model of spiritual expression and fulfillment.Or it can be a slum of frustration and suffering, with rigid emotional boundaries that defend inadequate beliefs and severely limit physical, social and spiritual mobility.
Frustration and suffering can be an addiction of mind that can only be overcome with realization and an intent to find an alternative. These recommendations are the piano keys of a new melody.
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To begin this new strategy of mental housekeeping, the first new ideas can now be received into your mental house. These are to be some universal human tenets, which are logical consequences springing from the now complete picture of human nature. Your feelings will affirm each and every idea in line with spiritual intention, no matter how far it may be from your present state of understanding. Take each to the Spiritual Advisory and test it out. See if it resonates with your spirit and fits with your experience. Once validated by spirit and placed within the Gem room, such ideas become the beacon for human thought and action.
What follows is the Test of the Tenets!

The Tenets of Human Nature 1. Humans are innately "good" and moral when attuned to, and purposely fully directed by spiritual guidance. (Concepts of evil are to be eliminated). 2. Humans are spiritually guided toward the purpose of cooperative, self development and expression, wherein experience expands and consciousness evolves. 3. Humans are driven by competitive self preservation if not attuned to spiritual guidance. (Experience becomes reduced then to mere survival, creating the illusion of evil, and evolution is stymied). 4. Spiritual guidance is physically manifested in human needs for freedom, power, connection, meaning and creativity. When all are met, humans are naturally accepting and on purpose. If not, they will revert to resistance and defensive self-preservation. 5. The spirit speaks through the language of feelings, motivating behaviors of "approach" and "avoid" in accordance with needs and purpose. 6. Without understanding the difference between spirit and mind, (Cultural self and genetic self), the spiritual feedback system can appear to give mixed signals and motivations. 7. All Feelings are legitimate and are to be welcomed as valuable communicative corrective informational signals, and acted upon within the
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rules of response. (Right, > Light, > Fight, > Flight). 8. The emotions of spirit (joy, anger, sadness and fear) indicate internal developments (Right Responses) and external expressions (Light Responses) are in order. 9. The emotions of mind (guilt, envy, embarrassment, hope, confidence, shame, etc.) indicate developmental Right Responses are in order. 10. Fight & Flight Responses are necessary only when true self preservation is at risk, evidenced by spiritual anger and fear. Such defenses are to be understood as automatic reactions to ensure base survival, and avoided as first choice responses. Conclusion: Human goodness and destiny lies in wait for spiritual guidance.

The Tenets of Human Existence 1. Human purpose is to develop and express spiritual potential. 2. Humans have been given complete power to create any desired conditions to achieve their purpose, mediated through the gift of human mind. 3. Humans have been graced with unlimited freedom to ascertain contents of mind, with no restrictions whatsoever. 4. Humans use this freedom to create knowledge and belief systems containing gems, slivers, or both, and spirit does nothing to interfere. 5. Slivers accumulate and interfere with spiritual communication, separating humans from the totality of All That Is, and creating the proverbial Fall From Grace. 6. Spiritual intention can be communicated through direct creative inspiration only when mind is unfettered by slivers, but is always communicated through human feelings of pleasure and pain.
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7. Although contents of human mind and mass consciousness have severely limited the mental acquisition of spiritual intent, mind can neversuccessfully negate the feeling system. 8. The spiritual safeguard of mind is human feeling, to signal the presence, and motivate the removal, of slivers and ultimately bring a return to Grace. 9. As the mind is revamped under spiritual direction, physical consciousness expands to receive increasingly direct spiritual insight. 10. "The Creator" will not interfere in the physical realm to rescue humans except in offering spiritual insight through the feeling system of each individual. For the creator exists within. 11. Human destiny is to restore mental empowerment and spiritual expression through attuning to spiritual wisdom. Conclusion: For evolution of consciousness, to restore fluidity of mind and to return to the spiritually intended path, each human must listen and act upon feelings.

The Tenets of Creative Reality 1. The object of the physical "game" is to experience spirit in form, totality within limitation, light within darkness. The more expression, the better. 2. Physical reality is illusory, fluid, limited to time-space and the realm of mind. Spiritual reality is consciousness seeking expression and expansion. It is unlimited, universal, and everlasting creative power. 3. Spirit needs mind to physically create. Humans create their own physical reality by directing spiritual energy (will power) through the images of mind. Mind converts willfully chosen images into physical experience according to intention and belief. 4. Intention is communicated by the language of feeling in both directions, Spirit to human. Physically, Spirit guides individuals through approach and avoid feelings. Mentally, spiritual insights are received as direct thought,
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and spiritual judgments about beliefs are indicated by pleasure or pain. 5. Humans communicate intention to Spirit through mental imagery, thoughts and feelings. (Feelings are the most powerful communicators given the present state of mental enmeshment). 6. Mind creates. Thoughts surrounded in positive emotion will attract positive events. Thoughts surrounded in negative emotion will attract negative events.
*We all get what we fear or hate, but also what we love and believe.

7. Fearing an undesirable event can keep it at bay, but fear generated safety contracts experience, collapsing it and frustrating spirit. Joy generates fulfillment and expands experience, and promoting the expansion of All That Is. (Eliminating conditions for negative emotional response, will eliminate the attraction of negative physical events. Promoting conditions for positive emotional experience, will attract positive, desirable events). 8. There is no other creative source of experience. There is no valid fatalism, no "bad karma", no evil force manipulating human experience--no valid blame to be placed. All events are created by individuals

themselves!!!
*The above is a significant paragraph!

9. Spirit exists beyond space-time, in past, present and future. 10. Some choices and destiny paths span lifetimes such that certain genetic and cultural conditions are created at birth to facilitate that direction. 11. If negative events occur despite all attempts to follow spiritual intention, spiritual destiny beyond mind can be assumed. (Eventually, the positive outcomes will explain and justify any seemingly "negative" interim necessities). 12. With spiritual intention and guidance, humans can create desired events and never again be victims of their own ignorance, nor be captive slaves within their own power. Conclusion: Humans have total creative freedom. Mind creates reality, spirit empowers
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and directs. Desirable physical outcomes are achieved in direct proportion to mental liberation and accessibility to spiritual intention.

The Tenets of Social Structure 1. "Civilization" can only evolve if human nature is understood and accommodated. 2. Existing civilizations are based upon a norm of competition and selfpreservation resulting from disconnection between mind and spirit. 3. External dictates must be aligned with internal ones. 4. Human needs for freedom, power, creativity, meaning and connection must be honored as "Rights" with expressive and developmental opportunities provided within social-political groupings. 5. Standards of cooperation, acceptance and spiritually directed responses must be implemented across human institutions. 6. Receptivity to Light Responses must be ensured in each. 7. No limitations should be placed upon self determinism, free will, and personal choices which do not violate rights of others. 8. Social sanctions should be placed upon unnecessary, uncooperative, self-preservationary reactions which violate others. 9. Individuals must ensure that their institutions do not resist feedback and defend their own mass mental emotional boundaries.
* When this happens, individuals must simply withdraw their support.

10. Alterations to existing systems must come in manageable steps, without needless ripping of the fabric of society.
* This moves the action from "revolutionary" in nature to "evolutionary".

Conclusion:
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Individual contributions following reconnection between Mind & Spirit, will motivate mass reconnection and social evolution. With these first tenets passing into the house of mind and taking their rightful place, we can now turn to discuss existing habits, pitfalls of thought and action which have become "normal" and acceptable. These habits, in spiritual actuality, are anything but normal and are no longer acceptable.

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Section Gamma Lesson Two: The Power of Habit A Gift of Mind As we begin to reexamine each and every content of our mental houses, it is critical to establish some preliminary new ideas about the mind itself.
"...new ideas about the mind" has to lead to new ideas about ourselves and the world around us. How these "ideas"' resonate with our spiritual nature will be the test of their worth.

The mind, as we now know, is a truly incredible resource. It is a separate entity from spirit, although they interact. The mind is strictly a physical manifestation, an accouterment of the human physical experience. It has many functions, all of which are to serve spirit. It operates as a location, to focus spiritual consciousness in the physical. It serves as a receptacle, to receive creative insight from spirit and to store any and all mental tools (beliefs, ideas, and skills ---gems) which allow its expression. It functions like a computer, connecting, processing and organizing information to continuously refine the mental tools. And finally, it operates like a converter to manifest in the physical, those events, opportunities, and experiences which are spiritually desirable.
The "Mind" observing itself, gains "insight" to itself. In doing so, it illustrates that true knowledge is found with-in. There is a difference between being occupied with just ourselves (i.e. our particular relationship with the physical and mental world around us, including our physical bodies and mental achievements) and a deeper understanding of our Spiritual nature and reflecting through the use of our minds and bodies. The former is a bit of a dead end, while the latter opens a door to unlimited possibilities.

We also know that the mind can inadvertently get in the way of spirit and utilize any of its abilities against their intended purpose. This is the price that comes with free will. Humans have the choice of creating the mind in its entirety. Any reality can spring from the position of mind. But such choice, for the most part, is now lost as existing ideas from mass consciousness are foist upon the mind in childhood which severely limit its abilities by focusing it upon one declared "true" reality. One of the most powerful ways that this happens is through the computer-like function which creates preprogrammed sequences of thought and action, known as
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habit.
Just as we can program our computers to perform certain tasks automatically when we turn them on, so we are programmed by the society which uses us to conduct our lives within the defined limitations. Institutions exist to make sure that conformity is rewarded and non-conformity punished. One might conclude that without such, there would be chaos. But, in fact, one extreme is as inappropriate as the other.

Habit is a truly wonderful, mental capability. It is the ability to store and repeat an effective tool, skill or strategy so that it can be used time and again, rather than having to create a new approach each time. Habitsare developed through conscious effort, through developmental learning experiences, just like a computer programmer chooses what software and data to input. (The programmed physiological responses and processes of the brain that run the body, are not included in the category of habit as it is being defined).
Just as our "habits" sometimes take us to places we don't intend to go, such as when we plan to vary a pattern of travel but end up following the established one instead. (We start to go to the grocery store but end up on the road to the post office.) Changing a "habit" or ingrained pattern of behavior, requires intent and attention and, above all, repetition.

Habits are choices, purposely added to mind and carried out by the physical brain through its electrical chemical synaptic activity. Habits are learned, being impressed upon the blank mental slate from the moment of birth and throughout the lifetime. Learning good habits is purposeful selfdevelopment that facilitates spiritual expression. Ideally, habits should only be created under the direction of spiritual intention and altered the moment they diminish in their effectiveness.
Most of us have habits that we believe are beneficial to ourselves, even though, when they are carried to excess, we are the last to recognize and accept the fact. In examining our "habits" the guideline might be, "Does this activity (physical or mental) do anything to enhance my physical, mental and spiritual well being?" When it is doing just the opposite, we should know it's time to change.

Habits can be so well ingrained, certain functions can happen simultaneously within the mind and consciousness need not even be disturbed. This ability allows humans to do many things at the same time,
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while focusing their attention upon that which is necessary and allowing the mind to do other things on "automatic pilot".
My son was recently trying to do just that when he made a left turn into an oncoming vehicle. He and the other driver were alright, but his vehicle (less aware of what the programmer was doing), suffered for it. His pride had a few dents in it, also.

There are two main types of habits, mental and physical. A mental habit is a sequence of thought, like a computer macro, which rapidly goes through a series of steps to complete a desired action, without the conscious involvement of the operator at each interim step. One thought or feeling triggers the pattern and consciousness is only aware of the result---if even that. The result has to be above or below existing expectation to elicit a feeling to focus the awareness upon the habitual effect. If the mind paints a reasonably accurate portrait of the external world, expectation is often met habitually so that consciousness is bypassed entirely.
I remember reading somewhere that 80-90% of our thoughts in a day are the same thoughts we had the day before. This seemed to be quite true. We may see someone or something that triggers an established belief and the thoughts associated with that belief/experience will run the memory, like a cassette tape. It's only when we alter the content of that "tape", that our thought experience will change.

Mental habits automatically associate former experiences, existing beliefs, expectations and information with incoming information, to sort, classify, and find meaning in each experience, quickly without much conscious effort. Humans rely heavily upon mental habits to be versatile and successful in need-meeting challenges in a wide variety of situations or cultural environments.
It could be presumed that if our existing beliefs and expectations were of high spiritual quality, not only would our view of our world be altered, but the effect we have on our reality would also be improved.

Attitudes are mental habits. They are preformulated judgements about incoming stimulus which can help automatically classify and respond to incoming information. Attitudes are intimately connected with the emotional system. Attitudes connect existing beliefs to similar, previously judged, experience. Attitudes which are in accordance with spiritual
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intention are wonderful things to have. Attitudes that are not aligned with spirit can be very detrimental. If left unexamined, they can reinforce inaccurate information and behavioral responses.
Ever heard the phrase, "You've got an attitude problem." It is usually uttered by people who have "attitude problems" of their own. Attitudes are like the expressions we wear on our faces. They almost immediately broadcast our inner state of mind. If you don't think so, try walking a block on a busy street with a smile on your face and the next block with a frown. Watch the feedback you receive from those you meet. Like attracts like.

Choices of action are often based upon attitudes. For example, the attitude that the world can be made into a wonderful, safe, accommodating and just place will most likely motivate actions which will ultimately make it that way. On the other hand, an attitude that is defensive, pessimistic, and competitive, will most likely lead to actions that create further individual and emotional chaos.
Could it be that simple? Whyyyy not! If we truly do create our own reality, than the attitudes we bring into that state of mind will likely be the ultimate governing factor.

Physical habits are motor skills which are patterns of muscular movement that bring about a desired goal. Walking is a learned series of balanced movements which becomes a habit. Playing a musical instrument or excelling in athletics or dance are all based upon the formation of physical habits. Each and every such pattern of physical movement which creates spiritual expression is a highly desirable commodity.
Some years ago there was a very popular book titled "Psycho-Cybernetics". One of the points of this book was that the mere imagining of an activity produces the same result as physically doing the activity. One could improve ones physical skills by rehearsing them in one's mind. It would stand to reason that this could work in both directions. Positive thoughts produce "like deeds" and positive deeds produce "like thoughts."

Habits can greatly assist humans to take on tremendous challenges and juggle many activities simultaneously. This can allow for multiple outlets for spirit to maximize its expression. For example, think about when you are driving to work, or to some other environment in which you can satisfy your needs. Perhaps your spirit finds pleasure in music so you are listening
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to your radio. Your mind is thinking about a task that awaits you at your destination. You are strategizing for the hours to come, as well as reflecting upon events earlier in the day, you are navigating traffic, and perhaps even drinking a cup of coffee.
Imagine what kind of concentrated power we could achieve if, instead of indulging in all those diverse thoughts at the same time, we could be thinking of just one desired goal or personal insight. Eureka!

Then suddenly, a particularly pleasing song from your past comes on the radio and you begin to sing along with it. As you are singing, you suddenly remember a project that you did not finish the previous day. You then immediately begin thinking about what you are going to do to complete the project as soon as you get to work. But the mind is so adept in its use of habits that you do not even skip a beat of the song you are singing as these other thoughts intrude into your consciousness. Indeed, your singing has gone on auto-pilot, as has your driving and your consciousness is free to receive other insights and thoughts. If someone should suddenly cut you off in traffic, your consciousness would immediately be returned to the focus of driving, allowing you to take defensive action. All this is possible due to the mind's ability to operate through habit.
Amazing, aren't we!

Habits of Defense: The Self-Preservationary Impulse We know now that the hardwired defense responses exist in the body to ensure human survival. Defensive action which avoids a car accident is an excellent example of when this response is effective and appropriate. Defensive responses that honor, protect and maintain the boundaries of spirit are essential and many are hardwired into the body. But body defenses can quickly generalize to mind, if the critical boundary between mind and spirit is not recognized and scrupulously honored. Until now, the self has been a mishmash of mental, physical and spiritual processes all lumped together. Defense responses of mind have become an accepted part of human experience. But they are not innate. They are formulated exclusively through learning and reinforced through habit. They lie within the realm of willful control and are resolvable.
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Programmed belief systems can "defend" the mind against broader and more enlightening concepts which, when allowed to become part of a new paradigm, can lead to greater control over our own destiny. In other words, when not initiated to think otherwise, we can override limiting concepts and expand our reality to a far larger extent than is normally perceived. Even when we have been so "initiated", we can reformulate ourselves through an act of Free Will.

Humans do not need to concern themselves terribly much with gaining conscious control over the hardwired defensive responses that protect spiritual emotional boundaries; they will come naturally when allowed. But, it is essential to guard against habitual defenses. (Fight and Flight responses) that protectboundaries of mind. For it is the ever-evolving habits of mind that will direct and control the alternate, beneficial, developmental (Right) and expressive (Light) responses. Besides, any situation that is dire enough to invoke physical survival responses probably warrants them anyway.
New mental and philosophical concepts that are automatically met with Fight or Flight responses, are seldom given a fair hearing by our cultural-minded nature and, consequently, we end up running in place for too much of our physical experience in this plane.

It is the defensive habits of mind which now need to be addressed with a more detailed focus. Since there has never been an accurate understanding of the spiritual emotional sense, there have arisen many external dictates and ideas within the Mind of Man which perpetuate the development of defense habits of mind. We now know the goal of mind is to expand and never to defend and preserve, yet defense is the hardwired automatic motivation. The hardwired response, however, can be overridden by purposeful habit development which counteracts self-preservationary impulses whenever the true need is to develop mind. These mental defenses, however, cannot be counteracted until they are clearly identified.
Choosing outside information that only reinforces the Mind of Man attitudes, only leads to mental stagnation. Along with the act of reprogramming ourselves, comes the responsibility to do so with the full opportunity for guidance by Spirit. To the degree that we are willing to trust in our Spiritual nature, we will be able to expand the rest (physical and mental part) of our nature. This is what is meant by "surrendering to the Divine".

The basic defensive responses of Fight and Flight can take many forms in
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the realm of mental habit. But there are several clearly "human" patterns which can be readily observed. They are counter to spiritual intention; they violate the response rules; they keep the motivation and behavior in a mode of competitive self-preservation; and they must be consciously eliminated to restore maximum progress upon the Destiny Path. They can now be known as the Eight Deadly Habits.

The Eight Deadly Habits The eight deadly habits can be seen in actions throughout human history--in wars, in political, judicial and social trends, in art forms such as literature, poetry, dramatic theater and film. They can be seen as factors which underlie rules, codes, mores, religious tenets and even laws. They each perpetuate relationship breakdown, severing human connection. They offer evidence of man's "innate immorality" and "sin" and "evil" capacity. But they are not part and parcel of a spiritually intended human nature. They are choices and mental habits which are imparted without conscious intention and left unchecked. Such habits almost always temporarily satisfy one or more of the spiritual needs, but always at the expense of another---creating further spiritual pain. They can and should be reversed. Each of these patterns only occurs if the rules of response are broken (Right>Light>Fight>Flight). They occur when Flight and Fight come before or in place of Right and Light responses. But since they are so habitual, so prevalent and so accepted, they require special mention.
Even our "classic" works of literature are founded upon these habits. It is for this reason that their imitation is so habitual. The flawed precepts are held as the ideal and until these precepts are fully examined, they can not be corrected.

Resistance The first four deadly habits fall into the broad category of resistance. This is the wrongful tendency to preserve mind, which springs from the rightful tendency and innate impulse to preserve spirit and its body.Resistance disallows the mind to even receive the spirit's incoming information necessary to right itself.Resistance is tantamount to keeping the doors to the mental house firmly closed, so that nothing ever comes into the receiving room, let alone the spiritual judgment room. Resistance is
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essentially the Flight Response which seeks to avoid or escape any incoming information which may cause pain.
Maintaining the status quo is more comfortable than moving beyond the confines of the familiar. But unless we are willing to stretch our minds beyond these "familiar confines", we will remain childlike in a controlling environment.

But as we know, such spiritual pain is a necessary signal pointing to that which needs to be altered in order to accommodate, develop and express the spirit. Humans are quite hearty indeed when it comes to pain.But the highest levels of fear and anger are only experienced when faulty ideas--slivers---remain protected within the walls of the mental house due to resistance. The small levels of necessary growing pain are very easy for humans to handle. They can even be invigorating. Unfortunately, through habit, all pain gets lumped together and a defensive posture of avoiding all pain sets the stage for resistance.
We're familiar with the phrase "Don't worry - Be Happy!" In our society, happiness is defined as that which detracts from pain of any kind. Not that "worry" contains the automatic solution to any pain we might be burying. By itself, it seldom accomplishes anything. However, it does act as a signal that the issue causing one to worry, has to be examined in depth, until it can be resolved and proper responses can be contrived.

Resistance is the antithesis of open acceptance. It comes in many subtle forms. We have already discussed the concept of denial and how certain things are simply not admitted into the consciousness. Denial, of course, is synonymous with resistance. To truly communicate the depth of its insidiousness, we will point to some major forms of denial which may make the concept more readily recognizable in everyday thought and action. Resistant Escapism The most common form of resistance is escapism.Escaping the challenging situation immediately removes the pain, for the consciousness is quickly refocused. Of course, escapism is often necessary and healthful, when willfully and rationally chosen and utilized sparingly. For example, in the modern world, humans scramble about directing their energies in many different directions in order to juggle their need-meeting responsibilities in
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a crazy man-made world ill suited for spirit. This can be physically and mentally exhausting and certain "down times" are necessary to maintain the physical health of the body.
There are people in our society today who don't truly know the meaning of "down times". We refer to them as workaholics and sometimes envy the result (monetary profit) of their lifestyle. This is a short term view, as most of them end up finding escape in ways that they neither contemplated or desired.

In such cases, a little escapism into the physical and mental realms of relaxation are good choices. This is why universal patterns of work schedules have been adopted in varying forms across human civilizations. Days off, break periods, and vacations are commonly understood to be healthful and necessary. The underlying reason is that spirit requires certain changes in routine, alterations of experience, time to refocus and reevaluate the goals and strategies of mind. Such periods should always follow times of intensity in order to maintain the spiritual balance required and ensure physical health.
The Judeo-Christian Bible tells us that even God had the good sense to take a break on the 7th day. My wife reminds me that I once said that doing something different can serve as a relaxant, and usually finds something for me to do on my day off.

Escapism is always driven by the self preservationary impulse. When the mind and body are overtaxed, the spirit cries out through its feelings that down times are necessary for health and maintenance of the body---self preservation. Feelings of exhaustion, distress and fatigue are all signs from the spirit to slow down, relax and reflect. Remember, spirit is encoded in body to safeguard and protect its physical and mental needs. Spirit has ensured survival in this manner throughout the history of humankind. Such urges from the spirit are to be heeded immediately so that mind and body are given the care they deserve.
When I was young (and maybe this still exists), there were devices placed on school buses that prohibited the vehicle from being driven faster than a certain speed, maybe 45 miles per hour. However, a clever bus driver usually found a way to "slip the governor" and exceed the speed when appropriate. Humans are clever at that kind of thing, sometimes to a fault.

Another very useful aspect of this retreat mechanism is to ensure that the
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mind will not be overwhelmed by an overpowering challenge. This is the innate tendency to deny that which is exceptionally disturbing to one's sense of order, justice and meaning. Any daunting task or challenge can be approached with much more vigorous action if there is an optimistic, but perhaps less realistic understanding of the challenge at hand. In such cases denial allows the mind to parcel out a huge challenge or mental shift into smaller parts. With this strategy, the mind can still utilize existing skills while slowly conquering tremendous challenges. It is not unheard of for a human to utter, "If I had known how hard this would be, I never would have tried in the first place. But now I'm glad I did". At certain times, shielding oneself from such intensity motivates the courage necessary for monumental accomplishments.
What I'm doing here is a good, personal illustration. Yet, how much would ever be accomplished if we could see far enough into the future to encompass all that might be involved in a task. For this reason "Ideals" must be nebulous while 'ideas' are more specific.

These are the "good" types of escapism. They maintain and protect spiritual boundaries. They are the kind necessary to ensure that spirit in flesh can handle the pace and expectations of the mind. Spirit will always direct these actions, in ways that maintain fulfillment of all the needs, as well as the protection of the physical form. The accurately interpreted feelings of spirit will motivate appropriate escapes. This type of self preservation will ensure that the mind does not get overly ambitious and overtax the limitations of the body.
When in doubt, seek the insight of someone who is close to her/his feelings, observe the person's life style and see what can be learned from it. Males tend to have more difficulty getting in touch with their "feelings", but, there are plenty of females around who are ready and willing to help.

The other type---the deadly type---those to be extremely cautious about, are directed by mind. It is essential to be aware of the difference between these two types of escapism. Remember: Self-preservation, hardwired to protect boundaries of spirit, also generalizes to the boundaries of mind unless humans specifically reinterpret certain feeling signals. Mental escapism allows ideas to remain in the mind which limit the spirit, setting the stage for huge life strategies to be built upon faulty foundations. Escapism denies comprehension of experience which opposes the existing
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framework of belief. This occurs when items are in the "Gem Room" which have never been willfully and consciously sent through the "Spiritual Judgement" chamber. This is the type of escapism to avoid altogether. But at a minimum to ensure it never becomes habitual.
Put in a less convoluted way, we would be well served to reflect upon our thoughts on a regular basis, to listen through meditation or reflection; to examine the words that come out of our mouths---especially those habitual expressions; to examine the reactions of others to what we say. Progress in spiritual evolution should be as regular as eating and sleeping, and just as habitual.

On the surface it may sound difficult to tell the difference between good and bad escapism. But there are several ways of distinguishing between the two. First, different emotional feelings will be experienced.When spirit is asking you to slow down and escape briefly, or to rethink a strategy into smaller more manageable portions, the feeling will relate to unmet needs. This will be clear. You will feel that some needs are being met at the expense of others and that it is time to reflect and reprioritize to ensure that you are on the best track for maximum spiritual development and expression.
You may find yourself meeting the demands of your job while compromising the emotional needs of your family. This might not be an easy realization to come to. Don't rely on the world around you to lead you to that insight. Any T.V. series that pointed that out would soon lose its sponsorship.

These types of signals will be callings from your spirit to make needed mental and physical changes. They will be the specific feelings of spirit (anger, sadness, or fear) or the bodily feelings of physical and mental fatigue. If the feeling is simply the anxiety of a growing pain, or any of the emotions of mind (guilt, shame, embarrassment, etc.) then escapism is not the optimal response choice. This is also true of inaccurately appraised spiritual feelings, when misperceptions of mind are truly the source of the imbalance.
Spirit is a hound dog when it comes to tracking down and directing attention to those thought-habits that are in need of correction. The hunter need only trust and know that, in the end, the prey (responsible thought) will be found and sufficient attention will be directed to it, especially now that we have been given the benefit of these 'Lessons'.
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The second way to tell, is that choosing escapism inappropriately will bring additional negative feelings of spirit after the fact, to indicate this wrongful choice. If escapism is chosen to avoid necessary learning experiences then one's world will contract rather than expand. For instead of developing more and more ways for spirit to find expression, this erects emotional boundaries of mind that narrow the mental comfort zone. Such contraction is frustrating to spirit and brings further dissonant feelings such as boredom and fear. Boredom indicates spirit is confined and seeks new adventures and experiences. Fear will be experienced at the thought of environments and challenges for which adequate skills have not yet been developed. Guilt is also experienced, as well as envy, when others who have risen to such challenges, model their successes and the self feels threatened by comparison. Through these feelings, the spirit is saying: "You can do that too! Get busy!"
In a competitive environment where it seems like everyone is competing for everything - even love, our feelings of self-worth are often allowed to become distorted to the point where it seems that loving ourselves for our spiritual values puts us in a less-valued state in our society. This is a "short-term" view and, if allowed to play itself out, will become self-evident.

True resistant escapism is always in direct response to emotional pain. It becomes habitual quite quickly, due to the self-preservation mechanism and lack of human understanding of how to heed the voice of spirit. When escapism is habitual, it becomes quite unconscious and comfortable. Escapism can become such an ingrained habit that potentially painful situations are avoided altogether to maintain that comfort. Of course, this means that instead of freedom and ever-expanding arenas of activity, the world becomes narrow and limited to existing environment and challenges that can already be met in familiar ways. Resistant escapism frustrates the need for freedom, development and expression. It can also frustrate the need for spiritual connection if the tendency actually keeps individuals from interacting with each other. There are far too many individuals with habitual strategies of escapism. Many band together in groups who stand firm against the world with rigid "cultlike" mentalities which are closed to experimental input.
We find these "cultlike" groups everywhere. They exist under the virtuous labels of family, fraternity, culture, church, lifestyle, corporate, sexual orientation,
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cooperatives, guilds, etc. Wherever there is the effort to organize people in groups of like beliefs or values, there is the further tendency to close down the minds of those in such groups and steel its members against the views that tend to expand the limited view of the members.

Just about anything can become a habit of escape. Even positive pleasurable experiences if sought in direct response to emotional pain can become habitual derailers. Any behaviors which are pleasurable and fulfilling are ripe to become possible escapist habits.These include: eating, working, playing, making love, reading, watching television, hobbies, computing---virtually anything. Then of course, there are the more obviously insidious escapes into alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs. Many obsessive, compulsive and addictive behaviors are rooted in resistant escapism.
...and here we thought all those things we seem to enjoy doing so (too) much, were really just our way of getting pleasure out of life. It turns out that when we take those "pleasures" to excess, we are probably doing so because we want to avoid another activity that might challenge us to face those things and people that have defeated us.

The line can be drawn between healthy and unhealthy pleasure by determining the spirit in which the choice is made to partake of them and by watching for the subsequent emotions they bring. If the response rules are always followed, such strategies will be recognized and eliminated from the house of mind. Resistance is an insidious habit. Resistance is the choice to deny life and human experience. Its deadly pattern can take root in several alternate forms.
Most of us live in an environment where there is so much of this type of situation going on around us that we accept it as not just normal but natural and, consequently, adaptable behavior. What we are also exposed to is the consequences of this state. Once we begin to be able to see the connection between the patterns and the negative consequences, we will start on the road toward leading more enlightened lives.

This discussion will continue to expose the deadly habits, but resistant escapism can be well disguised. It is also the first deadly habit which sets the stage for others to follow suit, perpetuating a destructive cycle of selfpreservationary action. It is first suggested that you begin examining your daily actions and expose each act of resistant escapism. This shall be a
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beginning step along the path of developing replacement habits.

Don't despair. Help is on the way.

Resistant Defensiveness The second deadly habit keeps important information on the outside of mind by bouncing it back with defensive thoughts and comments. These can take many forms. But each is designed to minimize or deflect any emotional feedback information which could be considered painful---even a minor anxious, growing pain. This can become so habitual that nearly all suggestions and offerings to Light are deflected and self-development comes to a near halt.
This is not hard to spot. We all know people (maybe many of our friends) who have developed a rather flippant attitude toward life in general. We can recognize this "characteristic" because we have developed a certain amount of it in ourselves.

Many perspectives, although quite valid, can serve to stop incoming information contrary to existing mindsets. Simple acceptance of incoming information ensures that each piece will have its fair hearing in the Spiritual Judgment room of mind. Rationalizations are wonderful tools of deflective defense. Self righteousness is a very successful defense, as is suspicion, prejudice, justification, explanation and self-deprecation. These are all seemingly innocent acts which are forms of mental resistance that keep incoming information at bay. They refuse to accept accountability of situations that arise. They keep potentially painful information safely hidden outside the walls of the house of mind, by insisting that the source of the problem exists externally.
It has been observed that we truly see "ourselves" in the circumstances and people around us. This reflection can often be rather painful. In an effort to avoid that "pain", we begin to take a mental sedative in the form of altered thinking habits. We practice on a mental level what much of society practices on a physical level. We take a psychological "aspirin".

Mental receptivity is essential for self development.Allowing in feedback information, no matter how painful, is the first step to heeding and acting upon the voice of spirit---living in the light. It is crucial to honestly observe your interactionary behavior and carefully note whether or not any thoughts, actions, or comments seek to deflect information rather than
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allow it in. Resistance defense maintains mental boundaries by keeping the conscious focus upon existing ideas so that incoming information is simply not absorbed or even heard. Such defense habits comprise a great deal of "normal" human interaction. They can be quite subtle but every bit as detrimental as the most dramatic forms of escapism.
Of course, in a competitive (combative) world, this can seem like making oneself vulnerable to the insensitive aggression of the less aware in our environment. However, understanding what's going on, goes a long way in helping us cope with the initial pain that comes with letting down one's guard long enough to see the absurdity of the "game".

Resistant Self-Deception By far the most insidious habit of resistance is that of self-deception. This is the simple act of lying to one's self and pretending that certain experiences are simply not occurring. Self-deception keeps the bad feelings at bay by blatantly denying the reality of the experience.
We might also call it "Selective Forgetfulness". It may sound odd to suggest such, but what this characteristic comes from is a genuine lack of self-love. If we cared about ourselves to the degree we should, we would apply our greatest sense of honesty to ourselves, not in a harsh, punishing fashion, but with the degree of love we know we deserve.

One of the most effective ways to deceive one's self, is to tell lies to others. In fact, every act of deception, every spoken falsehood, whether harmless or violent, is an act of self-deception. At its source, a lie seeks to convince all concerned that circumstances are not as they are. To bear false witness is to exploit the vulnerability of human mind, both its unlimited capacity to create reality and its helpless reliance upon external sensory information. Deception is a violation of the trust necessary for civilized, cooperative living. Of the broadly accepted religious commandments, this is the most spiritually legitimate.
Governments and other social institutions often justify deception by following the rationalization that "the end justifies the means". In the name of this false presumption, many an organized society has descended the slippery slope of immorality. When mistrust comes between the government and the governed, chaos on many fronts creeps in.

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Although the power of creative reality is such that creative visualization can actually alter probable events, there is a huge difference between creative thought and self-deception. Creativity fully acknowledges the degree of challenge necessary to obtain a desired result. It allows in all information signals and utilizes them to build the best mental skills to make it actual. Deception seeks to minimize the challenge or get around it in a lazy sub-spiritual attempt to reduce the necessary effort. Even "little white lies" are deceptive and dishonoring. They ignore the impetus to honestly express and are best converted to honest truths, couched in the most compassionate and cooperative terms, and offered as Light Responses.
We are nearly all susceptible to flattery, to one degree or other and we are all tempted to use it to make a good impression. The problem is that it creates weak links in our social fabric when it has only a superficial intent. When we truly care about others (and, again ourselves), we put more thought and effort into our communications and, consequently, get more lasting results.

All forms of resistance share the common goal of leaving the incoming information outside the mental door so that any pain can be avoided. These habits can bring human evolution to its knees. But resistance is not the only problem. For information can be allowed in, "truths" imparted directly into the gem room without having gone through the spiritual advisory. This inserts slivers and allows them to drive the actions and minimize the choices of its master. These slivers are allowed to fester and bring the next class of deadly habit---resentment.
There are certain professions in our society that have managed to score high in the arena of public contempt. I'll leave the reader to surmise what they might be. Suffice it to say that the art of slipping half-truths in with falsehoods, as Lincoln said, can not "fool all the people all of the time".

Resentment Once the faulty ideas have been allowed into the mind, they continue to frustrate the spirit. Like resistance keeps things out, resentment holds them in. The beauty of the spiritual wisdom, however, is that it responds to slivers pronouncing its negative judgment upon them through feelings of emotional pain. So even though these ideas have bypassed the conscious
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judgment process, they are still subject to its safety-net effect. Thus, the negative feelings will build into a new energy called resentment.
The key to taking advantage of this "safety-net" is in establishing a willingness to open oneself to these feelings and desire to become more aware of them. This is simply an act of intent, one that will never be rejected by our Higher Self.

This condition allows the individual to harbor ill will toward the falsely identified source of his or her troubles, never considering the possibility that a change within self is necessary, nor utilizing their rightful power. This habit springs from lack of understanding of the personal will power and the flexibility of mind. Resentment is counter to spiritual intention, it is competitive and self-preservationary, so it creates further pain. This energy builds and haunts the mind and creates victim-like events to bring the slivers to the attention of the master of the mental house.
With an understanding that we truly create our own reality, comes the further awareness that "reality" is not the creation of someone or something else. As this awareness becomes our reality, so also does our sense of responsibility for what we are and what we experience.

Resentment is a lingering feeling of frustration which prompts new ideas to counter them. Oftentimes, instead of removing the first slivers, new ones are added like a scaffolding of mental explanations for one's woes. Oftentimes other people or situations are cited as responsible for the unpleasant events in a given person's life. When there is a perception of an external limitation, spiritual anger will be experienced. Resentment allows the anger to stew inside when one insists an outside source is responsible for an inside problem, bringing further negative outcomes.
Breaking this ongoing pattern is essential to our spiritual growth and the process begins with our understanding of it and ends with our realization and practice of a more evolved approach to our life circumstances. This is a natural process which we elect to put into motion. We progress at our own desired pace, a pace which accelerates as we begin to see the benefits more clearly.

Resentful Blame Eventually this resentment will bring about mental changes. But most often, it brings further faulty explanations for bad events and assigns
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distorted "meaning." This type of psychic finger-pointing is another of the deadly habits. It is known as blame.
For many people, when bad things happen, they immediately look around for someone to blame. If anything suggests a "non-responsible" belief mode, this does. It is the precursor to the greatest state of unhappiness.

Feelings of anger, guilt, envy, anxiety, or shame often motivate a blaming response. The act of blame is a maladaptive Flight Response in which the external realm is held accountable for internal problems. To blame, is to think that it might be due to Karma, or the weather, or the configuration of the stars, or the secret government, that things are not going as the individual plans. Such finger pointing can bring temporary postponement of feelings but never true spiritual fulfillment. For the underlying dissonance always remains, creating further negativity in feeling and experience.
Once adopted as a habit of thought, there is no way out. Every experience in potential or in fact, is already assigned to a "blame" culprit. The very detachment from personal responsibility, detaches us from the awareness of our creative capability. We become the ultimate victim.

The tone and personality of the habitual blamer, will be angry, frustrated, impotent and often a martyred victim. There will be ongoing helplessness, disempowerment and negative emotions since the problems will never be adequately addressed. Modern society often promotes blaming, with its fault-finding judicial system and general misconceptions regarding the mind's potential to create reality.
Not only does it promote it, it very often rewards the victim monetarily. There is a whole industry built up around the concept of compensation for the unfortunate experiences of life. Yet, if these experiences were truly examined, such would probably be found to be of one's own making. Unfortunately, what that non-responsibility ultimately leads to is irresponsibility.

In sum, resistant blame is counter-productive. It defends internal limited mindsets by creating false external limitations. The appropriate response to any true external limitation is the Light Response, wherein cooperative alternations to the situation are achieved. This could be through persuasion of another person whose limited perspective does not honor nor accommodate your needs. Blame, however, does nothing but ensure
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further limitation.
Limitation is in contradiction to creative potential, the latter being the truly spiritual quality of our nature.

Hostility With continuing habits of resistance to incoming feedback, resentment grows into contempt---and the next deadly habit hostility. With this shift, a permanent assessment against another person or situation is incorporated into the mind. Eventually the energy will build to the point that genuine hatred will be felt toward those who have been blamed. This will allow the formation of certain strategies to counteract the evil efforts of the agitator, no matter how unrealistic this assessment is in the perspective of others.
How much buried hostility is there prevalent in our society today. Most of it remains just below the surface and does most of its damage by imploding upon the carrier rather than person against whom it is felt, because we live in a socalled "civilized" society. Yet, it eventually does take it toll, if not against someone else, most certainly against oneself.

The harboring of ill will toward another does nothing but channel that energy inward and disrupt the natural flow necessary to maintain positive balance and physical health. But the energy continues to build since the actual source of the problem has never been addressed, ushering in the next class of deadly habit.
Psychologists and clerical people may talk about the damage caused by buried feelings of hostility, but the solutions for dealing with it usually aren't offered until after it has caused us serious problems. That may be because hostility, when harnessed and organized, can be quite beneficial in times of organized conflict.

Revenge When the lingering resentment and hostility builds to unbearable proportions, some external outlet is necessary to ensure self-preservation. The remaining deadly habits fall into the category of external venting and seeking revenge upon the blamee. Blaming and hostility lie in the mental realm---revenge takes the Fight Response into the physical realm. To think it is one thing, but to further act upon hostility is quite another. Many reprehensible and evil acts follow the habitual motive to get even.
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The above gives motive to the admonition to "turn the other cheek", since the "eye for an eye" suggestion usually serves to exasperate matters and quite often leads to accelerating violent physical acts and the predictable consequences.

Revenge often seeks to lower another to a less intimating level of comparison. Revenge is to inflict pain back upon the one that has been assumed to have caused it. It is the urge born from hurt to hurt back.When the spirit feels lowly and small, trapped within its mental straight-jacket, the feelings can prompt changes which bring others down to the low and small position rather than elevating the self.
It becomes a matter of relativity, making oneself feel better by making someone else feel worse. Hostility carried within for too long a period, becomes a habit of thought that is reflected toward just about everyone in one's immediate environment, to the extreme point that the environment must become restricted to protect society.

Revenge always directly springs from anger which often grows from unexamined and misdirected feelings of guilt, envy, anxiety or shame. But this form of angersprings from the limitations and expectations of mind, rather than any valid external obstacle. As long as the human race continues, there will always be plenty of opportunity for people to be hurt by others. Whether the hurt is one from misconceived ignorance or comes from a deliberate act of aggression, pain upon human interaction is inevitable.
What, than, could change this? It would likely have to be something that would "enlighten" this human race to the point of understanding that we truly do create our own reality and are responsible for not only what we think, but for the consequences that ultimately result.

Vengeful Gossip Revenge can often masquerade as seemingly harmless acts and comments. It starts with small external comments, remarks, and suggestions, not directly focused upon the source. Gossip is a form of revenge. Often times when one is hurt by comparison to another, no matter how mildly, it is often the act of choice to belittle that person behind their back. This is an act of cowardice which does not clear the air with the person believed to
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be at issue, but rather allows the gossip to feel escapist pleasure in the position of power that their words assume. The initial painful feeling should have instead motivated an inward reflection and the addition of a conscious goal to either gain the desirable quality, or a mental shift to truly accept the impossibility of doing so. With this type of internal adjustment, future situations are not likely to invoke the same feelings.
We are all susceptible to this temptation, probably because it is so prevalent and easy to indulge in. We often poke fun of those who indulge in gossip to an excess, but we encourage these people by listening to what they have to say. The reaction to this type of behavior might start with an uneasy feeling when we are exposed to it, followed by resistance and a disinclination to pass the "gossip" along.

For example, a woman feels envy upon meeting another who is a particularly beautiful and an accomplished artist. With this feeling, the spirit within is suggesting "you can do that too!" Instead of bad-mouthing the artist, the woman commits herself to practicing and studying ways to express her own artistic talent. Such an adjustment should not include trying to convince herself of her own inferiority by comparison in the beauty department. The physical embodiment is part of spirit and cannot, nor should not, be changed, defiled, or rejected for any reason. Certain physical forms are often chosen for specific purposes aligned with the Destiny Path. Adopting the freeing attitude of developing all those talents and abilities that can be brought forth and accepting the physical form as is, is the most beneficial strategy. Remember, the spirit as well as its body, its appearance, its needs and desires, cannot be changed by anything mental. Only the mind can change by adding new ideas, strategies, perceptions, values, and skills.
We are all examples to each other, for better or worse. How we react to others with better looks or greater talents or higher paying jobs or larger houses or more expensive cars, is directly conditional to our own sense of worth and selflove. The greater the latter, the less we are threatened by those who might have something we don't have. Knowing that we can and do create our own reality, can spark an ambition that will reinforce that belief.

It takes particular strength of spirit to reject the many judgmental ideas from mass consciousness regarding the human form, its appearances and processes. Existing society prompts many envious feelings. Certain
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unrealistic standards are foist upon individuals and accepted, pitting mind against spirit. Such an act always leads to further emotional pain and selfdepreciation and eventually depression. If such ideas are not rejected, unrealistic comparisons are inevitable, eliciting negative emotions. Such feelings when misunderstood, motivate escapism and vengeance instead of the necessary self-development (a Right Response).
In a competitive society, the need to "win" or be the best, carries with it the brutal consequences of not being the best with the most. We have a choice. We can either play by the rules that our particular society aims to impose, or we can establish our own rules and sidestep the negative aspects and stresses that lead away from spiritual evolvement, and begin to create a fuller life for ourselves.

Eventually, even the most adept practitioner of vengeful gossip will need a more direct outlet. The anger will continue to build until it is expressed. The emotional system is such that the spirit will never be satisfied until the actual source of the dissonance has been addressed. And, of course, the mind can declare what that source is, depending upon its contents. It will decide the source of dissonance, whether it be right (in accordance with spiritual intention) or it be wrong (as perceived through a distorted mental lens) due to continuing resistance.
Awareness of a particular characteristic is the first step. Dealing with the characteristic is the next and most crucial step. To make the positive choice requires going within ourselves and tapping the guidance we know comes from our "higher" selves.

But right or wrong, if the mind is utterly convinced in its belief, the spirit will motivate external changes upon the source directed in the Fight Response. Although this will perpetuate survival, it is not appropriate unless the response rules have been observed. In the situation of building resentment, all behavioral motivations are based upon faulty information that has never been fully examined, acknowledged or understood.
This is the ultimate challenge, establishing a perspective based upon as much truth as one can uncover and deal with. This is also the road to compassion and understanding and, of course, spiritual growth.

Vengeful Aggression If the mental corrections are still not made, eventually the energy will
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build into direct expression of anger against the persons or situation believed to be at issue. This is known as the deadly habit of vengeful aggression.
In recent history we saw an example of where "Deadly Habits of SelfPreservation", if not corrected, can lead. The young men who perpetrated the crimes in Colorado were most likely subject to negative treatment which resulted in their banding together and contemplating some vengeful reprisal.

Such aggression can take the subtle form of passive aggression, or it can be more direct. But in each case, the anger is directed outward before any internal work has occurred. For example, in the case of the enviable woman, the envious one might make some back-handed complement which actually insults or judges the woman harshly. Such as, "Your use of color is surprisingly sophisticated".
At this stage, the "aggression" is limited to words, but when such become damaging weapons, an escalation is in progress. Where it leads is up to the recipient as much as it is the perpetrator.

Vengeful aggression is successful at venting the emotion, for it does indeed address the perceived source of the problem. But it has violated the response rules; it serves only self-preservation, and it is only a temporary fix. The true source of the problem lies within the beliefs and limitations of mind, not in the external other or situation. Nevertheless, with pent-up emotion, humans will inevitably lash out at those whom they have blamed.
When adolescents are stretching into adulthood, they are often mimicking the patterns of behavior they have witnessed as children. For better or worse, adults are the ultimate educators of the young through the use of example. Adolescents are prone to see the negative and incur the wrath incorporated within it, because of their need to be contrary at that age. Thus, do they cling together and emphasize their rebellion.

These mini violations upon another generally remain in the verbal realm. They are serious enough in their effects. But when enough emotional energy is accumulated, there will be an external explosion in the physical realm of much greater significance.
Alas, the violence we are seeing in schools is a reflection of a society in need of greater self-examination. Unfortunately, what is likely to follow is only a form of
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greater restriction and less communication and trust.

Vengeful Violence This is the deadly habit of vengeance violence. It is due to vengeful violations that laws and punishments have arisen. It is the source of the human reputation for evil capacity. It has become accepted as an inevitable human action, although it is truly a habit born of ignorance within a misguided mind, that is learned and can be unlearned.
One could write volumes about what has been happening in the news lately. In eastern Europe, people are wreaking violence against those who are wreaking violence against others. In Colorado, fantasy violence turned into reality violence, carried to an extreme. But it is Capital Punishment which serves as the most legitimate form of vengeful violence today. Examples teach and behavior can be learned or, as stated above "unlearned".

When anger is vented physically upon another person or a group of people, this is the ultimate maladaptive, anti-spiritual human act. It obliterates any semblance of cooperation and reduces everyone involved to selfpreservationary stances. What is truly evil, is that vengeful violation can be taught as perfectly respectable and necessary. Beliefs can be instilled which manipulate the emotional fight and flight responses to gain certain ends. Fear and anger can be invoked and marshaled by strong and charismatic leaders to gain compliance and participation in quite heinous acts.
Meanwhile, even a civilization that has been exposed to a spiritual philosophy including such admonitions as "Love God with All They Heart and Thy Neighbor as Thyself" and "When smitten on the right cheek, turn the left also", or words to that effect, can easily be swayed to use the act of violence in dealing with violence, as a first choice rather than a last choice.

This can be done with such effectiveness, that the anger may not even be associated with the act itself. Instead, temporary feelings of loyalty connectedness, and the fulfillment can come from committing atrocities while following advice of such a master. Thus it is essential to become a powerful master over one's own mind.
Modern weapons of war allow those who use them to never see either those against whom they are being used or first hand viewing of the consequences. We
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have made violence such an abstract act that we have to create fantasies to be imitated through movies and T.V. portrayals. The mind that blindly follows is the most dangerous of all.

Not much needs to be mentioned about vengeful violation, since human history speaks of its peril endlessly. But it is essential to make the connection between mental resistance and where it leads. It is also important to know that it is spiritually necessary to vigorously defend one's self against such violation by another. If Light Responses are insufficient, turning the other cheek against a motivated violator will not suffice. This is when a Fight Response for self preservation of spirit is in order. Until civilization becomes just that, this will be the case. In time, as more enlightened ideas are incorporated into mass consciousness, there shall begin a trend of fewer and fewer violations.
There is a clear difference between violence to protect and preserve one's physical existence and acts of random violence in reaction to damage to one's ego or as dispute resolution as a first choice. We can and must transcend this mentality for the benefit of all future generations.

In the current state of humanity, it is imperative to draw attention to the fact that each of the deadly habits are just that, unconscious, repetitive acts that bypass the consciousness and wreak havoc upon individuals and humanity.
If this is not self-evident in today's world, it probably never will be.

The Cycle Of Resistance What is most devastating to human purpose, progress and evolution, is that the eight deadly habits combine together into a vicious and self-reinforcing cycle of behavior. This is when the emotional signal sounds, informing the mind that spirit is frustrated. This signal is met with some form of resistance, in which the feedback is not allowed into consciousness and the message of the spirit is lost. When this is allowed to occur, the original problem remains and the emotion lingers causing further agitation and motivation to fight and take flight.
Through whatever technique is appropriate, time needs to be set aside to contact the inner voice. It is only through a concerted effort to listen to our spiritual nature that progress can be made in altering the "habits" that permeate our
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society and lead to the least valued circumstances.

As long as the emotion remains blocked, the energy will build, allowing the mind to haphazardly make assumptions that assign meaning where none truly exists. The building emotion is held as resentment, and eventually expressed outward in some form of vengeance against the assumed source of the problem. Whoever is the target of the vengeance will, of course, respond to it in some way. If this response is resistance and the mind is not righted to accept the limitations of the vengeful one, the habit would be to return the vengeful favor. This second vengeful act will most likely be experienced as negative feedback, provoking further emotional pain within the original person. Again, the pain may be met with habitual resistance, then resentment and with vengeance, cast back upon the other.
Breaking this chain of action and reaction can only begin when society is clearly led to understand how to put into practice those alternatives that have been previously mentioned, beginning with the most spiritual and adopting the least idealistic as a final alternative. This can be done.

The anger will bounce back and forth between the two like a Ping-Pong ball in a deadly game of self-preservation. This is an incredible expenditure of energy. It diverts the attention away from stated goals and allows the entities to spin their human wheels---to while away their potential and live in pain and frustration, as well as allowing the creation of a hellish world.
We can witness the consequences of a game gone out of control simply by turning on our television set in time for the evening news.

Sadly, this is how more humans operate than not.Civilizations are based upon this cycle of behavior, in the "knowledge" that this is the extent of human potential and that their only purpose is one of self-preservation. This is why systems of external control have arisen. From religious moral dictates, all the way to lengthy legal codes, such external controllers of the evil human exist in each and every grouping. These "truths" of mass consciousness continue to perpetuate the learning of the habitual cycle of self-preservation. It is no wonder that humans born into such structures learn to rely upon external control. With such ingrained truths, the concept of internal control is foreign, and the concept of internal guidance, innate
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morality, and spiritual intention even more so. These "truths" are the seeds that grow into habits of human disempowerment.
Also, sadly, there is evidence that when humans do weaken and do those things that reflect a low sense of respect for others and themselves, it is used as simply confirmation that unless external organizations gain a greater degree of control, society will continue to deteriorate. In fact, just the opposite is true. There are simply not enough weapons nor police to maintain proper order if there is no inner recognition of the spiritual value of ourselves and others.

To weed these habits from the mental garden is the first step to reempowerment. This cycle is learned. It can---and must ---be unlearned. For it is essential to reconnect with the internal guidance and begin to live as fully functional human beings.
While our public education institutions are prohibited from teaching a particular religious set of dogmas, there is nothing to prevent them from teaching self-love and respect and suggesting that students look upon others with a like-minded attitude. I would be hard pressed to find such an ideal to be in contradiction to the teachings of any religious organization.

To break the habits and stop the cycle, the answer is human purpose. Resistance is learned and becomes habitual only because there is no understanding of the message of emotion. The self-preservationary impulse overtakes mind and body. Acceptance is the antithesis of resistance. Acceptance based upon clear knowledge and faith in human purpose is the counterpart habit needed to replace resistance.
It appears it is time for an "upgrade" in our collective attitude toward the human race as a whole. This can begin individually and move out from there. There are few, if any, human beings who are totally lacking in some admirable quality. If we can find these qualities within ourselves, we can find them in others. Given voice, these qualities can become stepping stones to an advanced collective.

When a human being understands that the true purpose is self-development and expression, each situation is interpreted through this lens. Self preservation is seen for what it is---limiting. Each daily occurrence becomes highly significant and each piece of incoming information is welcomed with open mental arms. For each moment of each day can allow the opportunity to self-develop; to adjust the mind in concert with the
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incoming information, rather than to resist its validity.

This is a tall order, but not an impossible achievement. Habits of thought are simply those which begin with a single step and turn into a comfortable stroll.

This continues to broaden its boundaries, adding gems to the everexpanding mental house. With each successful act of self-development comes a counterpart potential for additional self-expression. With each act of self-expression comes the resonance of fulfillment in Universal Joy. This is living in the light. This is living on purpose. This is the human experience as the Creator intended it to be.
While this is near the end of this Lesson, it can be the beginning of a new world.

Breaking the deadly habits will take serious effort, but progress can flow quickly and naturally when the focus remains upon purpose. We can now discuss the more positive habits that are developed in concert with spirit that foster the maximum levels of human joy possible in earthly experience.

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Section Gamma Lesson 3: The Life-Giving Habits of Self-Expression Acceptance The deadly habits spring from resistance to incoming information. This touches off a cycle of struggle as humans defend the inaccurate mental boundaries instead of identifying and removing them. The experience is then one of fear, self-preservation, and competition as prime motivators, and the creation of chaotic, "random," and often unpleasant events which seem to come out of nowhere. Resistance to incoming information is resistance to experience, and ultimately resistance to spiritual intention. Living from an operational base of deadly habits has reduced the human condition to a perpetual state of spiritual frustration---a state which is screaming "FIX THIS!!!"
We all know people who seem to be caught in this cycle of frustration. Their lives are filled with one crisis after another. Their solutions to the "crises" seem to only bring on more of the same. It would behoove them to read the above paragraph for a starter. Of course, the "Lessons" would be an even better place to start.

The solution is simple and profound. The answer is the antithesis of resistance---it is acceptance. Acceptance reverses the misplaced impulse to defend or self-preserve a limited mind by opening it wide to experience. Open acceptance faces the fear and moves through it, finding the belief source which is festering in the mind. Acceptance heeds the message of the fear and acts upon it correctively. Open acceptance allows the Earthly experience to be evaluated by spirit, liberating it from the judgments, physical illusion, and isolation of mind. When unimpeded by resistance and respected as the messengers of spirit, the feeling signals can at last be allowed to do their job. Then--- and only then ---can purposeful, meaningful, fulfilling experience begin.
Sometimes, even the "fear" of an experience can serve as a sufficient block to prevent the value of it from coming to the fore. It would serve us well to remember that Spirit in not intent on destroying us, rather it is our guide to evolvement.

Once restored upon the intended path, the individual is then reconnected with the Spirit and living in the Light. Human feeling then takes its rightful place as the internal guide. Its signals are carefully analyzed and acted
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upon, following the response rules. This tremendously speeds progress, leads to the intended joyous feeling state, the creation of desired meaningful events, and fosters an ever-expanding arena for spiritual development and expression. Fear becomes only a casual visitor, and only when learning is in order. And resistance is cast aside as a vestige of ignorance.
This is the promise of things to come, when Spirit begins to play a rightful role in our learning process. Just as the happiest child is one in a state of painless learning, so can we, as adults, reach that point (again) where mental and spiritual growth are a natural and joyous process.

Open acceptance creates a positive cycle of thought and action that can become habitual to instantly deliver optimal responses and experiences. Acceptance opens the door to each and every incoming experience, regardless of whether it feels good or bad. In fact, the earliest acceptance of the stuff that feels bad affords the quickest response time. This allows levels of fear and other pain to remain relatively minor and never to build to the horrific proportions now routinely experienced by far too many humans.
Ignorance feeds "fear" and too often exacerbates that which would remain a minor sensation so long as we understand the reason for it and place a higher value on the experience itself. We progress because we trust. This gives broader meaning to the whole concept of Faith.

The Role of Judgment The key to building the habit of acceptance lies in understanding the nature of judgment. Many great leaders have heralded the warning message of human judgment, but it has not yet been correctly absorbed and applied. A clear understanding of the problem must start with a review of the capacities of mind.
Our propensity to "judge" others by a stricter standard than the one we apply to ourselves, has led to harsh actions and reprisals which, in turn, has lead to massive violence. We have labeled our actions as justifiable wars, but they were clearly much less noble.

The mind is a tremendous gift with incredible capabilities designed for the task of creating optimal spiritual expression in human experience. Mind
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as a receptacle acts as gatekeeper, defining the bounds of individual selfidentity. Mind as a computer performs rational, informational processing to store, classify, sort, merge and utilize ideas in incredibly useful ways. Decisions and conclusions result from such processing, which in turn, motivate thoughts and actions which are tested in the world. These thoughts and actions are thenevaluated against the external results that they achieve. If the strategies behind the actions are sound, they would meet with success in fulfilling spiritual needs in the world. This success would be signaled by good feelings. If mental belief strategies were not adequate, they would meet with failure and bad feelings. Such successes or failures then are remembered, and taken into the self-identity of the human.
While history does make an effort to record facts, it does not always do a very good job of recording and retaining the feelings that follow a particular line of action, even though the action at the time, was based upon a process that was considered most rational. In war, for example, it is usually the winners who write the version of the events that led up to and justified their actions. The alternative to "war" is seldom given adequate review because it was not one of the consequences.

The evaluation step is where the confusion over judgment lies. The mind is unlimited in what it can contain and how complex it can become. It can creatively evaluate any scenario based upon its beliefs---including rationalization, psychic blaming, and even delusion--- virtually anything goes within the powerful "brain". Mind has no way within its own boundaries to determine the accuracy of its evaluation. Mind, by itself, cannot measure the rightness or wrongness of its choices. It requires the spirit; an understanding of its intention, and how it speaks through the language of human feeling.
To take "mind" to that next step requires a willingness to trust our spiritual nature and to recognize that mind, alone, can not be the ultimate arbitrator of our actions.

The dangerous kind of human judgment is that which allows mind to perform the evaluation all by itself. This is a profound point: Mind alone cannot---and therefore should not---judge.
To expand the term human judgement to its optimum meaning is to include not
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only the functions of mind in the decision making process, but to incorporate our feelings. If a decision is not followed by a deep satisfaction of having done the truly right thing, then we are likely to have excluded Spirit from the process.

Recall the problem of Emotional Boundaries. The purpose of mental boundaries is to separate one human from another, to provide a uniquely individual focus of experience, and to allow that focus to freely direct and choose life events. Boundaries of mind are intended to continuously expand as the purpose of self-development is carried out. In contrast, boundaries of spirit are those defined by the Creator and encoded within the body. They must not be changed. They must be actively maintained, protected and defended to ensure at minimum, self preservation, and ultimately, the intended purposeful self-expression. The mind must be as actively developed as the spirit must be actively defended to accomplish the fully-intended human experience.
The "Mind" spends a lot of time resisting that which the "Spirit" suggests when, in fact, if the Spirit were not so often ignored, it would be able to play a greater role in the Mind's decision-making process.

But motivation to defend spiritual boundaries can mistakenly direct the mind to stop developing and defend its current state. This creates the problem of human judgment. A defensive mind closes itself to experience and cuts itself off from the necessary spiritual evaluation. For the mind cannot go outside of itself to bring in new information without conscious involvement of its master. It can only base its decisions upon that which already exists as knowledge, belief, attitude or habit. As we know, there are no garbage chutes in the house of mind where the faulty ideas are automatically shuttled away. Slivers can sit side by side with gems until they are noticed and actively removed. They are noticed only through conscious feeling experience. Such evaluative information must be actively invited--- accepted---into the mind.
Probably, one of the most effective methods of setting ourselves up to experience this sorting process, is to quiet the mind to a state of listening to our inner voice and inviting our Spiritual nature to speak to us through that "voice". This tactic is often referred to as meditation.

The feedback cycle is dependent upon action. Action, and the feeling experience that follows, is the only way to invite new evaluation information. Test actions invoke the spiritual judge and allow feelings to determine how well the mind is equipped to meet spiritual needs. Then
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corrective actions ---Right, Light and Fight responses---follow the feelings which adapt the mind or alter the world to facilitate spiritual expression.
This may seem like simply a trial and error process absent of any pre-guidance, but it is the least we can do providing we factor in some degree of reflection following our actions. Eventually, our Spiritual nature incorporates our Mental nature and we have to spend less time apologizing for our errors.

The judgment problem arises when the mind evaluates---judges---a situation by itself before active experience, in a habitual sequence of thoughts that result in limiting action choices. Such habit can allow the mind to direct actions which avoid and resist the very experience for which the spirit cries out. But since mind creates events, based upon its contents, it will also attract unpleasant events which point out the same inadequacies it is defending. Such a person will fall "victim" to "bad luck," accidents," or "misfortunes"---all of which mirror perfectly the limiting beliefs that create them. This is a dangerous cycle of misdirected will energy and selfpreservationary impulse, which relegates humans to a brutish and minimal physical experience now the norm on earth. This is the condition which must be relieved. It is now time to heed this timeless message: judge not.
When "bad" things happen to good people, these events can serve as educational mirrors, designed (with the help of memory) to educate us in altering the process of our lives. It is not our Spiritual nature that demands that we suffer. It is, rather, our false pride that results in the consequences that are meant to deter us from our wrongful thinking habits.

In short, the mind must accept---even seek out---experience in order to keep itself aligned with spiritual intention. Mind simply must be actively developed. It is a common understanding that the human brain only uses one tenth of its capabilities. This is simply due to the lack of adequate mental self-development. Until the mind is harnessed, the feeling route to spiritual intent must be fully utilized, for the actual percentage of harnessed mind power is much lower. Humans have not yet even imagined the mental potential which awaits within.
Yet, there are no limits to what we can imagine!

Clarity of Purpose Building habits of acceptance rely upon clarity ofpurpose. The only way to rise above the automatic, biological imperative of self-preservation of
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body, is to actively focus upon the higher purpose of self-development of mind for expression of spirit. This is the true goal of the preservationary impulse---to keep humans alive until they finally answer the jammed signal of spiritual feeling and awaken to their intended purpose---the Divine human purpose of self-development and expression.
This seems to suggest that we can purposefully continue to exist in the physical so long as we choose to continue to focus our minds upon the higher purpose of spiritual self-expression. In acquainting ourselves with our inner being, this message should probably be reiterated habitually, if we wish to preserve our mental existence in this physical environment.

It bears repeating that the human purpose is to fully express spirit in the physical form. This requires first the development of mind---the vehicle of expression in the physical experience. Cultural, mental self development is the only route to physical, genetic, spiritual self-expression.
It would be the intent and purpose of these "Lessons" to aid us in this effort. It is for this purpose that I make this effort to express my reflections on the information given and would encourage anyone else to do likewise. - Lloyd J.
Klapperich

To focus with clarity upon purpose is to see beyond the momentary impulse to self-preserve, compete, or violate. With consciousness of purpose certain feelings automatically signal the need for mental development. The mind can then seek and create strategies which broaden its boundaries under the ever-present direction of spirit. Purpose is the shining beacon which pierces the darkness, guiding humans toward spiritual reward.
We each have an obligation to develop ourselves to the fullest and, in doing so, we teach others by example to do likewise.

Faith In Spirit From purpose springs the next replacement belief---foundational faith in spirit. Purpose points the way but faith empowers the movement. Faith allows spirit to energize the body and mind. Faith in individual spirit is faith in Universal Spirit. Those who live in faith, bear life's challenges without the draining heaviness of doubt and fear. Faith in spirit brings optimism, energy, vigor, and vitality to every action.
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When we say, "I am one with the Universe", we are acknowledging that our spirit nature is a part of the Universal Spirit and that our experiences are a part of the whole and, finally, that we are not alone in our challenges. To that degree, we are like waves in an "Ocean of Being".

Faith in spirit already belongs to each and every human being. Although it may be buried deep beneath the trappings of belief, or the pains of fear and doubt, it is there. Recognition of spirit is hardwired into the human body and it is "felt" in many natural, universal, human experiences. It comes in a flood of feeling---that swell of love and joy from within upon connecting with Universal Spirit.
A parent feels it for his/her children and vice versa. We experience it in the love for another or a connection with the nature around us. It is the opposite of fear and anger and it becomes apparent to us at the most unexpected moments of our life.

This feeling may have been associated with any number of experiences, but each held the common quality of resonance with the Creator---that unmistakable feeling of divine joy upon recognition and attunement to the ever-presence and intention of All That Is. It is a feeling which begins in the solar plexus, the energy center just below the heart, and washes through the body-mind, bringing a peace-like contentment, and an instantaneous unshakable knowledge of the meaning, wisdom, beauty, order and rightness of the universe.
If we are fortunate to have it only once or twice in a lifetime, it is an experience that we never forget. Ironically, it is an experience that, if we were made aware of it being the normal part of our nature, we could have on a regular basis.

This feeling may have accompanied an interaction with nature's wonders of creation, in a moment of awe and appreciation of a fawn in a thicket, a magic sunset, the unfolding of petals of a flower, or a starry night sky. Or it may have been associated with the unmistakable communion of spirits, that deep connection experienced as love. It may have been a moment where the soul was moved to tears by a powerful, creative expression of another kindred spirit, be it musical, artistic or poetic. Or it may have been experienced through a moment of creative insight---a breakthrough in understanding.
Whatever the experience might be, it is the personal recognition of what Native
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Americans know as an expression of the "Great Spirit." It is, of course, "All That Is".

It may have been experienced through a religious framework, wherein the presence of the Creator or other higher powers are simply known and felt within each fiber of the being. The unmistakable presence of spirit may have poured forth from the eyes of a newborn child whose ancient wisdom and powerful soul now lie swaddled within soft fresh pink flesh. It may have come in the form of a miraculous event or the message of a dream or from another altered state of consciousness. But the spirit has been everpresent, and may be revealed through a review of each and every life experience that has moved one to tears in resonance with universal joy, with each recognition strengthening the power of faith.
The "how's" and "wherefore's" are innumerable but secondary to the fact that as a part of the Universal Whole, we can and should be experiencing the Spiritual Nature of our created environment and appreciate the source of the power which creates it.

The spirit is hardly a foreign concept---it is a familiar presence. Each and every human being is already on some level attuned to the presence of spirit, with a corresponding level of faith.
The variance in our state of enlightenment lies within our awareness of the above.

This attunement must be identified, reinforced, and credited for that which it is, for the faith to strengthen. Regardless of the cultural trappings or disguises, spirit itself is the root source of each incident of illumination, of raw joy, and of inspired awe. When the trappings are stripped bare, particularly the ones which carry religious dogma, a pure and deep concept of spirit shall emerge. All faith in a God or Creator should be clearly understood as faith in spirit---Universal Spirit in each of its individual apportionments. Faith in spirit is the trust that spiritual knowledge lies within, not without. It is not dependent upon any one thought system, religion, culture, political perspective, leader, supernatural entity, or any other intermediary. It is rightful, reachable, and ever-present within each human being. Connecting to the Universal Truth is to once and forever establish faith in spirit.
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The only sacrifice necessary to attain this, is time. We need only set aside a brief period every day to exercise an intent. If we need to do it in a particular edifice or with a certain group, then so be it. But we need nothing more than a place of comfort and a commitment to seek. The rest will follow.

To have faith in Spirit is to have faith in the Creator and the Creations. It is to rest assured that chaos and suffering is an aberration of the physical experience, not a naturally intended condition. To have faith in spirit, is to know without doubt, fear or hesitation, thatthere is meaning in each and every life event; that each experience is a message from Spirit to mind that can reveal its rightful intention. To have faith in Spirit is to search for the spiritual wisdom in each physical event.
Nature gets a bad rap in times of chaotic events and is too often portrayed as an enemy of the human race, acting irrationally and reeking havoc as some mindless and callous force. Those steeped in religious fundamentals will even attribute such dire consequences as an act of an angry God. Either attitude is demeaning to the essence of All That Is. Once we can come to realize the role we play in creating our own reality, we will be able to avoid all that we currently fail to understand or fully appreciate.

Accountability & The Law of Attraction Faith in Spirit leads to more ready acceptance of each and every opportunity to learn. It provides the courage to push past the growing pain and into broader mental and physical horizons. Acceptance is faith in the Spirit's presence within, and feeling signature upon every physical experience. Faith in Spirit recognizes the creative power of mind. Thus, acceptance begins with a mindset that each and every experience is one that has been attracted by that human being. Acceptance begins with accountability for life's events.
By accepting the Spiritual part of our nature as innate to our being, we take a step forward in understanding our role in the physical environment which we have created and the experiences in this environment.

For indeed, the creative mind attracts experience which perfectly reflects its beliefs and intentions. There are no accidents, evil or mysterious forces that decide which probable event will occur physically. It is simply mind creating that which it thinks the person desires. It can only do this based upon what it knows and believes. It can do no more or less. One of the rare
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guarantees in life is that physical experience will always accurately reflect the parameters of mind ---slivers and all.
Thus, each experience is a portrait of our creation. The bad news is that we create our own reality. The good news is that we create our own reality. The only question we have to answer is the "why" we are having the experiences we do. The obvious answer is that our beliefs are the governing factor.

Desire is the emotional spiritual force---the Will energy---which has remained misunderstood. Thus, each emotion--- whether positive or negative---is interpreted by mind as desire. Desire is intention and feelings communicate intention. Emotion empowers the belief that signals it and creates that event. Given the fact that most mental contents have bypassed the spiritual judge, many beliefs are not aligned with spiritual intention. This means the events they create are not those actually intended by Spirit, they will be unpleasant and will bring emotional pain.
We can get beyond this situation by first examining our beliefs to determine if they are aligned with "Spiritual Intention". Then we can adjust them (or simply allow our minds to) until they do reflect this intention.

The mind is the controller; it holds the ideas, beliefs and values to create experience. Feeling is the key to unlock the creative power of mind. Thus, the mind will continue to create that which it holds, pain and all, so that humans can recognize and accept accountability for the cause and effect relationship between belief and experience.
It is not the intention of Spirit that we should live our lives in pain, although this "pain" can serve a positive purpose in giving us the necessary feedback to alert us that our beliefs and our Spiritual nature are not in alignment. Supplied with this information, we can "change" our mind regarding our beliefs, until our experiences contain less pain.

Remember, once Spirit enters flesh it delegates the creation of reality to the mind---the portal of individual human experience. The pain of spiritual frustration exists to inform mind that its contents need re-examination. Instead of understanding this message, humans have created many wildly exotic---yet faulty---beliefs to explain why "bad things happen to good people". Superstitious meaning is assigned, external controllers are identified and the internal power remains unclaimed. This adds further limitation to mind, and sets up the cycle of blame and victimhood. This is
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the norm of human consciousness at this time. Is it any wonder then, why humans only use a mere one tenth of their mental capability?
We would rather come up with excuses why we have unhappiness in our lives than consider the possibility that we are simply creating this unhappiness by hanging on to limiting beliefs. When someone near to us dies, we can mourn their passing to the point of a mental breakdown, or we can rejoice for them as they step into a reality free of pain. Unfortunately, since beliefs tend to continue for people as they go into their next environment, much of the happiness they could be experiencing is being postponed.

The following idea bears repeating---heed this crucial universal truth: There are no accidents, evil or mysterious external forces that decide which probable event will occur physically. It is simply mind creating that which it thinks the person desires. Desire is communicated through feelings. Feelings spring from beliefs. Beliefs must be carefully selected under the direction of Spirit, for mental belief creates physical reality. This is the Law of Attraction.
...and it is our own mind (not someone else's) which is doing the creating. The feelings of fear and anxiety are within ourselves, waiting for someone who might fan the flame. But we supply the fuel and we control the fire. The more negative our beliefs, the more smoke created to obscure our vision of the guiding light within ourselves. Beliefs are like magnets. They draw to us those experiences we think we should be having.

Individual mind is the creator of individual experience and should be held accountable. With this ultimate truth, the most beneficial mindset is to take immediate ownership and responsibility for each experience so that it can be used to find limitations of mind. This is the habit of accountability. Accountability honors the incoming voice of Spirit by looking to mind for answers. Accountability respects the Law Of Attraction. Accountability is seeking mental cause through faith in spiritual effect. Accountability counteracts the psychic blaming which creates the cycle of resistance, limitation and pain. Accountability is looking to self for learning opportunities. Accountability is the habit of mind that ushers the Right Response to emotional pain. To be accountable is to think and live by the credo: "I attract that which happens to me."
If we find the mind's "limitations", we know that our respective beliefs put them there. There is a point somewhere in everyone's existence when we must lay down the cross of victimhood and pick up the cloak of accountability. The time
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for this is overdue!

Accountability provides its own reward. For example: Recall our person driving to work, relying upon many physical and mental habits. Recall how another driver dangerously cuts in front, grabbing our driver's attention for corrective action. This situation would most certainly bring sudden emotional arousal within our driver, first fear, and then likely anger. It would be very easy and quite natural to direct the anger at the errant driver, and perhaps a physical retaliation of fist shaking or other such gestures.
Rude or thoughtless behavior, responded to with road rage, completes a cycle. Breaking the cycle takes the experience to a new level. If we truly believe that we do attract our experiences, then this is an experience so dramatic, that its lesson can hardly be ignored.

Although this would have a certain valid justification, it gives the power of the moment to the errant driver. This would reinforce the belief that the world is full of idiots whose ignorant actions can leave devastating effects upon innocent others---in this case a potential car "accident". There is utter powerlessness in this belief, which will be echoed by anger which might spoil an otherwise lovely day. Most competent human drivers have experienced such a moment, and can recognize how they have allowed such oafs to drive away with their power. This is simply due to the unconscious, habitual response of resistance and blame.
Whatever tactics we utilize to protect ourselves while driving a vehicle, be they the use of a seat belt or something more metaphysical, such as surrounding one's vehicle with a white, protective light, we can empower this action by remembering that we are in the physical to learn how to create our own reality and the Lessons of Life come to us only when they are needed.

Now imagine instead, at the moment of the incident, our driver uses the emotion to examine the existing beliefs. Accountability is to think---the moment composure is regained---"Whoa! What did I do to attract that into my life???" Was I paying adequate attention to the road? Do I believe that accidents can occur? Do I believe the "laws of probability" I was taught in the school, that I must have a certain number of accidents corresponding to number of miles driven? Do I secretly want to get my money's worth out of my insurance payments? Do I believe in karma? Did I wrong that jerk in
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another life? Do I expect such things to happen inevitably? Do I have adequate tolerance and compassion for such people?"
The answer to any one of those questions is a step along the way to broadening our perspective on our inevitable life experiences. It also can be a step toward bringing more harmony into our lives, along with more peace and abundance. Ultimately, it leads to recognizing and benefitting from our creative potential.

Any of these self-reflective thoughts can lead to mental housekeeping. Even the slightest liberating mental shift is highly beneficial. Looking to self for cause keeps the power and uses the emotional arousal to develop the self, not preserve self-limitation by blaming another. Perhaps our driver ended the event by reaffirming the dominant mindset of compassion for those less enlightened, and eliminating a lesser, but conflicting, belief in the power of ignorance. The feeling of fear or anger would cease and the day could continue as planned, or perhaps with the energy retained and the mood protected, it would unfold with even more positive events.
Sometimes, if we are willing to consider the possibility, nature itself (for example, in the form of a bird flying across our path, an omen ), can supply us with an alert to a negative experience that might be coming into our reality, a wake-up call if you wish. We might slow down a bit, become a little more alert and seek a blessing from our higher self, as we proceed along our path. This may sound a little too esoteric, but these Lessons are esoteric.

The reward is the feeling that follows the accountable Right Response. Not only does positive emotion reflect the success of the accountable action, it also brings closure to the event and frees the mind for its next experience. But the mind is now that much less limited. Even very minor shifts can be quite powerful, and they build upon one another with incredible results. When enough such shifts have occurred, the mind is allowed the freedom to quickly show the cause and effect relationship between belief and action. This is what is referred to as "the raising of consciousness." This is the ultimate empowerment, because the mind can see more clearly and create more spiritually desirable experience. Such a mind creates a life that is, and feels, GOOD.
The "rewiring" of our belief systems and habits of thought, does require dedication to an intent. Negative habits atrophy when replaced by Positive Habits. The clue is consistency.
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Accountability is a very powerful mindset. It is the key strategy of empowerment. Several habits of acceptance can bolster and support this strategy. Breaking the habitual cycle of blame can be quite a challenge; for Mass Consciousness teaches humans limitation, judgment and blame at every turn.
However, the better acquainted we become with our inner selves, the less influential the negative qualities of the outer world will tend to be.

Compassion Genuine human compassion is a spiritual tool of acceptance. It is a component of innate morality and counterpart of the connection need. Despite the most successful attempts to look within, there will be genuine times when an external limitation is the source of your spiritual frustration. It is often the case that prejudgment or the beliefs of another causes resistance within them, in turn having a direct effect upon your needmeeting efforts. This will be experienced as an external obstacle and will prompt feelings of anger. In sum, internal accountability needs an ally--external compassion.
This is when we are most challenged. The belief systems of others we care about, block our attempts to achieve spiritual growth. Usually, these people are parents or siblings, but they might be church officials or people whom we would presume would be our allies in our quest. But instead of encouragement, we are often met with threats and strong admonitions to return to their reality.

Although the limitation is a genuine one, compassion recognizes and absolves the other for their limitations while retaining the power to act and respond. To maximize compassion, an essential mindset is the understudying that change can only be accomplished with guaranteed results within the self. The spiritual need of freedom to choose the contents of mind is indeed every human's right. So ultimately, it must be accepted that no matter how well-meaning, no matter how uplifting, no matter how truly valuable, significant and wonderful offers of Light can be, they may not be accepted. This is right and good in the eyes of the Creator, for it preserves the mental freedom that defines the individual human experience.
To clarify, the only "change" we can guarantee is that which we make within
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ourselves. We can not "change" another's way of thinking by willing such. The best we can do is encourage and motivate by example. This applies not to just our children, but all we are in contact with in our respective environments. Again, the right to be "wrong" is a guarantee under Universal Law and it is a right in universal entitlement. The freedom to progress at one's own spiritual pace (or even to regress, if that is one's choice), is sacrosanct. Free will can have no exceptions if it is to remain what it is. No Divine Spirit can, or would, ever make anyone behave in a certain fashion. Atheists who make the argument that if there were a God, how could He/She allow so much suffering in the world, completely miss an essential ingredient of what Spirit is. The truly great educational institutions are the one's which allow the greatest freedom of thought. It is through this quality of Free Will that we have the potential to exercise our most promising creativity. This principle permeates our existence in the same sense that the ocean penetrates a wave.

And with such freedom, rest assured unenlightened choices will be made. This is the condition of ignorance. Ignorance results from misunderstanding and misuse of the self-preservationary impulse. It results from the habit of resistance and of defending limited mental boundaries. The spiritual right of freedom to choose ignorance is why humans are in their current predicament.
However, it is also why the potential for rising beyond this "predicament" remains intact. The closer we get to understanding the Universal Spiritual Truths of our nature, the greater is our spiritual progress exhilarated. Preoccupation with what is wrong with our planet is only a distraction from envisioning what can be right with it.

The best habitual response to the swell of anger and frustration which follows an interaction with an ignorant one, is to immediately understand and respect the right to self-develop at one's own pace. Accept the other, warts and all, with human compassion and empathic understanding of their experience. Then use the emotional energy to develop skills and strategies for dealing with them in ways that match their mental environment. To stand in the shoes of the ignorant one and to truly accept their present state of development, is to recall your own time spent there. For an enlightened perspective has surely sprung from having been in a similarly narrower state of awareness at some point. Compassion is to accept and meet the mind of the other and operate from the base of experience or focus on reality. Compassion offers the challenge of learning to express your suggestions to those at many levels of awareness.
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There are obvious examples of "Compassion" in the later days of the life of the personality, Jesus. Forgiveness and understanding were qualities that He had to exercise to the extreme. But, what He did, we can and must do also, especially at this critical juncture in our planet's existence, for it is the physical reality we have created and continue to maintain for ourselves.

Compassion springs from spiritual recognition of the one-ness and interconnection of each spirit. Compassion is the resonance of respect for each individual journey of discovery. Compassion is not judgmental, condescending or patronizing, it need not even be communicated to the other. It is simply a mental tool to immediately accept the situation as is, to right the self, and to channel the anger productively. Compassion flows naturally from faith in the integrity of spirit---each and every spirit, regardless of how tightly swaddled they might be within ignorance.
Sometimes, the greatest "compassion" we can exercise is simply by being silent. This simple act does not express approval and can often cause a degree of inner reflection on the part of another on the journey.

Respectful compassion is also an essential ingredient for offering successful Light Responses to others. Although expression can always be rejected, offerings of Light will meet with far less resistance within the resonance of compassion. Each human responds to genuine compassion on a cellular level. There can be no ingenuous manipulation, persuasion, control, or even legal constraint over another without the energy of genuine compassion in validation of their experience behind it. Compassion is the very secret to sharing the Light.
The justice dealt out by our court system could benefit by a greater degree of "compassion" for those whose lives eventually bring them to the point of conflict with man-made laws. Systems are innately flawed and those who operate them and those who are subject to them, are all a part of this flawed process. This might explain why so much of the civilized world has done away with the death penalty---it simply lacks the essential ingredient of compassion.

Forgiveness Another life-giving habit is that of forgiveness. Compassion for the ignorance and foibles of another can reach a limit, if forgiveness does not
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follow. For ignorance can lead to the most heinous and evil acts of violation by human upon human. This is where the most powerful mental adaptations are necessary.
It would seem that "forgiveness" is an essential part of "compassion" and that the latter can not be complete (sometimes) unless the former is also in place. An example that stands out in my mind might be the Jews forgiving the Nazis for the holocaust. Next to a museum of atrocities might be a museum of "forgiveness". Now that would really be exceptional.

Take the example of murder. The anger that springs genuinely from such evil violation is the true voice of spirit. Such acts are truly inhuman and frustrating to spirit. Such feelings are not based upon limited beliefs or faulty perceptions; these feelings voice legitimate, righteous, spiritual anger. Anger shouts its pain, declaring the violation of every human need when a life itself is taken. It warns that ignorance is threatening the very preservation of the species if such acts are permitted. It is the anger that has moved mountains and defined "civilization".
There is such a thing as "righteous anger" and it does reflect our spiritual qualities. The question is not whether "anger" is justified. It is how that justification is carried out. Like behavior does little to assuage the situation.

But anger must be utilized in productive ways or it can eat away at the soul of the violated one. This is where finding compassion in ignorance and closure in forgiveness can restore power. This is not always easy. For example, it is much easier to find compassion for a man who commits murder from the mindset of his mother, than it is from the perspective of the mother of his victim.
In the first case, the tie is to the perpetrator and in the second, to the victim. While there is little personal loss in the first case, there is bound to be deep emotional pain. In the the second case there is that, plus the loss of a child.

Forgiveness allows the anger to be converted into impassioned energy that can be directed at the source of the true problem, the limitations within Mass Consciousness that allow and perpetuate such ignorance. The perpetrator himself is a symptom. Thus, the victim will never be free until the perpetrator is forgiven. Anger misdirected is the giving over of the power. To retain the power is to forgive. To channel it productively is to remove the beliefs and limitations within human cultures which reduce
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humans to such sub-human ignorant conditions. It is to build structures of enlightenment within the educational, social, political, judicial and religious institutions and traditions. It is to remove the lingering ideas that perpetuate limitation, spiritual frustration and self-preservationary ignorance.
In looking at the recent slaying in the high school in Colorado, we see that the violence and killing carried out by these perpetrators (as well as other children who have committed like crimes at other schools), should inspire a deeper look into our society, not just at the violence we surround ourselves and/or children with, but the mind set that draws us to this atmosphere of violence. As Gandhi once said, "An eye for an eye and the whole world is blind." The circle of violence and hate, only leads to a more encompassing environment of violence and hate. Forgiveness is a way out of that entrapment. For some, it may be the only way.

Competition Within Self One final habit to develop and hone is a healthy, challenging, internal competition. The habit of competing with others is very rooted within individual and mass consciousness. Be they families feuding, Gladiators fighting, religions warring, political parties arguing, even athletic opposition, human history is peppered with evidence of the broad acceptance and encouragement of external, win-lose competition.
At one point or another in our lives, we have almost all been involved in one of the "competitions" mentioned above. Some have been more personal, i.e. the feuding of families. Others have been more detached, i.e. the super bowl (our modern form of Gladiator fighting). Regardless, the experience of this involvement, while oftentimes rewarding, they are just as frequently losing experiences that take their toll, especially in the area of personal relationships.

Such competition springs, of course, from innate spiritual purpose. This has translated into self-preservationary directives, where humans must compete for "survival of the fittest". But in an enlightened society, competition with others wherein one must lose for another to win, is not appropriate. Yet humans will always have the urge to compete, due to the higher spiritual purposes of self-development and expression, and they must be reinterpreted in that context. Thus a new form of internal, personal competition should replace the old.
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Our current economic systems would find a suggestion that competition is "not appropriate", to be not only unacceptable but threatening. Yet, if spiritual growth is to be a part of our future, then a revision of our present mindset is essential.

With the most primitive directive of external competition, individuals simply fight to forcefully overcome the challenges of the environment in remedial caveman-like responses. By placing the competition on the inside, humans can adapt themselves to be successful within every kind of world, as well as make positive changes upon them. Adaptations within the mind and corresponding creative actions in the world are the stuff of human evolution and the only route to enlightened civilizations.
When we make a personal commitment to overcome those elements in our reality that are detrimental to our spiritual evolvement, and do so by altering our own perspective, we may seem threatening to others momentarily, but our long-term influence (if we have the patience to endure) will bring positive change to those areas of our lives and the lives of others that will ultimately be effective.

With the habit of self competition, the individual holds the continuing challenge of personal betterment, with the goal of attaining ever higher levels of skill, ever more valuable and accommodating beliefs, higher levels of acceptance and compassion, and a broader, more inclusive world view. Winning is bettering the self and spreading the unique gifts far and wide. And there can be no more deeply rewarding sense of accomplishment.
I will conquer the person I was yesterday, with the person I am today.

Instead of measuring one's self against the successes or failings of another, it is far more useful to pit them against earlier versions of one's self. This simple mindset can profoundly increase the human connection as well as empower individuals to answer their higher purpose. No longer will it be necessary to beat and humiliate one another in order to attain status or regard. No longer will it be necessary to define rigid categories of value that only honor and value a few. No longer will humans experience the frustration of being measured on scales irrelevant to their own spiritual inclinations, gifts and destiny paths. No longer will humans give up altogether in the face of overwhelming competition. No longer will
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humans have to elevate themselves by lowering another. No longer will one have to lose for another to win. True cooperation means win-win expressive scenarios for all involved.
Some might conclude that this would make life much more dull. In fact, as we become more skilled in exercising the habit of self-evolvement along spiritual lines, and begin to conquer our sense of limitation, we will find that the satisfaction which follows will overwhelm the lack of temporary enjoyment we might gain from our old patterns of thinking and feeling.

A daily directive of personal development and improvement can provide an arena to meet all the needs within the context of cooperation, compassion, acceptance and natural morality. When humans finally break free from the illusion of necessary competition, evolution can flourish.
Just as the experience of physical flight took humans to another physical level of existence, the experience of spiritual flight will leave behind our preoccupation with conflicts of a lesser level of existence.

So feel free to engage in mental and physical sparring, debates, games and exhibitions of challenge and accomplishment, but do so in the spirit of cooperation with humankind, and only in true competition with yourself.
Truth is an evolving process resulting from the sharing of our expanding perspectives. Just as in challenging ourselves, we can indulge in a truly "friendly" competition.

With the life-giving habits of self-development discussed, we can now turn to the life-giving habits that promote self-expression. Acceptance Although acceptance has already been discussed as a life-giving habit of self-development , it is a habit with additional value in the realm of selfexpression. Acceptance within the realm of self-development allows all incoming information to be evaluated without resistance or limitation, to allow an internal communication or dialog that results in learning, gaining mental additions, shifts and alterations to belief systems---Right Responses.
For acceptance to be truly effective, it requires us to get past our programmed prejudices and review this incoming information with as open a mind as
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possible. If this is not possible, then the next natural step is to examine those beliefs for their origin and value.

In contrast, the realm of self expression is at its core, the arena of external communication. The goal of self-expression is to effect positive changes to the outside world and the people in it---Light Responses. Spiritual expressions of human creativity which help shape the world to better meet human needs, are the fuel of human evolution.
It is the difference between the outside world affecting us and we affecting the outside world. Belief systems forced upon us before the age of reason can have a detrimental effect on our ability to affect the outside world for the greater benefit of Spirit. Whereas, creative thoughts and actions that originate in Spirit and flow through us naturally into the outside world, must bring about a positive result.

Acceptance in the realm of self-expression is the understanding that people in the external environment have a unique mental skill set and focus upon "reality" that may be grossly different than your own. Acceptance means attempting a meeting of minds with such a person, and respectfully working within the existing mental framework to effect changes. A single change within a human mind, provides the bedrock for the eventual achievement of massive ideological changes within human cultures and beliefs of mass consciousness. Empires can rise and fall by the effective expression of but one human being. In short, there is no other way for humans to evolve without the capability of expressing themselves in thought and deed.
In order to have the above result, there has to be a willingness to open our own minds, as well as the minds of those we might seek to influence. At the very least, there has to be a willingness to understand another's perspective.

Understanding and acceptance of the requirements for self expression will speed up all individual and group evolution. This requires acceptance of: 1. The rightful uniqueness of each human mind. 2. The power of free will and how it can create limits; 3. The responsibility to empathize and understand one another's perspective.4. The spiritual imperative of voicing one's insight; 5.The inevitable conflict and resistance that can arise; 6.The responsibility to minimize the self-preservationary impulse within self and others. These are the keys to successful self-expression.

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In order for the Founding Fathers to bring into existence this country's constitution, all of the above were essential to their understanding and application. The results are "self-evident".

To accomplish the needed acceptance, one must simply not deviate from the understanding of the interconnectedness of all spirits. To gaze upon another, is to gaze upon one's self in an alternate form, for indeed, "All Are One." To recognize the kindred spirit, to extend compassion and patience with the level of development they have achieved, regardless of where you might be yourself, is to maximize your chances of broadening their world as well as your own. Each interaction should be like that of a loving parent imparting guidance to a child without any sense of competition or resistance. (This has the corresponding benefit from the receiving end to also listen without resistance, with the trust and faith of a child in receiving Light from the wisdom of loving parents. To trust that there is some benefit in the offer, no matter how much variation or distance between the two minds.)
Once an environment as described above is created, the ultimate benefit for universal peace and progress is set upon a path that can never be reversed, so long as Spirit within each and all is given full rein.

Acceptance and compassion can allow you to stand in the shoes of your other and view the incoming information from that perspective, so you can tailor it to fit that frame of reference. To turn on the light of honor, empathy, cooperation, and compassion in each interaction with another, is to be fully human in the highest spiritual sense. This light can cut through the darkness of the communication challenge with far more intensity and success than can any fancy words. When one expresses from a truly spiritual level, the spiritual intention is felt within the receiver and the doors of resistance automatically respond.
There is an illusion taught in our educational institutions that if the right words are expressed with the proper skill, the result desired will almost always follow. The above suggests that "feeling" is essential to any communication, both for the initiator and the recipient.

Even sworn enemies, following the dictates of mind, resonate to each other's spirit. This is why a primary rule of combat is not to fraternize with the enemy. Such human directives are clearly outside of the spiritual intent
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of the Creator. Communication without an underlying spiritual intent will most likely be interactions with another who is resistant, driven by fear rather than faith, and acting upon self-preservationary impulses rather than self-developmental and expressive ones. Most interactions considered ordinary between humans contain a very high degree of resistance, and self-preservationary acts.
Cultures vary in particular ways when it comes to the effectiveness of human relationships. More often, the attitude toward cooperation versus competition can govern the ultimate life span of a particular society.

They are so abundant in human history that they have become standards for entertainment. One need simply look to literature and dramatic arts to find a trove of examples of humans exhibiting the deadly habits of selfpreservation. What interesting tale does not contain the pain of betrayal of trust or the joy of success. Instead, the simple attitude of acceptance can allow your spiritual feelings to dictate exactly how and when to offer Light, and how and when to respond when resistance is encountered. Acceptance assures that your efforts will have been those dictated by spirit,regardless of the immediate outcome.
The movies and T.V. shows that pander to the base interests of self-preservation find greater acceptance in a decadent society. The challenge is to create entertainment that appeals to the Spirit in individuals that can override the former.

This brings us back to the habit of Faith in Spirit, for it also will be a powerful tool in self-expression. For with faith, and in understanding the time lag between mental change and physical change, one can be patient and move through one situation and onto the next, without lingering in frustration due to the fact that the Light may not have been received in full.
...and with that patience in mind, we can now proceed.

Patience & Faith The key to successful self-expression is to know when it should be offered and how much is enough. It is to understand the ebb and flow of the spirit, the continuous expansion of the mind, and that the appropriate amount of light will be received for that person at that time.
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Our inner guidance is a reliable tool, once we become used to using it. In fact, the more we use it, the more we can come to trust it.

Even the most resistant of humans cannot help but open to the truly compassionate and spiritually intended offering. The biology ensures this. But the mind has the rightful control and the beliefs can be like a garden thick with weeds so that the incoming seedlings of spiritual intention have a difficult time taking root. Faith and patience flow from the knowledge that the seed has been planted and that is all that was required---that the expression has been made, the Light has been offered. It then can percolate within the mind of the receiving individual. The feelings will most assuredly call the attention to it again and again through the experience of this person. For if it is truly Light, it cannot help but be validated by the emotional system, the voice of the Universal Spirit.
One of the tests of the spiritual intent of the person planting the seeds of "Enlightenment", is whether or not this "seed" ultimately takes root. For if our efforts are less than compassionate and spiritual, the Universal Spirit operating within the recipient will be inclined to reject our offering.

As each such feeling spurs this person to examine and reexamine the beliefs and strategies, the seedling will blossom to the full intent of the offerer. But this might take a lifetime. And if immediate results are expected, then offers will be less likely to occur. Faith in the Spirit will bring the accompanying patience and understanding to allow you to let the Spirit move you toward offering Light when you know it can be used and trusting the universe to follow its natural course from there.
In a way, we are all like the mythical Johnny Appleseed when we elect to travel through life offering our seeds of Light; and like that "Johnny", we would tend to scatter them in an environment with some kind of chance of their taking root. Also, this "tree farmer" would instinctively know that patience is an essential part of achieving a successful growth.

For example, a young teacher feels moved to share personal insights with a child she observes to be receiving very limiting beliefs from her home environment. The child has been taught to fear and suspect authority figures other than those who advise her at home. Religion has been used to intimidate the child into conforming to the lifestyle and wishes of her family, often against the wisdom of her own spirit.

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This is an area to be very careful in. As a similar situation in reverse example, when my son was delivering newspapers in the neighborhood, one subscriber took it upon himself to give him a lesson in fundamental religious teachings. Suffice it to say, I called this fellow and suggested he keep his opinions to himself. I'm sure his intention was good, but he had crossed into an area without invitation.

The child believes herself to be sinful for feeling an attraction to friendship with a new classmate from a different culture and an opposing religion, but she is happy despite being "different". (Her spirit tells her that this person can offer new ideas and beliefs which is good for self-development, but her mind, through its veil of belief, tells her this is wrong and signals a feeling of fear as this belief is reinforced).The child wrestles with conflicting feelings and ends up bullying the would-be friend. (The automatic response to the fear is to make the outside world match the expectation of mind, by making the child an enemy to match the belief. Then anger will be experienced, but its message will go unnoticed. The rejection of the spiritual signal results in a self-preservationary Flight Response, a pattern of deadly habit).
We all know of adults who have taken umbrage at a suggestion which could have broadened their spiritual outlook. When it comes from their children, they tend to not only resist the ideas, but feel obliged to use guilt to try to bring the child back into the fold of the adult's own belief system. This is where compassion of the child to the parent is called for and needs to be exercised. It may not be until the child reaches adulthood that he/she realizes the need for this compassion but as soon as it is realized, forgiveness of the parent is in order.

The teacher recognizes what is occurring and decides to offer her Light. She brings the two girls together and offers a story of how she and a similarly "different" classmate joined forces against an aggressor who had been picking on them both, when she was a girl. This story allowed both girls to feel a similar position, like sisters---the connection between spirits was suggested and accomplished. The two girls responded differently to this offering in later behavior. For although a seed was planted, each attracted events which matched the mental landscape.
This was good psychology on the part of the teacher. Keeping in mind that one of the greatest Teachers in history, used a parable to illustrate a spiritual principle, this can be a useful, while not a threatening way to suggest a change in outlook.

The first, continued to needle and demean her classmate for a short period
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of time, and then became withdrawn and angry. Her family moved away shortly thereafter. The second experienced a stronger connection and began to interact more with other classmates and became accepted. The teacher felt a sense of frustration at not having been able to get through to the first girl, and a bit of her idealism was rubbed away, keeping her from so freely offering her Light in future situations and dropping a veil of sadness upon her.
The outcome of our efforts won't always be immediately satisfying. Things won't necessary go as we hoped. Disappointment can damage our own outlook if we place too much emphasis on achieving success. But sometimes, the victory is not in the end result but in how we made the effort. And as indicated earlier, sometimes it can take a lifetime to make a difference.

But if faith and patience had dictated, she would have instantly known that the seed has been planted. Regardless of the short-term outcome, the frustration and sadness would not have arisen to the point of misinterpretation of the experience, nor would it have interfered with future self-expression.
Each experience, each idea, each piece of knowledge that enlightens, even when not immediately accepted, serves as a foundation for that next event of like kind. Nothing is ever totally forgotten, especially when it affects Universal Spirit.

For the actual outcome was different. The first girl continued to be heavily influenced by the conflicting dictates and limitations of her family, and her mind created the same conflicting situations reflected by evermore intense negative emotions. During her adolescence, certain rebellions turned her anger upon herself. She acted out her spiritual frustration in selfdestructive behaviors that were evermore unacceptable in her family's limited viewpoint. Their mechanisms of control could no longer work against the power of her spirit. Her misguided actions to gain freedom landed her in the juvenile justice system. She was resistant to every external counselor or advisor. She even attempted suicide to "break free". Then she had an encounter that changed her life.
On a level beyond her conscious state, she drew close enough to the edge to see that her survival and destiny would ultimately bring her beyond her deep confusion. When she was ready, a new teacher appeared.

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She was appointed a probation officer who was truly compassionate and exhibited faith in spirit. But most importantly, she was of the same culture as the classmate from her early years and touched the spirit, creating a connection like the first teacher had. This person offered, for the first time, alternate beliefs and world views that allowed the girl the freedom her spirit longed for, but the mind with its existing limitations, would not allow. Had the seed not been planted, this offer would also have met with resistance, but it had had time to percolate and find its space among the many debilitating ideas and beliefs which ruled her mind.
There are always "angels" ready to enter our lives at those moments they are most needed. True Spirit is that All-Knowing force that can never let ignorance of itself remain in place permanently.

The truth is that the spirit will always reign supreme, even working within the most limited of mindscapes, and that the timing of progress is insignificant in the grand scale. Faith in spirit and patience will bring forth the best results and more complete spiritual expression.Breaking free from the limitations of mind is the challenge of each human, and regardless of the timeliness or circumstances that bring this realization, it will come in its own time to each human no matter how many lifetimes it might take. Once the enlightenment is gained however, it can never fully be reversed. Humans are at various places of understanding and even the slightest offering can become a base for a break-through. Then the reclaiming of the incredible power of the mind can begin.
There are six billion plus souls in the physical of this planet, each an opportunity of growth in progress. If we can help but one in a lifetime, we have also helped ourselves.

The simple attitude of faith and patience will assure that each entity will act upon the spiritual directive to offer the Light---no matter how much darkness it is attempting to pierce. After each such offering has been made, the spirit will faithfully reward the entity with the loving feelings of divine resonance. Thus acceptance, compassion and faith in spirit will provide the foundation for the maximum avenues for fulfillment of the human purpose of spiritual expression.
Amen, to that.

Gratitude
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Another life-giving habit of self-expression is gratitude. Since the feedback cycle depends upon a flow of energy from within to without and back in again, it is essential for entities to express back to others those actions and offerings that have been beneficial---that have brought the spiritual feelings of happiness and fulfillment.
It would also seem that to complete the cycle is to enhance the retention of the material that is brought to the consciousness and thus, further incorporate and apply to the outside world.

All too often, resistance and competition keep humans from admitting when they have gained from the help of another, let alone asking for it. Successful self-expression then includes acknowledgment and recognition of those and their offerings. This springs from the cooperative rather than the competitive spirit, wherein credit is given where credit is due, even when a mentally misguided attempt is made.
A simple "Thanks" will do --- and where the help is of a less spiritual quality, a "Thanks, but No Thanks" is also appropriate. Once competition begins to play a lesser role in our lives, our appreciation of others and levels of helpfulness will be enhanced.

Although individuals do not have a spiritual need for recognition and acknowledgment, this does affirm the need for connection and verifies publicly that self-expression has occurred. It is through active, vocal gratitude that mass consciousness can be altered to bring out selfexpression, to reward it rather than stifle or even punish those who dare to follow the advice of their spirit. Expressions of gratitude for even the slightest offerings should become habits institutionalized within every human culture.
Hopefully, we will evolve into a society that not only tolerates diversity of thought and creative expression but values the spirit which is expressed through this process. Then the Creative Spirit will be celebrated in an omnipresent fashion.

Humor Another gift of spirit, and tool for successful self-expression, is humor.
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Humor is that mysterious, yet ever-present capacity for humans to experience fun and spontaneous spiritual creativity. It is the Creator's directive to find new and creative perspectives and meaning and to share them. Humor reframes a mundane thought into something unexpectedly meaningful and inexplicably delightful. The spirit experiences joy upon creating, delivering and accepting the creative humorous insight.
Unfortunately, humor has been downgraded by the puritan influence within Christianity. It became associated with guilt as part of the enjoyment mentality that was considered to be unholy. It took the influence of the non-puritan immigrants to bring the country back into balance.

Humor is a very pure form of spiritual expression. It relates directly to the level of liberation experienced by Spirit and reminds humans to think "outside of the box." Freedom and spontaneity of spirit allows the humor and fun to flow. A spirit relatively unfettered by mind, secure and exalted as the valuable and ever-present driver, will be one capable of spontaneous delightful humor. Genuine love and acceptance by the outside world fosters this ability within each human being and empowerment releases it.
Genuine humor can not exist without "spontaneity", nor should it. We can appreciate the Spirit in each other when we can enjoy the quality of humor. It is the unexpected that forces us to alter our addictive thinking patterns, and brings us a sense of joy in the process.

Humor greases the wheels of acceptance. It is an avenue of selfexpression that is counterpart to the automatic Flight Response relating to anger. Humor is the antithesis of the angry expressive response. It can be developed to replace angry expressions and deadly habits. Humor is also the ally of the ever evolving mind. It allows acceptance and understanding of temporary self-limitation so that learning can then be sought. It is the innate gift of humility connecting humans at every level or grouping. Humor is the great equalizer resonating within each and every spirit.
As a result, we can become both "greasy" and "evolved". The former allows us to slide out of difficult situations and the latter builds our confidence in being able to do so in the future.

A human who meets resistance, rejection and frustration early in life is less likely to develop the ability to express through humor. Yet, it is a gift that lies well within the capacity of each and every spirit and one that can be a
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tremendous aid to self-expression. As entities remove the internal and external limitations that create fear and anger, they will open their innate corresponding abilities to be humorous. Humor is to the liberated spirit what anger is to the frustrated one. Humor is the ability to view a frustration in alternate terms, to quickly disarm a situation by reframing it creatively. Humor can tremendously reduce resistance both from within and without.
If we have no sense of humor, the next best thing is to hang around someone who does. It's the tuning fork principle. The higher vibration tends to bring up the lower one and in an enjoyable way.

Humor can accomplish tremendous movement toward self development, if it is used to remove the emotional boundaries that often protect a limited mind. Humor can communicate the humanness and commonalties that usher in the sense of connectedness and cooperation. Humor can open the entity to the continuous change that is mental evolution. To be able to laugh at one's self is to be open to all necessary growth.
At last resort, one can always look in the mirror (and if necessary, make a funny face). Humor is most appreciated when we do make fun of ourselves and even invite others to do it for us. Now that does require mental evolution.

Humor can also facilitate communication and self-expression. It can soften a harsh message when the learning need level is very high and the growing pain is intense. Humor can persuade and eliminate resistance to offers of light. The more internal and external mental limitations are removed, the more humor can manifest in each and every individual, and eventually pour forth to delight the world.
People who can find a little humor in the most difficult of situations, are the most needed on the planet.

But humor in those that are particularly gifted, can also become a crutch to allow resistance and avoidance. Or it can be used to communicate "passive-aggressively" if the consciousness is not fully engaged. This is true of any human ability, it can either work toward the human purpose or against it. This minor caution should take its rightful place in the consciousness, without minimizing or detracting from the truly incredible power of humor.
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The humor of Don Rickles comes to mind as an illustration of humor delivered at the expense of others. On the other hand, the good natured fun-poking at our exaggerated qualities can enhance our tolerance of our differences and this too, evolves us spiritually.

Self Promotion Another habit to cultivate is one of telling the world who you are and asking for what you need ---the habit of self promotion. This is not to be confused with self aggrandizement, egomania or boorish narcissism, but it is an essential ingredient to successful living in the Light.
It is simply knowing what you want and why you should receive; and it helps you define and expand on your own being, physically, mentally and spiritually.

It has been a habit for humans to hold for themselves a standard of selflessness to counteract what they believe to be an innate selfishness that will run amok without external control. This would be true if they were correct in the assumptions that: 1. The only human purpose is selfpreservation and that "natural" competition will always reign supreme over "cultural" cooperation; or 2. That humans are naturally evil and need to be controlled by external dictates and rules in order to live civilly; or 3. That humans are severed from the guidance of the Creator and cannot act morally.
It is our disconnection from our spiritual nature that drives us to feel less worthy. Two factors contribute to this: One is the guilt we are saddled with at birth, based upon a mythical source of our origin in which our primal parents betrayed the Supreme Spirit. The other is that the "so-called" spiritual institutions have a need to keep us under control by down-playing our true spiritual origin.

Although such ideas have helped humans through some difficult times, they have been accepted to an extreme degree that is no longer desirable. It has been carried to an extreme known as martyrdom, wherein the needs of the self are dramatically and self-righteously removed from the picture, creating pious victim-like suffering. In this scenario, the martyr denies and suppresses personal needs in order to attempt to fulfill the needs of others. This is based upon the faulty assumption that someone can better understand and meet your needs for you than you can for yourself. They
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often suffer in silence and frustration, motivated only by some promise of eternal reward in the afterlife.
Religious orders that take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience are setting up, as ideals, the very qualities that would demean us spiritually, if we are to accept the content of the above admonitions of the Lessons. Because such is contrary to our spiritual nature, the popularity of this lifestyle must decline as the human race becomes more spiritually enlightened. While these organizations do many good works for the poor, they do little to relieve the conditions which create poverty on all levels.

The martyr role has also become a weapon of resistance and even not-sosubtle aggression. Pious selflessness is actually used to generate guilt through which to manipulate others. The underlying message is that if you martyr yourself, someone else is now obligated to do the same for you. Or that your beliefs, or your religious ideals, or your political views, reign superior over those of the other whom you pretend to help. This goes against the Creator's intent that each individual develop a mindset for themselves without unnecessary external intervention. It negates the gift of Free Will and frustrates the need for freedom and self-determinism.
There appears to be a distinction here between "public" martyrdom and "private" martyrdom. The former appears to be an act of manipulation while the latter is simply an act of Free Will on a most personal level and is a more true act of "pious" selflessness.

This also sets up the individual to experience continuing emotional pain, due to the fact that they have cut themselves off from the required spiritual need fulfillment. The silent sufferer never voices or attempts to meet the needs themselves and anger inevitably results. The martyr can then blame those expected to reciprocate when they do an inadequate job of guessing and satisfying the martyr's needs. The cycle of resentment and revenge can ensue when the person the martyr holds responsible to reciprocate does an inadequate job. This prompts automatic defensive and self-preservationary responses that are hardly in keeping with the original intent.
It would appear that the "martyrdom role" that is so revered in religious history may not be all it's cracked up to be. At the very least, the role that many attempt to emulate by the making of sacrifices for others, may be little more than a control tool. When giving is done without expectation of reciprocation, it is closer to Spiritual connection.
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The directive of "honoring others above self" should be replaced with the understanding that self-needs cannot be denied, nor second-guessed or filled by others; that cooperation with others should always replace competition; that every other self is indeed part of the totality of self---of All That Is. The directive of "Honoring self while honoring others" is far more aligned with Divine Intention.
The above does and should give new meaning to the admonition of "...love thy neighbor as thyself." It doesn't suggest that putting others before our own selves is that great a virtue. Rather, it suggests that we ALL have equal importance in the All That Is. It gets beyond "competing" with each other to valuing each other and "cooperating" for a higher purpose.

To reverse the trend of the martyr, humans must learn to respect and honor the boundaries of spirit, those innate genetic aspects of self that are right and good in the eyes of the Creator. They must not only honor, but actively promote themselves through Light Responses which remove obstacles and increase opportunities to express and contribute to the total human evolution. They must actively develop skill to communicate their needs and to find and open doors of need-meeting opportunity. They must speak and act upon their spiritual truth, to develop the life-giving habit of selfpromotion.
We have not quite reached that stage in our mental development where we can automatically read each other's minds. Consequently, we have to exercise our verbal skills to strengthen the lines of communication amongst ourselves. Thus, we can better understand each other and reach greater levels of peace and harmony.

This brings us to the third application of the Faith In Spirit habit. The act of self-promotion can be likened to the identifying and knocking on doors of opportunity. The more expression, the more doors opened, the better. Surely not all can open at the same time, nor could an earthbound human possibly pass through them simultaneously, nor can every opening match exactly the exceptions of mind. This is when flexibility of mind is essential. This is when the mind must adapt to the dynamic changes necessary to proceed through unknown doors. This is when the mind must accept when a door slams in the face of one's plans. This is the point at which probabilities alter, sending a rigid mind into growing pain and
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resistance.
The "Fuller Brush" salesman from past decades, made his living by knocking on doors and selling his wares to the person who opened it. In doing so, he also had to sell Himself. To sell "Himself", he had to love Himself. In loving "Himself", he developed equal love and acceptance of others and experienced the range of acceptance and rejection. In other words, he became whole.

But such shifts in course often take the person far beyond the original expectations. This is when Faith in Spirit is essential. Faith in Spirit, following self-promoting, acknowledges that life can unfold in delightfully surprising ways. This is the letting go to a higher power. This is the trust that the mind has the ability to create reality and the spirit will have a hand in its direction that creates the courage to venture into uncharted territory. Faith allows the letting go of long held goals with the faith that something even better will surely result---for it will.
With "Spiritual" intent as the compass of our activities, self-promoting results in linking ourselves up with the spiritual nature of all others, while uncoupling ourselves from that which limits us.

No matter how it may appear in the short run, the long term outcome will be far better for Spirit than the plan of the limited mind. Maximizing opportunity through self-promotion and letting go and trusting, will allow the most complete and rewarding life paths to unfold. Responding with acceptance and effective learning (Right Responses), the mind can adapt to match the new direction.
The "mind", like all the other aspects of our being, is a part of the All That Is. When "reminded" of it's Spiritual nature, it can not let us down.

This can require great courage when enduring long-term goals and dreams seem to be suddenly dashed by the winds of fate. When marriages fail, loved ones die, jobs are lost, economies collapse, and countries go to war, faith is the only salvation. Faith in the Light will be a primary driver through even the darkest hours. Rest assured that the combined strategies of self-promotion, faith in Spirit and flexible Right Responses to growing pains will ensure the maximum life experience. Spirit will create that which is desired as long as you are doing your best at self-promotion and mental development, but it may come in forms beyond the limits of
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imagination, though sure to be delightful and rewarding. Self-promotion can open worlds far beyond your imagination---go with it in faith.
Like a fellow said to me once, "Cheer up - things could be worse!" So I cheered up and, sure enough, things got worse!

Most of the habits discussed thus far have involved interactions and communications with other humans, but there are other habits of selfexpression that are also very beneficial and more singular in nature. They can also be more immediately rewarding, for they do not depend upon an external other effecting change as a result. These are the physical, dramatic and artistic creative spiritual expressions that make the world go around. These are the types of spiritual expression that are immediately rewarding to mind, body and soul---because they perpetuate the intention of All That Is.
That's good, because human relations can be a real downer sometimes. The essence of this particular topic appears to be equivalent to the suggestion that we don't hide our lantern under a basket. We are, after all, a flame of Divine Light.

Creative Artistic Expression The Creator intended humans to pursue that which brought pleasure and avoid that which brought pain, but not merely for simple survival. For this method also determines what contents of mind to choose in order to live the most complete and fulfilling life. Pain and pleasure, when understood are the essential learning tools of self development so that maximum spiritual expression can result. Since humans have not yet understood this simple truth, there exists far more pain than was ever intended.
Just as a child learns the lesson of heat and fire by having the unpleasant experience of touching them, and a mother knows that this is one of life's lessons that inevitably must be learned, so we prefer to keep that kind of lesson minimal. But suppose the mother said to her child, "Sweetheart, the more you burn in this life, the less you'll burn in the next." What effect might this have on children and their relationship to fire?

Yet, since the dawn of humankind, there have existed outlets for such pain, inborn escape hatches through which pleasure can be experienced simply by resonating to the spirit within others. For this reason,pleasure is automatically experienced through the successful spiritual expression of
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others. Of course, resistance and beliefs can always still get in the way, but this ability to connect and resonate to the experience of others is quite powerful. And this ability gives birth to what is known as art in all of its forms.
Each time we see/hear and enjoy an "artist" expressing him/herself with skill and dedication, we are recipients of that spiritual joy, because in our creative moments, we know what they know.

Throughout the most painful of human eras, with violation, war, fear and want, there have always been the arts. The basis of art is when the individual connects with the spirit of the moment allowing the divine spark to flow unabated, expressing itself outward. It matters not whether anyone responds, or is even present at that instant. Creative expression is a highly personal act, yet leaves a legacy so that the divine spark catches the spirit of all who witness it at some later point. This is why the arts are found to be so enjoyable; they connect with the kindred spirit within and affirm the universal validity of the necessary expression.
How grand the world could be, were there more artists than soldiers. Indeed there are, since we are all "artists" in one form or another.

Creative expression occurs when the mind temporarily steps aside and allows the spirit to reign superior over the consciousness. Creative expression is when the spirit-body is alive without interference of the mind. It is an energy that flows through the cracks of mind, winding its way through the dense network of limiting beliefs, like a river flows through a thick forest to the sea. It is actually a slightly altered state of consciousness that scientists are just now beginning to notice. This state has been called the flow state. In this state, the mind does not attend other stimulus; its focus is away from the happenings of the world and honed in on the person's creative expression. And in this state there is an unmistakable feeling of pleasure.
Being creative is not a particular talent, it is a Universal Gift, as present in nature as Spirit itself. It is more than just doing, it is being, which is why time is lost when in the process.

Although the feeling is most powerful for the individual doing the creative act, those witnessing such expression can also be pulled into the spiritual flow. This is a wonderful, vital and health giving ability. And it has rescued
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humans from the depths of despair time and again--- for the Creator does not intend such pain and suffering. It is only due to the human choices, the slivers of mind, that lingering pain has become a fact of life. But enlightened ones understand how pain is merely a signal to be acted upon to right the mind to free the spirit. And creative expression is a powerful liberator.
The Spirit, so apparent in nature, is equally visible in humankind. We need only look, listen and feel to sense the beauty in even the most violent of circumstances. As nature can be frightening and beautiful at the same time, so humans, who should know better, can be also. The question is , which is emulating the other?

Humans have an incredible flexibility with which they can handle huge amounts of pain in their lives. But perhaps most beneficial, is the fact that they can get by with a minimal amount of need fulfillment. They can channel the energy from one unmet need into another for which they have developed a successful outlet. They can use spontaneous creative expression to give regular release to frustrated spiritual energy.
We truly are marvelous in our potential.

This is the reason why every cultural tradition has incarnated some expressive form into its institutional framework. Be it oration, music, singing, group movement, chanting, drumming or any other form, it endures because it is aligned with spiritual intention. But self-expression is not at all limited to such traditions or activities.
In fact, part of the creative process is to develop new forms of music, art, sport and non-conventional forms of thought and expression. While "traditionalists" usually do not welcome such efforts, whether it appears to enhance spirituality or not, it must be respected and allowed as a reflection of spiritual nature.

In fact, any creative pursuit that involves using the hands to manipulate matter and changes its external form to match some internal vision is highly pleasurable and rewarding. Such creative pleasure drives human evolution itself. For spirits in flesh are intended to use the power of mind and the inspiration of Spirit to design and create a physical world of their choosing. Such creations do not have to be considered artistic to be highly rewarding. Most professional pursuits allow freedom of the creative impulse as well as provide the rewards of connection and meaning.
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A final measure of the true value of what we create may lie in the "feeling" we experience upon making the effort and observing the result. When we are sensitive to Spirit we are automatically connected to the life forms around us and how what we do affects that form.

The only caution is that human creations should flow from spiritual intent, or they can create undesirable physical results. Creations that follow cooperation, pleasure, and love will endure and create further experiences of cooperation, pleasure, and love. Creations that follow competitive impulse, fear and anger will always create further competition, fear, and anger. But no matter how long they are allowed to endure within mass consciousness, they will eventually give way to more enlightened forms of expression, as individuals, one by one, learn to heed and actively express the Spirit within.
The above appears to draw a direct link between that which a society's entertainment industry produces and the behavior of those who are subject to it. It is when that "link" becomes apparent that the producer begins to consider the consequences of the creation and alter it accordingly. That realization has to come from within.

Unfortunately, this will not occur without the conscious choice of humankind. For within consciousness lies the ultimate freedom. The Creator gives all the necessary guidance through the feelings of pleasure and pain and the mental ability to create and actualize that which is chosen by mind. The creations then reflect their level of need-meeting success through resulting feelings of pleasure or pain. Thus, the cycle of development and expression continues. Just as the inner mind is developed within each individual, so follows the external evolution of human mental and physical technology or mass consciousness.
It may seem at times that society is not progressing on a spiritual path, but the fact that we are becoming more aware of our shortcomings is evidence that we are progressing.

The life-giving habits of self-expression can bolster every other effort toward living in the Light. Self-expression is the integral step that unites humans within the physical realm. It is the driver of experience and the mechanism to solicit feedback from spirit regarding how well the mind is doing in its task of continuous development and meeting its needs in the
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world.
We know that All That Is assists that which strives to express its nature. If not, why are we here?

Touch Creating with the hands brings us to another powerful life giving habit of self-expression---that of touch . The energy that flows through the hands in artistic creation, is that same energy that can be exchanged between life forms through the laying on of hands. The physical, emotional and therapeutic benefit of touch is already fairly well understood within mass consciousness, but basically only because humans find it mysteriously pleasurable to touch one another. What is not understood consciously, is the expressive value, spiritual fulfillment and the physical exchange of energy that accompanies human touch.
This does appear to give physical evidence that "feelings" are, in fact, a form of energy as valid as the more obvious energy we deal with in the physical, i.e. electrical, mechanical, etc. Understanding this is the next step to putting it to practical use in our lives, in new and innovative ways.

Humans have discovered---in spades---certain pleasurable gifts of the flesh, such as human sexuality. The innate pleasure centers that motivate procreation have become the fodder of many limiting thoughts, beliefs, and systems of living that seek to tame the wild beast within. But the sexual experience is also a highly spiritual one wherein energies are exchanged between truly loving entities. This creates a deeply spiritual connection where energies meld again into one another, recalling the consciousness to the fact that we are all intermingling energies. There should be the highest respect for this act, and an honoring of its spirituality, instead of the simply physical excitements and releases. For this type of expression without the presence of love can be spiritually frustrating and damaging physically, psychically and emotionally, not to mention the problem of procreation outside of the original spiritual intent of loving interactive developmental connection.
This paragraph brings such clarity to the reasons for applying a discipline to the sexual act. In a society that worships wanton pleasure for its own sake, we have
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lost the meaning of the value of truly loving relationships and pay a price for this loss in the many other ways we relate to each other. Crime and violence have increased with narcissism, as the value of others declines inversely to that of ourselves.

The benefits of touch, however, have far more applications. This simple touch of the shoulder of one who is in distress can communicate the empathic connectedness of spirit and loving compassion quite healing to one experiencing pain. To stroke a child or a pet is intensely rewarding to both parties. Overall massage of the body also provides actual therapeutic benefit to the cells as well as the energy system.
There are cultures that know and practice the art of physical communication with lots of hugs and abrazoes. These cultures reflect an openness and happiness that is reflected in the life style. Just as those cultures that refrain from physical expression are prone to produce an environment that reflects the restrained attitudes. Nowhere is this more evident than between northern and southern Europe.

As humans develop less limited mindscapes, they will become attuned to the more subtle and powerful aspects of human touch. For now, like many other natural gifts, touch speaks for itself. Humans the world over are encouraged to exploit its physical and emotional benefits as much as possible.
We seek to understand and utilize the subtle energies around us while failing to notice that many of them are already in play.

Vocalizing Self expression is about getting yourself out there, about telling the world what you think, dream, and desire. Humans rely mostly upon words---the gift of language, no matter what tongue. But self expression is any action or utterance that meets needs or shows gratitude when they have been met. It is how the individual creates change in the environment, how evolution proceeds. Thus, as part of the human natural motivative system, it has some built-in features. The Creator endowed humans with several kinds of innately rewarding vocal methods of spiritual expression.
Talking is one of the more complicated means of expressing our state of mind and emotions. The others that will follow give us an opportunity to vent our
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feelings in a deeper, more spontaneous fashion. We often did this readily in our youth, but became more restrained as we grew older. It may be time to reexamine that decision.

The most rudimentary vocal form of self-expression is the ability to shed tears. Like every other inborn gift, the ability to cry is part of the Spiritual safety net, wherein physical processes take over and respond to spiritual frustration in necessary ways. For example, take a newborn. Crying is the first tool a human has to communicate distress and frustrated needs. The parents relate emphatically to the distress and then act in ways which solve the problem. Without such assistance, helpless newborns could not survive. (The sound of an infant crying is also innately aversive and humans are immediately motivated to make it stop.) The parents must have a high degree of attachment to the infant to respond to its needs, or the spirit will vacate the body. Such interdependence of humans is one of the physical requirements of the Creator.
One might say it is a "base requirement", that begins with our first entry into the physical and grows in complexity as we grow in mental agility and spiritual awareness. What we are not necessarily aware of is that this form of expression need not necessarily be totally outgrown and cast aside. For the reasons explained below, it has value to us throughout our lives.

Crying not only happens when self needs are frustrated, but it also happens spontaneously when empathic pain of others is experienced. And crying is not limited merely to negative experiences, for humans can also weep with joy. Humans often weep over deep and abiding human experiences, rights of passage, and common situations of success and pleasure. Humans often weep when they experience the deeper meaning, or rhythms within daily living. For this system communicates the connectedness and intent of the spirit when the experiences of others touch the universal sameness and resonate with the knowledge that All Are One.
There are times when we weep for ourselves, when we can't seem to make a clear connection with the world around us. But this, too, is of value as it relieves some of the pressure to comply and conform with the situations in which we are uncomfortable.

Crying is often associated with new beginnings, when the spirit swells with faith, hope and optimism. Such milestones are often marked with
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traditional ceremonies such as weddings, rights of passage, graduations, promotions, births, etc., as the spirit resonates, validates, and encourages movement along the path of life. Tears can mark the final breakthrough of consciousness into awareness of long held, yet denied conflicts, selfdoubts and beliefs. Tears often accompany such personal rebirth, as spirit basks in enlightening self-development. Spirit sings its song of hope through tears.
This shows that "songs" may be sung even though they are devoid of words or music. There is a part of us that often "sings" with the other portions of our physical bodies, an experience we can become aware of and appreciate.

Crying is often also associated with closure, in universally human situations of endings---funerals, good-byes, relocations, divorces, or any other transitions that mark the end of one phase and the beginning of another. Tears punctuate the human cycles of birth, death, and rebirth offering physical release in lieu of clear understanding of the ever-evolving dynamic nature of the mind and of life itself. When these understandings are absorbed, crying will result less from resistance and more from the acceptance of the connection and universality of spirits. Humans shall instead cry tears of joy.
A true understanding of the cycle of death, in particular, will redefine the nature of grief and, someday, may even bring us to the point that the tears we shed in those circumstances, will be the tears of joy, knowing that the person who leaves us is actually being reborn to his/her natural environment.

Crying continues to act as a human connector and a vent for frustrations throughout the entire lifetime. Crying is a very healthy activity, despite its aversiveness and corresponding reputation within mass consciousness. Men in particular need to learn how to understand and appreciate its benefits.
Men can begin to acquaint themselves with this activity from an intellectual perspective, but what can naturally follow is a favorable attitude toward participation when the positive aspects are clearly understood.

Allowing yourself to be carried away within a good cry is tantamount to going into a healing altered state of consciousness. The body takes over and allows the emotional energy to pour forth in physical reflexive lurches
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and uninhibited tears. Crying is psychically and physically cleansing. It allows the body to cast off pent-up emotional frustrations and right itself, regardless of the limitations of mind which continually fuel the fires of frustration. The crying response automatically calls forth the necessary hormones and chemicals that actually wash away toxins and impurities that contribute to physical stress and decay.
Who knows, this might be a factor that explains why women tend to outlive their counterparts. If stress is truly the killer we are beginning to suspect it is, then this might prove to be quite beneficial to a state of health and well-being.

Thus, humans are encouraged to cry with abandonment. Seek out opportunities---go to see sentimental movies, enjoy the literature, and other art forms which bring on tears. Cry when you are moving and dancing about, allow your spirit total liberation. Cry when you find yourself in deeply spiritually pleasing places, when you meditate, or when you gaze upon nature. Crying is the spirit resonating---so let the tears flow freely. Of course, private personal crying will be easier to accomplish than public releases. But let it be known that even big boys should cry with reckless abandon to help affirm and preserve their physical and spiritual boundaries.
It is probably time for the male species to get beyond the early programming, find a nice private space (or comfort with someone you care about) and let go. Do it as an experiment and pay attention to the results. What's to lose?

Laughter is another of nature's gifts of vocal expression. It relates to the mystery of humor as well as to the crying response with equally cleansing and curative benefits. Laugh loud and often. For laughter also sings the Spirit's song of hope and oneness. Laughter speaks for itself.
Yes, I think we've shed enough tears for the moment. Surely, both sexes can be comfortable in sharing a good laugh.

But it is all too easy for humans to become so entangled within the limits of their own minds that they forget to laugh. It takes conscious focus to remember to find the humor within, and to respond to it heartily. Thus, humans should also seek out opportunities to laugh, to find the fun in the unexpected and note it with a hearty burst of laughter---no matter how challenging life might be at any point. Laughter feeds the mind, body and soul.
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...and it's non-fattening! There are actually people who take their personal health care so seriously that they forget to laugh about it. We know that the ability to laugh at ourselves is so essential to our emotional balance. We just forget sometimes.

The final form of vocal expression is song. What human has not felt the physical effects of meaningful tones and vibrations upon the body? There is some form of uniform vocal expression in each and every human culture, which evidences its universal benefit. Song has been used throughout human history to invoke spiritual resonance and to connect it with religious teachings, political alliances, and community groupings. To experience the harmony and passion of voice raised in song, is to know in the fiber of our being the tremendous accomplishments that humans can achieve with cooperative expression. So, like laughter and tears, sing loud and sing often. (And remember not to mentally judge how it sounds!! Let the spirit squeak and howl freely.)
If one feels that his/her voice is not pleasing enough to be shared with others, there's always the time-honored practice of singing in the shower. It's exclusive and sounds pretty good, too.

For the sounds of song also have direct effects upon the energy system of the body. The vibrations of certain tones correspond with major energy centers within the body. There is much to be learned in this area regarding physical transmutation and manipulation of matter with the use of sound. As the many limitations within mass consciousness are reduced one by one, new creative insights and approaches will be allowed to unfold in this area. At this time, suffice it to say that singing is nourishment for the body, mind, and soul.
There seems to be a suggestion here that we might be able to sing, cry, laugh, dance and whatever ourselves into a higher state of spiritual enlightenment. I suspect it's true.

In sum, all vocal expressions can serve positive purposes. Be they words of kindness, or rejection of injustice. Be they tears of frustration or joy. Be they laughter or song. Use them and enjoy them, for they are the gifts of the Gods.
There are many who have overcome while singing about it.
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Expressing Within The Creation One final comment in the area of self-expression relates to being at one in spirit with the Natural Creation. It is innately pleasing to express through interaction with other life forms within the creation. Creative expressions and art forms which interact with other organisms achieve a special emotional reward. To create with flora, to garden, landscape, or even simply to walk among the trees of a forest, are actions which strike a deep chord within the spirit in affirmation of the inter-connectedness of every apportionment of spirit.
This is more difficult when one lives in an urban environment and an alternative to the above suggestions in that case, might be to interact on an intellectual or emotional level with spiritual writings or groups who explore spiritual matters. Then, as often as possible, find an environment of pure nature and wallow in it.

Interaction with animals is particularly pleasing, generating a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual response universal to all humans. Such forms of appreciation and interaction with all of creation are innately rewarding.
This is a practical alternative where pets (dogs and cats) are allowed. The latter seem to serve that need particularly well when not demanding undue attention or being an annoyance to others.

Thus, there is a counterpart responsibility for humans to ensure that their own creative technological expressions are limited to those within the cooperative spirit that does not infringe upon any other form of life. This is a responsibility that should be accepted and honored at its highest levels. Humans should ponder this challenge and begin immediately to act upon it.
As we continue to expand as a species and take a greater share of space upon this planet, the very least we can and should do is apologize to the other life forms we displace. It's the honorable thing to do.

With the understandings in place to begin replacing the deadly habits with life-giving ones, we can now turn the discussion to the human needs themselves.
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Section Gamma Lesson Four: Universal Values & Needs The Scientific Authority Science is often considered the most acceptable source of human knowledge. A reputation well deserved for the most part. But scientists might teach you that the universe and all of life is some sort of big cosmic accident. They might say that consciousness itself arose from the primordial soup only after centuries and centuries of "evolution." Perhaps the worst advice they offer is that there is no greater purpose than simple self-preservation, that life at its core is brutish competition for survival of the fittest.
We see the consequences of this philosophy most reflected by the medical profession with physical life being preserved at all costs. This has deteriorated into a form of "for profit" health care that keeps a portion of peoples' consciousness trapped in their bodies long after their spirits have moved on to a better place.

They offer such advice without acknowledging the overpowering evidence that the universe and all of the natural creation operates instead upon a directive of cooperation toward a higher, divine purpose of selfdevelopment and self-expression . Science is cautious in its assertions because it holds to objective, empirical standards which seek to avoid the limiting influence of existing subjective beliefs---a most noble goal. For the existing beliefs within the cultural memory run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. They declare wildly conflicting truths and righteousness about human values, purpose, and morality. Many place negative value judgments upon human nature itself. There are no limits to humanity's creative interpretations. Any such belief can be entertained and passed down through the generations. Many such limiting assumptions are passed along through religious frameworks as unimpeachable and unquestionable truths. Therefore, there are many conflicting, inaccurate beliefs that need to be sifted and classified. Science seeks objective laws upon which to base such subjective classification.
But in its efforts to do so, it often commits the same mistakes of infallibility that
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are adhered to by groups outside of the scientific community. It is in this flaw that "most noble goals" can be subverted.

To this end, scientists look to the natural world to find evidence that can explain life---but without assuming that a Creator exists. Much to the chagrin of many atheistic scientists, this approach will lead humans to the unmistakable, irreversible conclusion that there does exist such a force with intention, value, and divine purpose.
In nature, while hidden to some and obvious to others, lies the evidence of the universal Spirit. Whether studying the human cell or a distant galaxy, a thread of purpose runs through the dynamics of the essence of each. It is what led the poet to observe that the universe could be found in a grain of sand.

When scientists become acquainted with human nature and the emotional system, they will have all the evidence they need to conclude the presence of a higher intelligence at work. For indeed, "God" is alive and well. The intention of the Creator is evidenced in the creation with far more integrity, validity, and truth than any human philosophical or religious rendering.Indeed, any "truth" put forth that is not aligned with actual human nature is simply inaccurate. For God does not play dice with the universe. There is order, cooperation and intent.
What is so obvious in the natural world outside of ourselves, is even more impressive when we begin to explore and understand the potential of our inner natures. For the outer world is truly a reflection of the inner, and therein lies our ultimate creative freedom.

Scientists are finally on the verge of discovering that the emotional language unites the intuitive (spiritual) qualities and the rational (mental) qualities. This has been the missing piece of human puzzle since time untold. Once recognizing this natural, elegant mechanism, they will be led to higher and higher levels of objective understandings. They might be resistant at first, due to their own particular brand of dogma, which seeks to fit evidence into overly narrow paradigms. But those that heed the inner desire to know, more than they fear where it might take them, will succeed.
As this principle would apply to scientists, so it would and should apply to theologians when they are willing to abandon power and influence for true spiritual enlightenment.

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Much to the chagrin of religious zealots, these discoveries will alter the face of God as they know it. Nonetheless, great knowledge and guidance can then emerge which can influence mass consciousness quite profoundly. And it will be knowledge that provides far more fulfillment than any truths or values which will have to be abandoned.
Scientists need only take what should be the obvious step from the absence of Spirit to the ubiquitous nature of Spirit and be willing to lead philosophers and theologians through a door of unlimited possibilities and into greater alignment with All That Is.

Spiritual Intention Vs Human Mental Values What they (scientists) will discover from finally coming to understand the human feeling feedback system, is that there are indeed certain hardwired, biologically intended, universal values. Values are levels of quality which are desirable and have intrinsic worth. Although virtually anything goes in the realm of mind, the realm of spirit knows---and desires humans to know---inherent universal values.
This realization by the scientists of the world will give a boost to acceptance that ALL humans are endowed with a spiritual nature so intrinsic that with a little encouragement, the human race will be able to take quantum leaps toward resolving many of its problem relationships. Peace on earth will be a truly attainable reality.

Humans may place value upon any arbitrary traits, behaviors, or objects as long as they are in agreement. Although human values can come and go, changing with the times and varying widely across cultures and human history, the spiritual values are those that are non-negotiable, and everlasting. They have always existed and they always will in their purely elegant but simple form. The difference is that universal, spiritual values are the same for each and every human being and perhaps every form of life itself.
This is the concept that has always enhanced human dignity and led to forms of government, for example, that defined human rights and established the "principles" to protect those rights.

These universal values can be found underlying many cultural traditions, rules and codes. Many human values are, in fact, symbolic representatives
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of these spiritual values. For example, dollars, ducats, francs, pesos, lyre, pounds, wampum, etc., are all representatives of monetary value. The money itself has no inherent value. But as an agreed upon medium of exchange, it often provides power, freedom, and can bring fulfillment. The only reason money succeeds as a human value is because it hooks into the higher, spiritual values and brings emotional rewards. On the other hand, if the human value conflicts with a spiritual value, it will cause emotional pain. Many aspects of money do, indeed, conflict with certain spiritual values. The relationship between human and natural values is captured in the expression: "money cannot buy happiness."
Yet, money, when infused with a concept of spiritual value, can bring opportunities for fulfillment of body, mind and spirit. The trick is in keeping it, like anything else, in the proper perspective.

Thus far, many human values conflict with spiritual values, due to our lack of understanding. Many teachings and world views do not recognize all spiritual values and overemphasize some at the expense of others. This creates conflict in experience and bad feelings to such a high degree that humans think such negative experience is normal. There is thought to be no sense, meaning or order in the universe and that life itself is meant as a torturous series of painful events, or that suffering is somehow good for the soul. When in actuality, suffering merely signals when human choices are hurtful, so immediate corrections can be made, restoring the intended state of enlightened bliss.
If we begin to detach ourselves sufficiently from the immediacy of life to understand that this physical experience is meant to be a true educational experience and a form of on-the-job training, we can accept the lessons of life with greater appreciation, rather than wallowing in our personal self-pity.

Spiritual Values Embodied In Human Needs Such suffering is no longer necessary. Now, with understandings of how the emotional language speaks the intention of spirit, observing what happens emotionally when certain conditions exist, reveals exactly what that divine intention might be. For the Creator's intention is hardwired into the human being at the physical, mental, and emotional level in what is called universal human need.
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This is the great spiritual gift. We can explore indefinitely the distractions of the "tunnel", but we can never completely ignore the "light" at the end.

Human needs are about human purpose. They are designed into human nature to internally orient each upon the Destiny Path. Each need plays its own unique role in the basic purpose of self-preservation, as well as in guiding humans to their higher purpose of self development and expression. Each need derives from (and points to) the spiritual values of self worth, divine joy, self expansion and cooperative unity. When human needs are fulfilled in a balanced manner, the natural, divine human morality emerges in every thought and deed.
It is the "all roads lead to Rome" concept. It is intended that, whatever our perspective/path we may currently be traveling on, we have an unlimited opportunity to utilize that uniqueness in our quest for our personal "Holy Grail".

It bears repeating that these values are translated intobiological human needs. They have been previously introduced in two categories of Individual (power) Needs and the Group (connection) Needs. Now they can be examined more closely. Understanding the needs themselves can explain a great deal about human behavior and why certain actions happen instead of others. They can provide key information that helps accurately interpret feelings and identify the casual beliefs that need to be altered. For oftentimes, the beliefs place the needs in conflict with each other. Yet the impetus to fulfill them is so powerful that it motivates choices often outside the conscious awareness of the individual. This is because the spiritual needs, biologically impressed upon the human being, play a very important role in the feedback information cycle of the language of emotion. Listening to the language of feelings will lead you to your chosen beliefs of mind, but they will also lead to your inborn values of spirit experienced as the needs of the flesh.
There are times when the decisions we make seem to defy our logical process. Yet, on a level we hardly understand or appreciate at this point in our history, we are making these "decisions" on the basis of an intended spiritual form of growth and, ultimately, this is how things work out.

The Role Of Human Needs

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There are many ideas and beliefs regarding human need. Many such dictates and values spring from human culture, from mass consciousness, rather than from spiritual validity. Which means, of course, that there are many distortions put forth about human need in general. One such distortion is that it is considered a good thing for one person to "need" another. A second distortion is that each person is supposed to fulfill the needs of others, in selfless charity, while their own needs go unmet. This only brings confusion, martyrdom, co-dependency, unhappiness, resentment and conflict. For each individual is intended to fulfill his or her own needs.
Now that might be a hard one to swallow. However, in the name of needing each other, a lot of emotional damage is inflicted that could probably be avoided if a little more detachment were practiced. It may also sound callous to suggest that helping others is sometimes less than a noble act, but an imposed obligation (exercised through guilt) to help someone else while one's own needs are yet to be met, is simply a distortion of charity and is bound to bring on perverted consequences.

This spiritual directive is so non-negotiable, important and powerful, that each human is born with preset biological self-protecting reactions to ensure that they will be met. If self-needs go unfulfilled, the emotional signal will sound. If the corrective message is ignored, the emotional intensity will continue to build, motivating the person to seek relief in any way possible.
If we accept the principle that we can and do create our own reality, then when we give strength to the role of victimhood, we discourage the true capabilities of our existence.

This basic connection between need, emotion, and the urge to act sets the stage for many actions which seek escape from the painful emotions. This is the basis for nearly every competitive, violent, aberrant, compulsive, or addictive behavior perpetrated by mankind. Thus, it is imperative for humans to understand their needs, be empowered to meet them in any manner they so choose, and to listen to the emotional signals for guidance and feedback.
Our true knowledge and power comes from within ourselves. When we intentionally rely upon others to meet our needs, we do ourselves the greatest
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disservice.

As we have become acquainted with the language of human spirit, we have learned how the human feelings provide continuous guiding feedback information. We know that the goal is to compare and balance mind and spirit. At this closer level, we can see exactly what gets compared. These needs are the internal spiritual standards against which the emotional signals compare external results. These needs are the measures against which the beliefs are evaluated. In short, the emotional signal in any given moment tells us how well our needs have been met by our beliefs. The feelings compare our needs with our beliefs and constantly inform us which beliefs help meet our needs and which frustrate them, so that corrections can be made. Bear in mind that our needs flow from our destiny and intuitive knowledge of spiritual intention---a source far wiser than our minds. They drive us toward divine intention no matter where the mind thinks it ought to go. This way, the desires and actions will steer the mind in choosing the best beliefs.
If we believe poverty is a virtue and we are unhappy in our state of deprivation, we can realize that to alter our financial state, we will need to examine and revise our beliefs.

The best belief systems, of course, are those built upon this spiritual feedback. The best mindscapes will allow all needs to be met in some balanced manner, without neglecting some to meet others. In the course of the learning experiences, the safety feature of the emotional system will motivate automatic physical corrective actions, if the mind does not choose successful ones. These responses will often occur before the mind is even invoked. They are intended to ensure survival long enough to ponder how and why such a situation came about to foster mental correction. If no correction ever comes, the human is reduced to a basic instinctive, reactionary level of experience which does not utilize the rational capacities.
Because we are more than animals, we have more control over our state of existence unless, of course, we buy into a contrary belief system.

Thus, the universal needs are the basis for all directed human action--whether consciously chosen or unconsciously habitual. Emotion is the force that moves us to action, the need provides the direction. When
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actions meet the needs in a balanced manner, the "golden mean"---the intended state of balance, decreed, desired and dictated by the Creator--has been achieved.
We are all capable of achieving a state of balance in our spiritual progression, just as surely as we can learn to ride a bicycle.

The needs are the Creator's delightful, ingeniously designed insurance policy that humans would never completely distance themselves from the guiding wisdom of their spiritual source. The needs are designed to lead us to our highest purpose. No matter how long humans may flounder in limiting choices of belief, their feelings will urge them toward this state of balance. No matter how ignorant the application of free will, the inner guidance back to the light is always available. The biological needs, empowered by frustrated feelings, will drag humans---kicking and screaming if need be---in better directions than the limited mind has been able to provide.
Eventually the Creator's love will overcome our own personal Self-absorption, even when the only block to our evolvement is simply stubbornness.

Only when all the needs are respected, and beliefs and strategies are in place to get them met, are humans allowed to be fully human. The course of human evolution will only move toward this eventual outcome. The ultimate, truly civilized, systems of living---those that will not self-destruct or suffer the social symptoms of fear and anger---will recognize and provide a balanced approach where all of the needs are continuously respected and met.
Once we realize the above expressed truths, we can begin working toward the creation of a society which compliments the truly spiritual nature of human beings.

The Dynamic Flexibility Of Needs The wisdom of the Creator allows tremendous flexibility in how humans choose to meet their needs. Free will means just that. There are no rigid rules. The human needs can be met in any number of imaginably creative ways. Simply looking to the many diverse human systems of thought and
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living will attest to the tremendous freedom the Creator allows humans to chart their own course.
What follows belief systems are judgment systems that often show disapproval of the manner in which some achieve their needs in comparison to others. But on the basis of the above statement, all efforts are allowed, and ultimate consequences are the governing factor.

The level of need fulfillment in a given individual or society reflects the level of understanding of human purpose. To date, most human civilizations and systems of living do not meet all of the needs all of the time. In fact, some needs are not recognized nor respected at all. Often, the individual needs are pitted directly against the group needs, or one is ignored so that the other can be emphasized. This sets the stage for failure, emotional pain, and defensive self-preservationary responses which seek to remove self chosen roadblocks. It is only through creative, if not deviant, behavior that much fulfillment is accomplished at all. This is why science has declared, if not relegated, human purpose to be that of mere survival or self-preservation. (Religion, however, for all its mistakes, has kept the faith of a higher human purpose alive until science can catch up).
In adopting the "survival of the fittest" principle, science has ignored the need for all to be winners and the need for all to survive. Most religions, on the other hand, recognize the enduring spiritual nature of human beings.

For humans are a hearty species indeed. Temporary retreats can help them survive intense amounts of mental and emotional conflict and pain while they are finding their way. This human tenacity can be credited to the wisdom of the Creator, who offers timeless patience and faith in human nature. This inner strength, resiliency, and self-protection was a gift to match that of free will, giving humans the ability and strength to endure while learning for themselves how to restore the inner guidance.
Having taken the roughest road to enlightenment up until now, we can finally begin to find the smoother and more expeditious way to our prescribed intent.

But there are definite limits to any such flexibility.Although feelings will always sound the alarm, they can be ignored for only so long until the needs are neglected beyond even the Creator's tolerance level. The selfpreservationary reactions of flight and fight occur when this limit has been reached. These inborn self-preservationary mechanisms will ensure that a minimum amount of need-meeting will happen, regardless of how
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conflicted the realm of mind might be. These defensive responses will ensure that some of the needs will at least be met all of the time, and that humans don't dip below the minimum level, threatening preservation of the species. This is why the self-preservationary impulses to fight and take flight are so powerful. Humans are not intended to tolerate such continuous pain and suffering. These responses ensure that the individual will at least physically react to meet the needs regardless of how well the mind or world honors them.
Someday we will stop making heroes out of the people who are the most successful in killing their fellow human beings. When that time comes, we will have taken a giant step toward true progress on the planet.

Like anything else, need fulfillment itself can be used as a strategy of escape and denial of the bigger challenge at hand. It is all too easy to seek refuge in the emotional pleasure of meeting one need to soothe the frustration of another. This is how need-meeting behaviors often become compulsions. Impulses to overeat, drink or self-medicate nearly always spring from unmet spiritual needs. As debilitating as this can be, it is not without temporary benefit. For until the system is understood, it is often necessary to seek refuge from overly intense emotional signals.
The practice of seeking solutions outside of ourselves (even in the form of mind altering substances) can only serve to postpone our awareness of the solutions that lie within.

But all defensive responses are merely temporary fixes. As always, the feelings---when understood---continuously ask for permanent correction in any and all circumstances brought about by limiting beliefs which have left needs unmet. Hardwired responses only meet some immediate needs, while rational, emotionally directed responses address all needs on a longterm basis. Self preservation is only a stage or stepping stone to the higher, purposeful responses of self-development and expression. Thus, it is essential to become very well acquainted with each of the needs, so that the messages of emotions can bring the maximum progress.
The full aggregate of our needs must be established and reviewed and this is what these Lessons intend.

In sum, emotion moves action toward meeting needs. For emotion

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addresses beliefs in relation to these needs. The need lies under the feeling representing the voice of spirit, just as the belief lies under the feeling representing the voice of mind. The feeling then motivates the action. Thus, emotion is very powerful and the primary force behind every human action,with each feeling addressing one of six, core, rudimentary, basic, spiritually ordained, and biologically imbedded human needs. Understanding needs is the final piece of information to ensure maximum use of the emotional message. The needs are not complex, nor mysterious. In fact they are quite simple and clearly recognizable, once we make their acquaintance. To this end, we will now discuss, in detail, the needs themselves.
It is in reviewing these "needs" that we take the next step in preparing ourselves for the journey toward a truly spiritual point.

The Need for Power This is perhaps the most basic of all human needs. It is the essential requirement that each human being be able to control his or her destiny. Power is the unrestricted ability to act , and to have the world respond to those actions. Individual empowerment is the divine conduit of free will. Each human being must be able to act in ways which allow them to succeed in getting what they need. Power in its most basic form provides the safety of knowing that you can fend for yourself and make your life work.
Without the power to exercise our "Free Will", it would soon atrophy. Likewise, without "Free Will", there would be no purpose in exercising our power. To the degree that we retain and utilize our "power", we create our lives.

The need for power is perhaps the most basic, most rudimentary and nonnegotiable of the human needs. If the power need goes unmet, all other needs will be subordinated immediately to restore this most essential degree of control and safety. The power need reflects the universal spiritual values of cooperation, and self determinism. Without the cooperative give and take between individual and environment, life simply cannot happen.
The point here seems to be that "power" must be exercised with an awareness of others in our lives. If not, it becomes corrupting. There are ample examples in
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history that show what can happen when too much power is concentrated in the hands of too few people.

Whenever human beings experience a lack in the power need, they will feel fear. They will be physically motivated to immediately remove themselves from that situation or to fight to change it to ensure survival. The basic social conditions must allow humans to have enough empowerment to act upon their thoughts and feelings and be able to learn through their experiences.
The greatest gift you can give another human being is to trust him/her with the necessary "power" to serve your needs in a creative way. Nothing can be more complimentary.

From the very moment of birth, humans need to experience their power and ability to control the environment. Even a helpless infant exerts power by expressing the feelings through vocal outbursts until a parent or caregiver comes to satisfy the need. If no one responds to the crying, the infant simply does not survive. If the crying is only successful some of the time, the infant is not assured of its own power, and emotional dissonance immediately begins, setting the stage for inadequate emotional development. (Many disconnected souls spend their lifetime seeking power in violent angry outbursts due to this initial condition of questionable power within a non-cooperative foster environment.)
If we could take the "angry" back to their early childhood and recreate what might be a period of neglect, then we might be able to correct their history and, hopefully, help them alter their own personality.

Power and personal control over one's destiny is often confused with other trappings of power. Money, position, status, and control over others often compensates temporarily for a lack in the personal empowerment need. If someone does not feel safe, then they might be motivated to find temporary escape or pseudo-safety in any ways their distorted beliefs might dictate. But such responses to emotional pain are simply flight responses and not those that will ensure development and expression. Adding knowledge which has passed emotional muster is far more empowering. Knowledge is, indeed, power.
"Knowledge" is "power" because it gives us understanding and with
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understanding we can acquire a greater degree of personal security. Consequently, we can relate in a more caring way toward those around us. How many bosses would become more mellow with some added knowledge of why they are the way they are. Hopefully, many!

The most important point about the power need is that it is an essential need that opens doors to the meeting of all other needs. The need for personal power and control over one's destiny is simply non-negotiable. Individual empowerment is the naturally ordained right of each and every spirit in flesh. Thus, it is essential to honor this need and establish internal beliefs and external social structures which allow the maximum self empowerment. It goes without saying, of course, that with such naturally ordained power, comes the corresponding naturally intended responsibility for chosen actions. This is why the life-giving habit of accountability is so important.
The American constitution is a beacon in the world and is so often emulated by other countries because it contains the seeds of the empowerment described above and establishes the "external social structures" to guarantee and enhance the exercise of self empowerment.

Humans often give their power away due to misunderstandings of the choices of belief. They often channel their power indirectly through other people or through social structures that severely limit their fulfillment. This error will be signaled by anger, frustration, and eventually the sadness and depression of self-loss. These feelings all scream for the power to be restored, for the beliefs to be altered (with Right Responses) from those that have allowed it to be given away. True empowerment is reflected in beliefs which rarely invoke anger or frustration. Power is not simply being able to control the angry feelings; it lies in structuring the mind with beliefs which restore control over the daily challenges, so that they are never even elicited. Instead, the threat to personal power often allows the fight response to take over, regardless of what the best response might be.
When vested interests replace the will of the public in representative government, the public eventually turns cynical and indifferent. This state is first evident in the "turn-out" figures at election time. Even while government tries to blame the public for the indifference, it ignores or protects its own indifference to those they are elected to represent and whose power they are required to exercise.
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Suffice it to say at this point, that the need for power will overcome the other needs if necessary. For self-preservation can only occur if the individual has the power to act upon the environment and meet the innate needs. If conditions are such that competition is necessary---"so be it" deems the Creator. It is, indeed, the individual that will make changes in the world, not the group. The group can never change or fully control the individual in ways that prevent these innate human dynamics. Evolution happens at the level of the individual, and thus, it is imperative to ensure maximum empowerment of each. If relative empowerment for safety and control is not achieved, there will be chaos and eventual demise.
While the rights of the individual can not necessarily take precedence over the rights of the group, the right of expression can and should be sacrosanct. When offensive, such expressions can be ignored, but when productive, they should be honored.

The Need For Freedom Beyond the power to control one's destiny, lies the freedom of movement and thought with which a human can both broaden the mind and alter the world. One can have control, yet not have the freedom to expand the internal and external worlds. Once self-preservation is assured (the power need met) the human is immediately motivated to begin self-development with the urge to be free. But the urge to be free is also very basic and nonnegotiable. The human value of liberty embodies both the power and freedom needs. The words: "Give me liberty or give me death"...were deeply and spiritually accurate. The need for freedom ensures that humans will be able to think for themselves and decide how to design their mindscape to best fulfill their innate value.
The very word "freedom" has almost become erased from our societal lexicon, along with words like "liberty" and "honor". As these words fade from use, so also do the principles for which they stand and the activity which they inspire.

The need for freedom was the Creator's insurance that free will would be honored and nurtured. Life is meant to be experienced in the present moment, with spontaneity and enthusiasm supported by constantly evolving, unlimited mental structures. Learning is intended to be an individual experiential trial and error process---and never to be replaced by a limited or singular way of understanding and interacting with the world.
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Although human education and the passing on of culture is very helpful for shared living, it has also, over time, profoundly reduced other options of thought and action. Life is not meant to be learned from the experiences of others. Divine intention is that learning will occur only through the experiences of the self acting upon the world in trial and error behaviors, with the ever-present guide of human emotion judging progress.
When we reward perfection and punish error, we discourage many from involving themselves in the learning experience. Thus, those who might have been able to inspire us to take the necessary chances to achieve those physical, mental and spiritual goals that are held up as examples, instead let our institutions intimidate us into believing that straying from established criteria will only lead to being removed from those institutions. To put it another way, if you want those "A's", you better buy into the curriculum, else you flunk out.

The intention of the Creator is born out in the adolescent years of developing human beings. What has become feared as the inevitable, willful rebellion of teens is simply the Creator's inborn desire for each person to learn for themselves through their own experiences. This is why humans often reject the advice of their elders, even good advice from those who are very respectable. For the urge springs naturally from the right and true, deep and abiding need for freedom of thought and action. They must learn certain things for themselves, despite all the frustrations of those who have already had similar learning experiences. Thus, the need for freedom and individual experiences must be honored, accepted and accommodated within each individual mind and in all social structures.
This is particularly difficult for parents seeing their children go through their adolescent years. How much easier it would be to endure this period if our society placed greater emphasis on faith in Divine Spirit and trust in the importance of emotional guidance.

This does not mean that all structured learning and education should be thrown by the wayside. Instead, it should be tailored to allow individuals experiential learning within the existing structures to strike the needed balance. All "knowledge" should be offered as flexible and consensual and treated as a suggestion or a framework of reference from which individuals can create and imagine bigger and better explanations. Nothing should be offered as an unimpeachable "Truth," but instead as a potentially useful tool for self-discovery. Education and knowledge should be offered in the
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context of Socratic questioning and discussion, along with situational dramatics which honor, respect and facilitate each person's right to experiential learning. (Situational dramatics and role-playing are very powerful and underutilized tools for experiential, precautionary learning. They can bring about vicarious, yet painful, messages of emotion without the actual experience itself, imparting wisdom without paying the price of learning the hard way).
How much more emphatic would have been the consequences of prejudice had the integrated classroom become an environment where the daily prejudices were acted out so that both groups would have been placed on the receiving end of discrimination, before the final step became the reality.

Simply put, societies that do not allow freedom for all of their members, will not survive. Any human grouping which seeks to contain and control its members by erecting mental and physical walls, can never succeed in the long term. When societies provide the right amount of freedom, there will be far less violent rebellion, anger, fear and manipulation. For, when freedom is suppressed, the need becomes magnified to the point of a compulsion. This can bring exaggerated defensive responses which are not at all in the best interest of the individual or the society.
This concept throws new light on the element of violence in our society. Some might argue that such is the result of too much freedom, but the above suggests just the opposite. It is a "concept" that bears further reflection.

The Need For Creative Expression Once the need for freedom has facilitated movement, growth and mental flexibility, the urge to self-express becomes readily apparent. Although all of the needs are always present, the power and freedom needs will come to the surface immediately, usurping all others, should they become frustrated in any way. Only when there is a minimum amount of power and freedom can humans fully focus and become conscious of other, higher needs. The word higher in this context means merely that these needs are removed from the automatic self-preservationary mechanisms and can relate more to "higher" human purpose. For they will remain at the edge of consciousness until the basics of survival are in place.
One circumstance that could well be beneficial to bringing forth the opportunity
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for achieving mankind's "higher purposes" might be a greater level of economic security. When the burden of eking out a living is reduced to secondary importance, and greater importance is put upon security of health and general well being, the mind can shift its priorities beyond mere self-preservation toward greater development of the soul.

The need to create reflects the spiritual values of self-worth and selfexpression. Creativity is about making internal visions and dreams actual in the physical world. The creative need motivates achievement, and the attainment of all goals. It is about being the most complete form of your spiritual self and acting it out upon the world in truly unique and valuable ways. Creativity is an ability often thought to be limited only to artists and musicians. But this is a far too narrow way of thinking about creative selfexpression. For each and every action, each word, and each motion is an outward creative reflection of the inner creative spirit. Those expressions that reflect limits of mind, of course, will also be apparent. Any such inadequacies, however, will in turn elicit the necessary feedback, once the feelings are understood. Then, with accurate interpretations of, and responses to the emotional signals, the inadequate beliefs of mind will gradually give way to better versions, such that each and every action becomes the creative expression of true spirit.
If you consider what should be the obvious, i.e. that we are creating reality at nearly every moment of our physical lives, then the very definition is automatically broadened to a near unlimited point of appreciation. As indicated above, even those creative ways of limiting ourselves, are proof of our innate ability. We need but learn to appreciate the God-given feedback system.

Creative expression melds the spiritual values of self-development and expression into the motive to achieve bigger and better results; to build a mindscape of knowledge, skills and abilities to express and create in all realms or find success in a wide variety of challenging environments. If creativity and growth is stifled, boredom will surely set in as a spiritual reminder toward continuous evolution and expression.
Boredom is a good example of the emotional feed-back system that alerts us that we are experiencing a state of stifled spirituality. It's a very simple emotion and as valuable as it is common. Children are sensitive enough to pick up on it almost immediately. In adulthood, we tend to think "it" is normal and acceptable.
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The creative expression of such a spirit would consistently exhibit joyous, spontaneous, meaningful, cooperative and exuberant thoughts, words, movements, actions and interactive deeds. Any other types of expression still contain the effects of a limited mindscape, with negative emotional experiences and responses asking for the needed corrections toward this ideal spiritual existence of creative expression in flesh.
"Well, if you're bored, I'm sure I can think of some work for you to do around here", a mother might say to her child. Or she might say (as an alternative), "Well, instead of me just giving you some mundane task to do, why don't you come up with some ways to make our home run more efficiently so that I have some extra time to play with you", and mean it!

Thus, each and every human being has the inborn need to express one's self. This is experienced as an inner understanding or knowingness regarding one's universal value. It is also the irresistible urge to do whatever is necessary to know that valuable self, to develop that self, and to go forth and share that self with the world. The sense of committed contribution springs from this urge to create. That inner inspiration to achieve, to change the world, to make it a better place, springs from the spiritual creative need. The work ethic that has built civilizations is based on the need to create. The need to create motivates individuals to go to work each day and leave their unique mark upon the world. And each creation, no matter how seemingly insignificant in human terms, holds tremendous value and cosmic significance in the spiritual realm.
We can actually bring spirituality to our educational system without the risk of violating our constitution, simply by moving from the quantitative manner in which we measure intellectual progress to an environment where creativity is not only encouraged, but rewarded.

The Need For Connection The human individual needs are, indeed, very powerful motivators, and they will come to the fore if they are not met, to ensure self-preservation. But in order to truly and fully be human, the need for group connection cannot be denied. This is the need reflected in the urge to commune, affiliate and share life with others. Indeed, the overwhelming feelings and urges to love and be loved spring from the connection need.

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When we live in an environment where connection declines (often a city or suburb) and communication between even neighbors is almost non-existent, human qualities tend to suffer. We may not notice it, but over time even our other personal relationships are affected in an adverse way.

The connection need embodies the spiritual values of unity, love, and cooperation. One can only find fulfillment in temporary ways when seeking only to fulfill the individual self needs of power, freedom and creativity. Such a soul would be quite lonely indeed. Many such souls, motivated by fearful competition, keep themselves from finding broader creative fulfillment of true cooperation.
As we move toward a society that honors every effort to create, we will be honoring the spiritual quality of any and all inhabitants who find and express the divine spark within. What we learn in communication with each other, forms the basis for a collective spiritual expansion.

The need for connection ensures that great spiritual offerings will meet with the highest and broadest levels of creative expression, for more people will be around to help. A magical thing happens when groups of people set out to achieve a common goal, when the creative and connection needs merge into a singular motive. The whole is often better than the parts. A certain synergy is sparked wherein each person's creative thrust adds to the original vision, making it far richer than first imaged. In fact, the universe is designed for like energies and entities to attract each other to intermingle and reconnect in new and unique ways.
With this in mind, we might begin to fashion our prayers to instigate a broadening of our desires. This could include visualizing greater group participation toward building a society along the enlightened guidelines suggested in these "Lessons".

Humans have a deep and abiding longing to love and to be loved. This need springs from the connectedness of each and every spiritual apportionment and speaks its truth through the spark of human (and even animal) connection. When the connection needs are denied, even in the best of individual circumstances, the soul suffers its lonely sense of loss. This is why the accepted strategy of competition should give way immediately to the understanding of necessary cooperation. In fact, most "competitive" win-lose human situations are actually based upon agreed
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on, cooperative rules. Thus, the connection need underlies any seemingly successful or fulfilling competitive activity.
It would appear that even a successful form of competition is dependent upon a base line of cooperation. However, you could not say the reverse is true. Cooperation does not necessarily require competition.

Nonetheless, the connection needs can be subordinated and postponed for quite long periods of time if the survival need for power has not been attained. Humans can be driven away from one another, into violent competition when the rules for connection become too steep. For the connection need can also work in negative ways. For example, the martyr dutifully strives to satisfy the needs of all the loved ones, oftentimes at the expense of one's own hopes, dreams, and needs to creatively express. The martyr then experiences frustration and resentment, since their own needs are neglected. Such frustration often results in passive-aggressive, backdoor, power-seeking dynamics.
A person involved in some humanitarian activity can exhibit a personality that seems to contradict what we would presume to be a "loving" nature. The resentment that bleeds through betrays the appearance of spiritual dedication. Or a parent might constantly remind the offspring of the sacrifices made on the child's behalf, while really using the tactic of guilt in an act of manipulation.

For the individual needs must always come first. Resentment often results, and subtle and then perhaps violent outbursts will be played out upon the loved ones of the group if this imbalance continues to exist. Warm fuzzies and recognition from cohorts should not be accepted in lieu of basic power, freedom or opportunities. Like every need, the connection need must be honored, understood and respected without sacrificing another.
When we surrender our "power" and "free will" to the needs of another, we create an impairment to our spiritual nature that even praise from others can not override.

The connection need has its abuses as well. It can be used by some seeking power over others. Relinquishment of freedom of thought can be the price charged for admission into a "loving" or "safe" group. Cult-like mentalities often result from humans who huddle together in their own darkness rather than risk being lonely. Yet, freedom and control is often traded away to
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join such groups as well. This breeds yet another brand of emotional problems, with such symptoms as paranoia, anger and social disconnection. In any grouping where external control seeks to replace internal control, you will always find dissonance and maladapted individuals.
Cults are often only the extreme expression of fraternities that require loyalty beyond the perimeters of respect for the human spirit. There are times when uniting for the sake of carrying out a particular goal is appropriate, but this condition should never be prolonged beyond the point of necessity.

The power of love and attraction includes a hardwired urge to nurture, to procreate and live communally. Oftentimes these physical urges can be confounded by limited beliefs, leaving humans in compromising positions which require need tradeoffs. Solid relationships are based upon mutual understandings which recognize and honor each of the self needs and allow each member to meet them in ways they so choose. Compromises between two conflicting perspectives which make both sacrifice for some third middle-ground alternative are not recommended, for no one's need is satisfied with such a compromise. The connection needs must not on a long-term basis, usurp the individual needs.
Those who elect to come together on a permanent basis, must recognize the importance of each to be able to fulfill their respective spiritual needs and that of the other party. Any compromise that threatens such "needs" of the other is a detriment to the relationship.

The connection need often serves as a refuge when other needs are not met. Subcultures spring forth as defensive responses from those who have not been allowed sufficient individual freedom and empowerment within the accepted cultural framework. Although often temporarily necessary, such fractionating between peoples does not work well over time. For, as with any need, it urges humans toward the truth of universal values. Fragmenting humans into separate groups only achieves disconnection that promotes hatred and violence against one another.
When a particular group elects to break a connection with the whole, it should serve as a signal that the majority needs to examine its value system. An effort should be made to resolve the differences that led to the disconnection to determine if spiritual values have been violated. Then reunification and growth
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should follow.

The Need To Find Meaning The urges to survive, to creatively express, and to love and to be loved go a long way toward helping humans find their higher course. But without a doubt, the need that will give them the most rapid success in solving the secrets of the universe and understanding the mind of the Creator, will be in answering the inner urge to find meaning.
Blind faith stifles the effort to find "meaning", just as physical blindness hampers the ability to move in any direction. A state of dissatisfaction with what we know will keep us expanding ourselves.

Again, the Creator was ingenious in encoding the chemical cloak with the need to discover, to understand, to know, and to make sense of the world. Humans are curious beings, born with the desire to seek solutions, to solve riddles and puzzles. The need to find meaning evidences the spiritual value of self-development and expansion of human experience, as well as universal order and meaning itself. Like any other need-meeting experience, it brings a degree of emotional joy. When humans learn their inner truths, they experience that unmistakable resonance, a very pleasurable chord struck within them that validates their finding. The need for meaning spurs humans to know self, know their world, and know their place in their world.
This process not only brings continuous satisfaction, it brings a surge of life to our very being, described above as an "unmistakable resonance".

In the meantime, religion, science and world views provide meaning in a seemingly meaningless universe. Science has yet to connect the dots and see the greater order, wisdom, and cooperation---the meaning within each and every physical interaction from microbes to universes. Religion has yet to realize the consensual nature of its chosen beliefs and to understand that truly spiritual cooperation does not pit one against another, nor hold a monopoly on truth, nor attempt to defile or alter their GOD-given nature.
As science progresses toward a more "universal" appreciation of its purpose, religion will grow to understand and appreciate the true nature of its spirituality.
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Yet, despite humans' struggle to attain enlightenment, they are rallied each and every day when they find meaning in their deeds, the events, and the actions of their lives. They find meaning in the order, value and beauty of nature. To gaze upon a golden sunset evokes the resonant meaning or order and validity of the universe. These tidbits keep us going until we finally find what we are supposed to find. Until we finally stumble upon the connection between our beliefs, our needs, our feelings and the events that occur in our lives. Until we finally live and breathe the Creator's intent.
The very physical law of cause and effect has its counterpart in our mental and spiritual lives as well. Once apparent, the whole of existence begins to make sense.

To date, humans experience frustration in wondering why things happen. Particularly puzzling is why bad things happen to good people. For the connection has not yet been made that humans do, indeed, create their own reality, quite literally attracting each and every event that they experience. Such events actually reflect, with crystal clarity, the beliefs chosen by the human being. Such reflections are intended to be acted upon as feedback with feeling signals to address needs and direct the refinement of beliefs to achieve more rewarding results. This is the ultimate meaning that the Creator intends the creations to embrace.
Each time someone appears to be about to influence the collective mind toward the above stated truth, forces step in to close down the "light" of understanding and retain the blinders firmly in place. But these props are weakening and beginning to bend. They will eventually collapse.

When the light begins to shine, humans take great delight in everyday occurrences, for they realize that each and every event holds hidden meaning and perhaps opportunity to develop and express. They will begin to recognize how the most surprising, unlikely and unexpected of events can open doors that will greatly increase their own successes and move them quickly toward their stated and envisioned goals. Each day is filled with wonder and anticipation as events are recognized beyond the confines of time as those specifically requested by that spirit. With meaning, life becomes an exciting and wonderful adventure wherein positive feelings attract the entities to their highest experiences. Without it, life is a cycle of misguided action, pain, and reaction to avoid further pain. Events are
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created that seem chaotic, random and pointless.

Just watch the evening news and you will understand easily why we are where we are. Watch a sunrise and you will get a glimpse of where we can be.

But humans can also misunderstand and abuse the need to find meaning. Humans can create world views that explain why things happen the way they do. Many such philosophies provide meaning at the expense of other more urgent needs such as control and freedom. The group goals can often conflict with the individuals needs and the rules will ask for individuals to sacrifice for the good of the group. This is counter evolutionary and destructive.
The very phrase, "It's God's will", destroys the apparent nature of our own free will and creative potential. Conformity is rewarded and non-conformity discouraged.

The Need To Build Self-Esteem The higher purposes of self-development and self-expression are attained through each of the basic needs. But perhaps the most direct contributor to the balancing, growth and expansion of self is the powerful human need to achieve self-esteem.
A key to open this door is the awareness of our spiritual nature and potential for development that this understanding suggests.

The term "self-esteem" captures every such concept that recognizes the value of the collection of beliefs, skills and strategies that have been assembled and willfully chosen by a given individual. Since the mind is also the Cultural Self, the identity of the individual is intimately connected with the level of efficacy the mind has attained in the world. Self esteem naturally follows when a person knows that they can handle life's challenges. When they know that they have worked hard to learn from the world and to adapt themselves accordingly.
This is a quality that should develop along with the process of growing older. When not appreciated or recognized, the society tends to bring undue problems upon itself.

True self-esteem can only be earned by making the necessary Right Responses and learning the lessons from life's challenges. True self-esteem
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cannot be built upon empty compliments, unfounded sentiments from others, or self-deceptive beliefs. Self-esteem must be based upon actual adaptations and expressions accomplished by that given individual. Although the mind can adopt inaccurate, unrealistic or skewed beliefs about one's self from such sources, the spirit cannot be fooled.
We may be deluded by flattery, but it is a shallow delusion that fails in time of need. Knowing ourselves, for better or worse, is preferable to fooling ourselves with unsubstantiated beliefs about ourselves.

The reward from each learning experience is felt through the positive emotions. Each such experience adds to an ever increasing level of selfesteem that both celebrates successful interactions with the world and builds confidence in achieving future successes. Indeed, the Creator gives the nod when the high road has been taken by offering joyous emotional reward.
We experience that "feel good" feeling whenever we achieve something or do something positive for our self or someone else. It can't be acquired through false actions, it can only be known through our inner being.

It is also important to recognize how taking the low road to a false elevation of self-esteem can also be a seductive trap. True self-esteem is based upon successful self-development and expression. But false or temporary self-esteem can also be attained through self-preservationary responses as well. For example, actions of retaliation for a wrongdoing, getting even, or deliberately demeaning another can all momentarily give one a sense of superiority over that person. This can bring an accompanying good feeling of justice in having successfully defended one's self against an aggressor. But superiority assumes a competitive relationship, not one of truly rewarding connected cooperation.
The ultimate revenge, if that is what is needed, truly comes in rising above the negative experiences that others may impose, for this leads to the development of those qualities that will eventually prove our superior, personal worth.

When examined closely, many human interactions are based upon the jockeying for superiority, and a great deal of energy is wasted upon selfpreservation, when self-development is the true desire of spirit. Many reactions are those that deny and defend limited boundaries of mind, or strike out against the bearer of the feedback message. Both reactions are of
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course, the limited, self-preservationary responses of Flight or Fight.

Society sends many messages, particularly through our entertainment industry, that getting even is more important than gaining wisdom. An alternative message is desperately needed.

Thus, it is particularly important to understand the many automatic responses that occur which use the esteem need in this way. Each interaction with another human being pits one mind against another, with each person experiencing emotional signals about how well they stack up in that particular "world." Choosing Right Responses which broaden the boundaries of mind, automatically expands and strengthens the self. These feelings about the self are a constant and powerful motivator, usually residing just below the conscious focus, yet underlying each subsequent action. Casting the conscious focus upon them can avoid a great deal of unnecessary, hurtful human interactions.
Remembering that we are Divine in nature, governs us in how we relate to our fellow human beings whom we also recognize as being "Divine in nature".

The need for self-esteem is quite powerful indeed. It ensures that selfdevelopment and self-expression will occur. It reflects the spiritual values of self-worth and the continuous expansion of All That Is. Like all needs, it must be honored, understood, and met in ways that do not compromise any other need, nor settle for actions of mere self-preservation.
Moving toward this goal is akin to moving toward our complete development as humans and spiritual beings.

Summary Of Human Needs These are the six basic human needs that lie within each human being: The need for power, for freedom, the need to create, to connect, to find meaning, and to build self-esteem. They all ensure survival of the species. They all steer humanity toward discovery of self-understanding and guidance toward their highest purpose. They underlie all human action, whether consciously chosen or habitually acted out. They are the spiritual values and boundaries against which the emotional message measures the success or failure of beliefs and strategies of mind. They can be met in a wide variety of ways and are quite flexible. They can be used to achieve
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peak performance or they can be misused as mechanisms of escapism and violation.

This makes it clear that as we polish and use these needs, we can enhance the achievements of our lives in all areas, be they physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.

It is imperative to recognize, honor, and respect each of the human needs and design strategies of living that allow them all to be met simultaneously. This is the true intention of the Creator. Genuine happiness, fulfillment and growth can only be experienced on a long-term basis when each need is honored. The life-giving habits of self development and expression are all based upon balancing these human needs, just as the deadly habits of self-preservation spring from misunderstanding and denying them. The feeling signals themselves each address these needs. The very universe itself rests upon the values they embody.
The ability to balance these "needs" can be achieved through the use of our "feeling signals", as has been previously indicated in the Lessons. The "values" spoken of are both individual and universal.

Understanding the universal human needs completes the information cycle of human spiritual communication. We can now refine the understandings and address its implications upon humanity--- for restoring spiritual guidance will forever alter every area of mass consciousness.
With the end of this particular Lesson, we again go on to specific refinement.

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Section Delta Lesson One: Implications For Self Concept Introduction The wisdom within these Lessons is self-evident, upon a bit of experimentation. Yet, due to the many limiting ideas that exist within the Mind of Man, it is essential to point out each and every implication of having access to the voice of spirit. For until this time, humans have been left to their own devices and the creativity resulting has left a jumble of conflicting factioned groupings which need to be reassembled into the Family Of Man. Thus, each individual within the world, each and every belief system, each institution within each culture, need now be cleansed with the knowledge that comes from the voice of spirit.
This may sound like a horrendous challenge. In fact, it need not be. We have at our disposal a system in place that would allow us to carry out this process in a collective manner, in a more effective way than in any time in known history.

This global cleansing is the challenge of each Earthbound entity. It is not to be accomplished with darkness or violation of any type. It cannot be accomplished with competition, battles, or Holy Wars, It can only be accomplished through the cooperative, developmental efforts of individuals redefining the mental landscape under the direction of the spiritual guide, followed by expressive efforts to alter the cultural landscape accordingly, to accommodate the nature of humankind. The task is a daunting one, yet the time, the energy, and the human receptivity to internal guidance is at a peak point. The patterns of resistance, competition, and self-preservation have been repeated so many times throughout human history that the futility and negativity of such a course is now apparent to all. Humankind now experiences en masse the effects of lack of evolution, the effects of disconnection from the spirit within, the effects of separation from the Creator, and is now trapped within the gross limitations of their own creations. Such a life of pain, guilt, and futility is hardly the intention of the Creator.
There are two ways to look at the state of Humankind. One can presume that this state is the result of some built-in flaw that can only be corrected by association with some religious or governmental institution or personality. The other is to presume that such an observed "flaw" is really the result of a faulty communication system the system between the lesser self and the greater self.
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Thus, the spirit urges from within, through feelings of frustration, signaling the need for individuals to rise to the challenge at hand. In response to the inner feelings, civilization can now be accomplished through each individual effort---and even the slightest, most seemingly insignificant successes impact the energy far more than might be suspected. Indeed, world peace can be accomplished through the accumulation of such efforts. The seeds planted now by the enlightened ones will flourish, and in time the garden now choked with weeds can return to its original Edenlike state of creative freedom and spiritual fulfillment.
We are the gardeners whose plots are limited in size and influence only by our respective imaginations. Whether our intent is to change an individual habit or alter the course of history for the better, we can plant our seeds, fertilize them with positive feelings and watch in amazement as they come to fruition.

All accomplishments of self-development and expression rest upon the ability to rise above the self-preservationary reactions that now hold most humans captive. Understanding the self will reconnect humans with the universal values so they no longer must argue over which political, economic, religious, educational, social, and ethical ideas and approaches should be pursued. With mind, anything goes. Minds will always disagree until spiritual values are understood and invoked.
We have been taught that maintaining opposing views in some legal/peaceful fashion is one of the virtues of our form of government, but it is what we can unite about and cooperate in that moves us toward accomplishments in every area of our lives.

With spirit, there is a correct, purposeful course---one deemed so by the very Creator. It is written on the wind, evidenced throughout all physical nature and encoded within each cell. It presents itself as innate needs which cannot be left unmet. It is evidenced by the natural repercussion from biological safeguard systems. It follows the pleasure and pain principle, the approach and avoidance action impulses clearly observable in every physical unit, from human beings to subatomic particles.
All aspects of our environment strain to give us illustration of the influence of Spirit as an ongoing instructor. We but need stop, look, listen and reflect upon what we experience to find that road more easily traveled.
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Tremendous progress can be made. A true and empoweringly great leap forward can be made, but there is a particular sequential order to this global transformation. Thus, the first step is to attain the total and complete understanding of the "Self". For it is the many muddled ideas about the self that keep humans from claiming their spiritual birthright. To this end, we will now pull together and discuss existing concepts of self.
Much of what we believe about ourselves is based upon what we have been mistaught by others and the institutions that support those teachings. It is our inner being which can help bring us to a more correct state of awareness. These "Lessons" can play a major role in that effort.

We have acknowledged the problem of how all beliefs become associated with the self-identity and signal the feeling system. We provided the solution to this problem by establishing the crucial division between mind and spirit, and of how different feelings relate to these different aspects of self. With these understandings in place, it is now useful to add the body back into the mix.
In this physical reality, our body is the immediate bio-feedback tool. It is our essential vehicle and must be included in any effort to expand our Consciousness.

It's crucial to remember that the mind still holds the focus upon the physical realm and can greatly distort the perceptions and restrain incoming information, skewing the impressions of the physical world. It's also essential to know that the energy of spirit contains all information from both mind and body. But now, clarifying within the self concept the exact role of body, can usher in less abstract understanding of the selfpreservationary impulse. For although it is disruptive when misunderstood, it is the basic, safeguard system, level of human purpose. The Self and Human Purpose The human is actually comprised of a trinity of self. The spirit is the energy, the life force which carries information between the twin physical and nonphysical realms. It has access to all available information from both realms. The mind is the vehicle of free will through which the individual can design the life accouterments to their liking and to best
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fulfill their destiny path. The mind has the express purpose of selfdevelopment. When the mind does its job, the spirit can meet its purpose of self-expression in ever-expanding areas of experience.
This might sound like a duality rather than a "trinity", but the physical "self" makes the third part and is the essential quality of solidifying the progress we make in the other two roles. From the energy of Spirit, the mind can convert the non-physical state into the physical state of being and does so continuously. This is something that is obviously observable.

With adequate information exchanges and feedback between these "Twin Selves" humans can enjoy the maximum most rewarding physical experience. The life giving habits are all designed to meet these higher purposes.
As we progress along our mental and spiritual lines of development, we will naturally benefit at the physical level as well. These "selves" are not independent or unaffecting of each other.

Unfortunately, the mind has complete free will and can develop itself with slivers that can take humans in less rewarding directions, should the communication with spirit somehow breakdown. This is the risk of physical existence and the downside of free will. This is why the wisdom of the Creator has been imbued into the body itself. This is the safety feature that can save humans from themselves by keeping them oriented upon a purposeful path. The body contains the needs to move humans forward, and its physical responses of fight and flight to move them back when they stray from their intended course. The body's basic purpose is to self-preserve so that the human is kept alive long enough to discover and act upon its higher purposes. Thus there is a trinity of purpose swirling within humans at their present level.
Imagine driving your car down a winding, hilly road with guard rails on each side, traveling faster than one should and using a steering wheel with too much play in it. Hopefully, the journey can be completed before the damage to the car causes too much disability. If we can tighten our steering and slow our speed, we have a chance at arriving at our destination in much better shape.

The human race has not yet reached sufficient self-understanding necessary for the cooperative level of existence which they now are faced. They remain at cross purposes within themselves because the emotional
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self-signals have three distinct meanings which need to be understood. The feelings tell body to self-preserve. They tell mind to self-develop in ways to ensure the body's purposes are met. They speak the truth of spirit for its purpose of self-expression.
You might say that the human race is still in that teen-age driver state, learning through the process of trial and error.

Local Self Distinctions So it is now useful to recognize the trinity of self, to best understand each feeling signal as it is experienced at this quite primitive level of human existence. Thus, all other terms used to capture any concept or portion of self will fall into one of these three simple self-categories of body, mind and spirit. It is essential to define this trinity of self to decipher the language of human feeling.
The most difficult part of this "defining" will be the redefining that will be necessary. Establishment supported knowledge is the most challenging to redefine. Those who profess to know the most are the last to admit that they might not "know it all".

There has been a tendency for humans throughout their history to theorize and dissect the human self and declare certain portions to have specific functions. Although incomplete or inaccurate, many have been quite elaborate, and have created further confusion. This tendency has been rooted in the very real distinction between body, mind, and spirit, yet was always clouded by the knowledge of the day, mental judgments and the perspective of the theorist.
Like most opinions, they are often passed on without testing them against our inner compass, without weighing them against the context of the spiritual nature of our being. As someone much more wise than I once said, "Those things not worth remembering, are preserved in books."

Many theorists identified three major categories, but there was so much fuzziness and overlap that the role of feeling signals in the spiritual selfregulation system could not reveal itself. Many of what was supposed to be higher divine values, were simply the passing fancies within mass consciousness. As we know now, any such belief taken from the cultural storehouse of mass consciousness, is freely and willfully chosen and
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maintained by its owner.

In the physical world, what we own tends to eventually decay. This can apply equally in the mental world when the exercise of creative free will is not fully appreciated and encouraged.

For example, the historically accepted Freudian distinction between Ego, Id and Superego. The Ego represents the individual's conscious mind. the Id, which he defined as an inborn, unconscious, impulsive portion of the personality, represents the body. The Superego, which was thought to be a sort of conscience or higher inner guide, was a combination of external social dictates, mores, and rules from the realm of mind, mixed together with a vague concept of inborn internal spiritual directives, inaccurately entangling them into a third fuzzy category. Such is also the case with the early philosophy of Plato, with his rational (mind), spirited (spirit) and appetitive (body) portions of the human self that based (were the basis for) the later Freudian thought.
While Plato at least gave credit for the existence of "spirit", Freud, affected by his own Darwinian times, felt compelled to reinvent the metaphorical wheel of man by rearranging and replacing some of the spokes.

The result has been a great deal of terms, each used to describe various portions of the human psyche. With the precise clarity of redefining each aspect of self, cleansed of its cultural judgments, the feelings can begin to take on their purposeful meaning. To this end, each term now must be relegated to the proper category of Body, Mind or Spirit to further cement this critical distinction. Thus, the following is offered: BODY: (Inborn qualities) Purpose: Self Preservation Physical Genetic Self Id/(internal, natural rules) Unconscious(hardwired drives) Collective Unconscious
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Appetitive Evolving Self Natural Knowledge Temperaments Talents Drives/Needs Physical/Natural Influences MIND: (Learned, developed qualities) Purpose: Self Development Mental Self Ego Conscious Focus Mass Consciousness Rational Actual Self Intellectual Beliefs/Cultural knowledge Plans/Expectations Attitudes/Mood Skills Goals
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Environmental Influences SPIRIT: (Enduring divine qualities) Purpose: Self Expression Nonphysical Self Superego (divine rules) Info beyond space/time Unconscious Soul Spirited Ought Self Ideal/Destined Self Intuitive Truths/Divine Knowledge Divine Intention/Mission Divine Exuberance Soul Development Destiny Path Spiritual/Influences

CONCLUSION: Each and every aspect of a human being that is learned and changes after birth resides in the realm of Mind. Each and every aspect that is innate and hardwired belongs in the realm of Body. Each and every aspect that is enduring, divine and life giving belongs in the realm of Spirit.
If we can keep this straight and enhance our understanding of "IT " by constantly reviewing the above chart, we have a good chance of "psyching"
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ourselves into the new millennium.

Other terms commonly used to describe aspects of self, often combine and overlap between these realms causing further confusion. Examples include: personality, character, mentality, psyche, and even brain. The term personality for example, is a combination of innate spiritual tendencies acted upon by the specific experiences and beliefs held in mind which shape behavior choices. The word brain is a uniquely confusing word. For of course, all aspects of self are manifested within the physical structures. The brain is clearly part of the body. It comes with its own abilities and temperaments and talents. But the brain can then be expanded upon and developed through experience. Quite literally, as humans learn and have experiences, the brain structures themselves change and grow in ways specific to that individual's experiences. But it is the energy of spirit that pulses the brain with life, giving rise to mind.
"Personality" for example, is a fluid quality that can be refined as we bring forth the qualities of our spiritual nature and expand the mental information of what we truly are. If we can think of the brain as the computer, than we can accept mind as the programmer.

Interpretation of Feelings And Attribution An instantaneous recognition between the purposes of body, mind and spirit is crucial to the accurate assessment of the feedback offered by the Spiritual adjudicator, the emotional information system. The feelings take on the three distinct levels of meaning to the enlightened mind. But without adequate understanding of the separate functions of each aspect of self, the system falls into automatic mode to ensure survival.
Consequently, when we make ourselves aware of the true value as well as the sophisticated scope of our nature, we automatically begin to move toward a new level of growth, giving ourselves greater purpose than the instinct to simply survive.

In this mode, (automatic mode) the system operates upon the self/not-self distinction with body, mind, and spirit lumped together motivating actions toward a singular goal of self-preservation. Self preservation of mind creates limitation and emotional boundaries and stifles the spirit's purposeful expression. Evolving humans must rise above the automatic
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cycle by mindfully intervening and rising to the higher purposes of selfdevelopment of mind and self-expression of spirit. Thus, it is essential to correctly understand which portion of self any specific feeling addresses.
We are truly astonishing creatures, more complex than we have been led to believe, but more understandable than we have anticipated. The clue lies in our intent to achieve full cognition. Without the inspirations of "intent", there can be no growth.

This is a process called attribution. Attribution is the part of the Right Response which acknowledges the specific portion of self which has elicited the feeling signal being interpreted. This is a relatively simply task when one understands the difference between body, mind, and spirit, and will eventually become virtually automatic for enlightened ones. But what happens without such information, is that the entire self gets credit or blame for each and every feeling, and automatically seeks to preserve itself by avoiding situations that invoke bad feelings, or automatically approaching those that bring pleasurable ones---oftentimes not at all the best choice of action.
Again, we have the capability to differentiate between this trinity of qualities, but the first step has to be one of awareness of the "completeness" of the humans that we are and always have been.

Actions which meet one need at the expense of another provide a benefit of momentary relief from bad feelings or pleasure from good ones, but at a cost of future problems. Lacking this ever-present boundary and the correct attribution of the feeling signal, the message of Divine Intention is far less accessible, and the human needs can become mental enemies instead of spiritual allies. If the feelings are mis-attributed or unexamined they can work against the spiritual goals by helping instill slivers rather than removing them. Partial, temporary, or artificial need fulfillment can perpetuate misconceptions that set the stage for future pain.
Something that feels good physically, may be quite damaging mentally or spiritually, especially when the action does not take into consideration the long term effect, or the result one's action might have on someone else.

For instance, the need for Self Esteem. Self Esteem and the feelings of joy, hope, trust, honor, pride, faith, and the confidence it brings, are the
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spiritual rewards for successful developmental and expressive responses. They are the validation that willfully developed beliefs, skills, and strategies of mind that have allowed the spirit to shine upon humanity. But such feelings must be attributed to their correct source, or confusing, conflicting, and inaccurate beliefs and ideas can result.Such slivers, in turn, create future situations which will signal far less pleasant emotions.
This is one case where feeling good about one's self can be trusted to be from a spirit source. If there are "second thoughts" which tend to contaminate that blissful feeling, an examination of one's belief system (as it relates to the particular experience) might be in order.

For example, a spirited young girl of eleven tender years dances into the living room of her parents, displaying adept and imaginative choreography. Even as she dances, she experiences joyous emotion for the creative expression she is achieving. Her spirit sings its happiness as she meets this essential need, to which she rhythmically and energetically responds. The joy is intensified due to the fact that she is also meeting her connection need by performing for others. When her performance is complete, her parents give raves and applause, and again her spirit soars in reward for her skillful accomplishments, and her sense of self is strengthened.
This is an example of pure joy, a completed action that results in the kind of uplift that can have long-enduring benefits. As we move into adulthood, we begin to meet the blend of the misguided around us.

But among the praise for her creative expression, her tenacity in practicing, and her innate talent, come other, perhaps more sinister, praises: "What lovely golden curls, you are so beautiful, just like a lady!" Or comparisons might be made: "You're so much better than your cousin Jane!" The positive emotion that accompanies such a glowing review prompts an automatic response, where these new concepts of self, "beautiful," "ladylike" and "better" are added to the tools of mind. This is also known as conditioning or positive reinforcement. Like all needs, the esteem need ties directly with the feedback system and its objectives to identify things that are good or bad for self. Without conscious mental intervention, all portions of self will be included in any situation of positive reinforcement. Recall that true self esteem is based upon selfdevelopment (of mind) and self-expression (of spirit), both of which are
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purposeful, individual actions. But recall also that esteem needs can be met in other temporary or artificial ways through self-preservation of existing ideas or mindsets. There are several potential problems in this situation:
What follows is self-explanatory and is designed to alert us to a negativity that we might not necessarily be aware of until we examine it a new perspective.

Positive Feelings & The Self This example brings to light how positive emotions play their role in the learning cycle. Although the negative emotions are the most problematic, it is essential to understand the subtleties of the positive ones as well. Since all feelings can be attracted to contents of mind or self concept, the pursuit of pleasure is also wrought with potential self-preservationary responses.
Keeping an "eye on the prize" and a positive attitude works as a sort of a mental magnet is bring about the experiences that generate the growth sought. This also weakens the influence of those negative slivers that we are constantly exposed to and will then naturally reject.

We have discussed in detail how each of the emotions speak from different aspects of self, how the primary emotions of joy, anger, fear and sadness spring directly from a frustrated or expanding spirit which brings bodily safeguards into play. But joy is also intimately connected with any contents of mind that have met with success previously. And joy takes on many subtle shadings in the form of the learned emotions such as pride, confidence and even hope that operate in the mind. Although temporary and misleading, it is far easier to retain slivers which bring pleasure than those that bring pain.
This is where a refined filter system comes into play. We develop this "system" by attuning ourselves to the thoughts and attitudes and, more importantly, the feelings we find ourselves experiencing in relation to the world as we move through it.

Thus, to be just as cautious in understanding the positive emotional signals is to be truly enlightened. The best advice is to think about the incoming positive feedback and scrutinize just what belief it is suggesting or what need it is fulfilling, like the young lady in our example. As you go through this process, pay particular attention to any bad feelings that arise, for they
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will expose limitations to the incoming or proposed "gem." If the pleasure does not allow denial or an escape response from something that causes pain, if it doesn't compromise one need to meet another, or if it shows promise of a truly better approach, let it in. Let it become associated with your sense of self---in full awareness that this is the mind which is always purposefully seeking change and improvement. For the beauty of the spiritual adjudicator, is that if it is truly a sliver it will create future negative feelings such as anxiety, fear, frustration, guilt, or sadness, which will then expose it for removal or alteration.
There is a built in propensity to believe that that which is for our spiritual betterment will sustain and be retained, while that which is the opposite will become painfully evident, which is the tool of encouragement that should lead to rejecting such. Consequently, that which we desire to be will naturally become us.

In sum, each incoming feeling, good or bad, and the experience or incoming feedback information that spurred it, should be pondered and applied to its correct source. With a few conscious interpretations and attributions, these thought processes will soon become as unconscious as the ones which now automatically attribute every feeling to the entire self.
In other words, we need merely change our "habits" of thinking and once accomplished, the new habits will carry us forward to the unlimited possibilities these "Lessons" promise. It's really as simple as that.

Each feeling, indeed, springs from an aspect of self and should be recognized as such. For mind is the pinnacle of physical existence, but it also stands directly between spirit and the body in its physical world, placing the responsibility upon the mind to resolve its own complications. All humans simply must apply this knowledge to each and every feeling as soon as it is experienced. If the source is mind, the best response is to adapt beliefs and learn. If the source is body or spirit, the best response is to honor the need, express the higher ideal, faithful in the wisdom of spiritual intention. Of course when the mind is enlightened to the degree that it can direct actions within all three purposes, such conflicts do not arise.
This last sentence is the ideal toward which we strive.

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Other Self Goals There are also other terms regarding the self and its goals tossed around which can be clarified as well. Some examples are: self-efficacy, self actualization, self-love, self-hatred, etc. At this point applying them to the correct aspects of self should be relatively easy. As long as the understanding is in place between the developing and enduring qualities, interpretations of self become the proverbial piece of cake.
Presumably this is in reference to the common cliche to "have one's cake and eat it too". This should become more clear as we proceed.

For example, self efficacy is defined as the effectiveness or ability of an individual to make things happen. It is related to self-esteem and belongs in the realm of mind. Self actualization, on the other hand, is about allowing the spirit to fully express its gifts upon the physical realm. It speaks of something that already exists within the body that needs to be developed and actualized or made apparent in the world. This of course is the spirit. But without development of mind, without skills and strategies with which to express spirit, self-actualization is not as likely to occur.
Let's say that a person has a particular gift that comes forth when he/she is put in a position to build someone else's sense of pride, such as a teacher. Yet, because the person believes that he/she is not intelligent enough to enter such a profession, the "gift" is never allowed expression.

Self love should always be above spirit. Self love is about valuing that which you are despite the illusions of the physical realm, the slivers of mind, the limitations of body, and the judgments and injustices of mass consciousness. Self love marks faith and trust in the Spirit and in its higher wisdom. It is strengthened by the absolute certainty that spirit is one with the Creator and All That Is. Self love is not conditional upon anything that might rest in the realm of mind, or body. Love for self and others flows naturally when the needs are met. Patience, compassion, humor and selfacceptance regarding the body, the mind and its developmental progress are also such expressions of self love.
When we truly love ourselves for what we are, then it automatically follows that we will love our spirit and recognize that it is a part of a greater Spirit that encompasses ALL, including all others who are and will be a part of our being.
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Self hatred should never exist. But it is an easy tendency when blaming is a chosen strategy. As we now know, any legitimate negative feelings about the self, point to deficits within the realm of mind and beg for learning experiences and corrections of conflicting beliefs. Many cultural systems instill such conflicts by asking individuals to believe things that go against their spirit and their natural bodily inclinations. Guilt almost always is the result of such conflicting information and external dictates. When spirits choose their own actions which do not agree with the mind's chosen religious tenets or moral view, they experience guilt and self-loathing.
So many of us have been taught that we are basically sinners, doomed to everlasting punishment, without the help of our religious institutions. This sets the stage for discouragement of free will and plays down any appreciation of our spiritual nature, resulting in all the negative experiences that follow.

It must be completely accepted by the mind that the spirit, the body, and all of its inherent nature, are good and beautiful and natural as defined by the Creator. They should be loved and celebrated and placed as superior to any man-made ideas or methods which deny, defile, control, or attempt to overcome the spirit's nature.
A close look at Nature itself, reinforces the apparent truth of its perfect state of balance, regardless of how mankind may attempt to improve upon it. So it is with humans, who are already perfect in our own nature, if allowed and encouraged to connect with our true spiritual essence.

Feelings of guilt and self-loathing should automatically be examined to find the underlying slivers which pit mind against body or spirit, and demand that nature bend to the ideas of mind. This is an affront to the Creator, and this is why it is a violation of the response rules. It never works, for the spirit will continuously offer its message of disapproval through the subsequent negative feelings. This is as close to "sin" as humans can come---to deny the Creator's intention. True doctrines which celebrate spirit do not even attempt to legislate natural behavior, instead they attempt to understand the wisdom of the Creator by honoring the creation and accommodating each of its natural working systems.
Would that this concept be adopted by the religious institutions. In place, it would lead mankind back to our intended relationship with All That Is.
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In sum, the distinction between the trinity of self is the basic foundational understanding which can unlock the complex meanings contained within each emotional signal. It can demonstrate how all three purposes are suggested within each feeling. It can show how each feeling suggests the sequence of specific internal or external corrective actions set forth in the appropriate response rules. It can unlock the mystery of how the safeguards of body are forced into action when the mind is not sufficiently developed to lead humans along the destiny path. It can expose the folly of such concepts as evil and sin.
It is, at this point, time to review this "trinity" once again, with the intent of fully grasping the value of what we are meant to be and become.

It can acknowledge the existence of the spirit and its special functions and divine wisdom. It can give the spirit credit as the ever-present life force that communicates information from all physical and nonphysical realms. It can acknowledge how the spirit provides the insights and inspirations from the wellspring of universal consciousness, once humans unblock the mind. It can hint of a grander more purposeful level of existence than that which now exists.
In other words, it can open all our "physical senses" and unlock our mental and spiritual potential far beyond what we can presently perceive.

This first level of self understanding provides the foundation for further implications upon personhood, as we now turn to the process of learning culture.

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Section Delta Lesson Two: Implications For Childrearing The Parental Responsibility The implications of spiritual reconnection have profound impact upon how humans treat their offspring. Each interaction between parent and child will be a formative one, from the very moment of conception, throughout the first several decades of life. In the womb, the emerging spirit will be slipping on the chemical cloak which can be severely influenced by the actions of the host mother. Later, upon birth, the spirit's dependence upon the state of the body will be compounded by its complete reliance upon the caregivers to instill the preliminary contents of the mind. If that weren't enough for concern, the entire emotional relationship with the world will depend upon the early relationship the infant has with the caregivers.
If there is a single example of "oneness" for any and all to observe, THIS IS IT. From the very beginning of a person's existence, the relationship between parent and child is of critical and constant importance.

At present, conditions for an incoming spirit are far from optimal. Confused parents have no universal guidelines and are left to fall back upon patterns from their own upbringing---both good and bad. Most parental missteps are self-preservationary fight and flight responses: The venting of emotional frustrations in explosive outbursts; or the attempt to exert control through fear and violent punishment; or the escape from parental pressures through denial, compulsive activities, substance abuse or outright abandonment. Sadly, many parents do not even exercise free will in the decision to become a parent. Many seek to fulfill connection and esteem needs through sexuality, resulting in unwanted pregnancies. Just as many more start a family simply because it is expected of them. The enlightened approach is for parents to fully embrace and to purposefully commit to their responsibility for the physical, mental, and emotional development of their children.
Even Dr. Spock's book on child care does not clearly explore the spiritual tie between parent and child before the moment of birth. Nor does it explain the true importance of getting beyond the mere survival of the relationship. The broadened view of these "Lessons" starts the act of parenting before the very moment of conception and continues as long as appropriate, stretching the limit
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of our understanding far beyond our own experiences and into the realm of spiritual growth.

The Parental Choice The first optimal condition for bringing forth life is when the role of parenthood is purposefully chosen by two loving, bonded entities, who have made prior preparations of mind and body. The mind is prepared by enrichment with prevailing wisdom, evaluated of course against the wisdom of spirit. Prior to conception, the body can be prepared by fortification, fitness, and enriched nutrients within both mother and father, as well as a period of abstinence from any debilitating activity or substance. Such conditions are continued by the mother throughout the pregnancy and duration of lactation.
The preparations for parenthood are no less important than the preparation for any other career in life. Except in this case, one is preparing to create the environment for another life to go from spirit to physical reality. There is hardly a more important role.

There is, fortunately, a tremendous amount of spiritual resilience and a level to which the incoming spirit can directly influence the physical development, despite a lack of preparation on the part of the parents. Many spirits work behind the scenes, making deals with familial entities on other levels of consciousness to ensure a destined conception will occur, and imparting feelings within both parents to make the parental choice, as well as to impart urges for the mother to eat or do certain things that will help the developing form. But the level of parents' receptivity to such actions dictates the level of success, and is dependent upon their own level of enlightenment. The influence of the incoming spirit can range anywhere from a complete and total cooperative effort between parents and child, to a complete competition between parasite and host.
It should be clear that a society that values new life will provide the best possible environment for that life to be born into. Life is sacrosanct new life particularly so.

In the latter case, the free will of the mother is primary and a choice to discontinue any pregnancy should remain within the realm of option. For even a mother who chooses to offer an unplanned infant for adoption after birth, has a tremendous role in its proper physical development. This
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means a committed, cooperative effort at least through the duration of pregnancy to ensure a normally developed body for each incoming spirit. Anything less would be a violation upon the child as well as upon unsuspecting adoptive parents.
There is nothing mentioned in the above paragraphs about the benefits to the unborn child which might result from an abortion. The emphasis would appear to be on those acts which would make the child's environment as friendly as possible.

The choice to parent is clouded with many limiting beliefs and myths which unnecessarily challenge nontraditional families. Despite such obstacles, there are many variations upon the family unit that can meet with equal success in childrearing. Assumptions that only the biological parents should raise a given child are inaccurate and limiting. As long as a support network is in place wherein the child has the opportunity to learn from many loving adults, it matters not what style of family is involved. The cooperative nature of conception between mother and father and again between mother and child evidences the Divine intention of cooperation in general, and the desirability of both male and female influences, not necessarily that they are to be the only potential parents to the incoming spirit.
The opportunity to be a loving parent to any child outweighs any lesser role in a society. Other vocations might result in discovering some solution to a collectively serious health problem for example, but nothing can exceed the importance of giving another human being a loving environment in which to evolve spiritually.

The power of procreation should be highly respected, with the right to choose, the accountability and responsibility of the choice widely available to all involved. Should the potential parent not yet be ready to take on that responsibility, replacements can and should be made wherein one abdicates to another who offers a full commitment. In such cases, the earlier the chosen parents participate, the better, to ensure adequate physical development of the child. The best case scenario is to provide wisdom, assistance and support and make the pregnancy a cooperative effort within the host mothers and minimize the chance of careless activities which could adversely affect the developing child. In short, if a child is to be invited into the physical realm, the biological mother must be
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willing and able to fully commit to the needs of the child within throughout gestation. Anything less justifies ---and indeed justly requires---the option of abortion.
In other words, a developing child existing in an environment which can have a seriously adverse effect upon his/her future existence in the physical realm, should be allowed to exit that state and find another opportunity of better conditions. When nature steps in to terminate the process, it is called a miscarriage.

The Parental Role - Physical Development The conditions of gestation must ensure the presence of an adequate amount of nutrients and the absence of toxic substances within the maternal system. There is no need to go too far in the opposite direction in an attempt to improve the internal conditions, flooding the body with excessive amounts of vitamins or other "enhancing" substances. This would be the mind, again attempting to second guess the wisdom of body and spirit, wherein the best of intentions can actually backfire.
It's the old adage of too much of a good thing becoming a bad thing. We see much evidence of this today, particularly in the area of exercise. Those prone to excess become workaholics, marathon runners, overachievers, etc., until their lives begin to fracture and their relationships break apart. Moderation in all things is still a wise guideline. Based on the above paragraph, the propensity for excess might just be laid much earlier in our lives than we suspected.

With an adequate chemical balance, nature's miracle of reproduction unfolds quite naturally, but its inherent biological projections cannot prevent external chemical assault caused by the mother herself. To date, many infants are born with compromised bodies and brains due to selfdestructive tendencies of the mother. Many toxic substances are routinely ingested which create weakness and developmental delays and disallow the spirit a full and complete chance at physical viability. Drug and alcohol abuse create insurmountable conditions and often irreversible effects, underscoring the crucial commitment to the child beginning with conception.
In a drug oriented society, too much emphasis is placed upon achieving solutions to our problems through the ingestion of substances outside of ourselves. This
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can range from something as immaterial as beliefs to something as materially destructive as heroin. As previously related, this is our orientation and the above is too often the consequence. It's not that we are taught to take illegal drugs at an early age (although "example" can be very educationally effective), it's that we give our children legal medical drugs so readily that, come adulthood, the lines of common sense become blurred.

In addition to a balanced chemical environment, the incoming spirit can also be benefitted by mental, visceral, and verbal expressions of love while still in the womb. The brain itself can be developmentally reinforced by external stimulation from the parents. Activities such as creating or listening to music, speaking soothingly, and reading to the developing fetus can all bolster the brain development. Visualization of future family harmony and subjective communications wherein love energy is directed toward the incoming spirit are also very powerful. The love energy spans space-time, it beacons and welcomes, attracting those with chosen destinies matching the conditions offered. Adoptive parents can also interact in these ways during gestation to begin spiritual and emotional bonding.
Yes, talking or reading to the unborn child can and does have a positive effect. Oh, that the evening news would announce the entire above paragraph to be, at the very least, likely "true". Of course, in our competitive world, some parents would be prone to "overdo". Overall, though, the above paragraph is probably one of the most important pieces of guidance in these Lessons.

After birth, the parental responsibility for the child's physical development will continue in the form of lifestyle choices. These choices include nutritional support through intelligent approaches to diet, the physical safety through instructional awareness of environmental hazards, and musculoskeletal vitality through regular creative movement.
In other words, find a good "motherly" example, and follow it! Review the material of these "Lessons" and meditate on it. Trust in the All That Is and find joy in the parental role...and if your parental role is behind you, never, ever say to yourself, would that I knew what I know now.

Most parents have access to information through the health care professions that can allow a fetus and infant adequate physical development. The bottom line is to ensure a normally developed body, followed by providing the necessities to meet basic survival needs. The
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lesser understood and more challenging parental responsibilities lie in the realm of mental and emotional development.
Here is where the information which follows will be most helpful.

The Parental Role - Mental Development There is substantial overlap between physical brain development and mental development. Brain development is synonymous with mental expansion and is tremendously influenced by the people who comprise the foster environment. Brain cells bud and branch forth as mind expands. Scientists are correct when they note that memory nodes exist which can be physically manipulated to influence the state of mind. But they are incorrect to assume that consciousness arises from brain tissue alone. For mind is far more than brain tissue, it is alive with the voice of spirit which spurs it toward purposeful development. Thus, children are far more capable of understanding and decision-making than most parental myths might suggest.
They did an experiment in which they placed a variety of baby foods in front of a child of six months and watched to see whether he would go for the vegetables or the fruits, etc. The child, familiar with all the foods, went for the better tasting choices and it was presumed that if, given the free will to choose, would continue to eat nothing but that which was pleasing to the pallet. However, it soon became apparent that this was not so as the child in due course, ate all of the foods and naturally consumed a perfectly balanced diet. How many mothers wish they had known that when they were trying to get Johnny/Jannie to try the mashed peas when the child clearly didn't want to try them.

In order to fully accommodate free will, the brain will expand or contract upon the chosen contents of mind. It will be stretched to accommodate the most technologically complex mental scenarios, or it could be prepared for a far simpler approach to life. The mind, of course, is the constellation of all contents of belief, knowledge, and strategies learned throughout the life which characterize an individual. This mental flexibility ensures that any lifestyle choice, worldview, or culture can be chosen as the primary focus of a given life. The brain is primed to absorb a great deal of information as early as possible to set the primary mental stage. But there is a limited window of opportunity during this period, a window which narrows after
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the initial mental stage is set. This fact of biology evidences the Creator's intention for each spirit's choice to enter and focus within a particular space-time cultural scenario and the Divine effort to facilitate their particular destiny path.
There is a point in a person's life when decisions have to be made as to what direction the mind will focus for the maximum opportunity for spiritual growth. From this point, intent follows this freely arrived at decision. This does not prohibit the later decision to go in a different direction, if knowledge and circumstances dictate. Free Will always remains in place.

Thus, early mental development depends upon stimulation. Despite notions to the contrary, the child can take in and understand far more, if challenged than when being shielded from anything "too complex." The best rule of thumb for parents is: the more early intellectual stimulation, the better. There are neural circuits in the brain that will quite literally shut down if they are not stimulated during the early years. Providing a rich array of sensory stimulus can switch them on, and allow them to branch forth into complex neural networks that can later be utilized for more complex thought.
The tendency in current societal beliefs is that if there are signs of above average intelligence, then stimulation should follow. Too often, a parent will form a false judgment about the mental inferiority of a child and, consequently, elect to withhold the needed stimulation. Mental development comes in a variety of forms and challenges the parent to determine what form it has taken.

The more direct complex communication, the sooner language can be acquired. (Each parental expression of "baby talk" actually robs the child of an opportunity to grasp adult language). Reading aloud throughout childhood is a powerful positive interactive activity, to stimulate imagination and diversity of thought as well as to facilitate language skills. Likewise, subjective imaging, dream interpretation and manipulation, meditative visualization, and telepathic exercises and games can develop neural networks and mental abilities now largely dormant. Any such activity that exercises the mind's ability to focus in altered states of consciousness can ignite many hidden inner mental abilities. This is not to say that a child should be over-stimulated. Following a child's cues and allowing the natural curiosity to blossom in individual pursuits will ensure the necessary balance.
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The key word here is "challenge". With a slight shift in our presumptions with regard to the universal mental capabilities of children, we can begin to serve as the best possible thing that can happen to a child, when it comes to natural development. No one can show more love for a child than its parents and no one is in a better position to optimize that love.

Beyond these implications upon brain development, lie the equally important implications of the parental role upon imparting the specific contents of mind: the artifacts of culture, the beliefs, truths, and traditions that are imparted from one generation to the next. The parents cannot help but pass along their own cultural wisdom and values to the child. The child observes the caregiver's actions and each will model and display their mental strategies---complete with each gem and sliver. But it is a dangerous myth that only one set of ideas is the best and only to be offered. Or, that children can be protected from the realities of a cruel world, sheltered within a family or religious cocoon. For to understimulate or under-expose a child can do more damage than good.
If children are to be given the opportunity and encouragement to exercise their Creator's gift of free will and furnished with the tools to make the most direct contact with their Spirit natures, then a parent must accept that the children will not (and should not) become just a cloned copy of the adult. We would hope that the opposite would be true since there is so much "slivered" material in human society today. Those teachings that are in alignment with spirit will be surely accepted and those that are not should be rejected, regardless of their source.

In the complex world that exists today, mass consciousness has an inescapable effect upon children.The mind of man is the complex mass reality, the cooperative product, that humans have created and are quite literally limited within, until they design it to be free of all limitation. The challenge to each incoming spirit is to develop the mind to work within the existing limitations and achieve individual expressions which remove unnecessary limitations. The illusory trap of mass conscience as a singular unavoidable reality, often mires the mind to the degree that it loses touch with its very free will.
The first step on the road to "enlightenment" is to see the world as it is, with all its virtues and shortcomings and then, with the guidance of spirit, make those changes within oneself (and ultimately wherever opportunity takes us) which will propel us toward our collective optimum potential.
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But humans are indeed in creative control over defining the earthly experience. The cultural creations---the mental and physical man-made technology---now overrule many natural processes. Humans have devised a phenomenal technological capacity to share information. They share through newspapers, magazines, televisions and computers, bringing mass consciousness to the doorstep of many who were once isolated. Ideas, actions and truths from many conflicting perspectives now bombard and confuse. Humans are often unaware of their own free will to accept or deny such information, and are continuously stressed with conflicting feelings and information overload.
Opportunities of communication are covering the planet like a fine-meshed blanket, thanks to this thriving new idea called the "internet". The downside of this age of communication and interchange of information is the threat of "overload" and subsequent closing down of our mental systems. The fact is we don't have to absorb it all. On the contrary, a great deal of it is redundant. However, that said, it would be hoped that this "Lessons" material does capture a primary level of attention, as it is most certainly essential to our optimum growth in all areas of life.

This is not to condemn the human ability to share information, but to point out that it has replaced much of the interaction with the world that is necessary to impart individual beliefs tailored to the unique spirit. Human technology has empowered mass consciousness often at the expense of individual consciousness. As well as offering confusion, it can perpetuate a singular, limited worldview rather than facilitating the diversity of thought, belief, and choices of living that are optimal for earthly spirits.
Particularly through the medium of television, vast numbers of people are being exposed to beliefs and patterns of thought without being given the opportunity to raise questions about the wisdom of the information. Hopefully, this particular medium which these Lessons are being transmitted through, i.e. the web site, will enable those exposed to it to indulge in an ongoing dialogue, even to the point of enhancing the full understanding and appreciation of All That Is being imparted.

Children---now more than ever---must be taught to utilize the internal spiritual adjudicator in order to sift through the mountains of existing choices to design a mental landscape that matches the desires of spirit. Instead, mass consciousness presently sets forth values, views,
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assumptions, and activities which become cultural norms with which individuals feel compelled to conform. These norms close the mind to other values and ways of thinking and acting, many of which are far more desirous by spirit. Many such norms hold unrealistic standards of appearance, morality, and behavior which defy the standards and diversity of nature. A mind that attempts to adopt ways that go against its natural leanings is doomed to create emotional pain, as the slivers signal the ongoing disapproval of spirit.
Our present society is laced with much evidence of the emotional pain that results from beliefs and practices that our spirit nature finds to be in contradiction to the truths it attempts to lead us toward. We create our consequential problems and then spend nearly incalculable hours attempting to solve them via less than spiritual means. We make "war" on poverty, ignorance, drugs, and assorted "isms" of politics, economies and religions, using the weapons that ultimately create old and new enemies, which exist within ourselves.

The parental task is to ensure the exposure to many ideas---resisting the fear-driven temptation to control information or to shield the child---and instead to help the children to enlist the emotional system to guide their willful choices. Ultimately human technology, when utilized under the direction of spirit, can be tremendously valuable in imparting universal understandings and focusing humans upon group goals. When the species has reached this level, the corresponding feelings of joy and happiness will replace the present emotional pain and stress that accompanies complex technology.
The point made here is a valid one. Technology is not a threat to spirituality, but rather a tool of optimum expression, one which when properly utilized, can enhance and broaden our whole being.

But until then, this poses the unique challenge to parents of instilling a breadth of understanding and the importance of free will, yet realistically balanced within the existing limitations, structures, and rules of mass consciousness. It is to teach them how to utilize the inner system to adapt to existing conditions in order to be successful and to make individual spiritual expressions which creatively change the world for the better.
The parent is to achieve this ideal with the help of his/her own spirit, once he/she can reestablish that element of trust. Putting into practice those things which are
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explained and advocated herein is an important step in that direction.

Thus, an essential offering from parent to child is the understanding that all incoming information is conditional upon validation of the emotional adjudicator. When knowledge is offered, for example, a parent might preface it by saying: "This is what I have learned, and works best for me, and you might find it helpful." and follow it by saying: "How do you feel about it?" Or when watching TV, "This is what the creators of this program have found to be true for them. Try it on for size and see if it feels like it fits." This approach sets the mental stage for the child to understand the complex intermingling realities, the flexibility and power of mind, the essential evaluation role of spirit, and to maintain individual choice in all situations.
The greatest challenge will be in helping children deal with peer pressure, since other parents may not be as aware and enlightened. The child should come to know the true meaning of "being in the world but not of it", maintaining that degree of detachment that is essential for balanced success in dealing with and creating one's reality.

Questioning and debate should then be encouraged and facilitated in many forums. An open, flexible mind should be assumed and perpetuated at all times. It is critical to understand that the parent is simply assisting in the choices of free will for the child until the child is capable of doing so for his or her self. The purpose of self-development of mind should permeate the life and traditions of all within the family community.
Guidance can replace autocratic control where there is mutual respect for the spirit within each human being, be they child or parent. When this environment is maintained, the spirit thrives.

Drawing the child's attention to how each situation feels, relating it to the chosen beliefs which guide the actions, is to bring awareness of the importance of the voice of spirit. Any incoming information that is natural, enduring, and spiritual will be validated by the internal voice of spirit through the feeling system. Likewise, any cultural knowledge that is helpful toward meeting needs and is consistent with other beliefs, will also be validated by the emotional system as long as it remains effective.
The really significant part of this process is that children are naturally closer to
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their feelings and will be able to sense their spirit guidance without all the baggage their parents have been loaded down with from their outer environment.

An enlightened lifestyle is one which also incorporates open, regular, communication in which the expression of dreams, goals, thoughts, feelings and experiences creates discussion, reflection, and the sharing of insights among loved ones. This type of activity facilitates the development of individuals as well as the development of family and group goals. The dinner hour already provides a group forum where daily activities are shared. Adding self-knowledge, feedback feelings and what they mean can foster connection, understanding, social skill enhancement, fulfillment, and family cohesion. Drawing connections between daily actions, feelings, outcomes, and needs can tremendously empower a child. Examining daily events wherein the actions of others seek to manipulate the emotions or seek self preservation can bolster understandings and identify effective strategies for interacting with less enlightened others. Parents can point out and safeguard against the deadly habits of resistance, resentment and revenge, as well as their effects upon the spirit. Reflecting upon unacceptable anger-invoking events with humor, compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness can instill life-giving habits.
Would that such a family environment could be created, even as a fictional setting such as a regular television series, broadcast by a major network, but set in present times with current challenges addressed. Now there's a challenge!

Parents who begin an early practice of such analysis of feedback cues, the identifications of source beliefs which bring emotional signals, and suggesting improved strategies for reducing painful feelings and increasing joyous ones, set the stage for continuous internal self-analysis within a healthy child. Such an approach can quite quickly attune an individual to the spiritual information cycle such that even without a group forum, the child will automatically conduct the self-analysis to constantly live under the direction of spirit. Each daily experience can be analyzed to mine spiritual wisdom to achieve the maximum self development and expression. The child is then prepared to understand, adapt, and succeed within diverse environments, as well as to build solid, supportive, enlightened, rewarding relationships with others, and share his or her light with the world.
Once children begin to attend formal schooling and bring their experiences
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home at the end of the school day, the importance of a parent's presence in the home is almost impossible to calculate.

An enlightened family lifestyle also provides broad and open physical boundaries and many opportunities for experience outside the comfort of the home environment. Just as the mind is stimulated by ideas, the spirit is stimulated by a wealth of experiences. Once the cycle of internal thought, external action, external result and internal feeling feedback is embraced, the more external experiences the better. Every child should be traveled so that they are apprised of conditions existing in many diverse environments. These include anything and everything from work places, museums, shops of commerce, artistic events, halls of academia, halls of justice, places of religious worship, political forums, community action events, multicultural systems of living, diverse ethnicities and world views, distant geographic locations, places of natural beauty, and even the positive and negative groupings which represent the successes and failures of group mind. the footsteps of experience should meander into all walks of life.
I once read the definition of a well-educated person describing same as "one who is at ease in any situation". This would seem to be able to come about only through a broad range of education and experiences of all kinds.

This external exposure provides a mechanism wherein the child can reconcile the differences between the ideal and the actual, between the family environment and those with any disparity outside the door. The idea that a child can be sheltered, or isolated from the shortcomings of the world is an antiquated, misguided, fear-driven practice, and one that can leave a child ill-equipped. Optimistic realism is the key. Exposure can also bring understanding, tolerance, and appreciation for the broad choices available to humans, as well as the effects and limitations of such choices. It can offer opportunities to recognize and fend off efforts of others to control or to emotionally manipulate. Broad experience will greatly reduce fear and increase courage. For invalid fear inducing beliefs will naturally give way to more spiritual knowledge as the emotional system faithfully and accurately reports the positive and negative aspects of any given situation, and the mind correctively responds.
It is the fear of the unknown and imagined threats that get the greatest grip on us, for we end up fighting our own imagination without our "knowing" it as a reliable ally.
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In sum, the parental role in mental development is to create as many opportunities as possible to take in, analyze, and discuss various beliefs, strategies, and actions. This will maximize formative brain growth and set the mind on a life-long course of self-development.
We, who have gone beyond the years of parenthood, are the transitional generation. To us falls the responsibility of regaining the role of "wise elders", so that what we are learning from this material can be passed on to the next generation, both by word and by example.

The Parental Role Emotional Development Even within existing limitations, development of body and mind are already far less mysterious to parents than the development of spirit. Despite the best intentions of the religious community, spiritual development is notabout church, rules, and holy books. Spiritual development remains a mystery due to the predominant misunderstandings about the voice of spirit, the emotional system. Thus, spiritual development begins with emotional development.
It is for this reason that the parental role should be predominantly one of protection and restrained guidance. By encouraging greater contact and acceptance of the innate spirit wisdom available to each child, we can ultimately create a more spiritual world.

The spirit, from the moment of birth, already knows what is best for itself. If caregivers provide a stimulating and accommodating environment, the child can safely experiment with the growing knowledge, heeding the feelings as a guide. They can test skills and beliefs in the world and constantly refine and build upon them. Within this framework, the child can come to know the individual needs as they naturally unfold as motivators to action. But none of this is possible unless emotion is allowed to play its proper role. And very specific experiences must occur for the emotional system to fully engage.
The goal of the parent should be to provide a free, stimulating environment of multiple choices, with an atmosphere of physical needs and protections, balanced in an environment of love and trust.

Engaging The Emotional System

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The secret to understanding emotional development begins with the basic cycle of need, feeling, expression and feedback from the world. For example, if the infant child (a boy perhaps) is hungry, lonely or unduly constrained, his needs are not being met momentarily. Thus, his spirit is frustrated and the emotional signal sounds. He feels bad, so he uses his innate expressive response to those bad feelings; he cries. His behavior of crying acts upon the environment, and generally the caregiver responds by satisfying the need. When his survival needs are satisfied, all is well again, the child feels good. This cycle is repeated many times in a given day. With each successful cycle, he gains confidence in his own abilities to meet his needs and control his destiny.
I remember seeing a segment on African family village life. The moderator pointed that the children of the village were always attended by whoever was available, if not the mother, up to a certain age. At that point, they put aside their need for this attention and began to explore their world with the full confidence that their curiosity would be satisfied. American parents often place their children in the care of strangers with too many children to take care of. Emotional needs go unmet and in the later stages of development, emotional problems are evident. But, of course, any study which verified such evidence could not be well received, at present.

When the cycle is consistently successful and the infant's actions create the desired changes, he will begin to recognize the cycle (and it can be pointed out directly by the parents when language is in place). The parents can talk about needs, connecting them with the child's actions, and how they feel when satisfied. They can casually, yet consistently, refer to the child's mind, or to the spirit, or to the body, so that he will grow up with the natural understandings of the division between these aspects of self. As the child becomes more sophisticated, the parents can clarify the three purposes and connect them to the needs and the behaviors, so that the child understands the whys, the hows, and the whats of being human.
This can be guidance without guilt, fear and anxiety. The results have got to be better than what is so often produced in today's society. Also, if violence in parenting can be reduced, it's attraction for younger minds will also, become more popular.

Such development of emotional understanding engages the spiritual adjudicator, and allows the higher purposes their rightful place in
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motivation. Thus, emotional development depends upon this cycle and the child recognizing and embracing all that it means. A child with adequate emotional development will be prepared to undergo the lifelong development of emotional intelligence that characterizes an evolved human being.
If there is a concern that this might produce a less "manly" male because of the greater attention paid to emotional aspects of human beings, it would be well to consider that young males devoid of feelings are capable of atrocities that end up on the evening news. We are losing more young people to violence in this country than we are losing in our "wars" overseas, by far.

Unfortunately, a more normal state of affairs on Earth at this time is one in which humans are inadequately emotionally developed, unable to tap the wisdom of spirit, and are separated from the higher purposes. They are then limited only to the basic purpose of self-preservation of body, imprisoned within predominately painful emotional signals of fear and anger, and their choices driven by competitive fight and flight reactions which perpetuate individual and social chaos. Such a state is separation from Divine will and loss of individual will and purposeful application of power. This is why the parental attention upon emotional development is now essential. For there are profound implications and painful outcomes of inadequate emotional development at the root of most "evil" human actions.
If the above paragraph does not make the point clear, I'm not sure what can, except maybe, being a victim of the negative qualities that currently predominate.

Attachment, Trust & The Learned Emotions A crucial understanding for anyone taking on the parental challenge is to recognize that without adequate emotional development, certain feelings will never fully arise. Complex emotional signals are learned and must be purposefully and carefully instilled. Recall that the primary emotions of spirit, (i.e. joy, fear, anger, and sadness) combine and mingle with the local customs and beliefs to develop the learned emotions of mind. The emotions of mind include all other subtle shades of emotional feeling (i.e. guilt, confidence, hope, envy, pride, shame, remorse, etc.) These feeling signals are learned through experiential interactions with the world.
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This speaks to the idea of getting married and becoming a parent at an age when full control of the emotional qualities has not yet been mastered. What is taught to the child, especially at an early age, is most often that which is best remembered.

The emotions of mind come quite naturally when the child's needs are accommodated, so there is no huge task involved other than setting up the proper conditions. The conditions mentioned above are optimal, but in any environment where there is reasonable freedom, need-meeting opportunity, and exposure to ideas, these emotions will arise. This is why so many humans with widely varying cultural traditions have successfully learned these feelings despite the many obstacles.
When two people from differing cultural backgrounds come together to rear a child, that child is being exposed to what can and should be the best of both "worlds", providing the parents are intent on passing on the best their respective cultures have to offer.

However, it is also why many have not. This is why some humans have not learned hope, confidence, or remorse. This is why there are often artificially created feelings of shame and guilt that drive humans to hate themselves. It is also why there are artificially created feelings of false pride, envy, fear, and anger which create emotional boundaries between groups and drive humans to hate and violate one another. Certain mental and criminal conditions spring not fully engaged. Mistrust and disengagement comes when the world does not consistently allow the needs to be met, or the feedback cycle to return to the state of fulfillment.
Parenting is probably our least taught skill. Because of the propensity to emphasize the diversity in our religious and philosophical views on morality and because of the false pride taken in those beliefs, a defined base line of child rearing is most difficult to arrive at. Yet, were the intent to be shifted to what is best for the child versus what is important to the parent, much progress could be made in this area.

The critical concept here is trust. It shouldn't seem unreasonable for an infant to expect to be able to trust the words and actions of those in the family home or foster community, nor for loving parents or caregivers to consistently deliver. The dependent nature of humans upon one another is the Divine way. Trust is the understanding and faith in the cooperative
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nature of the world. This is why without a cooperative, trustworthy early environment, the spirit will simply vacate the body. Those that are born to chaotic worlds where a minimum level of cooperation does not exist, will die. Those that are not fed will starve. Those that are not handled, loved and stimulated will fail to thrive and die of loneliness. Those who must constantly compete for basic survival will lose to the "fittest" competitor.
It is said that "death finds an excuse". Sometimes those "excuses" are of a subtle, emotional nature, which we humans are yet to fully understand and appreciate.

Thus, a basic trust that the world will respond to one's efforts is part of the Divine plan. Unfortunately, trust can be compromised and not allowed to fully develop due to inconsistent actions of parents or caregivers. Consistency is the key. Ideally every interaction would build trust, and every cycle would end with fulfillment, with only an occasional lapse. But when the cycle ends in repeated frustration more often than fulfillment, trust is compromised. Trust is also compromised when parental strategies include physical punishment for ordinary learning errors rather than corrective feedback. Violent punishment is rarely necessary within the enlightened approach. Simple removal of freedoms, time-outs, and consistent restrictions, can allow a child to recognize quite quickly that the amount of freedom and power depends upon the amount of responsibility and accountability to that freedom. Violent punishments can only emotionally confuse, negate trust, and invoke survival defenses.
Here, again, parents are prone to repeat the patterns of behavior they were subjected to as children. Those who have conducted themselves in less than enlightened ways during the child rearing period of their lives can only know regret. However, if they can impart this information on to those who are about to, or are now involved in child rearing, recompense can be made.

Once trust is compromised it is very difficult to fully restore. The body will not let the mind forget anything that has threatened it. Without a sufficient level of trust, the individual is condemned to a life of dysfunctional relationships of a singular existence wherein selfpreservationary motives undermine cooperation, communication, and intimacy. The worst outcome, however, is that a lack of trust does not allow the emotional system to fully engage, and the voice of spirit remains inaccessible.
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In a society that thrives on mistrust, insecurity and fear, this conditioned lack of trust is most difficult to overcome. However, if the society can realize the value of altering itself to the benefit of those who threaten it the most, positive change can evolve.

Many anomalies of human behavior spring from this basic lack of emotional attunement and development. Scientists have already recognized that there is an essential attachment period wherein an infant bonds with caregivers and learns to trust. This period falls within the window of opportunity of brain development to establish the relationship with the specific cultural world. Trust must enter through this window or forever be questionable or conditional. Trust is the foundation for all cooperative impulses and the precursor to hope, confidence, pride, self esteem, and faith in spirit. Trust is the assurance that one's actions will have a predictable impact, on the world. It is the foundation upon which human intimacy, communication, and cooperation exists. Without trust there can not be hope.
Trust in family, trust in businesses, trust in government are all essential to a well functioning society; and behind all of this "trust" must ultimately be truth.

The attachment period facilitates the successful learning experience wherein the cycle of action and reaction is established, and predicts each success for future interactions. It is where one is assured of the rightful power to control and influence one's world. It is where one is assured of the Divine meaning and spiritual connection within existence. Attachment occurs through a process of repeated successful interactions between the infant and the caregiver, wherein each responds to the other's words, cues, and actions. When parents consistently respond to the needs, over time, the child begins to experience a deep, affectionate, close and lasting tie. This loving tie evidences spiritual fulfillment and the trust that the environment will continue to provide opportunity for this type of need satisfaction.
The rule should be obvious. Early experience in attachment leads to lifelong attachment, so long as a parent makes himself/herself available in times of need. The trick is to maintain the love while giving up the control.

Over years and years of successful trust-building interactions, the child develops a healthy connectedness to the caregivers and other people that
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constitute this community, as well as hope for the future. Trust becomes interwoven with all mental beliefs and strategies. Eventually this connectedness will generalize to all humans. This sense of connectedness perpetuates what we generally call "a conscience," which makes us accountable for our actions upon our loving others. It instills the understanding that we are all part of a greater spiritual whole. With conscience, a violation upon another is equal to a violation upon the self. Valid, natural guilt is when a person feels the very pain they have inflicted upon another, experiencing remorse, resolving to never repeat the violation. The mind that violated did not yet know, and the remorseful mind has learned a better approach. A mature conscience needs no external controllers whatsoever. Such a conscience is the Divine innate seed of natural morality lying dormant within each human, desired by the Creator to bloom forth.
The difference between contrived guilt and natural guilt is in whether the source of the guilt is self-created or imposed upon us from an outside source. Guilt can be used as a weapon by one person against another, as well as a method of control. But positive guilt is that which comes from within and is triggered through empathy with those whom we have offended.

Conversely, if a child survives being raised in a chaotic, neglectful, rejecting, or abusive environment, the message received will be that cooperation is not to be expected or relied upon. It breeds the fear-driven belief that needs cannot be consistently fulfilled, control is only intermittent and the spirit is disempowered, even violated. Since the child is powerless to alter these conditions, the spirit will continue to shout its message through feelings of anger. Since the child can not yet interpret the anger and choose a developmental or expressive response, the anger is utilized by the body to ensure self-preservation through primitive versions of the fight or flight responses. (Remember, the body will bypass the mind if it does not hold beliefs that will ensure survival.) Competition for scarce resources, for opportunity, for need fulfillment, and for love, will dominate each thought and deed. The higher purposes of mental development and spiritual expression will always take the back seat to physical preservation. The conscience of such an individual will motivate a morality of "every man for himself."
With the above paragraph in mind, we might want to give some closer reflection
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to the competitive system in which we live. If cooperation creates trust and distrust creates anger (and violence), would we, as a society, not benefit by encouraging the former and reducing the latter?

Just as competition will be the main motivator in such cases, the predominant feeling will be anger. The anger can be expressed in one of two directions. The child can turn it inward toward himself, by choosing to accept the limitations of the world, effacing the spirit and losing touch with his needs. Strategies of self-deprecation, learned helplessness, martyrdom, and self-hatred can become enduring personality traits. Such a choice can lead to an ultimate state of depression or even dissociation and the dependence upon escapism from the ongoing spiritual pain. Compulsions, addictions and self-destructive behaviors can then occur. Suicide is the ultimate act of internally directed anger.
The road between internally directed anger and ultimate self-destruction is usually long enough for most people to observe and correct it. Understanding the source of this anger is a first step in that process of correction.

The other option is for the child to reject the conditions and turn the anger outward in explosive or violent acts that can be quite anti-social, if not pathological. He might never develop trust, conscience, remorse, nor connectedness to his fellow human beings. Never being able to achieve intimacy or love outside the family, or to build support networks, this child (and eventually this adult) will be quite capable of acts that effectively cultured people would perceive as unconscionable or evil. Most such acts would be misguided competitive attempts to meet needs in some manner or simply express the pent-up anger. Murder is the ultimate act of externally directed anger. The effect upon the world of such an individual will be most damaging. The effect upon mass consciousness of such individuals will be the mass belief that humans must be controlled by society. Thus, all social controls (i.e. rules, mores, religious dictates, laws, and prisons) have arisen due to this condition.
Each time a violent act (such as murder) is committed, society feels obliged to stifle it's own freedom of expression. Eventually, the decision to substitute total security for any degree of freedom will lead to tyranny. Examining the roots of aggressive anger can help us to understand and avoid a destiny of spiritual decadence.

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It is essential for individuals and societies to understand the critical nature of this early period and to accommodate and ensure paternal efforts to adequately complete this bonding period. For a child who is not attached to others, cannot fully hear the voice of spirit. Such a child will suffer continuous emotional problems and lack the compunctions of conscience, necessary in a cooperative world. Anything less will breed criminals and other social outcasts, doomed to a future of alienation, isolation, retribution, and pain. Creating trust-building conditions is not a difficult task. In fact, it takes quite a bit to disallow the trust to develop, yet far too much neglect and abuse still exists.
In the past, welfare regulations established an environment that penalized recipients who allowed a parent (usually the father) to occupy the same household, while rewarding the other parent (the mother) for having more children. This often reduced the time the mother could devote to each child, while being deprived of the assistance of the other parent. The consequences of this "state" are coming increasing evident as we continue to construct more prisons.

In sum, if the foster environment does not provide opportunity for its individuals to meet their needs, human beings cannot properly develop. Such a tragedy is quite avoidable, yet its results can drive humans to quite inhuman acts against one another. Scientists are not convinced that such misaligned people are redeemable. Yet the power of spirit can heal all wounds if given its proper voice. In fact, there are some very enlightened spirits who even, in childhood, enlist self-love, compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness who can overcome quite severe conditions of neglect and abuse. The voice of spirit is loudest and most clear in such hearty children even if a minimal connection is allowed. But once disconnection occurs, an effort to reverse the condition requires intensive long-term restructuring of the entire mental realm.
It may turn out that the best environment for correcting this wayward course of life, lies in the prisons we continue to place these alienated people in, and the best people to help with this correction are those who are, themselves, the inhabitants.

However, this is not to say that children should be molly-coddled and that parents should jump at their every whim. Indeed, there is a very important difference between needs and wants. If the environment is unchallenging
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and over-accommodating, the child will be robbed of developmental opportunities. Emotional signals of boredom and contrived annoyance will then arise. Or, if the freedoms offered or challenges undertaken are more than the child is equipped to handle, anxiety and fear will be elicited. Both broad and safe boundaries must be defined and maintained.
The act of simply loading down a child with every stimulating toy the child asks for or the parent is motivated to buy, can result in the opposite result as that which is intended. There are times when parents have to say "No", for the sake of their children and their own pocketbooks.

In this case, other kinds of emotional problems will result. Such unrealistic expectations can become firmly rooted maladaptive beliefs which also generate feelings of anger. This would be the case of the "spoiled brat" who lashes out in tantrums against a world that is not immediately accommodating all whims and wants. Indulgent conditions can instill false pride, vanity, envy, and hubris. Such a child has developed a very unrealistic view of the world, which may set them up for a big fall in other, more challenging or dangerous environments.
There is a difference between unlimited freedom to have everything one wants and intelligent expression of desires. The former leads to eventual selfdestruction. The latter leads to growth and fulfillment.

Essentially, parents could achieve a balance by providing opportunity to accommodate all human needs, and offering the tools to the child to develop skills to attain his or her wants. With age, the children should be increasingly responsible to meet their needs themselves. Genuine pride and esteem are the natural rewards for such developmental successes.
This is the positive guideline which, in the end, contributes to the benefit of society, as a whole.

Cultural Manipulation of The Emotional System The latter example calls attention to the fact that culture can taint feeling. It is crucial also for parents to understand how the emotional system can become entangled with the local values, truths, and activities of the culture. All emotions---even the emotions of spirit---can be affected and elicited simply by the contents of mind. (Remember, feelings help the mind to learn. Any cultural truth will work unless it violates a natural one
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or conflicts with another). This is why the rules of response require looking first to mind before looking to the outside world for needed changes. Anything the mind chooses to believe goes, and takes on positive emotion as a gem, until it is proven otherwise by spirit. As conditions change in the world, such beliefs are meant to give way to improvements. Instead, they can linger and cause pain. If not discovered, similar slivers will be added, building upon the faulty foundation, creating complex belief systems which ensure disempowerment. An imagined limitation is every bit as emotion-invoking as a real one. Imagined demons can elicit powerful self-preservationary responses upon innocent others.
Dogmas of religion, for example, that tend to put limitations upon free will, are able to slip in as slivers when the established content of our beliefs is completely turned over to the outside world. This is known as blind faith and once control is accepted by one institution (such as religion), other institutions (such as government) will move to take advantage of the easily controllable.

Thus, the most important implication is that parents understand that what they teach will take on emotional flavor. The primary challenge is to turn on the inner voice of spirit within the child. The secondary challenge is to minimize the passing on of any beliefs which go against spirit. Instead of being understood as an internal control and advisor, emotion has often been used by parents in ways intended to impart external advice and control. Parents should avoid such emotional manipulation in every way. Although punishment remains a primary strategy of parenting, it should now be apparent that fear and anger should not be motivators while parenting. Adjusting the boundaries of freedom and level of parental intervention to match the level of responsibility and accountability is the key. But one emotion in particular has been used as a time-honored tool of such manipulation and deserves special mention.
Making this shift of behavior will require most humans in parental roles to move beyond the beliefs they were taught by their own parents and make that paradigm leap to a new level of understanding. The whole process of doing this has been outlined earlier and the motivation, if not previously explained to sufficiency, will most certainly follow.

A Word About Guilt This is the emotion of guilt. It is a common practice in many, if not all,
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social systems to set behavioral rules and codes to which a member must conform. A connected and healthy individual will then experience guilt if their actions do not conform to the rules.
So we can conclude by the above, that "guilt" is an essential quality of a society that imposes its rules of behavior upon its members. This, of course, is guidance from a source outside of ourselves. Once we are able to shift to internal guidance, guilt should go the way of error.

Guilt is intended to help the mind find conflicting beliefs that go against the needs and workings of spirit. It is intended to point out where the action choices have not aligned with the beliefs and values. It is intended to be used to elevate the needs of spirit above the unnecessary limits of local tradition. Guilt is not necessarily indicative of an active conscience. People can learn to attach guilt to virtually any activity judged to be unacceptable by their local society. Guilt often exposes an inner motivator that is simply more powerful than the external controller. The intended message of guilt is to straighten out the priorities and to drop any rules that are limiting to the needs of spirit---often exactly the opposite of its culturally implied meaning.
The difference between what "guilt" is intended to do and what it ultimately results in, is evidence of what can go wrong when such an emotion is placed in the hands of those more enamored with power than spiritual development. But when in place as an internal guide, it can alert a person to the spiritual impropriety of adopted rules and practices. Had German citizens been listening to their inner guidance, the holocaust might have been prevented.

But guilt has become a powerful manipulative tool which pits humans against their nature to the end of perpetuating certain cultural traditions, mores, and rules. Guilt is one of the most powerful tools of religion.Thus, feeling guilty has become a routinely accepted part of human existence. An enlightened mind never accepts external dictates, ideas, or "truths" which dishonor or reject internal (physical and spiritual) needs.
Sometimes, even nationalism, when robbed of the institutional rules that guarantee the responsible exercise of free will, will become akin to pseudoreligion. Governments than lay "guilt trips" upon citizens who decline to support a particular policy, i.e. an immoral war.

Yet guilt is rampant and often compounded by another emotion of mind--314

shame. Guilt and shame are often associated with normal bodily drives and functions. Some local traditions adopt extremely limiting and rigid beliefs which institutionalize shame. For example, a belief exists known as "feminine shame" wherein an entire sex is taught to be ashamed of their very bodies. A web of customs is built around the "dirtiness" of being female, complete with body coverings, subservient behavior, and a rank status below that of males, and even the acceptance of violation and abuse---a web which entraps and disempowers any spirit born into a female form. Each tradition is empowered by institutionalized guilt.
To greater or lesser degrees, this condition exists in most, so called, civilized societies today. In societies where "feminine shame" did not exist, westerners sent missionaries to establish it.

A more generalized guilt has been established throughout many local communities regarding sexuality. Human sexuality is a Divine gift, the ultimate act of mental, physical, and spiritual connection between humans in the flesh. It is such a powerful force that almost every society believes that external control must be placed upon humans lest all sexual hell break loose. Sex has taken this bad rap due to the self-preservationary responses. Like any joyful or pleasurable experience, it can become a compulsion if used as an escape, or a violation if used to seize power or vent aggression. But like any natural process, when allowed to work in concert with all three purposes, human sexuality needs no external limits. Instead, children should enjoy an open, respectful, anticipatory understanding of the natural beauty and divinity of sexuality---in whatever form the spirit has chosen--balancing the joys of spiritual, physical pleasurable communion of flesh with the responsibilities of health and procreation.
The puritan influence present in the establishment of the country is still firmly in place, to the point of invoking punishment upon those whose conduct strays beyond the legal boundaries of proper sexual mores and choices, even into the privacy of one's own bedroom.

The bottom line is that most guilt and shame is unnecessary. Parents must pay particular attention to guard against the perpetuation of any cultural directive that pits the mind against the needs and purposes of body and spirit. The only durable cultural truths are those that allow all purposes to work together. A child should be made aware of the Divine nature of the
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body, its processes, and its needs, and never to feel guilt or shame over the physical form. Any such cultural assumptions should be soundly rejected. (This goes for any and every religious dictate that instills guilt over any naturally ordained Divine process. Any such assertion defies the intention of the Creator it claims to serve).
Struggling out of an established environment of decadent practices will likely result in pitting one generation against another, as those freeing themselves from burdens such as "guilt" will also move beyond the institutions that have for so long used such methods of control.

And finally, parents must resist the temptation to utilize guilt as a mechanism of control. Such a strategy is not only doomed to failure, but it perpetuates needless pain. Mechanisms of external social control are not necessary when the social system has been designed according to the voice of spirit. Forgiveness is the key in learning situations. Errors signal opportunity to learn. Any actions of the child which elicit feelings of remorse should be interpreted as those of spirit asking for integrity, accountability, and consistency between thought and action. Parental faith, compassion, and forgiveness allow any missteps to be kept in proper perspective and the child to use this information to further develop the mind.
A child raised with the best of guidelines listed above, will naturally gravitate toward an environment where the consequential qualities will blossom and have a positive effect on the world around him/her.

Such a parental approach will foster the faith, compassion and forgiveness of self that are necessary for any human to thrive and creatively express self in the chaotic world of daily trial and error learning. Indeed, it will be those who reconnect with spirit and follow its urgings who will change the very world. Thus, it is essential for each enlightened one to ensure the enlightened perspective is carried forth throughout subsequent generations. Therefore, the paternal role in inculcation is a particularly important one.
For those of us who are beyond the parental stage in life, it behooves us to recognize the spiritual value of what has been conveyed in these Lessons and be prepared to share the information when an opportunity presents itself, as it surely will.

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In sum, the role of parents can profoundly influence the incoming spirit. Thus, some primary conditional prerequisites for anyone choosing to be a parent are: the understanding of the importance of the parental role, the lifetime commitment to the child, the ability to provide a safe, accommodating environment, essential need-meeting opportunities, enlightened self-understanding, a network of family and community support, the faith in the integrity of the spirit, a faith in the divinity of life's natural thrust, and a wellspring of pure spiritual, unconditional love. Once adequate inculcation has been attained, the human is then ready to pursue a lifelong course of development, which we can now discuss.

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Section Delta Lesson Three: Implications for Human Development The Developmental Responsibility The implications of spiritual reconnection also have impact upon how humans view the developmental cycle. Although the body goes through a recognizable growth pattern and most societies deem an age of "adulthood," there is no magic point where the development stops. Never. Indeed, mental development continues on a daily basis throughout each day of the entire life.
This should lay to rest the myth that age is a deterrent to mental and spiritual development or that there is some point in our lives where we have reached a spiritual peak. The point and purpose of physical existence is to enhance the process by which we evolve spiritually. Further, it can be presumed, our spiritual evolution should have a positive impact on our mental and physical progress, as well.

But the growth cycle that continues does not do so automatically. It happens deliberately at the direction of the human being---for it is growth within the realm of mind. The true mark of adulthood is the acceptance of, the accountability to, and the active participation within one's own continuing mental developmental processes. Each human being has the power to expand the mind and hone it to the maximum fulfillment of spirit, or to resist change altogether and maintain narrow boundaries of mind. Of course, the latter choice will lead to further emotional pain, for it will delay the desired spiritual expression.
As the world around us appears to be changing at an accelerating pace, there is a strong temptation to react and retract, keeping those ideas we are comfortable with and declining to consider those which don't fit with our lifelong belief system. The decision to do so will not only stifle the possibilities of spiritual growth, but will result in the "emotional pain" of isolation, with all of its ramifications.

It is crucial to recognize that a choice of resistance to mental development, will lead to discomfort in any arena outside the boundaries of mind. Such a person will be imprisoned within a limited familiar home-base locale, where routines and distractions mediate experience. Outside the boundaries of habit and routine, there will be stressful life experience. A
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static mind will prompt feelings of being out of control and the anxiety of not knowing how to handle situations and events. The feelings will be subtle or quite dramatic, but they will drive actions from just beneath the awareness. There will be pain of sadness, guilt, shame, anger, fear and any other subtle shades of unpleasant feeling tone. If these signals are continuously ignored, it becomes too painful to even venture about in the world. The personality can harden into habits of thought and action that defend, retreat, and reject other human beings. There will be no mistaking the less spiritually fulfilled human beings, for they will not be happy nor attractive. Their pain will be difficult for others to be around.
Some of us may have the unfortunate experience of knowing the type of people described above. They live as examples in our lives of what can result from mental stagnation.

It is also crucial to recognize how mind, complete with its boundaries, will create the life events to match its contents. A reality conducive to each and every limitation will most certainly manifest, along with the painful signals to point them out. If not corrected, such events will prompt further actions of flight and escape, in a self-perpetuating cycle which further narrows experience. Creating the illusion of escape from spiritual pain is only that---an illusion.
We create our own reality, even (and especially) when that reality is our own illusion. Once created, we are bound to live within its limitations until or unless we voluntarily elect to do otherwise.

Even if defending mental boundaries narrows the world so that all people are avoided, a completely solitary life is nearly impossible in the modern world. And even interacting with one person with broader mental boundaries will challenge the limits and signal a subtle negative feeling and motivate further avoidance. Such avoidance is an act of body wherein the mind has abdicated its choice and even its conscious awareness of its own motivations, since its existing beliefs are insufficient, yet considered otherwise. Of course, rather elaborate resistance strategies can exist wherein nearly everything is rationalized to exist within the limitations of mind, but the feelings will never go away. Nor should they, because they reflect the integrity of spirit and its intentional contrast between the actual physical arena of successful expression and the unlimited one that is
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divinely desired. Creating a mental fantasy about one's physical level of expression is simply that---a fantasy.
While a 'fantasy' may have the power to hold us within the confines of our beliefs, it does not have the power to make us feel good about it. In fact, the power to make us feel uncomfortable about it lies within our true essence, our spiritual nature.

Although resistance can become a lifetime strategy, the spirit yearns for self-expression. And the more the better. The level of individual spiritual expression achieved will relate to the overall expansion of universal Spirit. The spiritual path is far more rewarding than the temporary relief from pain the avoidance provides. For just as pain from spiritual frustration will linger, the rewards of spiritual expression are everlasting. In fact, the more the spiritual expression, the easier the physical experience will be in current as well as alternate lifetimes, past, present, and future. The resonance of spirit within flesh is a feeling that will be clearly recognizable within alternate existences, helping that individual to reconnect with inner guidance and to find fulfillment.
The key to breaking the hold of self-imposed restrictions of our spiritual growth, may well lie in any form of creative activity. It can open one up to greater possibilities of expression while boosting our very thought patterns to new horizons.

Development and "Karma" There are many beliefs within mass consciousness that set forth conditions of an afterlife complete with elaborate declarations about the meaning within "serial lifetimes". They often seek to explain mysterious unexpected events, or justify the unjust, by drawing cause and effect relationships between the current and "previous" lifetimes. In doing so, they often mistakenly declare that the control lies outside of the human mind.
Each time we observe a system of thought that suggests that our conduct is a result of astrology, genetics or (in this case) past life karma, we are seeing an encouragement toward non-responsibility for our current actions and a disparagement of free will in the creation of our own reality. These "systems" are engineered to appeal to the emotionally immature level that is fading out of our collective paradigm.

The Law Of Karma can be better understood not just as the force that
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creates the outcomes of divine evaluation and spiritual justice---but as a force that lies within, and can be utilized to the advantage of an enlightened mind. The mind creates life events and experiences through its present beliefs, which are constantly evaluated by spiritual feeling signals. If its beliefs promote disunity within self and disconnection with All That Is, the life will be reflected as such---complete with ever more powerful painful signals so that corrections can be chosen. The term karma captures the inevitability of repeated cycles of creating frustrations until understanding the nature of ones own creative power is attained. Development in its grandest sense is learning to harness the creative power of will energy.
Thus, "karma" becomes simply a part of the installed feedback system that operates in our daily lives, but when ignored, is extended to our next experience in the physical.

The crucial understanding is that beyond space/time, the moment of all correction is in the present moment, with the goal of divine balance met through eliminating any pain-inducing belief structures. When such changes are affected by any given portion of the entity, emotional energy surges are felt within all aspects of the entity. Each physical incarnation will experience "good luck" and joyous floods of insight and spiritual resonance. Thus, "what goes around" emotionally "comes around" to all aspects of the entity, for joyous resonance and full creative empowerment is the way of Divine Justice. It is only because of the lack of understanding within any given mindscape that such events are thought to come from outside of the self, or as some form of external judgmental punishment.
Part of comprehending this principle involves understanding the complete ramifications of our nature by placing ourselves outside the box of "time/space" and realizing that each of our incarnations is existing on the same parallel with the other.

The stronger the presence of spirit has been within a given physical existence, will make it correspondingly less likely to become mired within the limits of illusory reality and Mass Consciousness for any aspect of the entity. Thus, those that postpone the fulfillment of spirit and resist the needed development of mind, will continue this postponement in alternate physical existences. There is no escaping the nature of spirit to seek fulfillment and expansion---no matter how many life experiences it takes.
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Because we elect to operate in an environment of time/space, we must accept the illusion as functional reality. However, the closer we get to connecting with our spiritual nature, the more free we become of the physical laws, i.e. action and reaction.

On the other hand, if acceptance, accountability, faith in spirit and personal empowerment are the main life strategies, life becomes an ongoing learning process. The entity is challenged to attain the maximum number of strategies and skills to allow spiritual expression in as many environments as possible. Rising to the challenge is rewarded by the spirit's joyous feelings. The better equipped the mind, the more active expression can happen. Imagine a mind expanded as far as the physical horizon, as far as the eye can see. A mind filled with a rich collection of ideas and finely honed strategies for interaction with spirits with all variations of mental expansion in all arenas within that boundary. Imagine further, a mind as wide as the earth, wherein comfort is experienced in any and every location, any imaginable group, with any imaginable doctrine. Such a mind is indeed enlightened, aglow with spirit and the predominant feeling in each interaction is joy.
This would seem to be our true destiny, to grow mentally and spiritually, not only to the limits of all that this earth has to offer, but to unlimited boundaries of the existence, itself. Once we get the hang of what these Lessons have to offer, that goal becomes not only imaginable, but attainable as a God given right.

Such a person enjoys tremendous mental, physical, and emotional freedom. There would be no culture-shocking experiences that could not be handled while meeting all three purposes. Such a person would exhibit very few self-preservationary actions or deadly habits. Instead, the lifegiving habits, the rich and numerous skills, the human compassion, and humor would be used to minimize creating pain for others, and light would exist in every human interaction. Such a mind clearly focuses and best utilizes its will energy attracting and creating events matching the breadth of mind. Such a mind can create far more rich and rewarding events than most humans now imagine, as well as recover its own untapped abilities. As mind expands, life expands in kind. As each life expands, universal spirit expands and fulfills Divine Intention.
If we can grasp this picture and make it our own, we can and will become all
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that it promises. The pace of progress toward this end is ours to set.

It will be easily recognizable when such expression has been achieved, both from the inside and from the outside. From the inside, joyous resonance with spirit is experienced consistently, life is meaningful and filled with loving, productive interactions. From the outside, there is a distinct glow of spiritual presence within the eyes, and actions which show the fearless loving bond with each and every human being. Such a person recognizes each day, indeed each moment, as an opportunity to further refine the mind and to live and act in ways that leave the personal expressive mark upon the world, their unique spiritual expression. The world notices the departure of such entities, for it recognizes their valuable contributions and even Mass Consciousness feels its own lack by comparison.
We know of such people. We have seen religions built around them. We are such people, in potential.

Development and Divine Judgment Human concepts of life assessment by deities are also related to the developmental responsibility. If there are to be any after-life judgmental processes, they will relate directly to the level of spiritual fulfillment and expression rather than any conditions that human religions have set forth. It would be far more useful to embrace the fact that this judgment is ongoing throughout the life course ---for indeed this is the case. It would be far more pleasing to the Creator if free will were utilized in each moment, in ways that meet all three human purposes, than for humans to limit themselves within rigid man-made doctrines and guidelines. For the spirit speaks its evaluations through feeling signals of pleasure and pain each moment of every day, leading humans to divinely intended, purposeful actions.
Because it is so tempting to do so, I am going to return to the analogy of driving the car. Suppose that instead of making course corrections with the steering wheel of our auto on a moment-by-moment basis as we drove down the road, we make those corrections once a week or at the end of the trip. Under the latter conditions, driving would become much more problematic. It would stand to reason that when we are "steering" our way through physical life, we would want to utilize a system that was as immediately responsive as possible, would it not?
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Anyone wishing to know the evaluative judgment upon themselves from the Creator can have it at any time, simply by acknowledging their level of pain. Anyone wishing to please the Creator, or to do "His work" can readily do so by designing a mind which reduces pain and actively expresses the spirit in ways that reduce pain for others as well.
We now have satellite technology that allows us to know where we are in our automobiles at any given moment. Knowing where we are spiritually at any given moment, is an inherent "technology" that has been in place at least as long as we have been in "this" place.

Thus, the responsibility for human development falls to the individual. Instead of waiting for development to happen as automatically as a body maturing, the mind needs active, purposeful, hands-on application of free will. It requires unfailing self-honesty, heeding the voice of spirit, and understanding of the trinity of human purpose. It requires designing strategies for daily living that allow all three purposes to be fulfilled within each action.
It requires bringing us into the modern world in a much broader sense than we have done, so far, technologically. It does not require the acquisition of any new, expensive equipment. It simply requires an understanding and appreciation of what we already have.

It's Never Too Late The beauty of the natural system is that no matter how long a human being has lingered in resistance and emotional pain, each day brings a new opportunity to totally redesign the life. There is no need for any human being to suffer in darkness even one moment longer, once they possess the self-empowering knowledge of the spiritual light within.
The above is a reflection of the resilience of human "spirit" and how, with a combination of knowledge and intent, we can alter the patterns of thought that can remake us into what we wish to be.

There have been amazing examples of humans who have had life changing experiences and have undergone dramatic alterations in personality. Complex, house-of-cards belief systems, defended and strengthened by years of resistance, can come tumbling down with liberating, enlightening
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purposefully chosen changes of mind. Many limited minds have unknowingly created dramatic illnesses, personal crises, even near-death experiences for themselves to reconnect with spirit. But such drama is not necessary. Nothing is set in stone except that which is chosen, yet lies outside the owner's conscious awareness. The spirit constantly points to such slivers with feeling signals that beg for learning more wholly successful strategies.
As we acquire this "future-altering" knowledge, we can put into motion a process within ourselves that will result in an openness to change. This can be done with a simple, but sincere request to our spiritual nature, our higher selves, if we wish. We can open the door to our new existence and absorb the information at whatever pace we feel comfortable with. We have already started opening that "door" when we opened our minds to this information.

Indeed, cosmic awareness begins with internal awareness. It connotes the broadening of the mind to become aware of the meaning within each moment of life experience. It means freely choosing to sculpt the mind until it can direct the actions which can best express the spirit. Once the limitations are removed from mind, many yet untapped abilities can begin to emerge. Once awareness of the meaning has been attained, the individual can set about immediately making the desired changes to create the life events that will bring the maximum level of self expression. The mind has just begun its possible expansion. Tremendous empowerment awaits the species as entities develop mind so that it reflects spiritual intention. Dormant brain functions can open wide to the mind's true and astounding potentials. This is the most direct route from here to there.
Just as the computer opened possibilities of efficiency that had hardly been dreamed of a century ago, so the potential of the human mind is capable of this kind of progress and a great deal more. "As we conceive, so we achieve" may sound trite, but the fact is, most of the profound guidance given to humans has been expressed in the simplest of terms, ex. "Love God with all thy heart and they neighbor as thyself". What better formula for optimum human relations.

Indeed, the human examples of directly accessing universal consciousness continue to dwindle. Those pioneers, seeking wisdom through adventures in consciousness that set aside individual mind, cannot help but be stymied by the interference of mass mind. For the energy networks of mass consciousness permeate in ever increasing densities, as humans continue to
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produce cultural creations without the direction of spirit. Instead of accessing universal consciousness as directly as some cultures have in days gone by, the density is now much more difficult to permeate by spirit without the help of mind. It is now imperative to actively access universal consciousness through developing the individual mind at the direction of spirit as divinely intended.
This may sound like an overwhelming challenge, considering the near omnipotent force we appear to be up against. However, this "force" is not built on spiritual truths and, as such, is most internally weak. To alter the program of a secure system, you sometimes must find the built-in back door. These Lessons are that "back door".

Armed with the knowledge of these Lessons, humans can begin active development immediately. Each moment becomes an opportunity to identify slivers and remove them. Free will can never fully operate as long as slivers exist within the realm of mind. Slivers must be removed first from individual minds. Then the clear thinking, unlimited spirits can offer light responses which can remove them from mass consciousness. Once this finally occurs, newcomers to the physical experience will enjoy far less limitation and pain, and a far more instant and lasting connection with the direct voice of spirit.
Using the computer as an example, again, built into the program of Microsoft Office (and in particular 'Word') is the ability to check one's spelling mistakes and not only correct them but to plant that "correction" into the system so that the next time one makes the same mistake, the computer will correct it automatically, without the user even being aware that it is being done. We also have that capability and much more.

Self Evaluation - Getting Started To get started it is essential to know the learning cycles and get comfortable with each part. In brief summary: We know now that the Divine Spirit desires both biological destiny of body and free will of mind for a full and complete human experience. We know that individual spirit is not separate from Divine Spirit. Individual spirit communicates divine intentions to both mind and body through human feeling signals. We know now that at every moment the actions are driven by motives of mind and body relating to their specific purpose and are mediated through human
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needs.
As we better know and understand the above, our actions on all levels are carried out with a greater degree of confidence. We "know" that as we continue to act, what we are learning is to improve the quality of our actions.

The needs are the divinely designed, unchanging motives of body and need never change or even be questioned. But the motives of mind---the basic knowledge and understandings of life, the strategies for action, the plans and expected outcomes---are based upon the current mindscape which must constantly change. The feelings which accompany each action inform the individual of exactly how well that action, and its underlying beliefs, have accomplished the purpose of spirit. Having knowledge of the needs and purposes provides a context within which to analyze each feeling signal and know which correction it suggests. If the right response is needed, the mind can then identify and rethink the beliefs and strategies, remove slivers, add skills, and try again. It can purposefully react in corrective ways that meet all purposes, not simply those survival purposes of body. If the sliver lies in mass consciousness, then a light response is needed in which it is rejected and actively removed from the world.
The heart needs to pump as our internal organs need to carry out their responsibilities to keep our physical being running smoothly. These involuntary actions need not require the attention of our consciousness. However, our mental functions are the ongoing activity that guides us in an ongoing fashion, to refine our course of activity with new awareness of our effect upon the world we live in, with the further understanding of our creation of that world.

With enlightenment, comes the awareness of this cycle and the sensitivity to feel the most subtle of feelings in self and others. With this level of sensitivity, corrections can be made at the very seed of a limitation, solving it before it even takes root. But best of all, as slivers become fewer and fewer, this level of sensitivity brings joyous feelings and positive, purposeful movement along life's path.
There are many women (and many fewer men) who are talented in relating to the world in ways that express the content of the above paragraph. Add to this the confidence (the male contribution) that comes with knowing that we can and do create our own reality, and a sense of peace and natural happiness is bound to follow.
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The best starting point to assess the current level of development is to take a look at how well things are going in general. The rule of thumb for evaluating one's development, is to note the level of pain in one's life.The level of negative emotion experienced is the best measure of how well the spirit is faring in its physical existence. For emotional pain reflects its level of frustration and lack of movement.
This is where emotional pain (like physical pain) can serve the positive purpose of educating us along the road of evolution. If we can accept that this "pain" is nothing more than a learning tool and use it to our best advantage.

True adulthood is to maturely embrace the developmental responsibility by recognizing, becoming accountable to, and making corrective changes for each and every bad feeling experienced. Adulthood is the ability to accept and adapt to the events that occur, and to ultimately take accountability for their creation. It is to ensure that the purposes of body do not override the intentions of mind with its hardwired responses of fight and flight, which cause disconnection and violation. It is to actively self-correct through right responses and to actively express its empowering discoveries through light responses in the physical world. Adult behavior is to allow each human being the respect and dignity of evaluating themselves in a like manner, without judging their progress or comparing it to the progress of others. With these commitments, one can then embark upon the continuous examination of how well the needs of body are being met at any given point by the strategies of mind.
We are meant to feel good about ourselves and the world around us.We were not placed in this physical environment to suffer so that we can be happy later. That is a planted sliver. Our next responsibility is to rise beyond "judgement" to "discernment" in how we view ourselves and other human beings of all walks of life.

Awareness of Needs A crucial component to developing inner awareness is becoming familiar with one's needs. The universal needs present themselves uniquely in each person's life. To understand exactly how each is played out upon life's stage will be a tremendous aid in identifying the exact source of emotional pain. The choices of partners, profession, and recreation all provide clues to how beliefs are currently meeting needs, as well as shedding light on
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those needs which are less fulfilled. Even better indicators, are those choices and habits that might not be good ones by external definition---the compulsions, the addictions, the habits that feel good in the moment, but prevent humans from meeting their long-term goals. These are the needmeeting action choices which are driven by faulty beliefs that are often outside the conscious awareness, or those driven solely by bodily responses. Identifying needs can be accomplished then from both good and bad experiences and can allow adults of any age to understand and take control of their current developmental challenges.
This might appear to be somewhat confusing and difficult, but by keeping in mind that whatever action we take out of habit or choice, carries with it an experience of joy, or an absence thereof, we can begin to come to terms with our gems and slivers.

We know now that the human needs drive humans to serve their three purposes. Beliefs are formed based upon need-meeting experiences. Nothing should be in the mind except that which has helped to meet the needs. However, this does not mean that every belief ever adopted is worth having. Developing the mind is like building a wardrobe. Beliefs are like clothing that suit the occasion, the climate and the tasks at hand. The moment the belief is no longer sufficient, it will elicit emotional pain when it is worn in public. Likewise, any belief that is a classic, that serves all three purposes, will never go out of style by eliciting emotional pain in any environment. These are the gems to collect and share with the world. The old outdated beliefs never reused can simply rot away on old hangers in the mind for lack of use. Memory is very flexible this way.
In order to fit in socially at a particular age, in a particular environment, we might elect to adopt a belief that is not the best for our long term interest. Because it is momentarily, socially acceptable, we enjoy the pleasure it provides. Later, when we come to realize that this "belief" is less accepted, we have difficulty putting it aside. Teenage smoking could be an example of this.

But any garment of belief can be donned at any moment, depending on the need-meeting requirements of the situation. The enlightened adult will automatically tailor the beliefs as needed. A belief may have been adopted that was useful in some past situation that is no longer applicable, served a purpose at the expense of another, or is could be a piece of cultural knowledge that limits or rejects some aspect of human nature. Any of these
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kinds of beliefs become slivers, red-flagged by emotional pain. The needs themselves, when examined at any point upon the life path, will provide patterns to assist the tailor in all such mental redesign.
A racial attitude that served one well in one decade, might cause embarrassment in another. Just as we shift the type of clothing from one period in our life to another, so we shift our beliefs from one stage to another, even though the shift may be a difficult one to make.

Accessing Core Beliefs We have just discussed how early enculturation can set the mental stage, in both good and bad ways. The early learning experiences will fill the mind's closets with garments of belief. Any painful belief still employed from childhood, will offer a potentially dramatic opportunity for learning and self empowerment. There is a common myth that access to these beliefs is difficult, if not impossible, without advice and counsel from therapists.
A myth no doubt fostered and encouraged by those established in the trade. It follows in the footsteps of the "fire brigade" mentality of the medical profession. These "Lessons", if taken seriously, might be considered a threat to many established professions.

But this myth has endured not because such beliefs are truly inaccessible, but because they are often carefully defended and protected from examination. These core issues are at the center of very complex edifices of belief and lie hidden from the conscious awareness by years of resistance and defensive habits. It is simply that if the mind has certainty about any belief, it no longer needs to look at it. Certainty is not a desirous aspect of a dynamic ever-changing mind. Simply looking at those steadfast certainties with newfound self-understanding will be very enlightening. It is not necessary to spend hours upon a psychoanalyst's couch revisiting childhood to find these sources, particularly if there are slivers within the belief systems of such therapists, or if they seek to create a market for dependence upon their services.
A closed mind is also a stagnant mind, which is at total variance to the dynamics of everything we observe in the physical universe. With proper intention, we have the full capability of getting to know ourselves to a much better degree than anyone else, even those in a professional capacity, trained and skilled in doing so. These "dependence upon...services" as a part of our social-economic complex is
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a subject that much could be written about. However, in this particular context, I will refrain from elaborating. Suffice to say that a goodly portion of how most of us make our living is (or has been) tied to a mindset that does not wish to upset the status quo.

This is a misguided approach, unless the therapeutic helper is offering selfliberating and empowering information such as that contained in these Lessons. Far more damage than good can come from delving into the supposed dark recesses of one's "subconscious" mind for hidden and repressed experiences and memories, or covering emotional pain with chemical prescriptions. For any problem that exists, any sliver held in the mind, will surely present itself in daily living. Any garment that is not needed will never be taken from the closet and will naturally fade from memory. More enlightened therapeutic approaches already embrace this universal truth, and look to the present life events for clues of the faulty contents of mind. What they do not yet know is how easily the accompanying emotional cues lead to these sources.
These "Lessons" are no quick and easy solution to what may ail us in the three categories we are discussing. Anyone who has read this material so far, should agree with that statement. But this material is setting us up for a more willing acceptance of the help we can provide for ourselves.

When humans begin to embrace the voice of spirit, they reclaim an internal guidance counselor far superior to even the most revered doctors of mind. All the information they need will come straight from the signals of spirit, through the feelings of pleasure and pain. From there, they will immediately examine the situation that has just occurred and see which needs and which belief systems are involved. The logical, organizing, and deductive powers of mind can be utilized to think through new strategies which can replace the old. Recognizing the meaning of emotional signals alone can immediately bring awareness of strategies that deny, defend, or resist the reality of a given situation---many of which create the problems that arise in daily living.
There is a spiritual admonition to "Know Thy Inner Self". There is no further instruction to go outside of ourselves and find others to carry out this directive, because such "instruction" is not necessary. It would be like a pianist finding someone else to play the keys of his own piano.

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A good starting place is to first examine the daily life events for any situation that invokes the feeling of joy. We know now that joy is the spirit's song telling us that plans worked out even better than we had expected. It is the signal from spirit that needs have been met at even higher levels than we'd hoped. This feeling tells the mind that something just worked, and worked very well. It asks the mind to do more of this, and to come up with other similar strategies that allow this feeling to come more and more often. The feeling of joy can relate to any of the needs. Identifying and establishing a lifestyle filled with healthy pleasures can reduce pain levels substantially, as well as reduce the motivation toward unhealthy momentary escapist pleasures.
So many of the "pains" of life are dealt with through the use of the "escapist pleasures" that it is not difficult to spot those in our society who are in the most emotional discomfort.

But the most revealing and urgent feelings will be those that hurt. Each will be connected to one of the innate needs of body. Many unnecessary limitations exist within every cultural tradition which deny legitimate human need-meeting choices. It is important to keep in mind that truly adult choices of mind do not accept unnecessary limitations placed upon the desires of spirit, no matter how convincing and culturally accepted. The choices for some may not be the choices for others, and the Divine right of free will is the gift of the Creator. To date, many activities which are judged as unacceptable, or morally wrong by some are, in fact, very legitimate choices according to spirit. Any activity or lifestyle that meets all three human purposes without violation of another is a perfectly acceptable choice. It will prove itself as such by not invoking painful feelings.
If it makes you feel good (doing no harm to anyone else) and continues to do so, even after you've completed it, such would suggest that spirit finds no fault in the activity. Traditional moralists might take issue with such a statement, but constricting codes of morality are examples of a static state of mind and, again, in contradiction to a dynamic universe.

The positive and negative emotional cues will paint a picture of how well the needs are currently being met. The key to the most broad and inclusive development is to maintain a balance between and among the various needs. Some can be postponed for long-range goals, while others come to
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the fore. But in a larger sense, all must be met in a balanced way, or there are likely to be telltale signs in patterns of behavior. We now know of the meaning within events that are attracted and the challenge of finding the limiting beliefs which empowered them. And of course, the telltale feeling signals of spirit accompany each such experience, so that we can make corrections.
If we attract what we fear, it is a necessary part of the process to encourage us to conquer these "fears" by seeing them for the slivers that they are.

Needs And Life Stages The universal human needs drive actions and the actions result in learning experiences. A learning experience imparts something into the mind of the learner, right or wrong, good or bad. Some vestige of the experience stays behind in memory to provide information for future strategies. When these pieces of lingering information are not passed before the spiritual adjudicator, they become foundations for related beliefs, creating quite complex ways of thinking and acting, which may very severely limit the spirit. The earlier the sliver is allowed in, the more important it will be to find it and remove it and all of its relatives. When such basic foundational beliefs/slivers are removed, there can be quite dramatic life changes, all resulting in additional enlightenment and empowerment.
There is a process in place and operates in the general course of living one's life. How we use this "process" to best benefit ourselves is a choice we can make at any moment, and do.

They will each relate to needs, and will correspond to what have been called life stages. There have been many ideas set forth about the stage of human development beyond the early years, the most famous of which is the inevitable "mid-life-crisis". The age-groups for stages offered here are very loose and general, for there are no truly universal patterns. The progress of each individual is solely dependent upon the free will and choices of mind. Also, the human body can live a great deal longer than is currently the expected norm.
There is a tendency to judge people and decide where they should be at a particular stage in life. Parents are most prone to do this with their children. We forget that there are no absolutes in the process of growth. Economic success, for
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example, can exist alongside of emotional failure and vice versa in another period of one's life.

But looking to the milestones of life for relational patterns can greatly increase self-understanding and development. Most important is the common thread between them---how they relate to human needs. By grand design, fulfilling the needs of the body is the stepping stone to purposeful living. The needs will motivate all three purposes, yet the beliefs of mind may only allow them to be partially met. In such cases, body might take over with self-preservationary responses to meet the needs temporarily in ways that go against long-term goals or other needs. For an adult body cares less about connection than it does freedom and power, if the prevailing conditions for connection compromise them. Oftentimes, choices of mind force the body to choose and its prime directive is simply survival.
The mind may wish to take a certain risk in order to gain its concept of freedom and/or power, but the body (concerned with survival of the physical) will override the minds decision with the emotional override of fear, altering the decision to take an unnecessary risk.

All needs will be apparent at every life stage, but over the lifetime, there are periods where certain needs take center stage. They are punctuated by periods of self-reflection which are meant to foster corrective action for debilitating patterns that have emerged over time. The individual is intended to be able to notice patterns of frustration, long-range moods, learning personality traits and attitudes which bring emotional pain that has emerged from slivers that have not yet been corrected. There is a spiritual significance in the number four. There are four-day, four-month and four-year cycles in which the spirit will allow certain building up of frustration, and then a necessary venting. These cycles are intended to draw attention to the cycle of human action, the feeling signals and how the beliefs are at the core of any problem. Each cycle offers a pattern that the need for meaning motivates the individual to notice and explore.
This might take the concept of a "leap year", which occurs every four years and reduce it down to the "month" and "day" periods, making it a normal part of the natural cycle of things, adding credence to this suggested system.

For each day provides a chance for a new beginning, and the needs interact
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over the life course to bring conscious awareness of the developmental challenge. We will now discuss each of the needs and how their frustration presents itself in certain patterns and life experiences. This information can further assist in the individual's development process, with additional methods to find and correct mental slivers.
There is no period in our lives that does not allow us the opportunity to explore and expand our nature, on all three levels.

Earliest Years: Trust & Connection The first to consider is the connection need. We have just discussed the infant vulnerability, the enculturation process, and the early developmental challenges. The earliest of developmental milestones includes the primal connection with the world and trust that it will accommodate efforts by the individual. If the child survives neglect or abuse, there will be incompletions and lingering doubts about the depth of a loving connection. They will manifest in situations of fear, mistrust, and a lack of faith. This sliver will be built into the very definition of the intimate relationship, affecting communication, cooperation, and intimacy. Not all such humans will become criminals and outcasts, but all subsequent relationships will be affected to some degree by such slivers.
When children bear children and begin the rearing process without the emotional development and support necessary to practice the type of dedication that a parent owes a newborn child, the consequences are long term and difficult to reverse. The status of parenthood needs to be elevated in every society, to the point that the society supports and favors the same highest possible level of support for all its citizens.

The unmet need for connection will become a prime motivation, even exaggerated in ways that a neediness and fear of abandonment will drive the individual to neurotic actions to keep such things from happening. Strategies of deception, people-pleasing, and avoidance will replace the faithful and trusting intimacy necessary for communication and love. Yet the very beliefs that base the fears, will motivate actions that will most surely manifest abandonment and loss situations.
No amount of superficial financial aid can replace a deep appreciation for and broad understanding of those values that make for complete and natural
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parenting. Without the latter, the former is simply ineffective.

Thus, life situations that arise can provide additional clues to expose the underlying beliefs. There are no accidents. Each event will accurately reflect the beliefs of the mind that called it forth. Events which affect relationships are likely signs to examine the strategies for meeting the connection need. Divorces, breakups of partnerships, scrapes with the law, even very dramatic, complex loss situations will be manifested---all so that the connection need can be noticed and met within all three human purposes.
In an ironic fashion, those negative experiences that we have in our relationships with other human beings are the signposts along the way that can direct us in our struggle to overcome the handicaps given to us in the earliest stage of our lives. We need only begin to appreciate them for what they are.

Fear, ranging from mild anxiety to blinding fright will characterize this unsatisfied developmental need. Fear of vulnerability and abandonment might be buried quite deep within layers of avoidant strategies, bravado, or image, but it will surely be there, interfering with each and every intimate relationship. It will also interfere with normal day-to-day cooperation among humans. For underneath the surface beliefs will be the nagging "truth" that others will take advantage of you if you choose to fully trust and cooperate. Evasive actions will be taken to ensure the vulnerability is never exposed, or angry explosive rejections will create chasms between "us and them". But, of course, true connection and intimacy and the joyous loving rewards of spirit will remain at bay.
Because the understanding of our world, as presented by our media, is so saturated with stories of those who take advantage of the trust people place in others, the effort to alter the atmosphere of cynicism will take more than a recognition of the problem.

Ages 1-20: Freedom & Power Another early formative belief is how one views their freedom of movement and personal power. A faulty belief structure regarding one's freedom will result in angry rebellion and a lack of ability to adapt and cooperate within normal, non-threatening constructions and guidelines. Slivers regarding one's power will result in a motivation to over-control
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self or others, or to resist any form of control placed upon themselves. Slivers can spring from early life experiences that lack freedom or opportunity to learn that one's destiny is their own. Over-controlling parents, rigidly limiting worldviews, and lack of just and equal opportunities, can all convince a human that one must compete and win, lest someone dominate and control their choices. This strategy sacrifices true connection and cooperation, and limits life's purpose to that of selfpreservation.
The well-meant tendency to protect children can result in a parent believing that if something bad happens to a child, he/she will be regarded as failed parents. Thus, the greater the control of the child, the greater adherence to selfpreservation, which eventually passes on to the child's view of the world, along with all its consequences.

Instead, the early learning experiences must deliver the gems that each individual is the sole determinant of their life experience. First, there must be a healthy separation or sense of individual identity within the context of connection with others. This is a healthy sense of self value and respect offered by the world, a rightful assurance of mental and physical freedom. Second , there must be a sense of accountability for one's actions, with the understanding that one takes the initiative to make things happen and then takes responsibility for what has happened. And third, that the effort to honor the inner destiny is always put forth to live fully, to create and express their unique gift.
Freedom, responsibility and the capability of creativity are the linchpins that form the foundation of true adult behavior later in life.

Together, these gems meet power and freedom needs and manifest into a strong sense of self-purpose, a solid work ethic, and an inner reward system to allow efficient success in purposeful living. Without them, there will be feeling experiences of doubt, guilt, shame, inferiority, and lack of self-esteem. The events and patterns of life will be those of dependency, blaming, lack of faith, resistance to learning, an exaggerated longing for external approval, and a general lack of self-sufficiency.
If one looks at the lives which reflect the latter "events and patterns", described above, and examines the life of these individuals from early childhood to adulthood, the environment of their growth should be connected to their current
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state of mind, in most cases.

These primary needs for connection, freedom, and power are best accommodated by developing successful strategies of mind during the first two decades of life. This is the period that is normally considered childhood, adolescence, and the teen years, which mark the successful transition into adulthood. This period varies, depending upon the complexity of the culture, with some systems instilling the basics much earlier. Disruptive, chaotic and non-accommodating experiences will leave need deficits, faulty beliefs and strategies, and their telltale actions and feelings.
It would seem that the more complicated the lives of the parents, the less attention given to the rearing of children. When a lack of care and guidance evolves, so also does a lack of understanding of self along the line of the three categories listed in an earlier paragraph.

When one is seeking enlightenment and empowerment, looking to these fundamental needs can be a most beneficial approach to ongoing development of mind. For most every human being, born of the modern world cannot help but be influenced by the many slivers held within mass consciousness. It can be extremely beneficial to look to problems in areas of intimacy, control and self-confidence to identify and correct any limiting contents of mind.
The earlier in one's life that this effort is made, the more easily the corrections of mind can be put in place. The younger the branch, the more easily it bends. Grandparents who have come to these new realizations have a greater opportunity of planting the proper gems than parents, involved in the responsibilities of economic support, so seemingly required in today's society.

Independence, Creativity & Early Adulthood In early adulthood, the 20's and 30's, each of these fundamental needmeeting strategies will be called upon during the primary choices of partnership, professional direction, and the starting of a family. Dreams are declared, plans are made and alliances are formed. Problems and issues that arise during this time period can call to light the early slivers. Parenting one's own children offers a second chance to purposefully instill the most rewarding mental landscape as previously discussed.
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In other words, young adults can endeavor to identify the virtues and shortcomings of their parents and vow to live the best possible lives they can, as well as exercise and pass on the gems they have identified.

But parenthood also provides an opportunity for a rebirth of sorts. A mature commitment to self-development can allow the young adult to analyze and recreate within their own mindscape those desirable traits they seek to offer their children. If there are any emotions connected with the parents of those now parenting themselves, these can be excellent clues for the need to address these issues. This time period can provide an opportunity to review the early years with compassion, forgiveness, and faith in spirit.
In the most natural of settings, parents of different generations can compare perspectives, exchange views and, where it is agreed that mistakes were made, find a healing that will surely benefit the next generation to follow.

Then, toward the end of early adulthood, there will come a time of settling into making conscious choices and productively creating. The plans will be carried out during this period. The need for creativity will come to center stage. The spirit will yearn for purposeful living and producing something lasting and meaningful. This will be the time when the urge to start a family will come to the fore, if it has not already. Biological clocks will begin ticking and life will be examined for additional outlets for creative impulses. The urge to make something of one's life will dominate.
At this point, young men and women will marry, settle down and begin to create future versions of themselves, in a secure environment where both are devoted to the making of a better world. Also, at this point, their parents will sound a great sigh of relief.

If creativity is stifled within the lifestyle choices, the need will manifest in other ways. Hobbies and artistic outlets can be helpful when added to the primary profession, as long as they don't become escapes themselves. Any strong compulsion to do something shows that it is meeting a need. If the creativity need (or any need for that matter) is stifled, that emotional energy might be channeled into any other type of need-meeting or escapist activity.
Adopting that which will serve as an outlet for the creative need, making time for it and keeping it as one's own, can serve as a stabilizing force in the day to
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day burdens of responsibility.

This stage of life is a good time to ensure that balance is attained between and among all needs and purposes. A telltale sign of emotional frustration will be any one activity or tendency that takes more time than its products might warrant. Of course, the destructive activities are already acknowledged as those to eliminate, but some positive ones can also begin to go beyond their own needed purpose if balance is not achieved. An analysis of one's daily time schedule measured against its effectiveness for meeting each need and serving each purpose can be an excellent way toward improving balance.
There is a temptation in modern society to invest an excessive amount of our time in the source of our income, in other words, too many of today's young and middle aged adults are evolving into work-alcoholics. While the monetary and prestige rewards result, the spiritual loss down the road will be most difficult to retrieve.

Midlife Evaluation: Meaning & Esteem Then will come a period of self-reflection and life analysis. During the 40's, 50's, or even the 60's, the inner urge for meaning will come to the fore to analyze and evaluate the first half of life. Emotional frustration in many areas will become less tolerable as the spirit yearns for purposeful living. Feelings of sadness, loss of hopes and dreams, and general discontent will motivate new beginnings. If continuous self-development has not been occurring, the level of spiritual frustration will build until perhaps some crisis event forces the issues to center stage.
The conventional term for this condition is "mid-life crisis". It's usually described as that point in one's life when one realizes that he/she is not likely to realize that earlier ambition because the price was too high. These are usually materialistic goals because spiritual goals do not have this type of defined limitation.

A revisiting of early dreams and an assessment of what went wrong are now in order. Self esteem and confidence should be propelling one along the destiny path at this point. Life revolves around successful relationships, professions, community leadership roles, active parenting and other creative pursuits. If the professional avenues are not creatively rewarding,
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new challenges might be assumed. This will be a time when mental and physical tolerance for unhappiness is particularly low, and conscious, purposeful changes must be made.
We reach that certain stage in life when we realize that the opinions that others have to offer about us and what we want to achieve are not anywhere as good as what we know internally. This is when we begin to develop greater faith in our own judgment and, more importantly, our instincts.

In fact, physical malady and illness might present itself as the body's way of expressing its emotional frustration of any unmet need. The body can assume exaggerated or weakened immune responses, create tumors, or otherwise scuttle itself if emotional frustration has become a daily reality. Special care and attention to the maintenance and respect of the body is particularly important. Such physical clues can also shed light upon the underlying belief sources and need deficits. Information of this nature is readily accessible, should humans choose to analyze their own needs, their strategies for meeting them and how well they feel they are being met.
Our physical bodies do communicate with our mental and spiritual natures on a regular basis. Anyone who has ever read the writings of Louise Hayes is familiar with this concept.

The Golden Years Upon retirement from workaday activities, there will come a time for reflecting. Although it is never too late to make dramatic changes in one's life, with the Golden Years comes a certain acceptance about how the life has unfolded. The spirit still yearns for development and expression, but it relaxes a bit. It recognizes the inevitable ending to the life and accepts the inevitability of certain limitations of mind, yet it desires a great deal of reflection at this point. This will be a time to find patterns of meaning, the gleaning of wisdom from the life experiences and expressing them in new ways.
At such a milestone in a life, one can choose to wind down and turn off, or like any other milestone, i.e. graduation, marriage, parenthood, it can serve as a beginning of a renewed adventure, with certain limitations and certain earned comforts.

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The Golden Years are a time of peaceful reflection and sharing of wisdom. They enjoy the maximum level of remembered experience, wherein generations can be seen and the major patterns of life lie before the mind of experience. It will be a time for tremendous connection with loved ones and with the world. It will be a time of powerful leadership, wisdom and guidance for the most spiritually fulfilled. There may never be an official period of retirement, yet the activity level and participation takes on a more guiding rather than driving role.
This would result in a period of adjustment both for the one in this new environment and for those who have not yet reached that point, as each views the other with revised feelings.

Or, it will be a time of pain and despair, if deadly habits have survived this long. There will be a necessary isolation from humanity, even misanthropy if a measure of spiritual peace has not been attained. The stereotype of the crotchety old person captures such a path. The particular patterns of emotion will still offer a wealth of self-evaluative information, and it will spill over onto others as the elders become ever more dependent. This is a time when younger generations can play active roles in the reopening of minds and fostering purposeful living in their own parents.
The role that the "older" will play in relation to the "younger" can be one of positive example and one of negative dependency. With more leisure time on hand, dormant interests can now get the attention they deserve. On the other hand, self pity can make one most unattractive to be around. Free will is still in place.

Death & Dying The final stage of life is the transition from the physical realm and is known as death. Human beings are meant to be aware and in control of the time to let go of life. An enlightened mind will intuit the coming event and allow sufficient time to wind down and achieve closure on any life projects. (When the species evolves in its mass enlightenment, death itself will take on new meaning.) In the present world, this final stage is a time of the most profound need for meaning, and of attaining a spiritual connection.

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We will come to understand that there is no "death", in the sense that we now view it. It will be regarded more as a transition experience, not frightening or threatening, but as a "birth" into another state of being.

The death process need not be fearsome or painful, or resisted. Yet, limiting beliefs and misguided cultural traditions and technologies of prolonging life at all costs, have virtually redefined it. Instead, the process can be a joyous culmination of the life experiences, the opportunity for accomplishing a final and everlasting connection with loved ones, replete with any ceremonial, ritualistic or traditional trimmings imaginable by the individual.
The perfect death would be one that can be planned for and can include those connections and conversations that bring closure to that which might need healing or awakening before one's final departure. It should be a chance to make the experience as painless for those to be left behind as is possible.

The final period of life will offer a mental flexibility in ways likened to the plasticity of consciousness upon the birth. The dream-world will become more significant as the mind experiments with altered states of conscious focus. Individuals who practice and become comfortable and gain a degree of conscious control during dream adventures can aid their transition. The mind might slip in and out of its normal focus quite often, as the spirit flexes and alters its vibratory rate, in preparation for its journey home.
Those less enlightened souls remaining in the physical might view the departing person's state as being delusionary when, in fact, it is simply part of a preparatory experience designed to aid in the transition. It can also be regarded as a "window" into the next state of being, valuable to both the departing and the remaining.

The current mass consciousness in most cultures promotes the denial of the death experience altogether. Etiquette books suggest pretending that health will be restored in even the gravest of cases. But such advice wastes a powerful opportunity for humans to reach out and to achieve closure and reconnection, and especially to heal old wounds with compassion and forgiveness. This provides emotional rewards to all involved, for if such is not achieved, the ones left behind are to linger in guilt, fear, anger and sadness noting their spiritual frustration. The entity passing on, however, will leave behind the limitations of mind that created the life experience.
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The experience will broaden as consciousness becomes reoriented. The spirit returns to its unrestricted arena beyond time/space, but in which spiritual wisdom and feeling tone remains everlasting. Communications expressed to the dearly departed enveloped in love energy will most certainly be received.
Knowledge about the next stage of "life" is so poorly explored that the fear connected with the "death" concept is bound to remain. Were the subject more accepted, it is likely that those remaining in the physical would be experiencing more contact and helpful communication from those who have gone on.

Loved ones left behind experiencing any lingering pain can attain closure by promptly utilizing verbal or visualization techniques enveloping the communications and images within love energy. Faith in spirit, compassion and forgiveness can allow each and every painful memory to be replaced by more spiritually desirous understandings and interpretations of interactions with the departed one.
We, in this physical state, have daily opportunities to resolve unfinished "business" with those who have gone ahead of us. We need simply make such our intent, utilizing our senses to express that which we feel, toward that end.

The essence of each stage of human development is the challenge to attain life strategies and activities that allow purposeful living. At every point in life, embracing developmental responsibility and all that it implies will keep the individual upon the Destiny Path. Understanding the unique purposes of body to survive, of mind to learn and create, and of spirit to express, can guide each decision to consciously, purposefully and cooperatively act rather than unconsciously, indiscriminately, and competitively react. Understanding how the six universal needs move the body and mind toward purposeful choice of thought and action can provide information in each moment that will allow for maximum happiness and spiritual fulfillment.
Knowledge brings us the power to create with intelligent and compassionate purpose. We are most content when we are exercising our free will in this creative posture.

The life-course, however meaningful to its owner, beyond time/space has its own brand of significance. The past, as humans think of it, matters not
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to spirit in the grandest scheme. It matters not how the early development proceeded, even if there were serious violations, injustices and lacks of freedom and opportunity, that the urgings of spirit could not correct at the time. For each entity has the power in every moment to develop and even re-invent the mind. It matters not to spirit the prior levels of frustration and pain, the amount of misguided thoughts and actions, or even the enduring personality patterns that have emerged from such limitations. Development and renewal awaits in every moment.
What does not matter to "spirit" should not be of primary importance to us either. What is past is truly past and each new day in this physical environment is a first day in our ongoing existence.

What does matter is that spirit is eventually heard. This can occur at any point along the life path. To begin immediately to allow the feeling signals to lead the mind to its most ingrained, foundational beliefs for an audience with the spiritual adjudicator, is to reclaim the willful design of mind and to honor the spirit. The spirit patiently awaits its opportunity to begin to live.
All this should give new meaning to the Christian prayer: The "Our Father" However, it does require that we understand that the "Father" referred to is, in fact, our own spiritual nature, waiting to be expressive. One has to presume that since "spirit" exists outside of the confines of physical time, patience is a virtue that is much more easily exercised.

Accepting developmental responsibility can offer just that. With understandings in place regarding what it means to be human, we can now proceed to discuss, what it means to be human among other humans in Earthly experience.

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Section Epsilon Lesson One: Implications For Morality Introduction The implications of spiritual reconnection have profound impact upon how humans think of morality. Morality is that which seeks to distinguish the right from the wrong and the good from the bad, so that right and good actions can be chosen, and wrong and bad actions can be avoided. Morality is a virtue that operates as an inner behavioral guide.
We sometimes refer to this as our conscience, but it is more than that because, if I understand these lessons correctly, "conscience" is that which is developed by what we are taught from an outside source, while spiritual guidance is an innate part of us because of our spiritual nature as beings and is uniformly the same, as spirit is the same as it relates to human beings. While "spirit" is a constant conscience is a variable and dependent upon societal guidelines.

Although morality should spring from within, human groupings have devised rules, codes and laws which set forth externally controlled morality. Privileges, perquisites and promises of spiritual reward are offered to those who follow the moral path. Likewise, punishments are doled out for breaches of conduct ranging from the painful disconnection of shunning to the vengeful act of capital murder. But this human form of carrot and stick, bribe and threat morality has only been necessary since humans have not yet understood how to connect with their inner natural morality. Indeed, humans are born equipped with an innate morality predicated upon a unison between the purposes of body, mind, and spirit. The voice of spirit endows humans with an innate morality, complete with safeguards, which is far superior to any human attempt at defining external behavioral controls or guidance.
Morality should spring from "within" because it is spirit driven, as previously indicated. When externally driven, it carries a great deal of unnecessary baggage with it and usually fails in the effort to lift human beings to a higher spiritual potential. Because "controls" are essential to institutions and also justify their existence, encouraging people to self-govern themselves would only lead to a dissolution of these institutions and is, thus, considered threatening to them.

The external moral and legal rules conflict with one another in the modern interconnected world, and can wreak havoc upon the emergence of the
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necessary global consensus. But worse yet, behavioral dictates which ignore, deny, or judge any aspect of human nature, will interfere with the biological legislation of human nature. Moral codes which are based upon inaccurate declarations about humanity, masquerading as cultural "truth", only further erode the connection between body, mind, and spirit.
Just as the puritan influence formulated a great deal of legislation over the history of our own country, so other countries have been influenced by predominant religious philosophies, causing more moral confusion than guidance, especially in a country made up of people of such varying cultural backgrounds as ours.

In doing so, they continue to pit humans' minds against their own bodies and short circuit the emotional communication between them, ensuring that the bodily safeguards will rule human action. Until humans achieve understanding of the inner guidance, they are doomed to a never-ending cycle of inappropriate self-preservationary actions that keep them at a moral level far beneath their potential. Unenlightened behavioral codes set in motion a cycle which guarantees purposeless, amoral actions in the truest sense of the word.
Where moral guidance is not consistent, "amoral" action is consequential. Also, moral teachings which are at odds (i.e. drinking alcohol in moderation is alright vs. drinking any alcohol at all is a sin), tend to create confusion and social conflict where none need exist.

Morality is ultimately about judgment, and as we now know, only the spirit with its knowledge of divine intention can accurately judge. It is simply a matter of restoring the self-understandings which reunite body, mind, and spirit and align the purposes in each action. Phase one of this restoration will be the removal of any inaccurate, judgmental beliefs about human nature. One particularly damaging assumption about humanity deserves first mention in the moral discussion.
There are always those who suffer from a false sense of moral superiority and "they" are the most prone to harshly judge their fellow human beings.

Biological Hedonism The English word hedonism has become tarnished by dogmatic assertions of religion. So much so, that its original enlightened offering is now lost.
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But those that coined the term, had captured a universal truth. That which feels pleasant is intrinsically good. These original ethical philosophers had embraced the idea that the Creator knew best how to orient human beings, and endowed the human creation with pleasure and pain as guidance. They had an intuitive awareness of an intentional, biological, divine predestiny despite the heavy misconceptions of external morality offered in their day.
Even though the admonition, "If it feels good, do it!", seems to smack of a form of social decadence, it reminds us that we need not feel guilty simply because what we're doing makes us happy. To do so would be to throw us back into the "Puritanism" mentality that made even laughing a near sin.

They understood that emotion was somehow meaningful. Unfortunately, they did not yet understand the divisions between body, mind, and spirit, nor the potential conflicting purposes, enough to explain the selfpreservationary impulse. Pleasure and pain seemed instead to only motivate selfish, competitive, basal pursuits which did not bode well with the social order. Thus, their work was largely rejected for the lesschallenging concept of sin. It was easier to explain pleasure and pain within a universe of good and bad forces, evidencing a flawed nature wherein humans succumb to the temptations of evil. But as should be clear, human actions follow pleasure and avoid pain---without exception. Until this is accepted, evolution will be stymied.
Imagine the constraints on evolving if this natural form of guidance did not exist. The very term "human" would represent a creature that conducts himself/herself solely on the basis of defined, dogmatic restraints. Impulse to stray from the established code would be consistently punished and creativity would cease to be allowed. Societies that have come close to adopting this rigidity have nearly destroyed the world.

The word hedonism should take on its rightful and just divinity. For it is the mechanism which provides an unerring guide toward purposeful selfdiscovery, yet without interfering with complete freedom of will. It is only in freely bringing the mind to this understanding that the guidance can emerge. Mindfully observing the meaningful patterns, the hardwired reaction of body, coupled with the mental analytical abilities, and the spiritual need for meaning, will lead eventually to the messages within these Lessons. (For each of the Creator's systems comes complete with its own evolutionary wisdom and balancing thrust, either leading to its purpose, or a cleansing to start over).
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In other words, the road to recovering our spiritual nature leads either toward that goal, or if detoured, loops back to try again and again until time, as we know it, ceases to exist.

The basic impulses toward the good and away from the bad provide the most supreme guidance, regardless of what laws or Holy books might declare. Hedonism merely follows the six basic human needs, calling humans to approach that which feels good and to avoid that which feels bad. These forces will lead to the discovery of the higher purposes, and to the recognition that all amorality springs from action strategies that do not meet all three purposes.
In the final analysis, we can not be permanently deterred from evolving physically, mentally, and spiritually regardless of how many institutions we may create to stifle this natural impulse.

Psychological---indeed biological---hedonism is the essential, first foundational principle upon which any social grouping must be built. In fact, it was one of the primary reasons for the unit of the United States, which now exists as a microcosm for the global community. This particular community arose with the express goal of avoiding the historical limitations of forms of government that prevented the necessary freedom and empowerment of its people. Therefore, the official legal documents set forth the intention for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This has been the unrecognized basis for most of this country's successes, although much progress is still needed.
One can hardly argue with the basic principles upon which one's own society is founded without confounding one's very patriotism. It's hard to argue with success.

Multiple Meanings of Emotional Signals The validity and divinity of hedonism has remained elusive because the role of emotion has not been discovered. Since the signals themselves have been falling upon deaf ears, their complex messages have not been able to provide their purposeful guidance. The message is only complex to the degree that it addresses all three purposes. It is not difficult to understand them, unless it is unclear that they have specific meanings for body, for
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mind, and for spirit---all of which must be considered to guide any action choice.
The reception of emotional messages does require a certain cultivation of mind, a willingness to consider the possibility of such a system being in place. Before one gets to that point, one has to accept that he/she is a spiritual being, first and foremost and that this physical existence is an intended experience with a purpose.

We know now that the emotional signals mean to body: "Act in ways that will self-preserve." We know that the emotional signals tell the mind: "Act in ways that will self-develop." And that they urge from spirit: "Act in ways that self-express within the world." Although this is fairly straightforward, there are so many limiting ideas set forth about emotion, human nature, and the need for external controls, that it is no surprise that this fabulous gift from the Creator has gone unnoticed.
To preserve self, to develop self and to express self have to represent the essence of our nature and purpose. To quiet ourselves sufficiently to listen is the challenge of our age. While we may act in an instinctive way to preserve ourselves physically, we tend to use our mental messages to simply enhance our self-preservation and our spirit guidance is too often diverted to the same end.

There now exist so many conflicting behavioral directives about how to go about the pursuit of happiness, that the United States is crippled within its own confusion. Hedonism, is but one of many whirling, swirling, conflicting, judgment calls within mass consciousness--- cultural "truths" about human nature. They are more accurately described as spiritual falsities that perpetuate this self-limiting cycle of infighting and selfpreservation. The result is another emotion laden concept. For this cycle creates the illusion of "evil."
While "New Age" types and "Fundamentalists" are busy looking down their self-satisfied noses at each other, major religions and philosophies are preoccupied in exaggerating their differences and scaring their members into believing that some other belief system is really a "threat" to all that they hold dear.

The Concept of Evil Evil springs from the valid idea of purposeless or backward living---even the word live spelled backward becomes evil. Evil is simply the outcome
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of when something prevents the natural morality from leading humans upon their intended life course. Evil is anti-progressive, and antipurposeful living, nothing more, and nothing less. There is no evil force that doles out rewarding good feelings for bad actions. Good feelings always serve some intended purpose. But they can motivate violations upon self and others unless all levels of purpose are considered simultaneously. There is no room for the concept of evil when the body, mind, and spirit work together in each action. It becomes as obsolete as the stone knife, for it is but a temporary bridge to the higher understanding of natural morality.
Evil not only has no purpose in our lives, it has no power other than that which we give it by adopting belief systems that institutions use to manipulate us. When we are in touch with our true spirit, there need be no fear that we will err, so long as we devote ourselves to preserving, developing and expressing ourselves.

The concept of sin is its counterpart, which captures any behavior that violates the purposes of self or others. Sin, of course, is nothing more than a self-preservationary action outside of the higher purposes. Many humans think themselves to be sinful, weak, flawed creations, who must throw themselves on the mercy of some higher power simply for being what they are. Any hope of learning or purposeful self-development then falls to rigid forms of external control which further confuse and short-circuit the feeling system, leaving such humans virtually disempowered. The concept of sin itself is far more evil than any action labeled as such.
It is when we stray from purposeful living that we are tempted to think of ourselves as lesser beings. Those who capitalized upon this self-deprecation are simply using that state of mind to control us further. When we elect to weaken ourselves internally, we make ourselves vulnerable to outside control.

Excitement And Morality Sin has been attributed to many of the most basic of human processes which operate upon the principle of pleasure and pain. Thus, hedonism has taken the rap for the inevitable pitfalls which spring from misunderstanding the emotional system. The emotional system is indeed the intended guide to natural morality, but its arousal and action components have drawn human suspicion since time untold. For it is often
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the excitement of body that dictates behavior when the mind is not purposefully engaged, throwing fear into the hearts of those who seek to control human action.
Spontaneous expression is considered almost more threatening than an uncontrolled nuclear reaction. Institutional control will not fade until there is greater trust and faith in the innate goodness of human beings both in others and in ourselves. Then, pure joy will truly be appreciated for its "pureness" .

Humans love the thrill of excitement. This is the energized, alive feeling that accompanies emotional arousal. Whether it is great love, great anger, great joy, or great fear, the body revs up for action. The heart races, the hormones flow, the endorphins surge, and the muscles receive energy to act. The experience itself can be quite intoxicating and rewarding. This is why there have arisen so many activities for thrill seekers, and just as many aspersions cast upon excitement itself.
When misused in the hands of political or religious institutions, whole populations can be aroused to feel hate toward other populations and/or their respective leaders. From this can follow military action and the setting up of an eye-for-an-eye saga that can go on for generations.

Throughout the world, the universality of human excitement can be seen, from artistic and literary offerings for vicarious passion and excitement, to daredevil exhibitions and roller-coaster theme parks. There are entire industries based upon thrilling competitions, from the early arenas of the gladiators to the modern sports stadiums brimming with emotional spectators. With the technology of today, television and computers bring all types of vicarious interactions right into the home.
The passion for one's team can be so pronounced that households can become divided and genuine feelings of anger can be misdirected with little justification. In a larger sense, people have been known to die over the outcome of a "sporting" event.

Excitement itself has become associated with the confusion about feelings. This is because of the inaccurate interpretations of feeling and the inevitable self-preservationary reactions that follow. Accurate understanding of feelings is the only way out of this dilemma. Indictment of the arousal system or excitement in general is foolhardy. There shall be no moral judgments cast upon any such activity, so long as it does not
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violate another, just the required awareness of what is actually occurring.

There is nothing wrong with having one's emotions aroused so long as "arousal" does not lead to the passions that, when carried to the extreme, result in physical or emotional harm to another. A greater inner awareness leads to an equally greater understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

In addition to the problem of interpretation, creating vicarious excitement also amounts to manipulation of the emotional system. For it creates an emotional response outside of the purposeful interactions in which they are intended to have the most meaning. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, any such activities can offer emotional refuge from a world not yet ready for enlightened ones. These activities often allow for the vicarious venting of emotional energy and the necessary and welcome, but temporary, escape from overly stressful environments and situations. They can make the difference between faithful perseverance and giving in to fear and defeat.
In a world where the very act of making a living can put one in an environment where being made to feel inferior is regarded as a proper way for some to succeed, the frustration of not being able to counteract this treatment must find a safe outlet and "vicarious venting" serves that purpose. Until truly enlightened management techniques dominate the workplace, stress-relieving activities of the above nature will remain.

The key to keeping exciting events within the realm of moral behavior is to ensure they are mindfully chosen within the context of all three purposes. This means that they do not take the place of actual connections and external expressions or violate the needs of others. This will also ensure that they are kept within a supplementary area, in designated times of relaxation and leisure within the daily routines, and never to become time-bandits which rob precious moments of physical existence from the purposeful destiny path---or worst of all, become compulsive or additive mechanisms of escapes from the spiritual challenges. Like any other physical pleasure, excitement can become an escape response in order to avoid emotional pain, or a pale substitute for truly rewarding purposeful activities.
One of the more common sources of humor is the frustration of one gender with the sports-preoccupation of the other, but beyond this humor is a level of
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resentment cultivated by the practice of ignoring opportunities to communicate and share in life's other opportunities.

It is helpful to make a conscious distinction between temporary and divine pleasure. All pleasure is good, but the temporary excitement of short term pleasures which might potentially have long term pains, should be kept in their proper perspective. They serve best as temporary bridges to more long-term purposeful paths, and should be respected for their allure as well as their potential to thwart higher more divine pleasures. These are often the "guilt pleasures" we choose knowingly which do not hurt others, but might not be the best long-term choices for ourselves.
The suggestion here would seem to point to a social activity of immediate gratification without a more permanent emotional commitment, a practice described colloquially as the "one night stand".

All concepts of morality should shift to accommodate the inevitability of the manipulation of the emotional arousal, and relax any judgments against it. Humans should feel no pangs of self-reproach when indulging within most any activity, as long as violations of self and others do no occur. All concepts of morality should then instead facilitate accurate understandings, interpretations and responses to the three messages contained within each feeling.
In other words, does the activity preserve one's physical integrity, develop one's mind and encourage the expression of spirit. An activity that does not compliment these three areas, should be reexamined.

Guilt and The Human Conscience Pangs of self-reproach bring us to the next aspect of morality---human conscience. Acting purposefully, is acting morally, is acting within conscience. To act within one's conscience is nothing more than to listen to the voice of spirit and to act upon it within all three purposes.
In other words, to act to 1) preserve one's body 2) develop one's mind and 3) express one's spirit should be in line with the dictates of one's conscience. Pure conscience, when not obstructed by the culturally implanted slivers, is our most reliable compass. Part of the role of these Lessons is to help us in that "repurification".
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Breakdowns only occur when the feeling signals are misunderstood, leaving confusion and conflicting impulses between body, mind, and spirit. Any action which ignores or denies any one of the divine purposes is truly amoral. Self-preservationary reactions based upon fear and anger are amoral for they place body above mind. They choose to fight to change the world to match an undeveloped, distorted, or unbending mindscape, instead of allowing the mind its moral, purposeful, and necessary selfdevelopment. The result is a "loner" strategy that frustrates spiritual expression. It is fairly easy to see how fear and anger can lead to violations upon self and others. But the more insidious and potentially hurtful emotion of moral concern is the feeling known as guilt ."
We bear witness, almost on a weekly basis, of people whose anger has resulted in injury and death to one or more other people. Would that those who do such could have been exposed to the principles spelled out in these Lessons.

Although guilt is commonly thought to be the emotion most linked with conscience, this is simply not so. Most events which elicit guilt are in fact amoral, but for entirely different reasons than might be suspected. They spring from amoral mental shifts which incorporate ideas into the mind which place mind above the body. This is when a learning experience, a right response is chosen, but one which lets in a sliver.
Guilt is too often a part of the mind that can be used to manipulate others, but only for a temporary period until the user has succeeded in getting what one wants. The "mother/daughter relationship" is a good example and should be examined further in light of the above.

Instead, guilt has become a much misunderstood and overworked emotion. Guilt has become a favored and powerful tool of manipulation by mass consciousness, particularly in the realm of religion. Once humans instill the idea of sin and evil, "the devil" gets in the door. Then they attach many natural drives and bodily functions to the concept of evil, pitting mind against body, setting the stage for the bodily safeguards to dictate seemingly evil behavior. This is self-fulfilling prophecy at its worst. The irony is that humans have the audacity to second-guess the Creator, and in His name, create and manipulate guilt feelings within their adherents. And then to reinforce the slivers by utilizing the very guilt signals they produce, as a constant reminder of the weakness and "amorality" of the person.
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The too frequently used threat that "God will punish you for...whatever", is mass control at it's worst, reflecting moral arrogance by those who claim to know what God wants, but spend too much time talking to God and too little time listening to the Spirit within.

But in reality, any directive that elicits guilt remains in the realm of mind and has solely to do with cultural trappings which are learned. Mind should no more be elevated above body than body should be elevated above mind. Both must work in concert in order to serve spirit. The instillation and manipulation of guilt is a heinous, power-stealing practice, which misses the message of emotion entirely.
It is designed to replace emotion and self-direction, while retaining control of others under the guise of spiritual development. In fact, "spirit" is not given its due, but rather relegated to the "back of the bus" while someone else does the driving.

Humans should pay particular attention to any idea which invokes guilt feelings and identify the underlying needs which are at issue. The concept of a guilty conscience should be changed to the more accurate guilty mind. Then they should wholeheartedly reject any doctrine or idea that does not embrace the divinity of their God-given nature. Humans are no more meant to experience lingering guilt, than they are meant to experience lingering anger, fear, or sadness. Acting purposefully upon all emotional signals can allow humans to remove the limitations that created the signals so that they can attain the intended lingering state---that of joyous loving spiritual fulfillment.
Guilt, when lumped in with "anger, fear or sadness" is keeping company with those qualities that were never meant to be a part of a human's experience in this physical environment or anywhere else. Once this is realized and accepted, the true role of body, mind and spirit can proceed unhindered.

Learning Error vs Sin Guilt, like all emotional signals, should be recognized for its role in the learning cycle of self-development. Sin is simply an error in trial and error learning wherein feeling signals evaluate action outcomes.Course correction begins with feeling signals that follow mistakes or successes.
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I'm not sure why one would need to make a "course correction" following a "success", but the point of the above is that one need not take an error (especially a sin) so seriously that the accepted consequence would be eternal punishment. The point of life is to learn and develop, not to serve as the focal point for some sadist, especially One who is regarded as a Supreme Being.

The flexibility within natural morality, complete with the Grace of the Creator, ensures that humans can easily recover from the inevitable mistakes. Even humans acting within all three purposes can easily perpetuate minor violations upon themselves or others, simply because they are in need of further self-development. If each individual greets the actions of others with humor, faith, compassion, tolerance, forgiveness, and expressions of light, the learning error is quickly overcome and all concerned are restored to the purposeful track.
If we can grant the same open-mindedness to our fellow human beings as we would like them to grant to us when we err, as we surely do, then progression toward perfection can be much less painful.

Purposeful self-development will break the cycle of self-preservationary violation and liberate humanity from such limiting self-concepts such as evil and sin. All sin is simply learning error, on the road to strategies that satisfy all three purposes simultaneously.
There is currently a generation in place that was brought up under the guidelines of "sin & punishment" and all the trappings that keep this mentality in place. Those who have rejected the illogical mindset of these dictums have been left with little else to turn to except indifference or "cultism".

Sin is simply a misstep from which important learning can be attained. It is not an inherent flaw within the design of the human being, for which any relative deity must die in order to save souls. Such terms as sin and evil arose only because they served the limited purpose of providing temporary meaning. They offered believable explanations for when humans choose hurtful behavior. But they evidence a great distortion of the early messages, wherein the message became the answer, not the message of self-understanding itself.
Thus, what was meant to be the creation of a system of understanding and enlightenment, deteriorated into a personality cult, with control integrated into a sophisticated system of wealth and power. Such were the patterns woven into a
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blanket of security. Crawling out from under this "blanket" has been particularly difficult until now.

The Power Of Apology & Forgiveness The religious message that humans who follow divine dictates will be "forgiven for their sins" carries this distortion. On the other hand, it also has spiritual utility, for forgiveness does indeed mesh with divine intention. But it is not the religious dictates that make this true, it is because forgiveness brings powerfully positive feelings both to the forgiver and the forgivee. Forgiveness is a right and purposeful strategy because it brings divine pleasure. It is a life-giving habit.
Those who ask for "forgiveness" are in need of returning a state of balance created by error. Those who grant "forgiveness" when asked for it, sense a touch of their own divine nature. Hence, the old saying: To err is human - To forgive is Divine.

But forgiveness does not mean that humans can do any old thing, and rest on their laurels because they can forgive themselves and others for any indiscretion. This attitude toward forgiveness only breeds further feelings of self-reproach, for it is the lazy man's way to the light. Apology and forgiveness take on very powerful meaning in the context of accountability. Most any learning error, even violation can be redeemed when apologies contain an expressive, active effort to restore the one violated to his former state or to one even better. Cultural forms of restitution flow from this truth, yet they include anger and retaliation rather than true forgiveness and restoration of grace.
When we err against another, we create a state of emotional imbalance in the offendee, a state that requires correction for the offender and the offendee to return to their prior relationship. To improve that relationship, which should be the goal of all humans in "relation" to other humans, an opportunity for "betterment" is at hand. We are moving in that direction when we ask criminals to consider an apology to their victims.

True expressions of regret spring from the higher state of understanding, from the learning that followed the violation; they come from the heart. The receiver knows when this is the case, for they will resonate to the apology and offer forgiveness. Not only is the offender accountable to expressively apologize to the offendee, but the offendee is also
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accountable to receive these expressions as if he sought forgiveness himself. True connection with another recognizes the pitfalls of humanity and does not assume evil intent; for the learning error is inevitable and the shoe will soon be on the other foot. If all humans embrace the nature of trial and error learning and utilize the life-giving habits, then all will be forgiven and can quickly restore themselves upon the destiny path. Rest assured, far fewer violations will occur when this is the normal state of humanity.
Another consequence of this "giant step for mankind" will be an escape from in the guilt-fear-hate-anger box we've created for ourselves.

The Historical States Of Moral Interaction It is helpful to instill universal forgiveness for human frailty upon understanding that certain stages of moral development dictate different moral actions of their day. Competition was once the moral choice, for biological predestiny utilizes competition to effect human evolutionary movement. We will later discuss this in detail, but for now understand that the only true original sin is in lingering within early stages of human moral development.
Where once life was a struggle for the survival of the human species, it has evolved to a point where fighting for one's daily food is no longer a sole or even primary activity.

Biological predestiny is hardwired into all species as an orienting mechanism, each interacting in the overall evolutionary process. The essential dynamic is how an individual organism is moved from within to survive in any given environment. This movement might come from generic predisposition or adaptive mutation in other organisms, but in humans, it comes from free will. With all humans buzzing about with everyone pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain, there are bound to be some bumping into one another. When this happens they can willfully choose to either interact competitively or cooperatively. Free will is meant to be guided by the innate morality within the wisdom of spirit, which means to operate within all three purposes, and act upon the emotional signals in their multiple levels of meaning.
When a great number of people occupy a dance floor, each couple can start
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competing for available space by banging into other couples OR all couples can start coordinating their movements so that contact can be reduced to a minimum and not considered to be threatening behavior. Only in a square dance is it necessary to have a source of outside control.

There is then a natural moral progression from the singular self-concept to the plural connected self-concept. At each stage of moral development there will be certain needs coming to the fore, as well as an evolving understanding of the meaning of the emotional signals. Until humans awaken to the power of free will, they are safeguarded against their ignorant choices of mind by the self-preservationary reactions of body--serving the first stage of human purpose.
As technology advances and weapons of war become more sophisticated, the need for resolving the proverbial "bumping into one another" in an agreed upon fashion, becomes increasingly essential to self-preservation. Clearly, the old guidelines of inter-relationship will not suffice.

Caveman Morality At this first stage, humans respond exactly like other animals, influenced first and foremost by emotional memory and hardwired instinctual responses. This relates to the human pre-cultural "caveman" level of morality. Humans at this stage are likened unto singular, lone wolves, competing against one another for scarce resources, be they food, land, power, money, etc. With competition, there is a win-lose outcome: one will get all of the resource, and the other will get none. At this stage, fear and anger are the predominant motivators, fight and flight are the common actions, as the stronger often overpowers the weaker to the victor goes the spoils. At this level self-preservation is the singular purpose, the level of conscience now known as "selfish".
There are still many (too, many) in our society today whose conduct would have a certain commonality matching the above described characteristics. In fact, the corporate mentality would likely come the closest. On a singular level, many women might recognize a former or current suitor.

At this early, pre-cultural stage, competition is the right and good choice of action, due to the fact that the individual needs take precedence over the group needs. The emotional signals are interpreted to ensure survival and
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that the basic individual needs for power, freedom and creative expression are honored. Once these needs are accommodated in the mind and world of such humans, then the other needs can come to the forefront of consciousness and motivate further evolution.
Thus, in some ancient but more sophisticated cultures, even though technology had not come close to what we have today, there grew a very in-depth understanding of the arts. The Greeks had finely tuned the mind and what followed then served as testimony to what could be accomplished, when leisure was achieved. Unfortunately, a certain level of social "slavery" was necessary to maintain that state of leisure for the selected few.

For competition is not the only choice when humans interact. The resource can go to one, or to another, or it can be shared by both. The sharing is known ascooperation. The emergence of cooperation is inevitable, for the need for interconnection is built into the human system in many other ways. For example, the cooperation necessary for procreation becomes an immediate hint of the higher, more rewarding approaches. Images of precultural females dragged into the caves conjure still valid emotional signals that simply could not have allowed the lone wolf lifestyles to continue for long.
Thus, was born the "romantic" concept which still serves as a mystery to many of the male species.

Cooperative Morality In answer to the connection need, humans begin to develop the mind to include others in the self-concept. This ushered in the secondary cooperative level of conscience wherein self-development and right responses became the moral action choice, in lieu of fight and flight. Thus, the earliest forms of cooperation began to flourish, resulting in shared culture that would bring a lasting condition of interdependence. With cooperation, there is a win-win outcome. Although neither will get all, both will get half. The trade-off of receiving only half the spoils comes from the emotional reward of connection, and in the increased ability to gain through subsequent cooperation.
In fact, what tends to evolve from cooperation is not only the sharing of what is, but a realization that the whole of society can be more than the sum of its parts,
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providing that the spirit is an invited ingredient.

At this stage, the higher "group needs" are considered in addition to the basic individual needs. Emotional signals begin to take on the added meaning of self-development of mind and to embrace the group connection need, the need for meaning and the need to achieve esteembuilding expressions among others. Loving connection, and the fulfillment from meaningful, creative expression become the dominant motivations as right and light responses become dominant action choices.
Getting beyond the mere acquisition of material items and worldly titles leads to an appreciation of nature, knowledge and the spiritual qualities of other human beings. When allowed and encouraged, this can bring the proverbial heaven down to earth.

Before this stage is fully attained, some will still choose to compete, while others begin to cooperate. At this transitional state, there is both the chance to win-lose, or to negotiate a win-win. When some trust others to cooperate, and those others breach the trust and compete, win-lose and disruption occurs. In this stage, cooperation is the right and good, the correct moral choice, and those who compete at the expense of the cooperative other are thought of as cheats. Thus, external rules and laws to protect the cooperators from cheats become necessary.
In that delicate stage when the "cheaters" are on the wane but still in control of most of the wealth and power, those who make the rules will favor them. And so long as the methods whereby the "rule-makers" attain and hold their positions are stacked in favor of the wealth/power group, the "cooperators" will be required to make an end-run to tip the balance in their favor. But, eventually, the "100th monkey" principle will prevail, for it is a principle of Universal Law.

The third and ultimately necessary stage is wherein allcompetition between humans gives way to true cooperation: all self-expression is accomplished in the context of cooperation. This is truly civilized morality. All emotional signals are interpreted within all three purposes, and all six needs are accommodated. All major motivations spring from the approach emotional signals and the avoidant ones are rare, corrective and evolutionary signals. In this final stage, each emotional signal is fully understood within the connection between all. To hurt another would equally hurt the self, this is the complete and mature state of moral
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development. This is the healthy conscience. Violations need not be controlled, because they simply occur only as learning missteps and are met with tolerance, compassion and offers of light.
There are many places in existence right now where much progress has been made toward the above-described ideal state. But these settings are often more rural than urban and the population is much less condensed.

But transition to this stage is not yet complete. The movement away from fear and anger toward hope and trust is now occurring. Human groupings have not sufficiently embraced the self knowledge, and even enlightened individuals are stymied in their cooperative efforts by a world that embraces and declares competition to be "the way." Spiritual frustration is experienced at every turn. To end this cycle and embrace cooperation, one must understand the necessity of moving from fear, to trust.
...and I very much look forward to the next title: The Role Of Trust.

The Role of Trust This macrocosm of humanity can be reduced to the microcosm of moral interactions between two human beings. Interactions will be motivated by pain until pleasure takes its rightful place. Fear is the dominant motivator in the stage of competition. Moving from competition to cooperation is based upon mutual trust. Trust is a necessary perquisite for cooperative moral action. For the cave woman could just as easily have slit the man's throat with his stone knife while he slept, as she could have arisen early to build him a comforting fire.
But, in order for the relationship to survive, it was essential that some level of trust be maintained. Along with this "trust" was the accepted presumption that each cared about the other, sufficiently to maintain the relationship and procreate, going on to establish that trust as a pattern for their offspring to learn and accept.

Trust is a touchy thing, for in a win-lose competition, one who violates the cooperative trust can nearly always emerge victor of the spoils. Thus, there is always room for violation to exploit vulnerability inherent in trust. It is very easy to take advantage of the trust of another. Yet, it always comes with the price of living in fear, isolation and loneliness, not to mention
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facing the wrathful anger of the violated one. Fear and the selfpreservationary impulse alone never brings true fulfillment until the body's needs are fulfilled in the context of spiritual connection. Despite this fact, those who retain a singular concept of self, and choose to compete and endure such feelings will certainly lose out when competing with groups choosing cooperation. Fear driven strategies will ensure a hellish fearful existence.
The untrusting, lone-wolf personality will never successfully compete with those who know the value of trust and can make it a productive part of their lives. Not only does it lead to cooperation but, more importantly, to an acquaintance with the feeling aspect of human character.

Until the pleasurable path of trust can be truly embraced, humans are relegated to the transitional stage between fearful competition and faithful cooperation, between self-preservation and self-development, between the purposes of mind and body, with conflicts resulting both internally and externally.
The good news is that while we are still in that "transitional" period we appear to be moving toward "trust" and away from "fear". However, this trend will only continue so long as our faith in the divine nature of all things continues to grow.

A major influence upon this condition has to do with the economics of scarce resources. When there are insufficient resources to be shared, fear will motivate competition. Resources are most scarce when there is overpopulation, or when communities do not have equitable systems for the freedom and empowerment of their members. Moral progress can also go backwards---when resources are scarce, cooperation gives way to competition. (Since humans have become the dominant species and exercise free will in cultural transformation upon the ecosystem, they have taken on the responsibility to ensure fair allocation of resources to any embodied spirit, of all species, or they will feel the competitive results).
It is only through cooperation that resources can be shared in a way that reduces the competitive atmosphere and reduces the fear and mistrust that tend to creep into relationships. The law of abundance is simply confirmation that nature is in place to supply all of our needs, whether they be material or spiritual.

Tit-For-Tat Morality
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Thus, morality is inextricably entangled with opportunity, and these predictable stages can point to the social changes necessary. Until adequate opportunity occurs, however, there will be a rather fixed state of affairs. This state brings a correspondingly predictable stage of morality. One in which there is a stand-off between the negative, competitive and the positive, cooperative impulses where many animal species, and the majority of humanity, is now poised. This pattern can be seen through the entire animal kingdom, wherein varying stages of competitive and cooperative efforts yield the most success for the species.
It is the less spiritually developed of the human species who take their cue from the animal species most preoccupied with the competitive strategies, hence the colloquial expression: "It's a dog eat dog world!" This belief reinforces the type of behavior least admired in humans.

This pattern is a mish-mash of both, wherein a moral rule of thumb is as follows: First, attempt cooperation. If the other cooperates, then both can win. Next, if the other chooses to break the trust and compete against you, you will lose to him. But your task is to then withdraw your cooperation with him and deal with another (more honorable) fellow, and the first will lose your help, becoming isolated. Eventually he will come calling again, following a learning experience. Trust again, and if he has truly learned, he will cooperate. The feeling signals all around will reward this more purposeful path, and the group effort will be stronger than any one isolated effort.
This is a good "rule" but not always an easy one to follow, as many will regard this as a weakness on the part of the one who is taken advantage of by the one who has broken the trust. But trust is a two-way street and patience is essential to educating the untrustworthy to the ultimate value of it.

This pattern is also apparent in the animal community, but they do not have the mental abilities of humans to remember and plan interactions as thoughtfully. The body alone, via the feeling system, guides their choices. In this case, the animal has memory enough to recall only the emotional outcome of the previous interaction. It is very common for such mindless violators to come around again with every intention of perpetuating another violation, for the previous winning of all the spoils felt great. But the duped one also recalls his own emotional outcome, one of sadness over the loss and anger over the violation. He then plans on doing the same
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himself, perpetuating a violation back upon the violator, in an "I'll show you how it feels" retaliation.
This is where emotion must eventually be put aside or overridden in order to break the eye-for-an-eye rule that can only deteriorate into an environment of never-ending conflict.

This is called the tit-for-tat strategy that works best when competition has not been completely overcome. In this case, the violator comes calling with an offer of a second cooperation and trusts the first. The first in this case, violates the trust and wins the spoils for himself. The second round often reinforces the soundness of the cooperative choice within the original violator and promotes cooperation in future interactions. Otherwise, fear and anger drives a perpetual cycle of getting even---a deadly habit among humans. Tit-for-tat means simply: First cooperate, and then in any subsequent interaction, do the same as the other formerly did to you.
The best you can say for this strategy is that it has the potential for being educational for those who are in need of learning the value of cooperation from an emotional experience. The danger in it is that the violator may not get beyond anger to a more enlightened state.

Although tit-for-tat has its place, humans are intended to discover their higher moral guidance. They are not simply limited to the emotional memory of the experience, they can invoke the mind. If the higher purposes are heeded, trust outweighs fear, the connection is preserved, and winning half---plus the emotional reward of connection---brings repeated cooperation that yields far more long-term benefit for all concerned. The less cooperation among all species, the more fear and self-preservation will be apparent.The more spiritual connection that exists, the more trust and cooperation can be observed, and more faith and personal fulfillment is experienced.
Sometimes, a group is encouraged to cooperate in order to exercise and take a competitive and unfair advantage of another group. This moves a less-thanvirtuous activity from a singular to a plural mindset and, in doing so, only strengthens a non-spiritual form of conduct.

Understanding the patterns of competition and cooperation can help individuals determine the moral course of action when dealing with others
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who are driven by competition alone, as well as underscore the most spiritually rewarding choice of cooperation. It should be readily apparent, however, that humans who keep to their fear-driven competitive level of self-preservation are no more evolved than the animals over which they claim superiority.
When "competition" becomes such a virtue in a society that it is an end in itself, than the only resolution of such an outlook is for the system to have a major breakdown. Because material success is often regarded as the ultimate end and key to happiness, the hardwired qualities in humans lead them to such a consequence on a major scale.

The Golden Rule With these historical interactions in perspective, we can now see how they led to early forms of moral guidance. This first step from competition to cooperation was captured in the early moral directive: "As ye would that men should do to you, do to them likewise." This reflected the tit-for-tat strategy of the animal kingdom and the human desire to overcome the cycle of retaliation. For to follow this directive, both would initially cooperate rather than to go through a wasteful series of competitive retaliations. This directive is still inherent in most major religions, commonly known as the Golden Rule. It has also been restated: "Do unto others, that which you would have them do unto you". This moral advice has endured because it dovetails with many elements of innate natural morality. The Golden Rule assumes that there are some universal right and wrong behaviors, clearly understandable by all humans---which there are. It assumes that all humans can recognize "rightness" within others and in themselves---which they can through their feeling system. It is right-minded, basing morality upon the emotional evaluation of the act, and the purposeful pursuit of happiness.
It also appeals to everyone's self interest and, thus, ties one's well being to one's own actions. But, one hopes that the other person will agree to and accept the same Code of Conduct.

But this rule is only part of the picture, and its use as a moral directive is limited. For it assumes that everyone has the same values, which is never
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the case in a multicultural diverse world. It does not embrace the free will given to each human being to design values and beliefs according to their individual spirit. (What brings happiness to a member of one culture, might bring great unhappiness to a member of another.) It embraces the contrived emotional boundaries which result from lack of continuous development of mind. It honors only those with similar, local values, and does not embrace the entirety of connected humanity. (It is quite easy to do horrible things unto others, if one does not consider certain humans as "others"---witness the Holocaust).
One of the first steps in doing harmful things to another is to dehumanize the other person. Governments are usually very successful in doing this in times of war. It makes it much easier to accept the idea of killing the "enemy" if he is accepted as a "chink" or a "gook". It has made the practice of racism easier when people formed support groups to terrorize segments of the population. Even parts of the bible can be used to justify hate and worked well in many minds for quite some time until "higher" laws prevailed.

Nonetheless, with some simple variant twists, it can be a far more useful moral tool at the current state of the moral development of the species. The first twist would be to recognize it in the context of all humans, indeed to every spiritual embodiment, not just humans within any specific spiritual grouping. This fully honors the connection need, bringing all spirits together in the self-concept, making it a truly universal dictate.
An example of this might be the acceptance that "All life is sacred." This could lead to a higher level of respect for both humankind, as well as all of nature. Once this connection was made, threats to the environment would become manageable and life on the planet would be more valuable and enjoyable.

This brings the next essential universal twist which adds far more sweeping application. This flips the rule around to utilize avoidant impulses as universal guidance, using what humans don't like as a guide. Although a wide variety of diverse ideas, strategies and choices, can bring pleasure, it is the truly universal limitations and frustrations of spirit that bring pain. With these added understandings, this golden advice becomes far more useful in the form: "Do not do unto any others that which pains thyself."

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This most simple of moral guidance allows humans to know in any moment what not to do and it frees the feelings of spirit to lead them toward actions to which they are morally invited---indeed divinely destined.
One need only imagine how one would feel as the recipient of any contemplated action against another, and allow that "feeling" to guide his/her actions henceforth.

The final word about natural morality is that it suggests that far fewer controls need to be placed upon human beings. Instead, energy and resources should be invested in ensuring that there is adequate opportunity for each member to meet needs without competitive impulses coming to the fore. Humans can simply let go of all ideas about what is right and wrong and allow their spirits to guide them. The self-righteous ones must step aside, taking their cultural judgements with them, and allow each human the dignity, the privacy, and the freedom to pursue happiness in their own way. For vitality and behavior, when chosen within all three purposes, which does not frustrate any of the essential needs, nor intend to consciously violate another, and is chosen within the response rules, is moral in the eyes of the Creator.
We are all familiar with a four-way intersection, controlled by a stop sign at each corner. Each driver waits his/her turn and trusts that when he/she starts into the intersection, it will be safe to do so. Now suppose that the "stop signs" were removed and the rule of common courtesy was in place. Would the system not work just as well? It would be a small step but essential to the building of a less abrasive society.

With these essentials of right action in place, we can now look more closely at human to human personal interactions.

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Section Epsilon
Lesson Two: Implications For Interpersonal Relationships

The Cooperative Level of Existence The implications of spiritual reconnection have profound impact upon how humans think about, and interact with, one another. Once humanity has been reconnected with the inner moral guidance, the next step is to build cooperation, intimacy, and community with others.
This is a quality that was apparent in more historical cultures and can still be found in many rural environments. The urban world has much difficulty maintaining such an atmosphere, a state that encourages fear and anxiety on a daily basis.

As humans successfully interact and connect with one another, they begin to take each other further into their own self-concept. They begin to respond to each other's thoughts, feelings and actions as if they were their own. For once the connection need is discovered and honored, there can be no turning back to the conditions of isolation. Indeed, a new stage of existence unfolds, one which coincides with embracing the higher purpose of self-development.
A state of trust leads to a state of greater intimacy and vice versa. Like grape vines in the process of producing fruit, the more people become connected to each other, the more unlikely the connection will be broken.

At this stage, not one, but two purposes are accommodated with thought and action. Each emotional signal not only tells the body to self-preserve, but it also now tells the mind to self-develop in ways that now and forever consider the pain of all others before each action. At this stage, each human relationship is based upon the understanding of the interrelation and inescapable spiritual interconnectedness that is The Way. Strategies of competition and violation are simply outdated ways of thinking when one truly embraces the spiritual connection. Actions which hurt another are felt as painfully as hurt to the self and become outdated vestiges of an uncivilized past.
People begin to move from the self-absorbed state to the altruistic state, with an awareness of and empathy with others in our environment. As we move from the material to the spiritual stage in our development, the wealth developed in a
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competitive system becomes less important compared with more evolved pursuits and values.

This self merging is a necessary accomplishment for the divine path to unfold. The complete individual self, the mind, body, and spirit, must be brought together first and foremost, and then melded with the purposeful motion of each and every other mind, body, and spirit for true progress to occur. This was the intended message of the earlier wisdom offered, but its meaning became distorted. Self-melding should now replace any mutated ideas about self-sacrifice, martyrdom, and rising above self. With selfdevelopment, nothing need be lost, and everything can be gained.
Discovering our inner spirit is probably what was meant by: "To love God (our own divine nature) with all thy heart, mind and being; and to love thy neighbor (seeing the divine in him/her) as thyself." Once we know and appreciate our own true nature, we can naturally move on to relating to others in the same way.

When this transition has been successful, the dominant feelings become trust and faith which motivate the higher actions. The grander, larger sense of time and meaning begin to come to the fore as the chaotic, fear-driven life of self-protecting isolation is overcome. Reclaiming the meaningful messages within each emotional signal, will direct the choice of actions within all three purposes. As mindscapes are further refined, fewer distress signals are necessary---because life is working as it should be. This is a state of unimpeded energy flow within and between all spiritual embodiments and brings its own emotional rewards.
This is an intended and natural process that has been subverted by those who were intent on establishing control over others and who still maintain that control by extolling the fear of evil and violence so readily tied to particular personalities, be they the devil or some foreign leader. Even within a society, there are always those who are eager to blame whatever is seen as wrong with society on those in charge of it at the moment or those who should be in prison. Fear as the tool, is effective only as long as inner guidance is ignored.

Intimacy & Community: The Gift of Sharing There are tremendous individual and group benefits at this level of existence. Two heads can do far more than one, and the more they interact the more progress can be made. Cooperation is the most basic level of
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interpersonal relationships, and the next is called intimacy.

We forget, sometimes, that we are a collective, separated by our individualized personalities, our individual free will and our capability to create our own reality, but a "collective" all the same. Because of this, we have an unlimited opportunity to cooperate with each other and, in doing so, to reap the rewards of such effort.

World peace rests upon international community. Community rests only upon the strength of cooperative intimate trust between its individual members. It is easy to cooperate with another human being toward some common goal; yet it is quite another matter to remove all defenses, share your darkest secrets, and bare your soul before another. The more successful this melding of spirits, the more trusting and intimate the relationship can be. The more intimacy, the more potential information for self-development and expression of both parties involved.
In a world where allies and enemies change roles from one decade to the next, and there have been juxtapositions of contradiction during even the same time period, and countries have had nuclear missiles pointed at each other while promoting cultural and student exchanges. In fact, it's a rule of social relations that the more people learn about what they have in common, the more difficult it is to remain at odds. When both sides are moving toward establishing areas of trust, cooperation is likely to follow.

Intimacy means far more than the commonly accepted definitions which capture the physical component. It is the condition wherein there has been a meeting of two individual minds, or more accurately, building of a common-ground third cooperative mind, thought of as "us." This is the basic building block of all mass consciousness, which is the culmination of all such common-ground agreements within all communities of humans. Intimacy can be thought of as "into-me-see." It is about honesty, integrity and of opening one's self to the view of another.
A world that moves toward "intimacy" is a world full of fewer "me's" and more "us's". A world where the "whole" is greater than the sum of its "parts", and is a natural result of spiritual evolution.

Intimacy can be built within any relationship. Building intimacy begins with perspective taking. It begins with standing in the other person's shoes and becoming acquainted with their particular unique worldview and mental lens. It involves the connection to another without resistance,
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pretense, power games, or false image. For it involves the open, trusting, compassionate, and faithful understandings of true spiritual connection.
The Native American knew that to understand another person required a period of time (a moon cycle) of walking in that person's shoes to truly understand that person's perspective. They just put it in less contrived terms. Once the complexities of relationships are removed, life becomes much less stressful. That alone should serve as sufficient motive.

Universal love energy itself bases the connection which completes a circuit. Once loving connection is established, it can never be severed, regardless of any temporary violations or limiting conditions. Such a connection exists regardless of minor disagreements or even mistakes and self-preservationary actions which reduce the flow. Such a connection can be---and should be---remembered in each moment. Intimacy is the condition which allows the most freely flowing spiritual energy between two entities. The more complete the energy flow, the deeper the connection and the greater the benefit.
Without getting too "gushy" about it, we can expand our circle of loved ones, one person at a time. Naturally, we'll tend to gravitate toward the most loveable first, but eventually we will begin to try to understand the others in our environment and realize that what they really lack is a true affection for themselves.

The Energy Dynamics of Intimacy Specifically, when the body, mind, and spirit within any two individuals are aligned in a singular purpose, there is maximum expression possible by both. The mind contains the gems that allow the spiritual its free expression. When the two are united in a relationship, a common goal, or even a simple conversation, there will be a circular flow of spiritual energy exchanged between them. Spirit itself is energy; energy which contains information that when adequately expressed becomes part of mass consciousness. Or in other words, to the degree that common understandings are attained, that energy is manifested as a physical cultural condition. Such energy networks form the basis of all spiritual expression in the physical realm.
What transpires between two people, be they intimates or just good friends, is
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that energy which defies mere words. To experience it is to understand it, but to describe it is to limit it, and yet being aware that such exists is an essential step toward seeing the "spirit" quality in all things.

This flow can be likened unto a circulating river of spiritual energy. As the purposeful expressions of one are received by another, it is clearly resonant and recognizable in joyous pleasure. This is the spiritual validation of true connection and meaningful expression. This river can be slowed down or sped up depending upon the amount of expression and receptivity of both parties---determined solely by the beliefs of mind.
Once again it is suggested that our "beliefs" serve as the governors of our understanding and appreciation of the spiritual aspect of our environment. This material suggests quite clearly that spirit is complimented and enhanced by the mere sharing of ourselves with another.

To those fear-driven entities that seek to hide from the vulnerability of open intimacy, let it be known that there is no such escape. Spiritual energy that is put forth is unmistakable to the feeling systems of others. The energy put forth cannot be falsified, it either flows freely or is prevented. It flows freely bearing the information of all combined beliefs of mind and needs of body. The more enlightened the entities, the more conscious awareness and sensitivity to this energy correspondingly develops. But regardless of conscious awareness, the emotional system will move the body to respond to what energy is put forth.
Those who know this energy and know the importance of reflecting and expressing it, have the satisfaction of enjoying the free flow that results, even if the reciprocation is not immediately forthcoming. All things considered, reaching that state of knowing was probably also slow in becoming.

Conflict When either party has a sliver, or any strategy that is not within all three purposes, it will invoke resistance that can slow the flow until it is discovered and removed. When the expression is slowed, limited or reduced in any way, feelings of frustration will naturally result. This is the external manifestation of conflict. The same type of conflict can exist between mind and body, or within the mind of any one individual; but this is the external manifestation of conflicting beliefs which lie between two
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people. The negative feeling signals remain exactly the same, as do the optimal responses.
Conflict, then, becomes an educational tool, to alert one or both to the presence of something that needs to be examined internally, so that this "sliver" can be identified and removed. Of course, it takes both to make this search and a willingness to accept that the "fault lies not with our stars but with ourselves", to quote Shakespeare. Of course, if it's the other person with the "sliver," a good friend will help him/her find and resolve it.

But the body's common response to such fearful or angry frustration is to invoke the urge to fight or to take flight. With both parties feeling the frustration, there are twice as many chances for unhealthy reactions. These urges bring about resistance and the deadly habits which are the enemies of intimate connection and the antithesis of spiritual intention. The physical result is the shutting down of the energy flow, causing backlogs which must be then expressed in some other way. Such resistance and closing off to one another is the basis for most all forms of distancing, conflict, arguments, and losses of intimacy, as well as a great deal of unnecessary emotional pain. The innate natural morality that arises from mindscapes designed to honor all human needs and purposes can direct actions which can avoid disconnection.
The "conflicts" that take place in our homes and on our streets, are but microcosmic reflections of what is observed and often indulged in on an international level. When those who profess to be the leaders of their respective societies resort to resolving differences through the exercise of violence against another group (or a particular leader of a group), it establishes a pattern of behavior, reinforced through our entertainment industry, in which the "fight" solution is glorified as being not the "acceptable", but the only solution.

Resolving these external conflicts requires the same examination of the events, the existing beliefs and the identification of the conflicting ideas. Then, and only then, can resolution occur. There can be respectful ways of approaching such conflicts, but communication and resolution must occur if the energy flow is to be restored and progress is to continue. Following the rules of response, having faith and invoking the life-giving habits can mediate conflicts quickly and clearly and keep all such connections strong. These guidelines will allow the innate, natural morality to emerge and dictate action choices.
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In a small country in Central America (Costa Rica), there exists (or did once exist) something called "The University For Peace". Its area of study consists of teaching the tactics of conflict resolution to young people who would master them and return to their respective countries to seek opportunities to put them into practice. In Caux, Switzerland every year, people from a vast array of countries and walks of life gather to face their national opponents and speak frankly and openly about their differences, in an honest sincere attempt to better understand their fellow human beings. These are some of the "gems" that await greater polishing and serve as hope for a world of peace.

Although natural human morality is the same in every interaction, intimacy is more of a selective choice. The choice for an intimate relationship will relate to the spiritual fulfillment and longevity found in the friendship or union. There are levels of intimacy that one can choose, depending upon the nature of the relationship. The same actions and choices would not necessarily be the best ones at different levels of intimacy. Less intimacy is necessary for temporary, distant, public, or professional relationships, while the deepest intimacy would be called for in a loving, committed union. There are four basic classes of relationships, each with its own, most effective, level of intimacy.
"Intimacy" can be as formal or as informal as we choose it to be. Once the mutual understanding is reached as to the perimeters of a relationship, progress can begin and a goal can be visualized.

The Fellowship Relationship This is the broadest, perhaps least personal or intimate relationship of the physical realm, yet it is the one that exists between fellow spirits. The enlightened approaches to this most basic of relationships, are those set forth within these lessons. Enlightened interactions and choices are those that consider all humans within the sense of connected self. One that does not limit the sphere of self-fellows to anything less than one that contains each and every human being. One that does not resist or deny rightful human respect.
It is connecting with those who are strangers that often serves as the greatest challenge. The "fear of the unknown" combined with an environment where most of the people we come into contact with are "unknowns", as a daily experience, leads us to often regard the world as a cold, unfriendly place. This tends to be more true in urban areas, but it can also be found in small towns
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where everyone knows everyone else and outsiders are regarded with suspicion.

There need not be any direct interactions within the fellowship relationship. In fact, related fellows need never even cross physical paths. But they do affect one another. All actions and expressions which become part of the external world can affect human fellows. The energy contribution alone will have its effect upon everyone physically encountered. With connection, a sneer from a bitter, angry, isolated human is felt as keenly and understood as keenly by a passerby as is a friendly smile or kind word. But this is particularly true for humans whose destiny paths have taken their expressions into the public spotlight. These will be the most influential contributors to the mass mind.
Sometimes, the most disturbing experiences one can have with another human being is when we encounter hostility from those we don't even know. The opposite is also true, a kind word or smile from a stranger can make one's day. A friendly compliment directed toward a store clerk can have a reciprocating effect on down the line, as that person adopts a cheerful attitude and affects the next person he/she deals with. We need not necessarily have a strong bond with someone to affect their life in a positive way. Of course, those most visible in society can also have the most influence on how society relates to itself.

With this influence comes the responsibility to put forth expressions in keeping with enlightened, connected, cooperative humanity and away from those of the limited, competitive, survival level of existence. Expressions--- whether they be words, songs, books, poetry, stories, news, counsel, or legislation---should promote all universal spiritual values. They should advocate maximum freedom for choice of cultural values, and establish the most possible need-meeting opportunities, and exchange of spiritual resources. Those that set forth expressions, opinions, and values which promote resistance, division, or remove freedoms or opportunities from others do dishonor to their fellow humans.
They also do "dishonor" to themselves, and if they are public figures, they do it in a most public way. But whether we are public or private individuals, we carry with us the duty to promote the quality of spirit in whatever walk of life we find ourselves. In doing so, we grow along with the collective consciousness.

The Professional Relationship This is the least intimate of the direct personal relationships. It
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encompasses what is termed an "acquaintance," wherein the paths have crossed for any particular reason, yet no intimate action has occurred. But generally at this level, humans have come together united for some group purpose, whether it be a business corporation, a political group, an educational goal, a public event, an artistic effort, or one of religion. But at this level, there is not much intimacy at all, there is no need to share as many aspects of self. Nor is much necessary, as long as it is understood that the rules of emotional response should always be honored, and all lifegiving habits utilized.
Here is an opportunity to put into practice some of the guidelines spoken of in these Lessons, while withholding a full emotional investment in the outcome of events. If the other party with whom we are involved does not share the same view and values, it will soon become apparent and either the relationship will improve or it will dissolve. However, on a professional level it can still be maintained for practical purposes. Either way, little emotional damage need be incurred.

Clear communication of all goals and processes toward achieving them, is the emphasis at this level. The challenge is in accomplishing group goals without compromising any rightful individual purposes or needs, and without violating the rights of others. Individuals will constantly need to learn and rely upon adept social skills, tactful communication, conflict negotiation, and persuasion to attain consensus without compromising honesty or integrity. Solid bonds and powerful group actions can result with hardly any level of intimate, personal exchange.
To borrow a cliche, "Business is Business!" That said, it is also a pretext for the smooth functioning, cooperative exercise of creative action, based on guidelines of spirit involvement, where humans can put egos aside and blend their efforts toward a shared vision.

In fact, until civilization fully embraces the enlightened understandings, there will be an intense need for privacy between these public and private spheres of interaction. This springs from the freedom need, freedom from a world far too limiting. This condition also creates an even more intense need for intimacy and honest open sharing within the safety of home environments. Every entity needs a place of beauty and intimate sharing. A respite, a haven of intimacy to return to after a harsh day of taxing professional interactions in the world choked with the limitations of mass consciousness.
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Herein lies the true importance of intimate relationships on a private level. When we support those who face a less than spiritual world on a daily basis, we are doing the equivalent of healing the sick and comforting the poor in spirit, preparing the other to face the cold climate of indifference and, often, callus disregard for human/spirit values.

Most human job opportunities involve this type of more external relationship. The contractual obligations and time allocations of the standard workday do not lend themselves to more intimate interactions. But mistakes are made in both directions by those involved in professional relationships. Some attempt to build inappropriate levels of intimacy is time-consuming and can work against the performance requirements. But by far, most errors come from the lack of connection, cooperation, and trust. Defensive territoriality keeps many such group efforts from attaining anywhere near their most effective level. Insubordination, infighting, and even sabotage are common occurrences. There is no room for such survival level strategies and reactions within cooperative frameworks. They are simply like cancers that stop energy flow in its tracks by denying the connections.
When our "work" becomes our life, it follows that the nature of these professional relationships is eventually transferred into how we relate to those with whom we share more intimate relations, to the detriment of the latter. The "work" environment is more conducive of the "competitive" school of conduct, even when people cooperate to reach a goal in the war of competing against a rival. All this brings forth the judgment that "It's a jungle out there." Understanding this will help us cope with what we are required to deal with, without surrendering to these lower vibrations.

Entities involved in professional relationships should make contributions that establish group values and frameworks wherein each individual can meet their needs and purposes within the context of the mission and goals of the group. They should build group values and standards that encourage self-development, the most free-flowing communication, and conflict negotiation to gain the maximum value from expressions of each member. From such strategies will come tremendous success toward group goals and minimize any self-preservationary reactions. Such a climate can also build bonds which might move some to step up to the next level of intimacy, that of friendship.

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Those in positions of responsibility and leadership can set examples that serve to inspire the type of conduct that reflects spirit coming through. To do so, personal prejudices have to be put aside. There is no place for favoritism based on unjustified biased leanings. Each person has to know that he/she is valued on the basis of what they can do, in line with their particular abilities and chosen limitations.

Friendship A friend is one who can freely exchange personal experiences with another in an unimpeded way. A friend is a comrade and compassionate confidant in the game of life. A friend can offer a broader and less restricted form of interaction that is more intimate, more safe, more honest and free-flowing. There will be no need for many intermediary forms of communication and negotiations, for the realms of the individual minds will overlap far more. There can be a more immediate, unimpeded, and rewarding flow of energy between friends.
It is the oldest friendships that are valued the most because of the history of trust being so strong. We make friends throughout our lives, but those relationships that go back the farthest are the most comfortable. Even as lives diverge and common interests are fewer, it is still the fact that each knows the other so well and respects each other's confidentiality that maintains the bond. Would that we could establish such a two-way street with our higher selves.

Friendships usually occur based upon some mutual commonalties and interests which operate as boundaries for interactions. The more intimate the friendship and the more common choices and interests, the deeper that friendship can be. Interactions between humans at this level involve some form of regular exchange of energy which springs from conversations, recreational activities, educational exchanges, Socratic discussions---any activities wherein there is some meeting of the minds and sharing of experience.
Without sharing, friendships tend to be pretty one-sided. But, sometimes that is the nature of the friendship until, or unless, there is sufficient interest in expanding it on both sides. Some friendships are older than either party is aware of, and the ties that bind people may extend relationships of which neither has a conscious memory. In such cases, commonality is not a factor and sometimes, the relationship is more adversarial than friendly. However, it's just as essential, if
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not more so.

In the discussion of human development, such interactive forums were recommended within families for the maximum self-development of incoming children. Through friendship, all the same benefits can arise through an entire lifetime of adult development. The benefit being of course, that you can freely choose who comes into the sphere. The intimacy of friendship offers new arenas for self-development, wherein the feedback from intimate others can often point out patterns kept hidden by resistant tendencies within the self. It takes faith, honor, trust, and courage to be, and to have, a true friend.
Those who are insecure in themselves are often the most friendless. This is because if a friend even hints that the person is lacking in some fashion, the reaction is to immediately terminate the friendship. This is unfortunate, because if one remains open to a loving observation, it can serve as a positive feedback tool to educate us into a broader perspective of ourselves. This, in turn, reduces our insecurity.

When humans come into contact with one another, they will feel attractions to those that can most freely exchange energy with them. The more the energy is allowed to flow, the more the spirit expresses, and the more attractive this person will be to others, and vice versa. Friendships can be built with most anyone, depending upon the rate of mutual selfdevelopment and energy exchange. There will also be natural, spiritually familiar relationships wherein a nearly instantaneous recognition and attraction occurs, allowing intimacy to begin immediately. These are often the result of creative energies following the spiritual destiny path, combined with the existing conditions of mind. Such a friend can enter a life and dramatically alter its course and be off again on a different track.
The length of a friendship is not always the measure of its significance in one's life. There are occasions when an intense meeting of minds and emotions for a short period can alter the very course of a person's life, for the better or worse. Each friendship, like every other experience, has educational value. However, our best and most reliable "friend" will always be our inner self.

There will also be certain relationships where there are inexplicable repulsions and dislikes, also relating to certain challenges along the destiny path. Situations wherein people will be thrown together with little in common, yet entangled in necessary relationships. In either case, the rules
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of emotional response and avoidance to deadly habits will facilitate the most productive and fulfilling relationship.
What we learn from a "relationship" may far outweigh the pleasure we get from such. If the "friendship" is going in a negative direction and threatens to result in unjustified pain, an honest expression of its value may be in order. While this may cause some temporary pain, it could avoid complicated entanglements down the road.

But when creative reality is fully understood, humans will begin to see exactly how both positive and negative kinds of people are attracted into the life. For if the mindscape insists that some people must always be in one's life, existing as the proverbial thorn in the side, such will be the case. If there was some inescapable annoying or hurtful person in the early life experience, this belief can take root. Even if the original antagonist moves on, another will quickly manifest to fill the void. Humans can be especially enlightened by finding the meaning within each such person who enters this life. There will always be powerful learning potentials, for angels can come in some challenging packages.
We attract to ourselves what or whom we need to grow in body, mind and spirit. Those who serve the role of antagonists are there only because we need them. Once we've grown beyond that kind of "need", we will begin to attract those who stimulate us in a more positive and pleasant fashion.

In the world at present, there will be immediate obstacles to friendship due to the many existing territorial, competitive rituals common among humans. One area from whence comes a good deal of this resistance deserves special mention. This happens in the male-female relationship. Before we can discuss the next level of intimacy, we must first address one interference factor that effects all levels of intimacy. Whole communication patterns and less functional styles have long been accepted which virtually guarantee obstructions to the spiritual energy flow.
On this curious note, we can proceed to explore these obstructions in the most popular role of relationships, the gender exchange.

Gender Roles The major impediment to self-development, communications, and the freeflowing energy of purposeful living, has been the nearly universal pattern
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of humans defining gender roles. Every culture seems determined to divide up human potential and allocate certain attributes to women and others to men. Although it is true that there are some basic biological differences between the sexes, a very large percentage of this variance is due to limiting ideas---slivers---from human culture. Until they are removed, they will have profoundly limiting effects upon the intimate energy exchange.
History is filled with culturally established belief systems and habits of thought which are in place to divide one group of individuals from another. It might be based upon race, religion, nationality, cultural, economics or simply contrived differences. Gender division is a part of this ubiquitous pattern.

Humans need not worry about the real biological sex differences, they will take care of themselves. But they should take vigorous steps to find and eliminate as many of the unnecessary cultural judgments about gender as possible. For the spirit will unfailingly speak of painful limits placed upon needs and desires for every human regardless of the physical form they have donned. This condition sets the stage for energy to seemingly switch on and off, as habitual patterns of thought and action send signals which have distinctly different meanings for either sex.
Scientists currently advise us that there is substantiated evidence that the brains of men and women function differently. This is supposed to confirm the reason for the communication problems which genders have with each other. In fact, it is "mind" that controls brain function and herein lies the crux of the problem.

The gulf between the sexes began innocently enough, in the form of shared labor. It is much easier for two to accomplish a task when each is responsible for a specific part. Since the female of the species carried and nursed the offspring, the duties revolving around the home became her domain. She began to be dependent upon the man for more external functions, as well as to become the keeper of all domestic and family operations---even communication itself. The female was also associated with dark, internal, receptive energies, intuition, submission, and cooperation. And most importantly, she became the keeper of emotion, as the singular receptacle for the realm of spirituality.
Though these qualities served the female well in the performance of her designated duties and societal functions, it tended to relegate those valuable qualities away from the "opposite" gender and into the confines of her nature.
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The male of the species became the active one, the aggressor, the hunter, the provider, even the creator. Man would use the logical mind to create the tools and build the communities and compete for scarce resources. Man was dominant and powerful, strong, silent, enlightened, and independent. He was associated with the external, rational, objective, physical world. Man laid claim to most attributes of both body and mind. And in time, his manliness was defined by them, and questioned if he exhibited signs associated with "femininity."
While establishing a list of qualities that encouraged growth and expansion of "reason oriented" talents, this enforced limitation resulted in a deterioration of the natural link between body/mind and Spirit.

The cultural institutions would encourage this division between the sexes through social convention, religious teachings, and even laws which would subjugate and disempower women. Such limits would spur women to develop backdoor methods and even skills of manipulation to gain their needed power. The same institutions would deny spirit itself and would separate men against their own emotions, dooming them to a competitive level of behavior. Each new generation born into such cultures would find a certain limited reality associated with their sex. There are many accepted situations of Earth today, wherein women are not even allowed to educate their minds or freely control their own bodies. And perhaps many more wherein men are not encouraged to even experience their emotions---the very voice of spirit---let alone seek to understand the messages they bear.
As a consequence of this blanket of prejudice, established division was honored as a necessary virtue and, at this very moment, the largest and most influential religious groups still maintain a policy of gross servitude where women are involved.

Unquestioned slivers would become self-reinforcing, and selfpreservationary actions would result. For what has actually happened through this gender typing has been an institutionalized separation between the certain aspects of self. This only offers the opportunity for some of the people to meet some of the needs only some of the time. No entity should be born to such unnecessary and correctable limitations. Certain separate types of "energies" are now assumed and associated with masculinity and femininity, yet there is only one pure spiritual energy. Such self-disconnection would become so profound, that the spirits of both
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sexes would eventually rebel with both social and biological results. The modern movement toward freedom, equality, and androgyny within gender roles evidences this needed rebalancing, as does the biological shift toward alternate forms of sexuality.
Where there is injustice, there is dissatisfaction and determination to correct that injustice. Where there is a deficiency in the guidance of Spirit, that "correction" can result in diversion from a clear course of action.

One consolation is that women have kept spirituality alive and helped it to flourish. This is quite an accomplishment considering that the entire realm of spirit has been long relegated to religion and dominated mostly by the males of the species. But spirit exists within all and is now on the verge of rediscovery. It must take its rightful place in both sexes if civilization is to evolve.
Thus, it is evident that women have a gift worth sharing. It is up to those who pride themselves with having higher intelligence and reasoning power, these being mostly men, to recognize and learn to incorporate these "gifts".

Each entity desiring to be restored upon the destiny path must first reclaim the entire self. The gender roles must be revisited within the context of separation between mind, body, and spirit, in consideration of the six human needs, and the purposeful messages of the emotional signal. It then becomes readily apparent that both sexes need all human attributes in order to even have a chance to know how to approach life. Expressions from fully restored, enlightened humans, can alter the traditions and consciousness at quite rapid rates.
The sexes need each other and they need to familiarize themselves with the positive qualities that the gender roles have perfected. This is a time of expansion on all fronts. To let limited traditions stand in the way is not in anyone's self interest.

Each entity following these messages of spirit and acting upon them within all three purposes cannot help but change the world for the better. All the best concepts within both "masculinity" and "femininity" are important, necessary attributes to bring daily fulfillment. For together they constitute the potential whole of human body, mind and spirit. Each forges a link in the chain of mind-body communication through the voice of spirit. To
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disconnect a man from his spirit, or a woman from her mind or body is to maim. Each quality is necessary for the functional unity, intercommunication, and flow of energy within the trinity of self. Only then can the flow be restored between members of any given sex and between members of the opposite sex.
It is not just to the benefit of both sexes to restore connections between each other, this restoration also truly benefits themselves. It is /would /could be called a double win. It compliments the value of love of self and another at the same time.

To even begin to have a chance, each entity of any biological sex or sexual orientation should have equal opportunity, freedom, and power enough to control their own destiny. This basic universal right should be self-evident. It is the essential first link in the chain. For one who must compete for basic freedom or power, one who cannot even direct the life events, has no hope of acting purposefully or cooperatively. This means that neither sex should seek to escape into the comforting limitations of either sex role, but to consciously accept responsibility for personal control of the destiny, and attune, with commitment and integrity, to the spiritual voice within. The emotional rewards of such a choice will far outweigh the feeble, temporary comforts of dependence, fatalism, machismo, femcheesemo, and martyrdom.
One can not have growth without risk. If that means being willing to confront one's secure place in life, compliance with the approval of family and friends in order to broaden one's physical/mental/spiritual horizons, then there is little choice but to do so.

When all aspects of masculinity and femininity are considered, the chain of mind-body communicative interaction can commence. There is a special place in the cycle for each passive, active, receptive, aggressive, rational, and emotional thought or action.
This requires the empathy necessary to put one's self totally in the place of the other. Symbolically speaking, each must be willing to "walk a mile" in the other's shoes, know the world through the other's eyes, hear what the other hears and cope with what the other copes with.

First, each member of both sexes must be earnestly, passively, openly receptive to even the most subtle of emotional signals. This receptivity is
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awareness itself, this is intuition, this is heeding the voice of spirit. Without the receptive quality, no such guidance can occur, and the chain is broken. With passivity and receptivity associated only with femininity, men are instantly left limited to self-preservationary reactions of fight and flight, for the cycle of spiritual information stops before it can even begin. Resistance and defense is the masculine norm. Thus, the reputation for man as warrior, or those of porcine mind who can easily succumb to the motives of the flesh.
As the more bold of the two sexes, man will be called upon to take the initiative in closing the gender gap and be willing and able to do so without the insecurities of giving up masculine qualities. This is not a trading of one quality for another, but an incorporating of both to create a more complete human being.

Next, each entity must enlist the mind to rationally analyze the meaning of the feeling signals in the context of all three purposes and in enlightened understanding of the universal needs. The mind is the most essential component and is quite often left out of the feedback loop, and body is allowed to automatically respond to emotion-invoking situations. Without accurate interpretation of each emotional signal, the chain is broken. Acting upon the emotional signal alone, the mind is bypassed, relegating humans to a level beneath their birthright. Women should no more abdicate their rationality than men should abdicate their emotion. This means that the maximum amount of self-development of mind should be available to, and embraced by, each of the sexes.
Again, this is an example of "not giving up one quality for another", but of each of the sexes using their own strengths to understand their own contrived weaknesses. There is a oneness in nature that is a consequence of the evolutionary process. This is a way to that "oneness".

Next, each entity must again actively enlist the mind to consciously choose the most appropriate corrective response. For the mind alone can only know when the fight response is in order. The mind must first eliminate the other options by directing a right or light response. If the mind is not actively engaged, the chain is broken once again, and the body will respond in fight or flight or appropriate approach reactions. Worse yet, without actively engaging the choices of mind, humans remove themselves from rightful free will. Disempowerment always results. Only through
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aggressive spiritual expressions can progress be made. Feminine passivity prevents women from the persistent, active expressions their spirit demands. It opens the door to a reputation for femcheesmo, and for mind inclined toward feline, sneaky, manipulative power plays. Masculine competition and independence prevents the necessary communication, connection and cooperation needed to achieve the higher purposes.
The exercise of mind may be more associated with male qualities, but the female can not afford the luxury of putting it aside and relying strictly on emotions or physical communications, if true understanding of the process is to be achieved.

Thus, before intimacy or cooperation can be truly achieved, entities must remove the garments of masculinity and femininity that have been handed down generation upon generation, and dismantle any closets that may have resulted. Entities who are true to their spirit in this manner can enjoy the much greater heights of intimacy, and even sexuality, when one creates wholeness of spiritual fulfillment within themselves. Entities who are tolerant, compassionate, and spiritually connected will no longer feel compelled to cast judgments upon the unique spiritual propensities of one another.
The term "coming out of the closet" applies to more than a less prevalent state of sexual orientation. One nearly guaranteed benefit of this broadening of perspective is a natural propensity to enhance one's creativity, which is a reflection of one's spiritual evolution.

Intimacy and Sexual Love Once these limitations have been removed the next level of intimacy can be attained. Love is the ultimate pleasurable human experience. Friendship at its highest level can include that spark of physical attraction and the desire to commune physically with one special person. Although humans can engage in sexual activity with others outside of the bond of love and intimacy, the highest emotional rewards come from an intimate sharing with a singular loving other. When one is in love, no other can be but a pale substitute. The connection need and profound pleasure of spiritual love brings humans together in these special physical couplings. This is part of the grand design to perpetuate the species within the most enlightened of conditions.
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An act of creating another human being can have no more suitable environment than the bonding of love between two individuals. When this takes place, the result is an optimum condition under which a soul can enter the physical. Even where procreation is not intended, the very act of expressing sincere affection in a physical blending is a profound experience for each individual.

Sexuality is good evidence by the natural pleasure it produces. It is a gift from the Creator, not just simply for procreation but as part of human creative expression. Sexuality outside of procreation is also intended to be chosen within all three purposes and in conditions of intimate love of souls in flesh. It can greatly facilitate the spiritual connection and communicate energy exchange between two humans and is a physical celebration of love. It can also induce altered mental states of consciousness and strengthen psychical energy centers. The physical need for sexual activity, and the pleasure it can bring, is the insurance that the species will continue.
It is an optimum "feel good" experience. In it's own essence, it is an expression of the divine. This is why it often transcends the accepted cultural mores of a society and is then corrupted by the guilt associated with such infractions. Yet, at the moment of peak emotion, there can be no regrets.

Such couplings also serve the higher purposes. They offer a loving, intimate, common world to be designed and shared, a mini self-designed mass reality in which offspring can be raised. The spirit soars to the degree that such common-ground worlds allow for fulfillment of the six universal needs. Children thrive, and energy flows best between two such lovers under such enlightened and empowering conditions. There is such universal agreement about the positive value in the longevity of such couplings that some form of marriage, or formalized coupling, has arisen in each culture.
The permanency of this bond cannot be ignored and the establishment of an institutional seal is a natural consequence of this level of commitment between two people.

Love As Distinct From Need Yet certain spiritual conditions must exist or the longevity and success of any such union will be severely limited. These are the conditions wherein
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each member of the unit has the opportunity to develop knowledge and skills, and freedom and power to actively express in ways that meet the six universal human needs. Each individual is intended to do so for themselves under the direction of their own spirit.
In the intimacy of this relationship, each participant must be free to carry out the urges that come from deep within his/her spirit.

Indeed, these free and opportune conditions must exist throughout the world for humanity to succeed as well. But change begins within individuals, moves outward in concentric circles, into their familial units, and then into their communities. Thus, couplings and domestic partnerships can provide the testing ground for spiritual expressions and purposeful change.
If what is expressed between two people can serve to inspire a greater respect and appreciation of humans for each other in general, then this natural urge can serve as a grounding for further efforts to break down the barriers between humans in a general sense.

One very limiting result of centuries of gender typing has been the idea that other persons are responsible to fulfill one's needs. Men have traditionally been held accountable to provide certain things for women (perhaps economic freedom and power), while women have been required to provide other such things (perhaps nurturing, meaning, and emotional support), to men. There is a misguided acceptance that loving someone is synonymous with needing someone. There are mores and even laws which perpetuate a state of codependency between couples. Indeed, the lasting, stable, loving, cooperative efforts of unified spirits allow for fostering of the most enlightened and fulfilled children.
Within the true meaning of an ideal bonding relationship between a man and a woman lies the setting in which any child can evolve to the maximum of his/her potential. With this in mind, each person can bring forth not only their best of each other but the best possible for the resulting offspring.

Yet the divorce rate, neglected children, domestic violence, and spiritual malaise is evidence that mandated mutual dependency is not the way. It will only be through the rejection of any sliver which limits and disempowers any individual, regardless of their sex, that the most successful loving unity can emerge. Independence within a cooperative
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unit is highly spiritually rewarding, for it fosters the freedom and empowerment for each individual to pursue their purposeful path. Yet doing so in the context of love, connection, intimacy and shared experience, allows the two paths to dovetail.
When each partner can enjoy the freedom to expand their respective talents and still appreciate and adhere to the integrity of the relationship, then the gifts of their respective knowledge and experience can not help but strengthen the experience they share.

The Myth Of Love As Codependency The division between men and women, and the lack of self-understanding, has perpetuated many limiting ideas and strategies toward love and marriage. Many unions do not survive due to role limitations and dependency upon one another, including the unspoken expectation of one member to have the other member meet their needs. Resentment, anger, and contempt are inevitable if one plays the game, and the other benefits but does not reciprocate. Dysfunction will most certainly result unless both parties are responsible for and expressive about meeting their own needs. What happens then is the energy flow narrows and eventually closes off and love diminishes.
Too often the resentment one partner bares toward the other remains just below the surface where it smolders in an ongoing fashion like a fire beneath a former coal mining town, until the aggregate of all negative feelings breaks the surface and consumes the history of the relationship, resulting in irreparable damage. Or if it does not result in this explosion of expression, it slowly but surely builds a wall of separation on a day by day basis.

Many recommended, but limiting, rules of the marital union reinforce the confusion. The word compromise, for example, means to negotiate a common win-win solution. Compromise does not mean one gives up what they need in honor of another. It does not mean meeting someone half way, somewhere between what each desires, for neither is a single lifestyle. "Self-less" living does not mean giving up one's needs in order to serve those of another---it is not about martyring one's self, gracefully losing a win-lose competition, so another can win. It means rising above the competitive self-preservationary impulses to accommodate all three purposes for self and others. It means melding all parts of each self and
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designing a lifestyle of common cooperative goals.

A union between two people is a dynamic thing, growing with the passing of time because that is the desire and intent of both. This can only happen if both see the value of this growth. It need not sacrifice the evolving process either physically, mentally or spiritually. Rather, when each serves as a welcome mirror to the other's progress, that intimacy can grow while respect remains intact.

Love And Its Pitfalls Yes, emotion pushes and pulls humans toward their destiny, with good and bad results. The more the mind is actively involved, the more rapid and purposeful the directions can be. It is easy to see how negative emotions and the self-preservationary avoidance responses can wreak havoc upon individuals and societies. But what can be more insidious are the automatic approach reactions to positive feelings that pull people toward each other. Love, in particular, should be carefully understood within the context of these Lessons. For love, with its propensity to entanglement with sexual procreation, is among the most powerful and volatile of human experiences.
In an era where sex is often confused with love, and the former used as a merchandizing tactic, we have come to regard love as a condition that might follow sexual intimacy and which is likely to be unfulfilled if the sexual relationship is not perfect or lasting. We forget the sex is only one of the ways that humans can express their love for each other and need not be a means to an end.

Love is that unmistakable spiritual resonance with another human being. But like all emotions, love exists in both mind and body, and if either seizes full control, trouble can result. In the mind alone, love can be attached to a love object that is a fantasy or image which matches one's ideal mate, having nothing at all to do with true expressed external connection. Love can motivate delusional fantasies, with compulsive, even violent results. Love can be mistaken for need fulfillment, when other needs for power, freedom or meaning are met within the context of a relationship. Love can be associated with pain, wherein you only hurt or get hurt by the one you love. Love can arise for all the wrong reasons, yet its force of attraction is just as powerful when it is based on slivers, as when based upon gems.
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Hence, the expression, "Love is Blind." To see the experience of "love" in a clear light is one of our greater challenges in this life experience. Like mastering any skill that can be harmful if not fully understood, love requires the art of pacing oneself. Since the experience of "love" requires the exploration of one's own nature as well as the other person's, any distraction (particularly sex) from this necessary process, can lead to confusion and distraction further into the relationship.

But perhaps the most all-consuming power of love, is when the body is in full control; when the mysterious spark ignites the body into its sexual mode, bringing love or raw desire into the physical dimension. This is the arena wherein humans succumb to the pleasures of the flesh in the immediate moment. The ideal conditions of procreation are when each party chooses the sexual act within all three purposes, wherein the body, mind, and spirit of each are aligned in the decision. Unfortunately, in the confused modern world, this is more the exception than the rule. Sex outside of purpose can wreak havoc. So much so, that the activity itself has been defiled, controlled, and judged, and it is now laden with a tremendous amount of excess baggage.
The understanding of centuries past kept love and sex more in their proper roles. The so-called liberation movement of the last half of this century in this country is still in the process of finding a balance. Europeans have not been much of a guide in this field as the depth of understanding from that quarter seems even more limited than our own. Many of our western institutions (religious, economic, political and psychological) have failed to define an intelligent course of behavior, with the kind of clarity necessary to capture the imagination. Rather they have furnished us with contradictions and distractions, leading only to greater confusion.

But the baggage has come from the fallout from the distorted motives and actions resulting from misunderstanding the force of sexual desire. Indiscriminate sexual activity, devoid of love always seeks to address other needs beyond procreation, among the six psychological human needs. A female giving in to sexual conquest in order to gain self-esteem is as equally empty a reward as the momentary power gained by the male conqueror who truly seeks more general life control. Combining strategies of competition and anger with the quest for power can motivate rape. Any number of misguided motives and actions can result from the lack of selfunderstanding and purposeful guidance---many of which result in
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unwanted pregnancies.
The sexual act, when considered as an expression of giving rather than taking, when considered as an expression of love for the other person and an act of enhancement to the togetherness concept, will take place for the right reasons and highest ideals, rather than for singular and self-centered motives without concern for the possible consequences, be they a pregnancy or a narcissistic act of self-satisfaction.

Cultural Conditions Placed Upon Love Historically, the love force has proved to be a powerful, yet mysterious and uncontrollable aspect of human nature. Thus, there has been an outcropping of external controlling directives and myths which are designed to counteract the inevitable disruptive and painful events which spring from self-preservationary sexual impulses. There are many useful beliefs about love throughout mass consciousness, but there are just as many myths that do far more damage than good. Love is indeed a gift from above, but not nearly with so many conditions and trappings as might be believed.
Take a pure and simple concept such as "love" and begin to attach rules, dogmas and conditions to it and, before you know it, it begins to break down, unable to sustain itself when more demands are placed upon it than are justified.

Each mind contains a unique mixture of impressions from role models, learned information, and spiritual creative and intuitive insights about the meaning of love. Whole lives can be put on hold due to ideas which limit the suitability of a love object, or they can be filled with the dramatic turnover of many unrequited, or short-lived loves. Each individual has the responsibility of knowing what their mind contains and purposefully designing the most fulfilling strategies. Each belief about love must be carefully granted an audience before the spiritual adjudicator.
To put "love" in the category of a responsibility, is to place it where it is not normally found. To suggest that a current preoccupation with this concept should be examined and subjected to our "spiritual adjudicator" flies in the face of almost all conventional wisdom. Yet, because of the status of the subject in our lives, and considering that it usually strikes in the more critical years of one's life, it would behoove us to approach it as a physical, mental and spiritual
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experience, with all that is then implied.

But there are some basic misconceptions and popular myths about love and marriage that can be immediately dispelled. The first is that everyone must meet and marry and procreate. If the spirit does not desire marriage, then this message should be heeded first and foremost; for the intended destiny path might necessitate freedom from such entanglements. A spirit forced to conform to normal family standards against its own yearnings will suffer cruelly, as will the others trapped in such a unit.
Marriage is only one of the alternatives in the process of living out one's life. It is not mandatory and, for some, it is not even necessary. Remembering that marriage involves two people, it can not be entered into simply to satisfy one's anxiety about the social attitude toward singlehood, even when the predominant pressure to marry is from one's parent(s).

Wrapped into the myth is another which insists that one male and one female are necessary to produce and parent healthy offspring; when in reality, the loving contributions of many enlightened adults of either sex can foster an enlightened, connected child. The conditions (those described for optimal human development), rather than the players is what determines a successful "parental unit". Even a single parent with a good and stable support network can achieve success far easier than two competitive, fearful, conflicted biological parents.
Whether the enthronement be urban or rural, whether one parent or two, whether affluent or low-income, the bottom line of importance is the determinant that a child has the necessary love and support from the adults in his/her environment to fulfill his/her physical, mental and spiritual potential.

Another, is the romantic myth of a singular soul-mate, that basic missing half of one's soul with which each person is destined to find and reconnect. This myth is meant to promote monogamy and longevity of relationships, but can also set impossible expectations. This is not to say that there are no spiritual destiny paths meant to cross, for this is a common occurrence.
To spend one's life with a person for whom one has strong affection, to share the challenges of that life, to have children together and create an environment in which other lives can bloom, is a feat that should never be degraded on the presumption that the two people involved in this effort are less than a "perfect match," in any sense of the phrase.
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But it is to say that there are many potential soul-mates and that progress along the destiny path will be a predictor of who is right for whom at any give point in time. It is to say that the free will and the pitfalls of an unenlightened physical existence can greatly influence the progress. It is to say that humans can cross paths and give each other what they have to offer and then go in alternate directions, that free will can alter paces and probable paths. It is to say that even when a spiritual "soul-mate" recognition occurs, this does not mean an automatic "happily ever after." It is to say that such a person can be a good choice to attempt to build intimacy with, but if one such party is not ready to do so, or are too limited by their own mindscape to the illusions of mass consciousness, it is best to understand this and move on. There should not be shame or guilt when full and purposeful living takes lovers in alternate directions. The marital union should hope for lifelong affinity, but make no promises for enduring the death of spirit.
Because marriage is regarded as such an important concept of lifelong importance, it is probably better to resolve the conflicting issues of one's life before entering into such an arrangement, even if that requires waiting until one has played out that casual sense of commitment in order to go on to the required level of maturity. Marry later, rather than earlier, and the probability of permanency is likely to increase.

It is also true, however, that spirits who recognize one another have a stronger potential of sharing enlightenment with one another. The existing connection can help transcend existing limitations if both are committed to doing so and capable of the trust, intimacy and expressive efforts necessary. Following feelings of approach and love in such cases is a good practice, as long as the spirit is allowed to communicate the right time for letting go should either party be unready for such growth. For purposeful love is only created when completing the circuit of intimacy between two melded souls.
If two people, who are meant to be together in totality for a lifetime, should meet at an early age, then that "destiny" quality need not be deterred. This experience, however, is often the exception.

Any worldviews that put stipulations upon whom one can marry should also be rejected. Religious prejudice, racial tension, and socio-economic class distinctions can all limit the potential pool of love objects.
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Tremendous limitation has occurred due to such practices. Entire gene pools have been created due to such limitation; some complete with genetic mutations which have been detrimental to the species. A healthy, unrestrained mixing within the diversity of genetic combinations will assure the necessary diversity continues.
While the qualities that married people have in common do tend to make for a comfortable relationship, too much of such commonality can make for a redundant society which, in the physical sense alone, can be detrimental. The very act of mixing cultures, religions or nationalities can broaden the perspective of each soul, as well as bring forth the best of each in their offspring.

Ultimately, so much of human destiny rests upon the unimpeded flow of energy between two individuals. No matter which level of intimacy exists, each will play an important role in the evolving of individual minds and of mass consciousness itself.
Least we forget, in marriage, the total of the relationship is by its very nature, more than the sum of its parts.

When energy is allowed to flow within and between each individual, the spiritual expression is maximized, as is the expansion of the experience of All That Is. But individuals alone are not the only active players in this process. We can now proceed to examine how groups of individuals interacting, can take on lives of their own, creating unique energy dynamics and avoidable obstacles.
So, as individuals connecting with other individuals, we are an example of what nature tends to encourage. This environment of intimacy has all the necessary qualities for spiritual growth.

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Section Epsilon Lesson Three: Implications For Group Relationships Why Groups? The implications of spiritual reconnection have extreme impact upon how humans think about themselves as members of groups. Ultimately, humanity as a unified whole, is the highest group to which each individual belongs. The spiritual connection impressed upon the body as the powerful urge to commune and interact with brothers and sisters, moves humanity to discover themselves as members within this singular group.
It is obvious that through interaction and feedback we learn as much about ourselves as we do about others in our environment. This is why it is so essential to have social connections, be they with immediate family or people on the other side of the planet. The technology at use right now can bring the latter into being and, in doing so, make that "spiritual connection" an intrinsic part of our development.

Ultimately, the human hedonic design pushes and pulls humanity toward connected cooperation as an entire species, but such movement occurs whether or not the mind is engaged in the process. All purposeful movement is predicated upon following spiritual wisdom. Until full selfunderstanding is attained, there are predictable patterns and pitfalls which will emerge.
Some of these "patterns and pitfalls" have been life threatening in the fullest of human terms. Fortunately, there are other life forms beyond this sphere that have a vested interest in helping us to match our spiritual development to our technical development. But the ultimate responsibility lies with each and all of us.

The modern world revolves around the human group. There are many good reasons to form and belong to groups. People are not only pushed together by the pains of loneliness and isolation, they are pulled together in order to meet all their human needs in cooperative ways. There is power in numbers. There is loving connection, opportunities to earn esteem, find meaning, and a great deal of creative energy possible. The group can attain far more than any one of its members alone. There is a veritable magic that can happen in the cooperative sharing of resources, a synergy of energy wherein the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. There is a divinely intended balance and vitality when all organisms freely interact to
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meet their needs. Indeed, the entire physical world is based upon cooperative interactions between and among individual spirits.
This is the family of humankind. It's separate parts reflect the collective whole. Just as each human cell contains the knowledge of its entire body, so each human being holds within his/her self the information necessary to sustain and progress the entire whole. It is through group communication that this information is interchanged and a progressive movement in all areas is sustained.

By offering need-meeting opportunities, each kind of group plays its own unique part in the cooperative purposeful whole. Family units are the core of society, greeting incoming spirits with open arms and orienting them along their destiny path. Membership in workgroups can provide basic survival resources, as employees toil and earn resources to provide for their families. Membership in support or friendship groups can satisfy needs for connection, meaning, and creative expression. Recreational, sporting or entertaining group activities can satisfy personal needs for power, fun, freedom and excitement.
We sometimes tend to fail to see when the above process is in place and working properly. The often disruptive nature of some urban environments (commonly referred to as slums) tend to distract from the small town environments where the above traditions are preserved and honored. Our electronic age has served as a distraction to many and the accelerated pace of work loads and the subsequent "acquisition mentality" has drawn many away from the ideal as expressed in the above paragraph.

Educational groupings, book clubs, and discussion groups can greatly assist in self-development. Health groups can offer connection and support, and motivate more healthful life choices. Religious groups can provide spiritual guidance and meaning. All groups that allow individuals to develop and express can help build self-esteem. Political groups, advocate groups, and workers' unions can help solve problems, and protect one another from unjust conditions.
The significant aspect of forming any group is the guidelines under which the members can exercise their free will and avoid the pressures of conformity. Along with focus, there must be tolerance and an appreciation of divergent opinions. Rigid rules and an overemphasis on conformity can not help but result in diminished creativity. Diversity of thought and membership should be celebrated when and wherever possible.
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But there are also some predictable and avoidable traps of group memberships. When armed with the wisdom in these Lessons, one will be aware of the many pitfalls, and the painful prices one can potentially pay for group membership, and can take the necessary actions to ensure that they do not occur.
This material offers knowledge and experience from a far greater perspective than most of us could likely imagine in our lifetimes. Herein lies the value of what we are doing in reviewing this material. Also, the greater the diversity of those who review and comment on it, the richer the experience will be for all.

The Group Organism At present, all of the maladies that haunt the unenlightened individual, also plague the groups they form. The resulting social symptoms have become so routinely accepted that they are never noticed to be symptoms of deficit states. Thus, the corrective signals are never received or acted upon.
Just as we are not encouraged to know our inner selves, we are also not prone to examine ourselves as a group. First, because peer pressure does not encourage that level of honesty, in fear that it might threaten the cohesion of the group. Secondly, it is foreign to our natural pattern of thought in a competitive environment.

When reclaiming the voice of spirit, individuals will begin to recognize that the groups to which they belong are also like individual organisms. Each group has unique features, like genetics of an individual, its own language, rules, and power hierarchy. It matters not if the group is a family, a sports team, a professional business, an artists union, a governmental agency, a gang, a church group, a local community, a country, or a planet---each group has its own developmental cycle, purposes, and pitfalls, likened to those of the human being.
With the exception of the latter, i.e. "pitfalls", the qualities of a group can be beneficial to spiritual development, in the sense that it can be a learning experience toward individual growth. It is also an environment in which to make needed friends.

For just as cells come together in forming organs, and organs come
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together in forming systems, and systems come together in the whole that is a human body, human minds come together in creating new group organisms. This fact is the basis of all mass consciousness, and can be seen in the various groups that have arisen. Each group will have the same functions and the same purposes of the human being---the trinity of purpose---to self-preserve, to self-develop and to self-express. And each group will have the exact same pitfalls and challenges as a living, breathing human being.
The law of nature supports the formation of groups of like mind, it is in this "likeness" that groups find their natural weakness. For it is essential that in order to keep any group intellectually fresh, that there be room for introduction of new ideas and self examination. Without these qualities, groups become stale and rigid.

Fortunately, each group will also suffer the same painful emotional signals and can gather the wisdom and take immediate corrective actions. But this will necessarily change the face of many human groupings as they now exist. For many groups are alive due to their ability to manipulate and misuse the emotional system rather than align with it. Some groups take on a life of their own, outliving the original purposes and minimizing rather than enhancing humanity. Some prey upon human weakness and take power from their willing, but unaware, members. Others simply suffer conflict and dysfunction because there is not unity within.
It was Thomas Jefferson who suggested that all governments should be disbanded and reformed every seven years. This is an idea that might well be appropriate for all groups, whatever their purpose and make-up. In such a practice, a freshness and freedom would automatically spring up and likely reduce the tendency of excessive control from creeping into the nature of the group. It might also be a way whereby bureaucracies might be irrigated and revamped.

Conformity The first of the pitfalls of group membership arises immediately upon entry. For once one joins a group, the group and what it stands for becomes part of the person's self-concept. And, as we know, anything that is taken into the mindscape and becomes "self", will then become subjected to the self-preservationary responses of the body. The group will then seek to
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preserve its unique identity in several ways.

The term "group mind" means exactly what it describes. In nature, we observe it as a flock of birds in flight, following the lead bird in whatever direction is elected. We accept certain mental guidelines incorporated into the group, whether they be professional or recreational. In doing so, we agree to surrender a part of ourselves.

Depending upon the levels of the self-needs that are satisfied within the group, there will be a corresponding emotional value of the membership. The value of the membership plays out in a group as the need for conformity. The ideals, rituals, and activities of the group all become rather sacred and in need of preservation in order for the group to survive as an entity. This means that certain rules will be followed, certain assumptions will be taken for granted, certain symbols have specific meanings, perhaps even certain clothing will be worn that distinguishes the group. There might be a special initiation, or a secret handshake, a unique language, or any other kind of distinguishing commonalty that one can imagine.
Again, we are speaking of a surrender of a part of ourselves to the will and practices of the group. The spirit was not intended to be subservient and when placed in an environment where such becomes the case, then the exercise of free will is traded for security and self-preservation.

The urge to conform springs from the connection need as well as the pressure from the group to match its expectations, and creates the force which continuously regenerates the group bond. It is often so powerful that it can override the thoughtful choices of the individual. Thus, the price one pays for the pleasures of group membership comes with a potentially steep cost of individual will and freedom of thought.
Life, it is said, is a trade-off. We give up some things in order to enjoy others. We give up our "individual will and freedom of thought" in order to enjoy the security that comes with group mind and support from fellowship. It would be a unique organization that could provide both freedom and security.

The urge to conform is quite intense due to the general human lack of selfunderstanding. Thus, in terms of individual purpose, conforming to a group can bring one either up or down depending upon its beliefs and values. The urge to conform can bring an individual into the rewarding
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embrace of those who can offer self-development, or refuge from an abusive or unenlightened previous group. Or it could be merely to serve a frustrated power need, and provide an allegiance to a gang which seizes power through drive-by shootings and random acts of violence. Either way, there are ongoing positive and negative forces that will bond members within their groups.
This suggests that as we progress spiritually and become more acquainted with inner self, the need to join conform-minded groups will decline and, as a consequence, groups will alter in nature and make-up. People will still work together toward a common end, but the nature of such groups will become more temporary and less binding. The latter portion of the above paragraph described the "cult" type of group with all its negative consequences.

This continuous emotional bond works in two directions. Conformity brings pleasurable positive reinforcement, tapping the inner pull of purposeful need-fulfillment, wherever a member behaves in characteristic ways of the group. When members display the correct values and actions, they will be rewarded by smiles, pats on the back, high fives, or some other sort of recognition for their conformity, and they will feel good.
Positive reinforcement from without is pleasurable in our current state of spiritual understanding. When we have succeeded in connecting with the spirit within, we will come to know the joy that follows complying with the urgings of that inner spirit.

The opposite force appears with nonconformity. Depending upon the value, there will be the corresponding threat of rejection, the ever-present possibility that the group will ask a member to leave. This will compound the positive desires to conform by adding the fear component. Different actions and beliefs are instantly trounced upon by negative reinforcement in order to preserve the group identity.
In this latter environment, the freedom to explore one's insights which refute or transcend the dogma that is firmly in place, is surrendered and not likely to be recaptured in one's lifetime, unless a concerted effort is made to break the programming which surrounds us.

Thus, any group will also be maintained by the force of negative emotions. There will be fearful feelings within each member to follow the path of the group, as well as an anger which ensures that other members do as well.
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This aspect can bring about some quite negative outcomes. For where there is emotional force, devoid of understanding of its purpose, there will be mindless self-preservationary responses.
The Shakespearian line about not being able to see the trees for the forest comes to mind as the appropriate analogy here. The preservation of the group becomes more essential than the purpose of the group. Western religions have given in to this failing, in particular, with the elders turning on their own children when they do not maintain their allegiance to the core group beliefs and elect to expand their own spiritual understandings.

For with fear, it becomes an individual motive to stay within the group---at all costs, including doing things the mind would not direct. With this added force to conform can come a shift toward risky behavior to prove one's mettle as a worthy member of the group. Hazing and other dangerous initiations into the groups and acts of allegiance often end in tragic events as well.
The reference here, is to fraternities. However, such organizations are only reflections of the larger and more controlling institutions and serve as a prelude to those institutions which will eventually hold people to their various allegiances of the political, economic and religious world.

Such challenges of group membership which go against the spirit will also motivate anger. This will also spur all group members to ensure that their own sacrifices and risks are matched by all other members or retaliations might result. This can show up in either very subtle or dramatic ways. But there will be constant maintenance of the boundaries of the group, the prodding and cajoling by members for each to prove their allegiance, to measure up. And if any one dares to act differently than expected, they will be immediately cajoled back into compliance. Particularly if they imply in any way they might be thinking original thoughts which might go beyond the established guidelines or boundaries of the group.
Even in what is accepted as a so called "free" society, non-conformity is still regarded as a threat. This flies directly in the face of what one's "Spirit" nature truly stands for. The freedom to exercise one's creative impulse is essential to spiritual growth. The institution that does not recognize this, will also serve as an adversity to the spirit within.

For example, a gang member begins to be interested in a community youth

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dramatic program offered by his local library. The program offers brief classes in dramatic acting, and a loose and informal setting for its members to put together creative plays. It only takes one evening out of his week, and is on a night that his gang isn't together anyway. He finds many rewards in this new creative outlet, and wants to share his enthusiasm with his gang.
Here is a natural process taking place. An individual is looking beyond the parameters of his known environment. This is a process that is as deep seated as an infant's urge to walk.

But when he begins to describe his experiences, his fellow gang members will respond to this nonconformity as a threat to the group. Without even mindful awareness, they will automatically respond in defensive ways. They might interrupt, ridicule, and chide him for using new words, and tease him about becoming a sissy actor. As they do so, they will give each other high fives and be less interested in what the actor is saying. They are simply maintaining the unit of the group, for his new activities have threatened its "self-concept".
How many times have we turned away from the temptation to explore new concepts or interests because the reaction of those around us was less than enthusiastic or was even clearly discouraging? Like some unwritten rule, those who threaten to go into unfamiliar territory are most often met with whatever is necessary to revert them back to the status quo.

If any member actively pursues individual self-development, then he must either hide it, or somehow convince the entire group to develop along similar lines. For the self-preservationary impulse of the group organism is every bit as powerful---if not more---than that of the individual, and defensive responses will occur as predictably as the moon does rise. And where there are self-preservationary responses outside of emotional understanding, there will always be breakdowns in purposeful movement.
A perpetuation of the limited thinking of individuals or groups can only lead to an eventual deterioration of the spiritual qualities of each conforming member and the organization as a whole.

The Developmental Cycle Of A Group To address where each of these breakdowns occur, one can look to the
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natural developmental cycle of any human grouping. The first group to which any individual will belong is that of the family. This group is unique because it is already established and does not go through the formative stages. But each spiritual principle and emotional dynamic has particular meaning within the family unit, for it is the vehicle for adequate emotional development and the climate that can make or break the spiritual connection.
The environment which two people create for the benefit of nurturing a new life being introduced into the world is critical to the formation of the individual on a spiritual level, in additional to a physical and mental/emotional level. Given this fact, no one should elect parenthood without understanding the full significance of this role.

For humans are born immediately into a specific group, within a specific community, within a specific cultural heritage, and within a specific accepted worldview. (Ultimately, the largest grouping is the current level of mass consciousness itself.) The family group will bear the responsibility for imparting the initial frames of reference, the first beliefs, for the entire reality of the incoming entity. These early beliefs affect the very brain structures, as they form the lens of the reality that is offered.
A safe and interesting environment, where information is imparted when not laden with fear and anxiety about the manner in which the world/universe operates, will surely free the potential adult from carrying an unnecessary supply of negative emotional baggage into what can and should be a productive lifetime.

Of course, in an enlightened world, the necessary flexibilities and selfunderstandings will be the first and primary offerings, but until then many pitfalls will continue to occur. These will involve the actual development of the emotional signals themselves. A child can be taught enlightened, connected, cooperative, life-giving habits which allow the natural feelings to flow, and a lifetime of pursuing the higher pleasures will be fostered. Or the child can learn that the world is a dog-eat-dog competition for survival, where fear and anger are one's only true friends.
Unfortunately, most of life's lessons are taught by example and there are far too many examples of the latter in place to hope to spare the newest generation from that type of influence. One can only wish that those more positive examples will end up being exercised by those in our society with the greatest influence on the
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younger generation. We desperately need shinning examples of spiritual maturity for younger generations to aspire to emulate.

Most of these other groupings can be changed through choice, but the family cannot. This is not to say that one cannot build a new family community to replace one that has been escaped for necessary reasons, not that one's birth family was not chosen through prior arrangement: it is simply to note that an incoming infant is fairly well stuck with the initial group. It has no say-so upon arrival, aside from departing the physical realm entirely.
The rebellious stage of life comes upon the young as they reach the brink of adulthood. It is at this point that the person begins to sense the information that he/she instinctively should reject. However, some of this information being spiritually valid, is thrown out with the less-spiritual bath water, so to speak. Often it appears that the child is headed toward personal destruction. Here is where the element of unconditional love is called upon, along with the patience and faith to allow the powerful ingredient of inner spiritual guidance to kick in.

The developmental task of any group is to establish the conditions for true, connected cooperation within and between its members, in order for any group goal to have and enjoy the synergy of the combined energy of its members. This means that there cannot be competition within and between members, or certain predicable patterns will arise.
Some parents incorrectly believe that the best preparation for the adult life is to place the young in an environment where they are competing amongst themselves while still in childhood. Usually they end up competing for their parents' love. But, if the family environment is one in which love and cooperation are nurtured, and I believe it is, then trying to mix the former (competition) and the latter (cooperation) is the equivalent of mixing fire with water.

Power Dynamics The first will have to do with the one's relative power in a group. If this is not stated upon entry, then it will emerge through struggle. Entities are not always consciously aware of the struggles, but they participate in them constantly. This is particularly apparent when a group is forming.
The evolution of leadership should be a natural process, when possible. It happens in the formation of a jury, for example. It can happen in other aspects
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of society, but it should be remembered that the so called "leaders" in a group are not necessarily the most valuable people. Often it is the more unobtrusive but wiser person who can make a significant contribution.

Groups form when people come together for some common purpose. They each will be drawn to the group by inner knowledge that they have something unique to offer, and something to purposefully receive. If they feel frustrated in any way while trying to make this exchange, they will experience some mild form of anger. This anger will move them to express themselves to remove whatever obstacle is in the way. These expressions will be how a group develops its language, negotiates its rules, and power hierarchy. It will not be until each person has found their place of necessary fulfillment within the group, that cooperation can begin.
The early stage of group formation, while appearing to be the most discontent, is of great value in that the comfort level of each member is being established. Once done, the collective process can move forward.

Many existing groups have never truly reached this cooperative state of being. If any member is not adequately fulfilled within their place within the group design, they will be motivated to find alternative ways to meet their needs. This sets the goals of an individual against, and in competition with, those of the group. This is likened unto the disconnection between mind and body in an individual, or even dysfunction between the heart and lungs of a human body. Competition ensures that only some of the needs will win and others will lose.
We, in western society, are constantly exposed to the competitive nature of relationships. Because it is held as always being a virtue, we often forget that success through cooperation requires that it (competition) be put aside for the benefit of progress through harmony.

Yet, the competitive mindset that is the accepted norm within mass consciousness does not recognize that embracing win-lose competition is like allowing a cancer to grow within the organism. This limited belief often accepts and promotes an adversarial position between individual and group needs, which is spiritually and biologically unsound. For the needs of one are the needs of all, without exception.
If, for example, freedom were to be considered to be the right of only elected or appointed government officials, placing them above the law of the land, it would
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soon become evident that such a government would have a limited future. So it is with other "groups", be they social clubs or businesses. A truly successful group or organization must feel comfortable and satisfying to most of those in it or morale will suffer and the success of same will be diminished.

The need for sufficient power to control one's destiny in a group is just as powerful as everywhere else. Likewise are the needs for freedom, connection, creativity, self-esteem and meaning. The task of the group is to design a structure in which each member can actively meet adequate levels of these needs to ensure the maximum contribution from each member, and to facilitate the maximum progress toward the group goal. If not, the negative impact will be seen in direct relationship to the level of frustrated need fulfillment.
Two qualities should be foremost in the minds of all group members. 1) The goal of the group should be clarified and able to be envisioned by all those in the group. 2) The complete democratization of the group should be emphasized again and again, so that each individual knows that his/her opinion or vote is equal to (but not more important than) all others in the group. One the other hand, the majority are not always the final determinant. Abraham Lincoln once had to remind his cabinet, when they overwhelmingly disapproved of a policy he was about to implement, that in the case of that group, he was the majority.

When breakdown occurs, the emotional forces leave the members torn between the need for power and the need for connection. We know now that the power need will always win out. Freedom and power ensure survival, and if the group does not allow them, the member can simply leave the group. But more often than not, particularly in work groups, the primary economic power of membership itself forces employees to stay. This leaves the individual divided within himself and against the group, stranded in a deficit state, lingering in painful unanswered corrective signals, and doomed only to hardwired self-preservationary responses. For as we know, the body will overtake the mind when necessary.
As we move toward a more enlightened economic paradigm, groups who operate in this environment will come to realize that the mental and spiritual state of its members will be reflected first in the state of morale and, consequently, in the level of the groups rate of success. This realization will be necessary at all levels of the group.

For example, perhaps the group endeavor is a business and the individual
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is an employee who belongs to this group in order to make his living. He will be given the free authority and the resources to perform his job. He will be told of the requirements and expectations, given the equipment, supplies, training, and he will agree to a specific salary package. These will cover his first basic needs for freedom and power, particularly if there is room for promotion and advancement.
The more freedom and responsibility an individual is given to carry out assigned tasks, the greater the creative energy that will be unleashed. Recognition of positive efforts and results is only the natural way of acknowledging an individual's highest spiritual qualities. In this way, inspiration to evolve toward such defined ends, is spread throughout the group in a natural fashion.

Suppose that our worker was unhappy with the amount of pay that his job provides. (As is the case with most workers, in an unenlightened world with imbalanced worldly conditions and limited opportunities). But since there were no other available jobs, the worker agreed to the salary. In the world that exists today, money has become synonymous with freedom in many ways. Economic freedom is tantamount to the freedom of movement as well as providing the resources to meet other needs.
Also, "money" has become the yardstick by which we measure the worth of an individual, even more than beauty, intelligence or mental agility. Things have become so tilted in this area that senior company executives end up being grossly over-rewarded for successes that really belong to nearly all the others in a company who make valuable contributions.

If the arrangement was not considered fair and just, this worker will experience anger and might be motivated to cheat or steal to get what he feels is rightful, or it might move him to do little things to get even with the group and sabotage the group goals. These kinds of self preservationary responses, of course, show that true cooperation has been overridden by survival competition. When this happens, the lower needs of body win out over the higher ones of mind, and both the employee and the company will suffer.
Systems too often play a determining role in corrupting individuals. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in an organization that is strictly profit oriented. Those who surrender to their "anger" are motivated to regain some semblance of freedom by reeking revenge in subtle but significant ways. When the level of this activity reaches critical mass, the organization is existing on borrowed time.
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Other symptoms and informal power hierarchies will also arise. If there is inflexibility and inadequate freedom to communicate, negotiate and control one's destiny, then underground grapevine lines of communications and gossip, fear and mistrust begin to breed. If contributions are not recognized or valued, then anger, envy and hostility can arise. Sneaky acts of retaliation and sabotage against group goals will occur. There can be thefts, embezzlements, the designing of destructive computer viruses, even territorial urination in the corporate water-cooler.
Where open lines of expression exist, trust is nourished and morale is kept high. No one in an organization should be used or encouraged to spy upon anyone else. Concern about the dissatisfactions of everyone in the group should be of importance to all its members. Only then can free expression thrive.

The Group Structure These painful symptoms are exactly like the corrective emotional signals experienced in an individual. Any group must have the enlightened leadership to ensure that a structure evolves which accommodates the needs of each of its members. Each and every such symptom should be acted upon immediately to restore frustrated need-meeting opportunities. Each group should ensure its continuous purpose of self-development and expression. The leadership of any group should respond exactly like an enlightened mind, to adapt itself to each and every incoming piece of information and design the organizational structure and rules to best allocate resources and eliminate internal competition.
The most popular and admired leaders of any group are those who respect the spiritual dignity of the members and reflect that respect in what they do to enhance it. But the responsibility for group enhancement lies as much with the group, itself, as with its leadership. The secondary role of leadership is to stimulate organization and cooperation.

Failing to respond to such symptoms is like closing the door of the mind in a flight response to denial, and all the problems inherent in that choice will befall the group. Such dysfunctional groups can be identified for their dependence upon ideological, emotionally manipulative, psychological or physical walls to contain their members. Such walls are erected to keep individuals from escaping into more rewarding and spiritually fulfilling groupings. In an enlightened group or world, no such walls need ever exist. All such walls, of course, are spiritually unsound, for they will
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eventually be broken down by the safeguard angers of those frustrated spirits imprisoned within.
In business structures, where the entrenchment of leadership is too often dependent on the profit line, leadership may elect to ignore the warning signs of discontent until it is too late to successfully correct them. In political and religious groups, other controlling factors can keep the body contained through fear and intimidation. The Berlin wall was a metaphor for the crumbling of all
organizations that control people to the detriment of their spiritual development.

Dysfunctional groups are far less likely when the structure facilitates the most natural and purposeful contributions from its members. Any group desires, of course, that each of its incoming members to be as capable, resourceful, and functional as possible; but some qualities are far less important when the environment is fertile. For the group can bring out the best, or worst, in any member, depending upon its structure.
Nature, itself, offers many lessons of enlightened organization. But these lessons are often subtle and need to be studied and appreciated. For this to happen, nature must be appreciated. As for a group that is bringing out the "worst" qualities in any of its members, serious reflection is in order.

The inevitable struggles occur in order to eventually bring about the just and spiritually desirable structural conditions. The more the structure accommodates human nature, and allows each individual to fulfill the trinity of purposes, the more successful it will be in its group endeavors. First and foremost, the structure must accommodate the basic individual needs for freedom and power or there will be the corrective feelings of fear and anger in its members, and retaliatory self-preservationary acts against the group.
It is a cycle. When fear is introduced into a structural environment, anger is an eventual consequence. When anger surfaces, fear is enhanced. Many school systems are evolving into such a cycle and, unless reversed, will suffer serious consequences.

Fear and anger are not to be accepted or tolerated over long periods of time. Yet, they are often embraced and even manipulated by group doctrine and leaders. Many human groupings do not understand that leading through fear and intimidation will never work well. For these are deficit states indicative of an arena where justice does not dwell. External justice
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is the social counterpart of individual purpose. Until humans embrace this natural truth, all group organizations will have to deal with continuous anger and fear. Justice is simply the external condition in which each individual has the rightful freedom of movement, and the opportunities for empowerment to meet the needs.
One has to ask the obvious, if the freedoms spelled out in our constitution are sufficient to guide our government, would not these same principles be worthy of emulation in our economic and religious institutions as well? Should they be accepted and put into practice, all such institutions would compliment and spiritually enhance each other, to the general benefit of all involved.

It is quite easy to see how most groups, be they families, communities, religions, political groups, businesses, governmental organizations, schools---any type of grouping finds its own way of utilizing rather than eliminating fear and anger. These feelings are used not to give the necessary power, but to take away even more. Indeed, emotional manipulation is a major strategy in an unjust world.
The only true protection against "emotional manipulation" and a firm determination is to free oneself from it. The first step in doing so it recognizing it. The second step is in accepting that the only person entitled to manipulate one is oneself. The final step is caring enough about yourself to take control of your own destiny, once and for all.

This is a subhuman state of living but has been accepted as the norm among humans. Religions used fearsome fire and brimstone to force moral actions; businesses use threats and power-wielding to get the most effort out of workers; governments pass laws restricting freedoms and threatening fines and imprisonment, but nothing will work except a structure that provides natural justice. For the human spiritual system is designed to pull individuals forward along the naturally moral purposeful destiny path. The push of painful feelings only ensures that there will be no backward movement allowed.
Is it possible to imagine a world in which the above described tactics (fear and threats) would not be in place? If it can be imagined, it can be achieved. This millennium is, in effect, a crossroads for the future of humanity. New possibilities are dependent upon which destiny we elect to create. It will take our physical, mental and spiritual determination to take that road better traveled.

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The ideal structure instead assures each group member the necessary freedom to move about, to do what is necessary to meet needs and challenges of the environment. There must also be an adequate balance of resource allocations such that each member can both draw from and give to, the group unit. These are the only two required conditions of justice, and when they exist, the inner positive feelings drive purposeful movement.
Whether it be in a unit as small as a family or as large as a government, the giving and receiving process must be apparent in the minds of all the participants in order to give purpose to one's existence. There will always be some who give less than seems appropriate and others who give more than their share, but if we can get beyond judgment and accept the built-in variances in humans, overall happiness will take an important step forward.

An enlightened leadership, aware of the pitfalls, would build a structure which would assure that the positive feelings always remain stronger than the negative ones. Although money might be tight for salaries all around, there can be allocations of projects which can offer added empowerment and creativity, special incentive and recognition programs which build self-esteem, informal business activities that allow connection, and group missions which offer meaning. The structure can provide for all the needs and salary itself becomes far less important.
The above should stand as an inspiring guideline to be used in the creation of any organization, regardless of size or complexity. In fact, there are probably successful groups in place right now that can serve as living examples of what can be.

Any group organization can dramatically improve its internal relations and its external successes, by structurally tending to the emotional needs of its members. This is the only way to foster trust, connection, and true cooperation. Soliciting constant communicative feedback and attending to the emotional information is essential. There are many deadly habits routinely undertaken by both leaders and members when fear and anger are allowed upon the premises.
A gentleman by the name of W. Edwards Deming did wonders for the Japanese auto industry and established a list of fourteen guiding principles which eventually became an American business program called Total Quality Management. Among these principles was #8 which stated: Drive out fear.
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People often fear reprisal if they "make wages" at work. Managers need to create an environment where workers can express concerns with confidence.

The enlightened leaders that have discovered these patterns, have found that the resources invested in attaining such enlightened structures, have been far surpassed by the values of the positive changes within the workforce. The employees of such organizations find true joy and pleasure in going to work each day, and are more aligned within themselves as individuals, simply due to the structure of their working world. They bring home enhancements, as well as bacon, to their families.
Unfortunately, in a business climate where competition gains too prominent a position in the practices of an organization, or where spiritual qualities are overridden for the sake of maintaining power through fear, no tweaked management program can ever be truly successful.

The opposite is also true. To the degree that fear and anger are simply incorporated into the system, there will be an eventual downfall, for it does not jive with the spiritual nature of humanity. Even if members are forced to remain within religions, workforces, political parties, countries, or even families that deny them basic freedom and power, there will be symptoms within the group which point to the necessary corrections. Thus, there will be systems which arise to handle the steady discontent rather than to effect repair. The only long term solutions are those which follow the guidance of spirit and engage the inner natural morality.
Depending whether one sees the glass as half full or half empty, we are observing the definite evidence of trends happening in our society today. Of course, the news media is focusing on mostly negative happenings. Yet, in not so noticed but significant ways, a certain positive anticipation of this next one thousand years is beginning to seep into the collective consciousness. Since we have managed to survive the Y2K phobia mostly intact, there is now a new wave of optimism heading toward our troubled beaches.

Every such grouping can benefit profoundly from this same principle. Heeding the wisdom within each of the negative feelings that arise individually and en masse, and correcting its source immediately can allow every type of group to evolve as dynamically as can individuals themselves.
We can also be assured that with the evolvement of each individual comes progress toward the evolution of all groups.
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The Isolated Group Regardless of the level of inner harmony of the group, it will still behave like an individual entity---complete with a version of each of the same pitfalls. Another error that commonly occurs among human groupings is that they can try to isolate themselves from incoming ideas. This is the counterpart of the individual who seeks to avoid incoming information, and preserve the mind in its existing state, rather than adapt and develop purposefully.
After a certain period of time, the habit of excluding outside information becomes self-perpetuating. At this point, it takes a traumatic experience to shake lose the ingrained thought patterns and open a wedge through which new information can flow.

If a group functions reasonably well as a unit, then it becomes likened unto a separate mind. It quite literally does take on a mind and a life of its own. But with the choice of isolation, it attempts to disconnect itself from the grander cooperative whole of humanity. It closes its doors through walls of rules and codes that are intended to keep members in, and the rest of the world out. Such isolation, of course, denies the spiritual interconnection between all humans and automatically sets the stage for a whole new series of painful symptoms. (For the grand cooperative spiritual interaction is the only Way).
When an individual or a group elects to set it/him/herself apart from the outside world, then it does so either with the intent of plugging into its spiritual/higher self or with the intent of sparing it/him/her self from outside information that might contradict a belief system. Through isolation comes an absence of evolution, which is in contradiction to the very nature of spirit.

The first symptom is known as "groupthink" wherein the minds of all begin to meld together and form a unique view of reality. And although this is not necessarily a bad thing, in the isolated form, it breeds profound emotional boundaries and a warped sense of reality. What happens is that as the members embrace the rules of the group, their emotional systems become entangled with the ideas, values and cultural knowledge held therein. They learn to feel good about certain ideas and feel bad about others---but based only upon the rules of that particular isolated
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environment---without the input from their experience and interactions with the rest of the world. This can spur a cult-like mentality, detached from its larger family of humanity, lost within its own delusions.
The cult mentality that we are conditioned to believe is not only inappropriate but possibly even threatening, and is one which has been around as long as their have been religious, economic, political and social institutions. They serve to provide security at the expense of freedom. In fact, they discourage the latter and strive to maintain a certain degree of control, usually through fear. They encourage and ultimately deteriorate into division, among themselves and between their respective groups and others of like kind, if not like mind.

Membership in this type of distorted reality is often taken on by personal choice, and is later perpetuated by naive belief that free will still actually exists. Power mongering violation can then occur. But the spiritual feeling system is alive and well. Its frustration will signal fear---an inherent quality in all such groups. The fear will then become part of the driving force of the group and nearly always at some point, the group will begin to take action within the larger community. They can turn to actions which follow this contrived worldview and act out upon that fear against the others in their world community, in a warped sense of self-preservation.
"Lord, I am truly sorry for having offended Thee...because I fear the loss of heaven and the pain of hell'. This should strike a certain chord of familiarity with some. Just a the crusades dominated the middle ages, so in modern times, governments lead military actions against other governments for the remotest of fears. Such actions can and do become prolonged and costly not only in economic terms, but most certainly in human terms as well.

This error is apparent in hate groups that hold ideas about racial or ethnic superiority, terrorist groups that hold ideas about right and just political conditions, and whose members have no logical qualms about unjustly violating others to attain them. It is apparent in jingoistic propaganda of communities which persuade their members to view their ideas as superior, and worthy enough for which to fight and perhaps to die. It is apparent in religious groups that shun members for individual thought or noncompliance and close the door to incoming perspectives and legitimate, spiritually directed questions. It is apparent within cults who take up arms in the name of their faith. This kind of damage is the strongest in those groupings which deliberately manipulate the emotional system of its
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members, to take for themselves their power of choice.

Moreover , it is apparent among governments and established religions and should be recognized as such. While the media may make a definitive story from the bizarre actions of a particular person, it will veer away from any evidence that this is being practiced on a broader scale, if doing such a story would be considered a clear threat to large and established institutions.

For the emotional system is the only safeguard system that saves humans from faulty choices of the free mind. If the mind is filled with ideas that exploit the defenses of the emotional system, that take power through instilling fear, guilt, anger, and hate, they can effectively turn the system against its master. Although the concept of "brainwashing" is a physical impossibility, the exploration of the emotional system in this way happens quite regularly. But those who become victimized will know by the level of fear and other negative emotion that the spirit is suffering under oppression. Entities are encouraged to heed the feeling signals, the true voice of spirit, above and beyond faithful adherence to any group doctrine.
The comfort level of any group is conditional upon what feelings exist in each member. If one feels good about the purpose of the group, the way its members relate to the individual, and feels free to leave and return to the surroundings of the group whenever it seems appropriate, it is likely that "fear" is not prevalent in the group makeup.

Indeed, isolation is no longer possible in the global community. Enlightened ideas must spread from individuals and flow freely throughout all human groupings for true civilization to emerge. No mind can be any more isolated than can a person, a country, or a spirit---for all are connected at the most essential levels of being. There is to be no turning back from the emerging global marketplace, but the spiritual guide must take its rightful place.
So we have a dichotomy of the individual mind with its personal guidance system and collective consciousness as it interrelates within itself. What each mind brings to the collective is that which either enhances or detracts from its spiritual evolution. What is described in the above paragraph could fit with the system we call the "internet." As below, so above.

The root source, as well as the most damaging of group pitfalls, are these powerful emotional boundaries that are erected between groupings.
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Emotional boundaries unchecked within the individuals will inevitably lead to emotional boundaries with groups. These are the walls of shared belief that keep members in and new ideas out.
Hostile to the outside world if growth is not experienced, so groups become withdrawn and defensive if its members are not allowed to experience their own growth. Isolation eventually leads to hostility and alienation.

We have seen how, when the mind follows the body's urge to self-preserve, it will interpret each negative feeling as one to close the mind and defend its presents contents. This is exactly the opposite of its purposeful message to mind. We have termed these emotional boundaries, since the feelings always point them out, but they are actually boundaries of the mind and its beliefs.
If we are taught at an early age that we are not to go beyond the mental boundaries of an instilled belief system, then it would follow that comfort would be sought within the confines of group structure we are most familiar with and distrust would be held toward those outside of the group mindset.

The worst effects come from groups who have decided through their own distorted lens that other specific groups are the dogs to be beaten. This is how hate is learned. This is how intolerance, social judgment, racial discrimination, and holy wars are born. Since the dawn of humanity, the reality of emotional boundaries has been continuously overlooked, and powerfully exploited. Most humans know intuitively that hating others is wrong, for the spirit desires no boundaries between individuals, let alone groups of them. But we don't think twice about seeing others as different than ourselves because of their free choices.
So the solution to the flaw of group hate is a greater emphasis on the virtue of "free choice." With the enhancement of this quality comes a natural respect and appreciation of those who are, by chance or by choice, celebrating their differences, as should we all.

Social Stratification Just as conformity urges boundaries from the inside, there is an opposite effect which also maintains the boundaries from the outside. Just as members cajole each other to stay the same, there is also a tendency to
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compare themselves to outsiders, and feign a certain superiority. This also strengthens the perceived value of the group.
When members of a group are taught to think of themselves as superior to those not in the group, a predictable attitude is incorporated into the thinking of group members, which prevents them from having an objective view of the world around them.

When the group survives over a long period of time, its need begins to take on a life of its own. Individual members come and go with time, but the values become institutionalized, and rarely questioned. This can be likened to the Frankenstein monster that can aggress against its members, the first of which were its master designers. Some groups have become so unquestioned, that their original purpose no long exists, and its values have mutated into those that divide and drain humanity at large. Certain government and religious bodies have fallen into this category.
When we begin to question whether a known religious body is still intent on encouraging its members to evolve spiritually or when we begin to wonder if the democratic form of government we live under is truly "democratic" in its values, then we are moving to a greater awareness that turns away from participation in the rituals of such organizations. Church attendance may wane, voting participation may decline, and this may strike a familiar chord.

Yet, these groups are still preserved through the emotional forces effected upon their members. Lines are then drawn and institutionalized insiders and outsiders arise. The group remains strong through belittling outsiders, who are not group members. Weakening the outsiders then strengthens the unity of the self within the group. These lines establish long-term competition instead of enlisting connection and cooperation within humanity. It is simply a grand scale deadly habit which is the motivational force behind all sorts of social stratification.
Unable to find the needed strength from within these groups, those who then become the "outsiders" begin to seek their guidance from within themselves.. Eventually, that guiding spirit supersedes and transcends that which the group was failing to provide. In other words, those outside a religious group might begin to experience more spiritual growth than those within it.

This is how nearly permanent lines get drawn---and maintained---between groups of people, whether they are based upon race, culture, family, socio420

economics, geography or any other arbitrary sort of classification. This is the emotional root of all prejudice. This is how the family of humanity became fragmented, disconnected, and relegated to a state of spiritual frustration. For such classifications also come with their own limitations, particularly in the areas of freedom and opportunity for empowerment. Whole subcultures thus arise that in some way push against the whole, just as cancers are allowed to grow and fester within individuals.
There is beginning to come into existence a system that has the capability of breaking down these prejudicial barriers, a system that invites difference in mind rather than body or even belief systems. In this environment, ideas can be exchanged and examined objectively on their merits. In this environment, the identity of the "proposer" of any idea is less important than the merits of the idea itself. The system I speak of is, of course, the median through which this material is now being passed along.

Any cultural ideology, system or law that is based upon a required division of peoples is spiritually and biologically unsound. For the individual spirit will continuously rail against any constraint upon its spirit, creating the predictable social symptoms too prevalent in the world today.
What can best accelerate the breaking up of the divisive cultural ideologies indicated above? It would have to be the individual determination to trust one's own Spirit to act as his/her final guide.

Enlightened Group Affiliation The solution to each of these pitfalls, lies within each and every individual spirit. For at the heart of all groups is the individual, and at the heart of the individual lies its innate feeling guidance system. Each and every interaction, when guided by the spiritual evaluative information can ensure maximum individual purposeful progress, as well as that of any group to which that individual might belong. Once bad feelings are recognized for the corrections they suggest, the deficit states that have long been accepted as necessary evils will begin to naturally disappear.
So long as there is the freedom of exchange, the spirit will be enhanced. We are but chapters in the book of all life and we evolve by our interchange of perception. This is the true gift of Spirit.

Indeed, group efforts can move mountains when each member is moved
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from within by the pulls of spiritual pleasures rather than pushes of its pains. Spirit leads. Mind and body can but follow. With these fundamental understandings in place, we can now discuss the enlightened changes necessary to the specific human social structures.

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Section Zeta Lesson One: Implications For Religion Religious Purpose: Divine Connection The implications of spiritual reconnection offer tremendous insights for human religious institutions. Religion has remained the one bastion of spirituality that has been kept alive in the face of humanity's tremendous disconnection from spirit. Religion has sought to foster Divine Connection.
This applies to the principle of intention like a string attached to the deepest part of our being. We can take that string and follow it to its origin and, in doing so, recover our spiritual essence.

The benefit of religion has been to provide meaning, and a direct connection with the higher powers and forces at work in the universe. Religions seek to define All That Is, and explain life events so that humans can find guidance in daily living, and peace in times of suffering. They seek to decipher and share God's Word, to ensure that it is carried out to the best of human ability. Many entities rely quite heavily upon religion and can now find a far richer spiritual liberation and Divine Connection through the natural inner pathways.
We would be in error to condemn religion just because it has been distorted by the institutions which have surrounded and subverted it. Religion is an outer garment we wear while attempting to rediscover our inner source of warmth.

Thus, religion is not a requirement of enlightened living, but it can be an empowering supplement when aligned with the purposes of spirit. Religion can take a central role in the spiritual education and in promoting lifestyles and community actions that can allow the natural morality to unfold. They can accomplish preventative spiritual attunement so less governmental "curative" measures are necessary. (An ounce of spiritual prevention is worth a pound of governmental cure).
The providing of moral guidelines is made easier when there is a community institution in place to reinforce lessons taught by example. However, without an example of spiritual conduct, the subject of learning can become confused by a hypocritical environment.
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The best contribution of religion can then be to focus upon Divine Connection within and between spirits, and to mine the meaning of life experiences to align with the trinity of purpose in individuals and en masse. As entities regain inner harmony, the self concept naturally expands to enfold all other spiritual embodiments, leaving no room between religions for tensions, competition, or even the oxymoronic concept of a "Holy War". Divine connection is The Way, no matter the race, the creed, the religion, the sex, the age, the language, the culture---Divine Connection means just that.
The truly spiritually oriented religion makes it clear to its followers that all human beings share the same spiritual core and while culture, background, ritual and practice may vary, each individual has a spiritual connection with every other individual and that differences are less important than commonality.

But like all human thought systems, each religion has arisen without the full understandings of the nature of spirit. Religions have evolved, utilizing the symbols and major assumptions within mass consciousness. Instead of awakening the connection within, they have served as a go-between, and inadvertently, often a barrier. They have been heavily influenced by the restrictions and power struggles of the historic conditions, so each will address the universal human needs and purposes through its own unique collection of gems and slivers. Many will have strayed into the realm of power and freedom due to wrongful cultural judgments about human nature with tenets that actually weaken the Divine Connection and create additional spiritual pain.
Most western religions have emphasized the practice of prayer over meditation and, in doing so, have encouraged its members to talk to God, but to listen to its leaders for spiritual guidance, instead of encouraging its members to find true guidance from the Divine within.

The enlightened attunement divulges the misconceptions within any religion while validating spiritual principles. Any slivers will be readily identifiable through the negatively toned feelings of fear, guilt, or anger, and each religion must be cleansed of each painful tenet. Fortunately, there is sufficient spiritual validity within each of the major religions for individuals to build upon the foundational truths, to ensure that uplifting religious structures need not be abandoned. Nonetheless, there are some essential understandings which must be part and parcel of any religion if it
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is to do more good than harm.

Those who truly wish to evolve spiritually can find success in that intent whether they are members of a religious body or elect to find their enlightenment by marching to the beat of their own drum. For some, the former is the better path to take. For others, the latter should be accepted and respected as a viable alternative.

Divine Freedom The first is the ground level understanding that free will is a gift which indicates the Creator's desire for every mind to create its own experience. Therefore no religion can insist that followers blindly believe what they are told, for valid faith embraces the evolving and open nature of the mindscape. Human minds are designed to interpret and utilize religious teachings in highly individualized ways, and there need be no valid concern about blasphemy by allowing the feeling signals to pick and choose the tenets themselves. The result of such flexibility will be the creation of as many unique approaches as there are unique minds---each infused with evermore creative inspirations and insights that unfold. There can be no declarations of singular truths (like those so readily made), for such is not aligned with the willful creative nature of reality.
What would be the point of "free will" if not to be put to use in the very act of creating one's own reality. Having faith in one's own divine nature would lead a person to explore that very nature with the full confidence that whatever the experiences, it is intended to be a part of our spiritual evolvement and, ultimately, our personal gift toward the expansion of All That Is.

Entities are far more validly serving All That Is, when they utilize the gift of free will, than when they mindlessly follow anything passed off as the "Word Of God". The Word of God exists in its purest form within the natural creation itself. It is spoken directly to each individual mind through feeling signals unique to the personal destiny path. It is far too rich and complex to be held in a single book or thought form. Thus, every entity should creatively design within themselves, by passing each belief before the spiritual adjudicator, the most meaningful, spiritually pleasing form of communion, and participation within All That Is.
Just as the Music of the Spheres is played out through the creative mind of each
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composer, as well as the interpretation of those who conduct and master the instruments to give such its full and unique expression; so each work of art begins with a free thought and expands into physical expression, paying ultimate tribute to the gift of free will.

Divine Freedom is based upon Divine Connection. This kind of mindscape includes the divine tolerance and compassion for the rightful freedoms and choices of others and the peaceful coexistence of an endless variety of religious interpretations and persuasions. Ultimately, as light responses are made within such a freely evolving system, the commonalities between each thought system will become part and parcel of all other social structures. They will be those universal ideas and beliefs which consistently promise spiritual pleasure within every human being and foster natural morality. The extras, the rewarding colors and flavors of any particular world view, and the individual touches unique to each developmental level and destiny path, can be added by choice. If certain rituals, traditions, and concepts bring long-term pleasure, they can be retained; it matters not whether they are included in anyone else's structure.
The truth is an expanding concept, a process of discovery and expression. Were it to be the prerogative of the limited few, it would end up being a static product in a dynamic universe. But it is a self-correcting process driven by the pure nature of the All That Is, just as the difference in its expression is a cause for celebration. Ritual is simply the dance of that expression.

What should always be discarded is any idea of ritual that brings spiritual pain, for each limiting tenet, rule, or code will signal the objections of Divine Spirit. And there are many, for the churches have added unnecessary limitations by straying from their purpose of connection and meaning, and involving themselves in the business of power and control.
Rituals of grandeur tend to emphasize a separation, whether it be between church members and the leadership, or between humans and their own divine nature. Either of these have little to do with the true purpose of ritual, which should be to give physical expression to Divine Truth.

Divine Empowerment Divine Empowerment is the spiritual intention that every individual shall personally control his or her own destiny. Such empowerment is inherent
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in free will, and humans are designed to be biologically "controlled" only by their internal natural morality. The highest power comes with unifying the self and expanding the self concept to include All That Is. It is in the recognizing and being accountable to the immense power that lies at the fingertips.
The greatest challenge of such an accomplishment is that of taking on the responsibility of one's own destiny and the ties to those outside of ourselves. It begins with expanding beyond parental/adult control and growing from there.

There is no valid place in an enlightened religion, for placing power outside of the trinity of self. Yet, a major defining characteristic of religions has been the reverence of a superman or higher power that is unreachable and separate from the lower human self. This happens during times of injustice, and competition for survival, when anger and fear mark the day, leaving chaos in lieu of any understanding. Since the corrective messages remain unanswered, the hardwired fight and flight responses to fear and anger perpetuate further chaos and confusion, and forms of external control will predictably arise. Emotions are often used as tools of manipulation and their messages remain undiscovered. This is how religions began to remove individual power, placing it instead in the hands of a vengeful God, in an attempt to legislate external, unnatural morality.
In this way, political and economic chaos, and the hardships that follow, serve to reinforce the dependency upon institutional religion and government. Religion fills the gap between confusion and sanity, with government coming to the rescue with the promise of economic security. Is is any wonder that the major religions of nations seldom make a collective effort to oppose the making of war upon other nations. There would appear to be more to the explanation than simply a professed state of neutrality.

Divine Goodness An enlightened religion, instead, understands internal control and promotes the unfolding of the natural morality that is Divine Goodness. This includes embracing power, freedom, connection, and meaning through internal controls, and the selection of self-understandings and belief structures validated by the spiritual adjudicator. Although this is an individual process, there are some common, deeply rooted assumptions within mass consciousness which are clearly slivers.
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Religions that place a strong emphasis on regular church attendance, are those which also place great importance upon the exercise of power and control over its members. As long as these religions support the governmental environment under which they operate, they enjoy the security and support that such governments can provide. Should these religious institutions begin to encourage greater freedom of conscience and inner guidance, they would see the power base begin to shift away from a form of central control and back where it was intended to be.

The first is the concept of evil. Such an idea was prompted partly by ignorance, but also partly by the leaders in order to keep individuals locked into a rigid pattern of fearful ignorance and blame, which keeps them from discovering their inner power. (Religions are every bit as selfprotecting as governments or gangs, and control over one's members ensures job security). The early forms of such manipulation offered such mythic characters as Satan, and demons who would do his bidding. Such a scapegoat would prevent the anger of disempowered spirits from being directed at those leaders and social structures that were actually responsible for the lack of the necessary power and freedom.
Could this be suggesting a clever plot to make sure that those of us still in the physical (and a state of controlled ignorance) might be prevented from being influenced by those who have gone beyond this physical state and into a state of greater awareness, there to discover the limitations that were placed upon them earlier and angry about the control and abuse, they had been subjected to? To thwart that "anger", might religions simply label these discontented souls as ultra-human influences from the world of evil? This might explain the opposition to channeling as a source of spiritual enlightenment. Of course, not all channeling is spiritually enlightening.

As humans became more complex and less easily distracted, the focus went from external evil to internal evil in the concept of "original sin". This was partially due to deliberate manipulation, and partly influenced by the need to provide meaningful explanations for self-preservationary actions that were disruptive to the whole. Any amoral act is simply one not aligned within each of the three purposes, yet religions blame both the mind and the body in various ways, and claim that the human design is sinfully flawed. (Such a declaration hardly suggests faith in the Creator.)
This is the irony of the biblical story. A God considered to be all perfect, creates a race of humans who are imperfect. Then, to correct the mistake, He/She sends
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a family member to organize a religion to take control of the situation and bureaucratize man's spiritual nature. Western religion has gotten help along the way from the Freudian school of psychiatry which holds the subconscious as the source of mysterious, disruptive evil in human nature.

Instead of recognizing this divine system which unites body, mind, and spirit, religions offer ways to appease the evil and flawed nature, either by having a divine one martyr himself for human sins, or through strict controlling codes of action that prevent sin from rearing its ugly head. Religions assume that purpose and goodness must be forced upon the followers from the outside, since it was assumed that evil will surely come from within.
All this gives religion a purpose for controlling its members, while maintaining a subtle level of control upon that aspect of society which has drifted outside of its orbit, through the satellite support of political and economic institutions which have their own instruments of control.

The idea of sin has only endured because there has not yet been a suitable replacement which can shift the idea away from a world of external controlling forces and chaotic and meaningless actions, to one where each action has purpose and is driven by divine, internal control. When the trinity of purposes and their potential conflicting nature is understood, there is no need for such a concept as evil or sin.
In that age of enlightenment, we will come to understand that there is no "evil", just as we will come to recognize that there is truly no "death", but only a moment of transition from one state of existence to another. This will be the next paradigm shift.

Divine Desire Instead, the concept of Divine Purpose, shall be that which shifts the focus of religious followers from one of flawed disconnection, in need of supernatural, external guidance and rigid control, to one of Divine Connection through which one can attune to inner guidance and control, through natural explanations and understanding the force of Divine Desire. Divine Desire is that force of spirit which is omniscient. It all-knowingly communicates divine intention through the experience of pleasure and pain. It carries wisdom from all aspects of existence and offers its constant energy to evaluate each experience against spiritual purposes. It is the only
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valid judgmental process, for it feels and shares the divine intentions. Divine Desire is inseparable from individual desire. Having misunderstood it, religions have judged it, defiled it, and have made it their enemy. They try to control the evil hedonistic tendencies in their followers, and instill guilt by telling them that they are separated from their Creator, hopelessly dependent upon religious leaders to interpret "his word". This, of course, is the exact opposite of divine intention, as evidenced by the guilt and fear that such ideas produce.
In the final analysis, the most reliable measure of what one is told is the feeling it conjures up deep within. If the feelings it produces are negative and uncomfortable, beware. They are not in line with Divine intention and should be rejected.

Divine Desire is that which will naturally unfold into human experience when the natural emotional developmental process is no longer obstructed, driving humanity toward its intended Destiny Path. Acknowledging the wisdom of the spiritual adjudicator is to embrace Divine Desire and to rise above the mindless cycle of simple bodily safeguard responses to spiritual signals.
Take a simple prayer like the Our Father and listen to the words. Take the concept of the Father from outside oneself and bring it's Divine Nature within, making it one's own. Feel the concept of Free Will come alive and know that any outside guidance will never again match the Inner Spirituality that lives in each of us.

Any religious structure should replace each and every cultural judgment with the concept of Divine Desire and build its tenets accordingly. But whether or not the religion itself accomplishes the necessary changes, the individuals can proceed to do so themselves. For it is pleasure which judges a belief as spiritually valid, and pain which begs for spiritual correction. The mind cannot judge its own contents, but unexamined experiences can be filed away in the mind with the corrective signals still attached. Although some experiences bring empowering beliefs and good feelings, far many more bring painful slivers.
Not every experience we have is meant to be acted upon immediately. Some can be filed away for future reflection. However, the feelings attached to those experiences should and will be a part of what is put aside. With reflection, a
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pattern becomes apparent and will serve as a guide to future action, separating that which caused pain from that which brought pleasure.

Many existing teachings intentionally instill cultural judgments, painful beliefs, such as sin, and of hierarchical levels of accessibility to the Divine. They then manipulate their followers by using these painful feelings of guilt and fear with images of fire and brimstone, of hell and damnation, in order to gain further control and power. But as should now be apparent, each and every belief with an attached negative feeling, has not been consciously processed through the spiritual adjudicator and the mental judgment remains, the body will defend itself, creating the illusion of amorality. The power of spirit can truly liberate followers from this cycle by identifying each idea that is anti-spiritual, and can allow them to more fully embrace those that will set the spirit free.
This can be the enlightened role of religion, to aid and assist society in identifying those qualities that represent the Divine. It need not be its final role, but a good place to start.

The Power Of Prayer One very rewarding and powerful ritual common among religions, is some form of prayer. Prayer is the accepted pathway of communication with All That Is, and can be a very effective facilitator of spiritual insight and focus of creative will. Verbal affirmations are useful and the Meditation of the Clock has been offered as a form of secular prayer, and such a structure can help focus the will energy of individual desire. Either can be used in any degree of regularity, with each session adding emotional energy to the image vividly desired.
Emotional energy is the engine which drives the intent of prayer. Without emotion, prayer is little more than small talk, superficial and of little meaning. It is the difference between the lover who reads another's poetry repeatedly, rather than compose his own.

But the crucial understanding is that the prayers are actually answered by the creative capacities of mind. The Creator has honored humans with the blanket power of creative will, to be actualized through chosen belief structures of mind. If entities are to verbally affirm, or supplicate to "The Lord" for that which they truly fear they can not have, no such prayer will
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be answered. In fact, quite the opposite will likely occur. For the emotional energy and the thought to which it is attached is the mechanism of creation in the physical realm. Intensity, rather than positive or negative poles, will energize the mind's choices.
When we pray we are, in effect, speaking to the higher aspects of our creative selves. The language we use is pretty much based on our respective culture and belief systems. The success of our prayer is based upon our faith/belief that it will be answered. Thus, praying for the sake of praying, achieves little in the way of results. In fact, the greater the belief of an opposite effect , the greater chance of opposite consequences.

Prayer occurs with each thought that is laden with pleasure or pain--whether intentional or not. Fear can answer a prayer as surely as can joyous desire, but the fears are often attached to unexamined thoughts which will deliver realities far less desirable than conscious, joyous choices. Creative prayer will be most effective if energized with the most joyous and faithful feelings riding upon meaningful beliefs in one's individual power and accountable role within the creative process. This can gather additional spiritual energy to infuse into such visions and verbal renderings. The more energy, the sooner the critical mass, and the more likely the event can occur in the physical realm. Urgent and highly desired events can be facilitated by a thrice-a-day prayer session or meditation.
In a larger sense, we pray without ceasing, for each thought is a form of prayer. We can, in fact, attract what we fear or worry about. For prayer is as effective as a magnet. Hence, there are rules of creativity just as there are rules of physics.

It must be recognized that prayer works in both directions, for it is that same thought/feeling combination that rides the stream of energy flow and is constantly available. It is the Divine Desire of self from beyond spacetime that brings purposeful information regarding the status of purposeful living. Likewise, judgment day lies in each moment, for fear-driven experiences are received as underenergized in the spiritual realm, and joyous, purposeful experiences are received through the fullness of Divine Desire. Entities are challenged to remove each belief structure that stands between aspects of self and the totality of All That Is.
Asking for an answer to a troubling situation, accompanied by a thrice said prayer before retiring for the night, along with a belief that an answer will come
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in one's dreams, will result in that which is desired. Worry, by itself, tends to detach oneself from the Divine energy. Once we master the true workings of the belief system, we will open the door to a better life.

Thus, prayer sessions should accommodate both incoming and outgoing desires. In addition to moment-to-moment attunement to spiritual feeling signals, a quiet reflective time period scheduled daily apart from the creative meditations or prayers, is also beneficial in helping entities attune to the intuitive voice of spirit. For just as the creative words and visions send forth messages from the physical realm, the reflective meditation period opens the door to incoming visions, intuitions, and insights. Most entities are naturally open to such pathways immediately upon waking, and can bring revelations fresh from the dream realm, but a concerted effort to attune can also assist the unfolding pathways. Spiritual insights are always accompanied with joyous tinges of feeling. The louder they are heard, the more the resonant joy.
"We sleep, per chance to dream". But it is in our awakening moments that we come close to that spirit state and can experience not only our insights but experience the joy which accompanies them.

As feeling signals are followed to their source and good beliefs are developed and limiting beliefs are discarded, entities will naturally begin to notice more and more receptivity to the stream of universal consciousness that courses through the mind. They will know that impulses spring from spirit rather than from the frustrated needs of body, for the mind has accomplished full energy passage in both directions. Entities need no church, nor congregation, to attune to Divine Guidance, but such creative and receptive reflective periods, when organized toward group goals, can be quite powerful indeed. Such synergy can be a powerful offering of an enlightened religious structure.
We, as the human race, will experience a greater state of attunement which we will eventually recognize as a state of enlightenment. At that point, we will be aware that in our collective state and right intent, we will truly be able to move mountains or, at least, prevent the mountain from moving us.

The Temple of Light

Spiritual principles are one and the same for each physical embodiment. The bodily desire for, and the deep intuitive understanding of, the
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connection between all humans brings unifying urgings to each mind. The frustrations of Earthly struggles are felt by all. These feelings encourage entities to set aside surface differences and unite in spirit to make corrections. No matter which faith, what creed, what worldview, all entities can participate as one in group efforts to creatively alter the probable path of humanity.
Religious institutions and economic systems each contribute to the concept of separation between "physical embodiments", in the first case by failing to encourage the importance of the love that should be maintained between "neighbors"; and the second case by encouraging competition over cooperation in social/economic exchanges. By encouraging a state of separation from one another, the capacity to unite creatively in rising to the challenges of physical existence, is seriously compromised.

The Temple Of Light has been established as a conceptual meeting place for entities to gather and participate in enlightened pursuits--- regardless of where they might also go for Sunday service or daily worship. Despite any surface appearance of isolation and differences, entities can come to the Temple and enjoy the resonance and participation within focused efforts to alter mass consciousness. Individuals visiting the Temple can both leave offerings as well as obtain benefits. They can participate as individuals or en masse.
Is it not appropriate that the focal point of a gathering for spiritual purposes should, likewise, be of a non-physical nature? True spirituality is considered to exist beyond the limits of time and space. If such is also our true nature, and it is presumed that it is, then practicing spiritual communication beyond the confines of the physical would appear to be quite appropriate training for our next state of existence.

The Temple is "located" between space-time and can be accessed through imaginative pathways, with specific images open to the design and choosing of the individual. But a simple meditative exercise such as the following can suffice:

Meditation For The Temple Of Light

While seated in a comfortable upright position, in a quiet place of little distraction, close the eyes and relax within. Focus the consciousness inward, and further the depth of this relaxation within a series of (minimum of ten) deep cleansing breaths, allowing each exhalation to wash the relaxation throughout
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the body. Create the image of a golden path with a winding staircase of ten stairs (leading either up into a cloud-like world, or down into a glowing subconscious realm whichever is most pleasing). Slowly imagine yourself progressing upon the staircase. Take another ten deep breaths, one for each step toward this realm, slowly and deeply relaxing the consciousness into this image. At the final stair awaits a golden door behind which lies the Temple Of Light. (Create ornate markings, and other sensory accouterments to further involve the feelings and imagination.) Gather the feeling of love to gain entry. (Recall, or recreate a moment when love swept over the mind/body and recreate this vibratory feeling). All who enter the Temple acknowledge the loving connection between spirits and carry it with them within. With the power of love, the door can then be opened, revealing a world of brilliant sunlight and natural beauty, in the midst of which sits the Temple Of Light. It can take the form of something akin to the Taj Mahal, a Greek temple, a palace, a futuristic edifice, an alien outpost, or any other image pleasing to the spirit. But there is a noticeable radiant energy funneling between the highest peak of the Temple and on upward toward the Universal Source, a vortex wherein energy is constantly cycling upward and downward. There are healing pools, waterfalls and fountains to be seen, you might encounter other visitors and enjoy a peaceful telepathic resonance with them. Take flight upon the wings of desire and be transported to the Temple itself, and again the feeling of love will part the golden entry gates. Beyond the gates, spiritual resonance overpowers any tinge of fear or negative emotion. The vast entryway is bathed in golden light and can be constructed with brilliantly crafted stonework, carved woodwork, golden metal works or in any pleasing way. There will be flora and fountains, and endless hallways to rooms which beckon, where virtually any energy exchange can take place. There are rooms with libraries of books with all the answers necessary to daily problems. Healing rooms with libraries of books with all the answers necessary to daily problems. Healing rooms with magical amulets and wands and lasers that can be both energized and utilized by all who enter. Rooms with healing pools which immerse the body/mind within the life force itself; youth fountains wherein one can bathe; rooms limited only by the desires and imaginations of all who enter. There is a central theater, wherein groups of entities, or individuals can creatively participate in international and local physical dramas conducted upon the screen. Entities can create images of existing problems and choose enlightened outcomes, and create alternate probable historical courses. The feelings of love, connection, and intuitive understanding permeate this theater.
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Even the most fearsome events are viewed with the detached, compassionate understanding of the evolving nature of mass consciousness and within the firm belief in the ability of Divine Desire to bring purposeful outcomes and infuse the images with empowered love energy. (Those yet outside the Temple will see an outflux of light rising upward from the Temple as your energy joins with others, passes through the vortex, and energized the probable outcomes which can then become actual in the physical realm.) There are unlimited private theaters wherein each individual can play out the life events desirous in a like manner, in the recognition of the cumulative power of all entities who enter. Everywhere in the Temple, individual contributions synergize exponentially, making a vast power source available to all. Meetings can be arranged with difficult relationships; calls can go out to find soul mates; loved ones can be touched and healed; there is no limit to the uses of the Temple. The more empowered love energy that is experienced while in the Temple, the more is left behind for others to share. When the spirit feels a degree of fulfillment, the reverse path can be taken back to the physical realm, the breaths can each restore the conscious focus to the physical realm, and the experience is complete.

Entities can visit the Temple as often as desired, expanding upon its structures, rooms, functions, accouterments, etc., in any and every way imaginable. The joining together of group efforts to gather for specific reasons at the mass theater can be tremendously helpful in altering probable courses of humanity, and are heartily encouraged. Such visits will also reinforce individual plans and heighten the spiritual signals surrounding those thoughts and beliefs which will help or impede them. They will heighten the senses to the subtle insights and impulses that can be acted upon to contribute energy to the physical manifestations of all goals. Such activities can accomplish the valid goals of organized religion without the inherent competition and isolation that much of the existing dogma demands. Entities of all faiths who feel limited in any way by their chosen world view are invited to find release in the Temple. Such visits are perfectly compatible within all forms of religion, and need not even be confessed.
At this point, it might behoove those who review and value these "Lessons" to propose some sort of program wherein those who wish to participate, could know that at certain periods in time there would be someone "online" (if you will) who could join in any efforts to raise the general spiritual vibrations. One has to wonder if something akin to a Chat Room might have potential in this
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area.

Religious Transcendence Once individuals have removed each of the slivers from their worldview, (such concepts as sin, of martyrdom, of evil, of the mind's capacity to judge, of the need for spiritual intermediaries of any kind), the valid transcendence can begin to unfold. The concept of transcendence is implicit, if not explicit, in most worldviews and formal religious structures, and is held out as a goal for human potential and development. This common strand with the transcendent experience relates, of course, to the emotional development, the natural expansion of the self, and the trinity of purpose.
Mind, body and spirit are but different aspects of the same soul. Each plays a different role in whatever environment we elect to put ourselves. Each can have an influence on the other and nothing need separate one from the other.

The trinity of purpose has been couched in symbolism such as the trinity of the Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit, which respectively represent the mind, the body, and the spirit within each individual. The unity within and between has always been the goal of religious transcendence. Such unity is accomplished by an enlightened mind (the Father) attended to the feeling signals of spirit (The Holy Spirit) that has chosen beliefs at the direction of spirit which fulfill the needs of body (The Son). The natural developmental process is the ongoing expansion of self to eventually merge with All That Is. The unity within the trinity of self can accomplish the trinity of purpose in each and every action, and open the mind to transcendence.
With the above information in mind, try resaying the "Our Father" prayer and see if it gives new meaning to the words. The purpose of this prayer is to move us along the path of transcendence. It is a tool for this purpose and as its meaning is expanded, the path becomes more clear, as we become more centered.

The unity is designed to unfold when the incoming spirits undergo the natural emotional developmental process. The body feelings of joy, fear, anger and sadness drive the earliest understandings of the ability to control one's destiny and gain a mindful sense of rightful power and freedom within the context of cooperative connection. This is the contribution of
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The Son, wherein the biological predestiny ensures that purposeful courses will be known (despite the other portions of self) to ensure the primary purpose of self-preservation. The Son represents the singular self-concept that is the necessary foundation of all further self-growth. When the feelings have done their job, there will be the first of the emotions of mind; those of trust, confidence, and frustration when obstacles arise.
Neither physical nor emotional pain would be possible without the body, which serves as the instructor and guide to assist the mind in overcoming obstacles with cleverness and compassion. While giving us a sense of individuality, it also allows us the opportunity to commingle and, in doing so, discover other aspects of ourselves.

These basic feelings are then further tempered by learning experiences wherein they differentiate into the more subtle feeling tones which address the beliefs of mind and promote the higher needs for creativity, esteem, and meaning, while retaining freedom, power and connection. These feelings are the contribution of "The Father" which relate to the teachings of the local culture and the beliefs held within mass consciousness. These feelings address the care and feeding of the mind, wherein each with a positive tone connotes a belief that is spiritually desirous, and a negative tone connotes a limitation. These signals allow the mind to achieve its purpose of self-development as well as continuing to honor the purposes of body. This self-development fosters a plural self-concept to enfold external others within the feeling system as well.
The emotion of love has a contagious quality to it. When we see it expressed between two individuals, be they mother and child, brother and sister, husband and wife or friend to friend, we sense the quality within ourselves, and it gives us joy. In like fashion, when we observe contention between others, we feel an immediate vacancy of spirit. We feel pain.

The full purpose of spiritual self-expression can begin when both body and mind are in unison. Then the contribution of "The Holy Spirit" can fully come into play. These will be marked by the highest feelings, the most rewarding and positive resonance with All That Is. These highest feelings will pave the way for and accompany intuitive insights, telepathic communications, reception of energies from beyond space-time and the information held within each energy unit. They will complete the expansion of the three-fold self-concept by merging it with All That Is.
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(The expansion of the self concept in the transcendence process has often been mistaken for the surrender or destruction of self. This has been another misconception that must be purged from religious structures.)
Once the threat of losing one's "self" in a surrender to the All That It Is is abolished and the true meaning of unity of body, mind and spirit is appreciated for the expansion of the potential that lies within ourselves, then the path to this destiny will be clear.

When the mindscape accommodates this reception of spiritual flow, the transcendent process can begin. It will lead each individual to the highest levels of meaning and the most direct actions for the maximum purpose and reward in the physical experience. It can apprise earthbound entities of the relationship between physical actions and creations and their greater cosmic validity and purpose. Transcendent moments and states are characterized by such feelings as compassion, faith, divine love, bliss, devotion, courage, gratitude, and exuberance.
These are the sign posts along the path and as each is passed, the destination is realized as being the path itself.

Religious Community Service One final value of the institution of religion is that it can serve as an individually driven community support resource. As individuals gain enlightenment, they can go forth into communities and help organize uplifting structures that can offer empowerment and freedom to all members of the human family.
Such ventures do truly reflect the state of an enlightened entity. The need for this kind of courage is everywhere and those who can take that next step along the road to spiritual truth, are destined to come to a full understanding of merging with the All That Is.

In sum, the more enlightened the religion, the more it can support the internal controls inherent in spirituality. The more it embraces the trinity of self, Divine Connection, Divine Freedom, Divine Empowerment, Divine Goodness and Divine Desire, the more valuable it will be. The more valuable the religious institution, the less external governmental controls will be necessary. We can now discuss what the unique role of government
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might be in an enlightened society. There are powerful implications for the economics of human purpose.
Any religion that can assist its members in being their own best spiritual guide, is serving the true purpose of what a "church" is intended to be, i.e. a parent who has the wisdom to stand back and let it's child live a life of his/her own destiny, while encouraging the full development of one's own spiritual nature.

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Section Zeta Lesson Two: Implications For Government - Economics of NeedMeeting The Grand Game With individuals reattuning to the divine inner guidance, they will immediately be confronted by certain mistaken assumptions---slivers which have been incorporated into many social structures. The central primary mistake, has been the persistent mass belief that humans need external control. This inaccurate idea has left humans shackled within a world filled with all forms of controls which actually foster just what they seek to prevent---amorality. As the entity Jean Jacques Rousseau once said: "Man is born free, but everywhere is in chains."
The argument for the need for "external control" is reinforced every time someone deviates from acceptable, intelligent conduct and acts in a fashion that is harmful to himself or someone else. It can be the smallest of minorities that will result in the largest amount of control.

Governmental structures exist to provide an organized way to establish agreed upon public policies that reflect the desires and contributions of the people they serve. It is the official way of determining what will become part of the rules of the social game in any particular local, collective consciousness. Governmental structures are like shoes that should fit their people. The shoes must be generic enough to fit everyone, but flexible and adaptive enough to be altered and adorned by willful choice of each human. But instead, many try to force human feet to fit in ill-designed confines. The fact is that any ill-conceived governmental shoes will rub and pinch until their cultural rules match the biological rules in the grand natural game.
Government bureaucracies too often attempt to apply the "rules" in a fashion that fails to exercise an innate knowledge of human nature. The regulation often takes precedence over the people who are subject to it. When this happens, the subsequent conflict results in the domination of the former over the latter, even when it has become abundantly clear that the former is not practical in its application.

Indeed, the spiritual corrective signals will arise when individuals are
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confronted with each ill-fitting confine, for the physical experience is designed with its own universal, and inescapable, structures and rules. When the innate motions of humanity are understood, far more flexible, liberating, creative and supportive rules for the game will arise. These rules will replace the guesses and assumptions with the selfunderstandings of universal human needs, and how they relate to human rights which must be protected. They will not be limited to any one locality of government, but will be embraced on a global basis. For they are the biological boundaries of all human spirits. They are the rules for the grand game of purposeful energy exchange.
This will not come about though, until/unless human beings begin to trust and have faith in their own spiritual nature. As this happens, the importance of outside regulation will begin to wane, while many will begin to develop a message that people can and should be responsible for their own environment. Those who fail to take that responsibility, (whether they be individuals, corporations or governments), will risk the disapproval of those more enlightened who do understand and appreciate the importance selfresponsibility.

This game of energy exchange is played upon several stages, at biological, ideal, and spiritual levels, corresponding to body, mind, and spirit. Each kind of life form has its unique role and inner impetus to play it out upon the physical stage. Some life forms, such as basic elements and plants, are limited to the biological level, where energy exchanges are physical transfers of matter often in response to the willful thoughts and actions of other life forms. Others, including the higher animal forms, enjoy a bit of mental participation, where an ideal realm allows individual thought and mental energy.
There is a suggestion in this paragraph that "plant forms" act "in response to the thoughts and actions of other life forms". Does this give confirmation that plants that are prayed over will respond favorably and produce a better growth rate, or that plants respond both positively or negatively to human intentions and/or emotions, as suggested in the book, "The Secret Life of Plants" by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird?

Each kind of life form offers a unique physical experience in space-time, from which spiritual apportionments of All That Is can choose to consciously "embody". Each such life form has an essential biological role
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and right to its being within a grand balance. Each has its unique perspective and participation to yield meaningful understanding in the earthly learning ground of creative energy manipulation. But no matter what kind of life form, each will be moved from within to carry out its unique purpose.
We consider ourselves the highest life form on this planet and we certainly are the most technologically accomplished. But there might be some self-deception here if we presume that technological superiority would automatically guarantee superiority in mental, emotional and spiritual areas as well. To do so, might result in a false sense of pride.

Humans enjoy the most complex forms of energy exchange, wherein spiritual energy is received in mind and willfully manipulated. Humans have the utmost conscious freedom to convert and exchange energy on the physical level by designing the most purposeful and rewarding mental conduits to full spiritual expression.
In being granted this superiority, we are also given the responsibility to make the most of it by not only developing our spiritual understanding, but in sharing our insights while in the process of doing such.

Economics of Resource Exchange To design an optimal governmental structure, the true nature of the physical game must be understood. Although humans enjoy mental free will, every physical creature has innate biological orienters, the inner movers and shakers, which lead it toward purposeful action. These are the spiritual signals of pleasure and pain. The intention is that the pleasure will pull all organisms toward basic survival, reproduction and any higher purposes encoded into the genetics. Or, if there are deficit states, wherein certain balances are disrupted, at minimum, each organism can ensure its own survival by pain reduction. Physical pain reduction should be able to suffice, unless the deficit states become more long-term. Then psychological forms of pain arise, manifesting as fear, anger, sadness, and the defensive responses they bring.
Here is a suggestion that there is a direct relationship between a physical malfunction or "dis-ease" and our emotional state and that when we experience the latter, we are already moving into physical states which could eventually be life-threatening. Medical pain reducers may relieve a particular condition by
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masking it over, but if the imbalance is not corrected through diet or exercise, or the removal of the appropriate slivers from the belief system, then it will eventually be reflected in our mental and/or emotional state.

These same inner movers and shakers are built into all life forms in varying degrees of complexity. Each organism in the simple acts of freely following its inner urges, becomes its genetic potential, and in doing so, contributes to the interactive environmental whole of nature. The hedonic patterns of all life forms demonstrate the unified cooperative nature of the physical experience---the Creator's intention of a grand, purposeful, cooperative, interactive game. No cultural laws will suffice which violate these natural spiritual motions, for they will prompt fear, anger, and natural safeguard defensive responses.
Those belief systems that are imposed upon a culture from outside sources, can be discerned to be spiritually enhancing or detrimental simply by the feelings they conjure up among a society's members. If control is maintained through fear, then anger will seep into relationships. Where greater free will and creativity are fostered, less outside control is necessary.

All such movements interacting with one another define the grand game of energy/resource exchange. The divine dance of all organisms freely moving about meeting their needs is the way of the natural, physical world. The living world turns on its axis empowered by the energy expended as each organism goes forth into the world to meet its needs. The "Creation" is the unique balance of life forms which provide resources to one another so that all needs can be met by each life form. This balance is designed down to the chemical and even atomic level, where atoms move forward and backward in terms of their own inner purposes, as consistently as metal filings are attracted to magnets, and humans are attracted to the pleasure of fulfilled needs.
All of nature exists in a uniform state of balance. The "dance" is carried out on a daily basis, with each part acting in unison for the benefit of the whole. Humans who disrupt the synchronicity, risk a consequence that is designed to correct the straying from an appreciation for universal values. In other words, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

In the grand game of resource exchange, each individual is likened to a buyer and a seller in a marketplace. Each goes forth into the world to fulfill its needs, by "purchasing" or otherwise obtaining the necessary
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resources. (These are the basic survival needs for food, warmth, safety, etc.) It expends its own energy in doing so, whether it be physical energy, time, or money---some cost is always paid. All expended energy becomes a resource available to others in the grand marketplace. In fact, may the buyer beware, for he himself might become an edible resource to something else in the grand marketplace.
We know there are sharks out there waiting to prey upon the unsuspecting. By keeping our needs simple and our values spiritual, we protect ourselves from the greed mentality that can make us vulnerable to the economically carnivorous.

This is the most basic physical level of the game. But the rules are the same in the realm of human culture---the realm of mind. Ideas are exchanged which build the cultural world. The information-energy within human thought becomes transferred through thought and action into physical events, structures, buildings, and entire governments. Yet it is all a grand game of energy exchanges and conversions, dependent upon each individual freely following the internal urgings and purposeful selfregulation systems. A plant is fulfilled by growing to its full height, an animal by daily survival and seasonal cycles, and a human by actualizing the most of its developmental and expressive potential.
While we give great attention to developing and enhancing our physical and mental potential, presuming that this - in itself - will ultimately fulfill our joy level, we often leave the spiritual part of our nature for outside forces to govern, when it is the establishing of an inner connection with this latter aspect of ourselves that would actualize all that we strive to express.

Universal Human Rights - Basic Self-Determinism The entire game is based upon the fundamental natural right of unrestricted movement of the organism or entity. No player can hope to understand or succeed in the grand game, if not freely empowered to control one's own destiny. In humans, this right of self determinism is experienced as the basic need for freedom and power. As we know, these are the first priority needs to fulfill, for they are essential to the bodily purpose of self-preservation.
Freedom of thought and movement are not possible without the necessary "equipment" (brain, body, etc.) to exercise such basic need. When power is
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hoarded by the few at the expense of the many, a society as a whole, suffers. An enlightened society constantly seeks to keep the "freedom and power" in the hands of the many, not just the vested interests. This should be particularly true of an enlightened government.

In humans, this essential freedom and empowerment is the foundational basis upon which all other needs and purposes must be built. Our attempts at social unity based upon external control will merely become chains which enslave us. As we now know, the inner self-regulation for humans is the feeling feedback system which leads humans to broader bands of consciousness and creative internal "control". The trial and error nature of human self-regulation depends upon the mind's free thought and the body's free action necessary to call forth the subsequent spiritual evaluation, to guide mindful corrective adaptations. Thus, if basic freedom and empowerment is stifled, the whole design will be scuttled. Then the spirit remains frustrated, the mind cannot self-develop, the body will fall back upon safeguard defenses which severely limit purposeful experience.
What is essential to putting into practice a mindset that supports a willingness to rely upon "inner" guidance versus "outside" guidance is a belief (faith, if you will), in the innate spiritual nature of humans and the unquestionable importance of maintaining a clear connection between our physical, mental and spiritual natures. Until and unless we can accept this as a valid precept, we will continue to depend on outer sources to control our individual destinies.

Without the basic freedom and empowerment, true connection and cooperative living will always be just out of reach. Competition and power struggles will become the norm, for it is a biological certainty that the group needs will fall if the individual needs are unsatisfied. Just as any human will stop working to eat when hungry or sleep when tired, when the body is unduly restricted, it will stop win-win cooperation, and defensive win-lose competition for basic power and freedom will ensue. Anything less than free movement will relegate humans to inner motivations more likened to animal instinct.
A truly free state of mind must be created from within. If it relies on institutions such as government or economic forces to grant and protect its exercise of free will, it shall come to the eventual realization that these outside influences have other agenda, motivated by the need for power and wealth concentrated into the hands of the fewest possible number of individuals.
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The Biological Condition of Justice Free movement and empowerment are essential, for they are part of the physical design, and part of a divine natural, state of balance. This balance occurs when all organisms are interacting and purposefully exchanging energy within the grand need-meeting marketplace. When inner needmeeting balance is attained, external actions are purposeful and when all purposeful actions dovetail together in the grand marketplace, there is an optimal divine external balance.
We begin with a state of inner balance. This is reflected on the physical level by a lack of "dis-ease". We can (free)will this state by certain mental practices, i.e. meditation, for one. We can truly exercise our (free)will to bring about a state of physical and mental balance, which brings us into line with our spiritual nature and empowers us to bring balance into our created environment. EUREKA!

This divine external balance is the biological condition of justice. Biological justice is the state wherein all organisms are free to move about and empowered to control their own destiny, and that there is sufficient influx of available energy/resources to compensate for the required outflux. Justice allows balances between supply and demand in the marketplace of physical and mental resource exchange.
The greater the demand made upon our need for spiritual growth, the greater the supply of insights to satisfy that need. We have the opportunity to apply that Universal Law that states: "Ask and you shall receive. Seek and It will be given unto you." As this applies individually, so it applies collectively in any marketplace.

This means that humans are not designed to be limited or externally controlled in any way. We should not be prevented from choosing any experience, exchanging any resource, as long as in doing so they do not violate the same rights within others. For if any human need is involved, it will be a necessary experience to meet it, and any need-meeting resource will create such a demand. Instead, social structures should strive to provide as many avenues for self-development and self-expression as possible.
When this principle is applied on an economic level, it encourages the concept of free enterprise. However, the application of spiritual principles also ensures protection from the excessive self-interest of someone else. A well-oiled economic system should provide an opportunity for those who are able to exchange their
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labors for that which is desired; and it should also provide for those who are unable to exercise a form of labor or creativity, a level of comfort and hope.

Indeed, biological justice is the external counterpart of internal natural morality. When just conditions exist, each life form can follow its inner urges and will be guided toward moral actions. There are no implied rights or wrongs in what takes place in the physical need-meeting arena---other than that which creates pain. There is no more or less implied significance in the death of a spider than the death of a human. In time, all forms go back into the earth and enrich its chemical resources, and non-psychic spirits reunite with All That Is.
The statement, "There is no more or less implied significance in the death of a spider than the death of a human." is, by itself, almost unconscionable unless viewed from a broadened perspective. From a narrow view, it seems to imply that the taking of human life (in a painless manner) is as justified as taking the life of a spider. But any taking of life which causes pain to anyone, whether it be to the victim or anyone saddened or deprived in any way by that loss, would have to be regarded as a "wrongful" act. Death finds an excuse and comes about most often by accident or circumstance - and there are few real accidents since it is our prerogative to exercise our free will.

But humans have been given the gift of free will and the most power of all life forms in terms of affecting the divine natural balance. Through the use of culture, we have radically redefined the natural marketplace by adding cultural resources which create a group mindscape, alter the landscape, dominate all other species, and build social mini-markets, all within the grand marketplace of resource exchange.
That which we find around us is a product of the human freedom of an exercised will. Because perspectives vary with individuals, there is an evolving state of intermittent progress perpetually in place. Any state of progress is intrinsically tied to free will. Without this "gift", we would be limited to the total control of an outside force. Many religions suggest that we are and should be allowed to follow the dictates of our own conscience, but they do so under the guise of their own intent to manipulate us.

Biological justice must underlie any successful form of social justice. Instead, through our historical lack of emotional self-understanding, humans have upset the natural biological justice, causing further disturbances that we then must also scramble to control. We have only but
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to listen to the messages inherent in all pain to live up to the honorable gift.
Once we are practiced to attuning to the natural world around us, we will have no difficulty in acting in such a way that is beneficial to that world and, in turn, to our existence to same.

All forms of psychological pain, fear, anger, sadness, and disgust are based upon long-term deficit states of injustice. When the mind remembers past injustice and anticipates future injustice, the safeguards kick in. Anger, in particular will ensure that the man-made chains will not be tolerated for long. Anger is the force which forces countries to move in more just directions, often through painful revolution, instead of the more pleasurable evolution. But either way, positive change will eventually result. Until the spiritual message is answered and justice restored, humans will linger in painful experiences and remain shackled in self-made chains and will be painfully dragged to their destiny.
In our present state, we may find our viewed "pleasure" subject to the interruptions of "anger" over such things as an increased price of fuel or some other commodity. In a free society, with a free economy, it could be the motivating factor that results in the creation of an energy source which is less harmful to the planet. This would be a "positive" result. Just as a solar source of energy frees a homeowner from the dependence on his local power company, so we can free ourselves, if only in stages, from those who control all aspects of our existence on this plane.

Social Justice These simple biological economic realities of hedonic movement have been overlooked by most forms of government. Needs for freedom and power must be accommodated before cooperative structures can evolve. All social structures can be likened to organisms, for they reflect human nature. Any form must address the body, (the needs of its people), the mind, (its mass knowledge and values), and the spirit, (its unified cooperative interactive whole.) Ensuring the basic human rights to free self-determinism ensures that bodily purposes can be met. Attempting to skip over them, and structure life around the mind, will only bring further inner and outer conflict. But this has been what many governments have
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done---attempting to enforce cooperation, while inadvertently setting the stage for competition and struggles for basic freedom and power. Until there were two predominant world governmental strategies, which have broken free from those that rule through rigidly controlling religious ideologies. They are generally known as Communism and Capitalism. Both try to make up rules for the game of life by which individuals are forced to play, yet both leave out some aspect of the biological needs and scuttle the self-regulating process.
The basic reason that both are doomed to failure is that each one of them puts a low value on self-expression. While attempting to create the facade that democracy is a highly valued quality in a society, processes are set up behind the scene that ensure that governing will be carried out by the fewest possible, by manipulating the masses to conform with the will of this power-hungry minority. The workplace does not allow or appreciate a democratic philosophy unless it is producing profit. The distribution of information is controlled by corporations which own most of the media. The political system is strongly influenced by the vested interests. The above would appear to apply only to the Capitalist system, but as the Communistic system defaults, it is being replaced by the Capitalistic system which includes the characteristics listed above.

For example, Communism embraces the connection need, and seeks a cooperative, socialistic structure based upon equal empowerment of its citizens. They attempt to provide equal access to education, job opportunities and health care to all citizens. Establishing cooperative structures for individual self empowerment is an enlightened idea, but it often comes at the expense of the need for individual freedom. Their desire for equal results does not recognize the rich diversity of human creative focus, the many destiny paths; nor does it accommodate the necessary free movement. They often offer a bland limited menu of resources and opportunities which stifles creativity, esteem, and the ability to find meaning in one's existence. This puts the cooperative cart before the horse of justice, and the citizens suffer in silence until they eventually revolt. This approach also recognizes that group ideals are necessary and has often attempted to control ideologies and religious choices of its members, through controlled information, media, and propaganda. This requires a certain amount of isolation, which immediately severs the connection with other humans, as well as violating the free choices and developmental opportunities required for a fulfilled spirit.
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For many of the reasons listed above, the Communist system was doomed to failure. One might presume that it was defeated by Capitalism, a myth trumpeted by the politicians of the Capitalist system, but this is not quite the case. Communism failed in its competition with Capitalism as a result of the stifling of the basic freedoms of a truly democratic system, i.e. those listed in the American constitution. While limiting the freedom to expand intellectually and economically, it handicapped its citizens on the path of development in all areas. The end result became stagnation in most areas, a fact that became more evident with the development of more sophisticated systems of transportation and communication.

Capitalism, on the other hand, embraces individual freedom, but fosters empowerment through win-lose economic competition, often leaving many unempowered. The misunderstandings about the true nature of competition discourages true connection and promotes individual and group isolation. (It should be recognized that all American competition relies upon cooperative frameworks. Raw win-lose competition is seldom allowed.)
One example of cooperative competition might be members of a particularly large corporation working together to defeat another, smaller corporation until the latter is forced into a financial condition where it must allow the larger corporation to buy it out. Following this "buy-out" the larger corporation initiates a "down-sizing" policy and many of the employees of the bought corporation are forced to seek employment elsewhere. This, inevitably, leads to a mentality of cynicism and a loss of faith in the system.

Win-lose competition in terms of freedom and empowerment will not work. Basic opportunities to learn how to meet needs, and job opportunities are often linked to financial economics, but are essential to biological justice. It sets people apart and allows individuals to run roughshod over one another, and to assume that some are capable of taking care of themselves and some are not. They celebrate the diversity and do not seek equal result, but use it to rationalize away equal opportunity. They ignore huge pockets of the disempowered and disenfranchised, and allow subcultures to arise which will work against the cooperative whole. At least building from the initial priority of individual freedom satisfies one of the conditions of justice, but the full concept of freedom and all its implications have yet to be embraced. Even Americans profoundly limit human freedom unnecessarily, which correspondingly limits the
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opportunities for empowerment.

While most may believe that they are enjoying the benefits of free thought and movement, the very system that grants them these privileges is, at the same time, depriving some in their environment of these needs. Knowing that they operate in a system that, at any moment, can put them in that "deprived" state, takes its toll in fear and insecurity. Both states of mind are uncomplimentary to true freedom. Where the benefits of the empowered are not enjoyed by all, those deprived of its benefits will seek to empower themselves through less acceptable means, which may often times include violent acts. It is any surprise, then, that America imprisons a significantly higher percentage of their population than any other democratic nation? Dare we look for a deeper explanation for this confounding state? Some would say it is the price we pay for a "free society". It is
NOT!

Both forms are guilty of limiting individual liberty with all sorts of cultural judgments which attempt to legislate morality and limit certain activities. This violates the individual's right to privacy wherein any choices and learning opportunities should be available for any developmental experience. If any activity is chosen within the three purposes, it is a moral choice. Even if any activity is chosen through unconscious hardwired defensive responses, it is still a learning opportunity. With adequate education and social safety-nets, any "amoral" or corrective experience can offer the necessary insight, without the ongoing cycle of repeated learning errors that currently plagues most societies. (As we now know, this is a source of the illusion of evil). The natural result of restricting freedom is prevalent everywhere, yet most societies do not recognize the symptoms and simply deny that their controls are ineffective. If ideas are restricted, there will be underground sources of information. If religion is restricted, there will be underground religious networks. If any specific resource, commodity, or service is restricted, a black market will surely emerge. With humans, when there is demand, there will be a supply. Such is the need driven behavior and creativity of humanity. This is the lesson not quite learned by the American experiment of Prohibition of alcohol.
Take something that one portion of the population finds acceptable and allow another portion of the population to make it unavailable, and you set up a situation where conflict is initiated between the two varied points of view. This state of conflict ultimately results in ramifications throughout the society. Create undo stress in such a society and some will choose to escape through the intake of recreational drugs for example, whether they be legal or otherwise. This will eventually produce an environment where laws are flaunted and crime is
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rampant.

Thus, both Communism and Capitalism have part of the human story, but neither has it all. Both groups suffer social spiritual corrective signals of fear, anger, crime, violence, revolution, and emotional malaise. For all life forms are intended to be free and empowered within the context of connected cooperation. And the feelings will settle for nothing less.
They are, in effect, two peas in the same political/economic/social pod, opposites in their goals, but quite similar in their methods. Both adopt the principle that the end justifies the means and attempt to subvert the spiritual nature of humans in an effort to achieve a perceived ideal. When each evolves toward its own extreme state, those under its influence move perpetually toward a state of dissatisfaction.

Communistic attempts at cooperative living will immediately dissolve if either freedom or empowerment is compromised. Likewise, although individual freedom is essential, Capitalistic "competition" is not the way to get the highest kind of freedom in an interconnected cooperative world. Disempowerment occurs frequently under the guise of innocent competition, and despite jingoistic affirmations to the contrary, American competition only ensures "liberty and justice for...some". Those without it will rebel and secede from the cooperative unit. Where fear and anger exist, free-flowing justice is sure to be missing. Where justice is missing, defensive self-preservationary, amoral actions will be commonplace, as will external forms of control seeking to prevent them.
It has often been presumed that the reason cooperative systems fail is that humans operate on a basic instinct of greed, when in fact it is the squelching of "freedom or empowerment" that has been most responsible for the failure. In like fashion, the typical capitalistic enterprise usually discourages most forms of free thought and action, removing the protections normally guaranteed in the social and political realms. The choices are most often to go along with a policy or move on to another environment or risk being ousted from one's job. Thus, an inevitable schism evolves between workers and owners.

Justice is the required global condition that must be promoted by all world leaders. Justice ensures the fundamental respect and defense of natural biological boundaries that are valid for every human being despite the rich cultural diversity. In fact, justice encourages diversity of thought and action and life style, for it allows the freedom of each individual to
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creatively self-express in its own unique way. Justice opens doors and never closes them, unless to enforce the prevention of violations, (which are far less likely, when justice prevails). Justice provides to the world what bodily boundaries and safeguards offer the trinity of self.
The very words "...with liberty and justice for all", capture the essence of the above paragraph and are incorporated in our pledge of allegiance to our flag, a symbol of the freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Law of the Land, our Constitution. Would that these words be put into practice on a uniform basis and a great deal of the intent, as expressed in the above paragraph, would become a reality.

Justice ensures that humans will be free to move about and feel the evaluative outcome of their thoughts and actions in order to find and progress upon the developmental path. Justice will ensure that humanity can lift themselves beyond the survival level, and discover the much fuller potential of the being and transcendent levels of human experience. For indeed, humans are intended to be pulled toward their purposes by positive feelings instead of being pushed away from misguided thoughts and actions by painful experience. In short, a society is not just if it denies the universal rights and freedoms that the Creator has bestowed. Such arrogance should be self-evident.
Once the attractiveness of physical, mental and spiritual fulfillment is made plain to humans, there need not be systems in place to force them to move in a particular direction. The only systems that need to be kept in place are those that favor freedom, justice and of appreciation for one's fellow human beings.

The Biological Condition of Civilization Connection without justice is simply not possible. Only when the environment is structured in ways that ensure basic freedom and empowerment to control one's own destiny, can it begin to evolve into a true civilization.
It is one thing to know an ideal. It is another thing to put it into practice. To do the latter requires a full appreciation of what we are, in a most complete sense. To know that we are physical, mental, emotional and spiritual and that we are free and creative beings. Then we can start to explore.

The biological condition of a true civilization, is one wherein justice

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prevails at all times, and individuals can then unite into a cooperative, connected social whole. Civilizations are advanced kinds of social structures that offer opportunities for their members to meet all six of the universal human needs. There are no right or wrong ways to do this. In fact, the more imaginative and creative the structures, the more opportunities they can provide. Civilization is not dependent upon technological advancement, only the effectiveness of its cooperative nature. Contrary to popular belief, the most technologically simple "savages" that have attained true cooperation are far more civilized than even the most technologically advanced warrior competing for basic power.
The best example of advanced civilization is nature. Unless interfered with by humans, it maintains an overall balance while continuing to evolve. We can observe it and we can even compliment it, but we can only improve upon it when we learn to emulate it.

True civilizations have social structures which enhance the life experience with many opportunities for self-development and self-expression, emphasizing the higher needs for connection, esteem, creativity, and meaning. There are free flowing ideas and myriad---unlimited--opportunities to meet needs and fulfill purposes. In a civilized community, all needs are met without violating the needs of any others, hence the natural morality of "do not do unto others that which pains thyself". This includes the pains of injustice perpetrated upon life forms by human folly.
If we can picture what we would like the world to be, understand the level of freedom necessary to work toward that goal and respect all the forms of existence around us while we strive to reach that goal, then we will be able to begin to call ourselves "civilized".

Any enlightened global social structure must ensure that it provides justice alone, and allows each individual community to devise the desirable civilized structures. The rich cultural traditions that have arisen are testimonial of the human creative expressive abilities and the natural enjoyment from tasting the fruits of many diverse customs and values. A cultural civilization can be likened to a mind---ever evolving, improving, and expanding in ways that allow for the maximum spiritual expression and fulfillment of its members. And many minds are, of course, better than one.
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The only uniformity we need to concern ourselves with is that all are free to choose their own path, so long as that path brings no harm to another. Only with such a blessed attitude can we open ourselves to our true potential.

A civilized society is a purposeful society. For when all six needs are met, all three purposes can be met. For example, libraries, educational and technological systems exchange mental resources, share the knowledge we gather, and ensure avenues for gaining esteem and self-development. Our social, economic and political structures promote connection, cooperation, and accommodate the ongoing creative resource exchanges and social refinements. Our arts, religions, and sciences facilitate creativity and provide meaning. The flexibilities within our justice system ensure that cooperation is the #1 rule, violations are not tolerated, and just conditions are maintained.
As we expand along our path, we may even come to find out that there are more than "six needs" and more than "three purposes". It is when true freedom of possibility begins to seep into our institutional overlays, that we will escape from programmed strictures. If we look closely, we can already begin to see our institutions crumbling before our eyes.

The Role of Government Recognizing the simple economics of need-meeting can define the role and dramatically enhance the effectiveness of government. A government is simply a structure through which the cooperative choices of the people can be carried out. If it becomes a controller or manipulator of freedom and power of its people, it shall never work, and should be heartily rejected---in revolutionary ways if need be.
When governments stray beyond their defined purposes, those who are affected by the increase in tyranny can act individually and collectively, within established guidelines or outside of them. We need not assign ourselves a perpetual role of victimization, unless this is all we can create for ourselves. We too easily forget that government is in the role of "employee" and that citizens are the collective "employer". Thus, it is the will of the latter that governs the former. Just as an employer would not tolerate an employee taking control of his business and operating it as he might wish, so the citizenry should not tolerate a government doing so at any level, i.e. conducting itself without consultation with and approval of that citizenry. When those elected to represent the public tend
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toward favoring the needs of the selective and vested interests, then it behooves the public to force those elected representatives from office or force them by public will, to alter their behavior.

Government at its raw essence is an organized structure which ensures that the cooperative unit is established, maintained, and continuously improved, based upon individual contributions which increase freedom and add opportunities. Good government adds resources, and facilitates that maximum creative, and ingenious forms of resources exchange. If it works with human nature, and succeeds in its role of facilitating justice, the economic and social health will naturally improve. It will promote far more pleasure than pain. (In fact, economic shifts accompany all social change and a healthy economy in the global interconnection is a sign of enlightened progress.)
While a government that institutes policies that enable its citizens to prosper at the expense of the disenfranchised or disadvantaged, may be favored by those who financially benefit, it lays the ground-work for upheaval, whether it be on the economic front or the political/social front. All boats must rise with the tide. Those that get ahead of the tide will only become unbalanced and eventually run aground.

Good government will provide additional resources and opportunities for all members to freely meet their needs. For it will not promote isolation of present methods, but will assist each individual in self-development and self-expression and to be embraced within the cooperative whole.
Part of maintaining a balanced society is seeing to it that those who lag behind are given the opportunity to catch up with those who are enjoying the fruits of the system. This is not "help for helps sake", but "helping those who wish to help themselves".

Good government will focus only upon ensuring justice. The focus will remain upon individual freedom and empowerment. Opportunities will be built into the structure wherein each and every human can find avenues to meet their needs within the structures, regardless of money, family birthright, sex, age, race, or any other arbitrary distinction between spirits in flesh.
We do, in fact, create the level of freedom we deem appropriate for ourselves. To the degree that we believe in what we are entitled to, we acquire those things we
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feel we need. Good government should compliment that process and does so when we define its role as such.

Bad government will attempt to interfere with and control the natural flow of resource exchange. It will attempt to limit, to legislate external morality, control free information and resource exchanges, invade privacy, and cause far more harm than good. It will attempt to judge and prop up "the weak" while at the same time disempowering its members, creating man-made victims, martyrs and criminals. It will experience inner conflict, warring factions, and gridlock to the point that cultural evolution grinds to a halt. Over-regulation, welfare states, prohibition, victimless crimes, overcrowded prisons and even revolution will all result; as well as fear-driven, volatile or black market economies, and the subcultures, crimes and isolation they promote.
Much of what is described in the above paragraph can easily be found in our society and the societies of other cultures around the world. While we delude ourselves into believing that other cultures are inferior to our own, we are in danger of failing to hold ourselves responsible for our own shortcomings.

In a general sense, government must ensure structures which facilitate and protect self-determined actions of need-meeting self-preservation, while fostering the maximum opportunities for self-development and selfexpression for each of its members. It should not attempt to externally control or remove power beyond the ensuring "liberty and justice for all". For without liberty and justice there can be no individual value fulfillment, without which there can be no expansion of the consciousness of the species, without which there can be no unobstructed expansion of All That Is.
Beginning with what we appreciate about ourselves and taking it the point of what we wish to have preserved by our tools of government, we fortify our environment with those characteristics which move us along our spiritual path.

With these simple principles of self-regulated self-determinism in place, we can now turn to the specific activities of enlightened, twenty-first century governments. The Governmental "Body"

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The most essential tasks of an enlightened governmental structure are those which mirror the hardwired tasks of the body within the trinity of self. As we now know, the role of the body within the divine selfregulation system is to ensure the minimum standards necessary for selfpreservation. The body will overrule free will of mind with purposeful biological predestiny whenever its most basic needs are left unfulfilled. The mission of good government should be to establish external structures which prevent the needs of body from being overrun by the misguided choices of mind. Like the human body which contains the seeds of all needs and purposes, enlightened governmental structures use the natural attraction of positive emotion to guide and pull citizens in the highest directions, and use the push of pain as a fail-safe only to correct a misguided course. A successful government will acknowledge, value, and nurture the inner seeds of human purpose within a global citizenry.
Today, too much of "government" has become obsessed with manipulating humanity rather than nurturing its inner needs or "seeds". This is almost inevitable when government becomes separated from the populous by distance and falls under the influence of collective vested interests. It is further compounded when more economically powerful governments use the tools of usury to influence other governments and prevent or discourage them from fully addressing the needs of their own people.

This mission translates into several goals common among all enlightened governments. First, that individuals are all afforded the essential informational resources to: Understand themselves, to understand the grand game, and to take accountable control of their own destiny. Second, that structural opportunities exist which allow each individual to: Join the cooperative unity, to freely and creatively engage in need-meeting resource exchanges; to enjoy ongoing self-development and self-expression; and to begin contributing as soon as possible. Third, that structural safeguards are in place to: Protect the freedoms and rights of all within the cooperative unity from isolation and competitive violation.
With the "First" intent, free or affordable education (whether private or public, whether at home or in an educational institution) be made available to child and adult alike. With the "Second" intent, a place should be created in the collective psyche for toleration of all forms of economic endeavors, whether they be public or private, socialistic or capitalistic. With the "third" intent, certain protections should be put in place that would check the economically superior from
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brutalizing those "mom & pop" operations which only seek to serve a need and enjoy an acceptable income.

Enlightened governments accomplish these goals by allocating the shared resources of their citizens into creative infrastructures which accommodate and stimulate these inner guidance mechanisms. The role is better one of temporary guidance than ongoing regulation. Those who attempt to repress or control through rigid external laws will only create predictable forms of malaise and revolt, for humans are not designed to ensure artificial (external) control or accept institutionalized pain. The human spirit will not tolerate being forced into submission, and will move the body to burst free from any such chains. Many governments have fallen or become massive, unwieldy, monsters because they fail to understand or accommodate basic biological justice. Thus, true civilization cannot arise until the condition of justice for all is achieved.
The "inner guidance mechanisms" referred to above is bound to become a casualty of a mentality that believes that the only way to deal with elements of society which do not conform to a highly (but artificially) defined criteria of "what" human behavior should be, is to pass more laws. The increase in "laws" leads directly to an increase in the size of bureaucracy and an unwielding state. In a free society that cares about itself, guidance can supersede the need for all but the absolutely necessary laws. A system to collect the necessary revenue to run government can and should move toward simplification rather than away from it. The maintaining of friendly relations with other governments (even when those governments hold an alternate political or economic philosophy) can reduce the likelihood of war or the need for expensive military equipment or large standing armies.

Safeguarding - Ensuring Global Justice For maximum benefit, governmental budgets must be prioritized just as the trinity of self prioritizes its needs. The safeguards must come first with the foundational assurances of basic freedom and empowerment of all people. Only when rightful self-preservation is cooperatively accommodated can true self-development and self-expression be fostered. But only recently in human history has the concept of freedom even begun to take root. But without the enlightened understandings, freedom leads to natural evolutionary breakdowns which are perceived as threats of disorder and create the fearsome image of a sinful people run amok. The fear of
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disorder then causes defensive responses which pile on all forms of external control, which only erodes the fledgling freedom.
Freedom without a recognition of the innate spiritual qualities of those granted such freedom, conjures up fear of where that freedom might lead. Fear is then likely to be followed by repression. Those who occupy the higher levels of government, or any other institutions, are prone to belittle the depth and strength of character of the masses. In doing so, they mistakenly place control ahead of responsibility and, in doing so, corrupt the ideals they are sworn to uphold.

Like individual development, all defensive responses within an organization simply scuttle the natural learning cycle, impede growth, and create further emotional pain. As this painful cycle continues, it is only a matter of time before any such government or group will collapse under their own excess weight. Governments that cling to any political or religious doctrine of rigid external control are biologically destined to fail socially and economically. It is only through rightful freedom and empowerment that this cycle can be broken.
Within any democratic form of government there should exist a special unit which is charged with the responsibility for reducing governmental influence. The purpose of such a unit would be to encourage a people to take greater control over their lives and develop greater faith in their own sensibilities. A government that works in tandem with such an effort will grow in spiritual qualities along with the governed.

The most recent historical forms of government, including the American community, have taken an enlightened step forward. They have arisen due to the growing recognition that liberty---both freedom and empowerment---are the only way. The early American visionaries held a faith in the laws of nature and the inherent rights and abilities endowed within human nature. The organizing and constitutional documents recognize the universal equality of human beings, honor the basic urge to pursue happiness, and set forth protection of individual liberty.
This is the ideal upon which the American government was founded. But make no mistake about it, there are always those who operate within such a system that find such ideals to be in conflict with their separate agendas. It is for this reason that such liberties are eroded.

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But like all other governments, they have failed to recognize the role of negative emotion as a driver of both freedom and power---power devoid of unenlightened external controls. Somewhere along the line, the misguided notion that humans have a sinful or animalistic nature replaced the idea of divine providence and faith in nature. The result is the attempt to grant freedom, but without any real empowerment of the people, and competing political factions which can be likened to the conflicting purposes of a selfpreserving body and a self-developing mind.
Both religion and science have contributed to the deprecation of human nature, each by making presumptions of that nature that robs it of its dignity. If humans are sinful, then they need to be kept in line by religious dictates. If they are anarchistic, then they must be controlled by a plethora of laws. In each case, outside control strives to take the place of inner spiritual guidance.

This is simply due to the lack of understanding of human purpose. Until the understanding is in place that humans have not one, but three purposes such infighting will continue. Rightful empowerment must be based upon the inner accountability to use freedom in purposeful ways that bring longterm pleasure. Until humans know of their inner goodness, how to follow divine guidance, and how to avoid animal level fight and flight responses, there will be the illusion that they cannot control themselves, the perceived need for external controls, and all kinds of competitive advise on how to attain such control.
The road to spiritual enlightenment must be paved by those who are willing to give up some of the traffic controls and trust that those who travel down that road are quite capable of steering their own way toward that universal goal.

Separation of church and state in America has been successful in disentangling the government from the rigid and competing belief structures which caused most historical revolt, and it has encouraged cultural diversity and tolerance. But it has also created an attitude against any natural purpose, values, or morality, which in the context of competition becomes a free-for-all of ignorant moralistic passions which further divide the union. All political factions which pit conservatism against liberalism, equality against freedom, competition against cooperation, one moralistic doctrine against another, or rights against responsibilities, are misguided and will ultimately be forced by its citizens to change.
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When you separate spiritual values from government, you encourage separation within spiritual institutions, economic philosophies, and governmental bodies, to the point where all issues automatically become divided and in opposition to each other.

The acceptance of inner conflict between body and mind actually bases the concept on good-old-American competition. It is revered as a pillar of national economic success, yet it denies equal opportunity. This is a grand illusion, for it is the cooperative freedom that makes the capitalistic marketplace a success. Global freedom and empowerment can only be attained if external controls are removed, the concept of purposeful inner directed cooperation embraced, opportunities created, and the rights of all protected against violation. Ironically, the misguided ideas about competition actually perpetuated a great deal of violation that would not otherwise exist.
The concept of a people divided against each other for the purpose of economic gain only contributes to a fostered state of conflict where there must ultimately be a victory and an vanquished. Peace, harmony and cooperation do not naturally evolve from a state of encouraged and established conflict.

Global Cooperation Without Violation Rightful freedom and empowerment will minimize competition because it will minimize anger. Anger is that force which draws the line in the sand, and safeguards our innate rights by moving us to fight for them. Once the line is drawn---for all the world to see---rights are acknowledged and protected through just social structures, competitive anger and win-lose scenarios are no longer desirable or necessary. In short, there is no need--nor impulse---in a cooperative world for disruptive, defensive aggression. Then, as the feeling signals are allowed to accomplish their purposeful tasks, the self-concept naturally grows and expands to enfold the needs of others. To the enlightened mindscape, perpetuating violations to one is emotionally understood as a source of pain for all. Nonetheless, until mass consciousness embraces the essential human knowledge, defense from violation is a necessity.
It would be naive to presume that all it would take to create a world where conflict would be universally opposed because those who view it would be
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repulsed by it, is to wish for such a state and it would be so. In fact, a large portion of the leadership of the planet's population still believes that conflict resolution is best achieved through conflict. It is still considered the solution of first resort rather than one of last resort.

As part of the safeguard systems, any government must have structures in place which discourage and negatively sanction survival-level competition or any action which results in violation. Violation is basically the infringement upon the rights of others to freely control their own destiny, or any acts which obstruct another's free engagement in purposeful, cooperative resource exchange. Violations are acts of singular self interest which deny the interests of others.
It would behoove any government to set up a system of communication that encourages those with legitimate complaints to make their views known, with ample opportunity for those with opposing views to respond in kind. Following this exchange of views, the general public would be invited to weigh in with a more detached perspective. In this way, a fair public hearing would evolve to enable governments to make fair and equitable decisions where "infringements upon the rights of others" might arise.

Humanity has yet to evaluate the very concept of violation and to extend it to all life forms in the political structures that they willfully design. These reflections will lead to values which recognize that global resources are limited, should be respected, shared, replenished, and conservatively utilized in social structures that balance resources with those that rely upon them to meet their needs. Runaway population, inadequate resources, and cultural values which consume more than they contribute, are all states of imbalance which enlightened governmental structures can avoid. For when balance in the resource marketplace is attained, emotional energy flows freely, win-win cooperative exchanges become the natural norm and violations are greatly reduced.
Wherever global resources are not being replenished or intelligently managed, government can play an important role in encouraging and requiring those who are exploiting those resources to relegate a certain portion of their profits to coming up with alternative sources of the needed material or a recycling system that reduces the consumption of such resource to an acceptable (and nonthreatening) level. For example, if the consumption of petroleum as fuel is threatening the environment, the use of such fuel can be taxed and that tax used to reduce that level of consumption and find an alternate, but viable source of energy.
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Reducing and eliminating global violation must focus upon establishing the global values of cooperative resource development, sharing, replenishment and free exchange. With the freedom and empowerment for each country to develop and share their unique resources, global economic health and development can be assured, without overtaxing the environment or institutionalizing violation of other people or species. Successful economics will always ensure that they do not consume more resources than they produce, nor squander valuable assets. For example, with enlightened global values, countries that now have economic dependence upon the export and exploitation of exotic but dwindling animal species, can instead develop specific exotic experiences by attracting paying visitors who can find discovery and meaning in the local nature and culture. Photos, books, cultural traditions, and stories can be shared instead of pelts, bones and blood.
A country might outlaw the shooting of endangered animals with rifles, but encourage the taking of photographs or videos with telephoto lenses from safe distances and the sharing of these accomplishments between those of like mind. Threatened species would then survive, thrive and multiply, to the benefit of all who value them. We have choices other than to deplete our natural resources. Only the self-involved minority wishes to destroy to the point of general deprivation. We need only but to evolve beyond the point of government of, by and for the vested interest.

Fostering Global Connection When leaders of the free world recognize the biological human blueprint, the greatest achievements of all forms of government can be culled into some basic global principles that underlie the development of structural opportunities to empower and connect all individuals. Freedom and empowerment can establish justice, but when the connection need is also satisfied, true civilization can commence.
Communication among diverse cultures that agree to share the values of human worth, i.e. that human beings are the true treasure of the planet, can override the most perplexing of problems and lead to creative solutions, which in turn can lead to increasing civility and opportunity for all.

Like any group, each nation, in its own way, seeks to foster connection amongst its people for cohesion and cooperative living. But it is the
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concept of global connection that is yet to come. Connection cannot occur without justice, for if basic power and freedom is compromised, individuals will necessarily break unity and self-protect at the expense of cooperation. This is a biological certainty and an important safeguard for any individual---from cell to country. But the highest pleasures and the long-term rewards of purpose will only be met through global cooperative connection.
When a nation can apply on a global scale those qualities that are exercised in achieving connection among its own people, it can take the lead in achieving justice with tolerated diversity. As barriers begin to come down, the free exchange of information and goods will encourage the resolution of imbalances and misunderstandings.

Attaining connection translates into global governmental efforts to unify and unite individuals and to reduce the isolating roadblocks that are now so prevalent within and between human cultural and geographical communities. At present, the fledgling NATO community is laying the first foundations for what will become a global constitution of sorts. It will set forth a mission of universal self-determinism and cooperative dictates just as the body sets forth the universal human needs.
While NATO does have the potential to break down barriers and bring a greater level of cohesion between former enemies, it is still oriented toward the use of force to bring about desired results. Having been founded as a military entity, it will have to rise from its own ashes to become an enlightened force for spiritual progress.

If enlightened, it will not attempt to regulate, moralize, or otherwise interfere with the individual choices within the resource guidelines. It will ensure the basic freedom and empowerment of each individual country to control its own cultural destiny and to cooperatively contribute its unique creative, cultural, and natural resource offerings for exchange in the global marketplace. Such a document shall contain the general tenets suggested in the Global Government Mission Statement, and Declaration of Unity offered herein. (See conclusion of this Lesson).
It will move toward becoming a United States of Europe, while allowing the necessary individualization of each respective country, knowing that as communication and travel expands between these separate countries and cultures grows, so will the energy of enlightenment grow as well.
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Such a document can base an enlightened, cooperative world marketplace, wherein individual countries choose to participate and to play by the scant, but effective, global rules. Members accept freedom as well as the responsibility and accountability for its purposeful, cooperative use. Official participation can take the form of economic membership contributions which support the minimal administration of such a world government.
When it comes to the establishment of "global rules", the basic rule should be the fewer the better. The intent to maintain "minimal administration" would be not only essential but enlightened. By encouraging each country to exercise whatever creative means it chooses to blend with the ideals of the collective whole, the true spiritual energy of each will likely come forth.

There can be varying levels of recognition status that can be earned within the world community, based upon the positive contributions and the level of cooperation acted upon the world stage. Positive sanctions and esteem can be offered for exceptionally enlightened contributions, as well as corrective sanctions when necessary. Such a structural strategy would set the stage to accommodate the present tit-for-tat morality until full cooperation is attained. Eventually all countries will see the tremendous benefits of global membership and willfully choose to partake, rather than be bullied into compliance by even the most well-meaning of countries.
Some of these principles are already in place in the western hemisphere and are beginning to bring economic benefits through agreements such as NAFTA. On the other hand, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are running into feedback that should be telling them that they need to make a course correction along the lines indicated above.

The American government, which has helped give birth to the enlightened global order, has also interfered with its natural evolution by overzealously exporting the concept of freedom in an unenlightened guise also promoting unbridled competition. Those countries that recognize the value of equal empowerment, feel genuine fear and anger over such imprudent use of aggression, and have resisted cooperation within the NATO unity in defense of their value of equal opportunity. For no global cooperative can work without freedom, equal empowerment, and connection among its empowered parts, or the oppressed will rightfully aggress and defense will
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be necessary.
Too often, a nation that excels in its power base, inversely fails in its ability to exercise tolerance of views that seem to threaten economic portions of its power base. This is the point where corporate business interests must be reined in. A government's military arm must not be used simply as a protective arm of vested interests which are failing to practice an enlightened policy.

Competitive Vs. Cooperative Defense But just as the human body is designed to accomplish defense by cooperative self-regulation, so does a government require a cooperative form of self-defense. Competitive forms of self-defense are the kind wherein the mind tries to bully the body into conforming to misguided beliefs. The deadly habits are all strategies of competitive defense, wherein one appears to win temporarily, but both actually lose in the end. Resistance and revenge upon the legitimate interests of any country are tantamount to revenge by the right hand upon the left. Competitive defense is simply a manifestation of the fight and flight responses, symptomatic of a world without mindful understanding and control of itself. The level of competitive defense can be assessed at any time by the amounts of both weaponry and prisons.
The United States is the leader in both areas of "weaponry and prisons". This is a distinction that should alert us to the fact that we are probably not in the state of enlightenment we could and should be in. In our case, the mind of our enormous government plays the role of bullying us into believing peace is best maintained by standing ready to make war. As a result of this misguided concept, we tend to indulge in military actions on a regular basis. In evolving into a singular world power, it would appear that the inconsistency of that philosophy is not even considered.

Instead, cooperative forms of defense are those which seek out informational signals from all realms and act upon them with Right and Light responses. Cooperative defense will bring lasting changes that come from global efforts of self-development. All such efforts will build opportunities which empower, rather than disempower and destroy people in denial of the messages of their voices. Defense will take the form of enlightened prevention and avoidance of conditions which create painful individual and social symptoms. Cooperative defense will be far more
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effective at resolving the root source---the lack of freedom and empowerment---rather than simply flailing against the symptoms themselves.
The concepts of "fight and flight" carry with them a propensity toward hysteria which tend to creep into the decision-making process whenever there is an international situation involving one country on the edge of conflict with another. Where there are no international examples of conflict resolution that do not involve taking military action, the latter becomes the norm rather than the solution of last resort. Consider this: How much "enlightenment" was apparent in the waging of the 1st and 2nd Persian Gulf Wars? It would appear that a peaceful resolution to avoid military action was barely considered in either.

The time is past when humans can deny their brotherhood. The evolution of human technology has forced humans to confront their need for global connection and cooperative defense, there can be no more competitive jungle struggles in a nuclear age. Most countries already recognize how fight and flight defense can easily become global annihilation, yet many still scramble for the power and safety of a hearty nuclear arsenal in a world that does not yet ensure biological justice. With enlightened global guidance, countries will be pulled into the unity for the pleasurable, synergistic benefits of cooperation, rather than be forced into compliance with painfully competitive threats and bombs.
Great leaders do not so much push as they inspire. If you are recognized as being a great and powerful nation, that very status will entitle you to the distinction of being listened to. If you capitalize on that position, you can then bring to the world those qualities which ensure true peace, along with social justice on all levels. To paraphrase one well-known saying: "If you carry a big stick, you need only speak softly."

Cooperative defense consists of a two-pronged approach, of adding unifiers and removing dividers. Unifiers facilitate the cooperative whole and utilize positive emotion as an inner motivation to guide purposeful living. Dividers are those beliefs, (individual and en mass), which promote inner personal disunity which is then experienced as outer, social disunity. Indeed, "no man is an island".
The point which should be emphasized in a situation of potential conflict is how much the adversaries have in common, how each nation's children may be only different in the language they speak or the customs of their respective cultures.
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To put them at risk for reasons that can probably be worked out in good-faith negotiations, is to commit a crime against one's own most precious resource.

Unifying structures are those that force healthy emotional development, self unity, expressive opportunity and social cohesion. They find and impart common understandings, allow all citizens to join the community family, to freely and consistently meet the basic survival needs in the marketplace of resource exchange, and find and refine avenues of selfdevelopment and expression. They are common systems of enculturation which share common values, methods, strategies and impart knowledge and skills. They are common infrastructures to facilitate maximum opportunity through communication, mobility, productivity, creativity, and potential resource exchanges in local and global marketplaces. They are mechanisms to ensure access to minimum standards of living, public safety, and prevention of and defense against competitive violations. Unifiers will foster and usher the emergence of natural morality.
It is when we begin to care about each other as human beings and fellow planet dwellers, that we move toward adopting those "principles" and "structures" which put in place all the intents and purposes listed above. It begins with an exercise of will and plays itself out through an unlimited series of creative opportunities.

Dividing structures are any and all which counteract true inner and outer connection. They are the institutionalized slivers, the world views, educational systems, political persuasions, religious beliefs, economic institutions that misunderstand the trinity of self, and/or divide humankind into fragmented, isolated, competitive groupings. They are external attempts to regulate behavior, legislate morality, prohibit certain experiences, thoughts, and/or actions, and justify the disempowerment and relegation of some humans to positions of isolation or dependency. Dividing structures ensure that natural morality will be thwarted.
When competition is taken down to the local human level and people are set against each other because of their differences, all manner of social problems spring up and fester. Yet, it is in moving to promote common interests and the development of those qualities basic to the best in human nature that the engines of human progress begin to hum.

Such basic and loose guidelines for resource conservation, freedom, empowerment, connection, and cooperative defense within the global
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community shall be sufficient to reestablish biological justice. Once these fundamental needs are met, the only necessary limits to individual offerings are the boundaries of insight, creative imagination, and spiritual feedback. From there, individual countries can enhance the global structures with creatively diverse forms of civilizations and technological ingenuities which meet the cultural and creative desires of their citizens. Each country can establish civilizing structures of their choosing which can foster the meeting of needs for self-esteem, creativity, and meaning--all of which should contribute significantly to the resource pool and economic health of the country.
There are countries on the planet which are good examples of what can be achieved when the above described environment is put into practice. While such countries may not be in complete compliance with the ideals expressed at this point, they can stand as beacons of inspiration to those on the road to progress. Success carries with it a certain degree of responsibility. Cooperation in carrying out that responsibility is a goal worth striving toward.

Sanctioning Violations Once a global cooperative agreement with just parameters is in place, there will arise a world self-regulating feedback mechanism wherein continuous communications, evaluations, and corrections can be made. This will include a feeling-driven judicial court of sorts, wherein grievances can be heard, mediated, and violations negatively sanctioned. It becomes the responsibility of each country to actively express in this manner when any violations are perceived, in order to reduce pain of any life forms.
What might be construed initially as merely a series of "bitching" sessions, can be the opening of a collective line of communication directed toward achieving a responsible exchange of views, with the ultimate intent of reducing those frictions which (when not addressed properly) too often lead to exchanges of force. This is particularly true in a world awash in armaments.

The most effective "punishment" for violators, is not punishment at all, but negative sanctions which communicate the non-acceptance of the violation and which actively enlighten the violator about the nature and responsibility of free will. Once a violator truly understands the concept of connection, his or her own emotional system will guide the moral actions, for they will know with fearless trust that their rights are also protected in
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this manner.
It would also be important to have these discussions carried out in a public forum so that citizens from all countries and cultures could view the positions taken by each side of a disagreement and make it clear to their respective governments their own insights about the merits of each side. This would put in place a faith in the innate spirit of human nature with an opportunity for such spirit to be freely expressed.

The tit-for-tat moral structure can be accommodated within the membership status classes, wherein trust is assumed, but status is commensurate with the level of cooperation actually displayed in resource exchange interactions. With varying levels of membership which reflect the global esteem earned through cooperative contributions, countries can earn global respect and leadership positions. The learning component in all sanctions is necessary, since development is an individual process, and trial and error learning with pleasure/pain feedback, is the most direct route to purposeful self-development. Just as a child should be given as much empowerment as can be responsibly used, so then can developing countries be offered conditional membership, and allowed their normal growing pains as they learn.
Once politics and manipulation are put aside and leadership, coupled with responsibility, become the virtues and examples expressed by the stronger nations toward those not occupying such positions, the evolution toward a tradition of peaceful resolution of respective problems will follow naturally.

This form of global sanctioning can also be used locally to replace many unnecessary, expensive, and excessive forms of punishment---which are, at heart, competitive forms of defense. The concept of incarceration is wrong-minded for many violators. Safeguard protections would be far more beneficial wherein the violators were educated, and able to redeem themselves in ways that positively affect the victim or community. Giving such a learning experience constitutes an expressive correction, a Light Response, as well as a Right Response and is far less costly and far more aligned with the spiritual system. The popular idea that redemption and rehabilitation are not possible is a severe limitation within mass consciousness perpetuated by the myth of sin and evil and fostered by structures which deny equal opportunity. Humans can become convinced of their own evil if never offered an alternative, more enlightened
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explanation for fight and flight impulses.

There are times when an incorrect policy must be allowed to move to an extreme before the fallacy of it can be apparent on a broad enough scale for it to be corrected. When one country elects to imprison and execute a larger percentage of its population than any other country in the world, it must eventually face the possibility that it is not living up to the highest ideals or the most enlightened policies. Religious and political institutions that can not lead their members to a greater state of enlightenment will, in the end, be the followers of the process of change.

The educational system alone can accomplish many such safeguards and will be discussed separately, but self-regulation information can be made available in many existing systems and outlets wherein entities can continuously have access to higher and higher levels of self understanding, and be given opportunities to choose the more purposeful and rewarding life track.
Before such a process can proceed to the point of making a difference in the world we live in, a greater level of awareness of the value of all human beings must creep into the collective unconscious. This can only start out with conscious reflection on an individual level.

Local Government & The Feedback Cycle As should now be apparent, all organisms operate upon the self-regulating principles of cyclic interaction, feedback, and correction, and government is no exception. These natural patterns will guide the most effective forms of any human grouping and should be recognized as the Creator's divine blueprint. At present, even with its limits, the American form of government with its three branches illustrates this emerging pattern:
What may seem at times to be gross misconduct on the part of our government, is simply a propensity to stray from the principles upon which it was founded. One branch or another may seem to be falling under the influence of forces that are, one might say, less than enlightened. Yet, because these respective branches can add varied perspectives to the issues of our time, the opportunity for selfcorrection remains in place.

The legislative branch sets forth the laws of public policy which can ensure certain constitutional rights of its people. This policy is likened to an individual mind's chosen mental motives which seek to meet the body's
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needs. The administrative branch carries out the policies by establishing and maintaining avenues of opportunity while ensuring the public safety. These activities are likened to the behavioral actions in the feedback cycle, where the motives are tested in the world to see if they attain the desired outcomes. Then the judicial branch has the task of evaluating that outcome. Finally all three play roles in correcting strategies and policies.
When each branch sticks to its respective role and carries out that role in the best interest of the governed and is not swayed by political consideration and future elections, or vested interests and their monetary assets, then the process can operate in a pure environment. When these respective roles are subverted, the entire system suffers and no one branch can effectively correct the missteps of any other.

This form of government has several of the enlightened puzzle pieces in place, yet still contains judgmental assumptions and unclear lines of responsibility that promote infighting, conflict, ineffective communication and development---all of which can be rectified with the precise understandings of the trinity of self.
There exists in society at this time an institution which can play the role of bringing about such a rectifying. Unfortunately, it lacks the understanding of what these Lessons are trying to express. Were it to adopt this new paradigm, it would be in a position to begin to influence other institutions, such as the type of government that was created for the United States to operate under.

The first of which is the entanglement of economics and the legislative process, which limits the amount of feedback that is considered in the policy making decisions. Another is the removal of unnecessary controls that attempt to legislate morality or cultural value. Another still, is the removal of excessive regulation and taxation which interferes with, and often prevents, free enterprise. All such changes flow from the spiritual adjudicator, and eventually will come about through the internal forces of the needs of the people.
What is being referred to in the first case is simply influence paid for by vested interests which donate generously toward re-election campaigns. The second refers to influential religious groups that claim to represent voting blocks and, thus, attempt to influence legislation. The third is the evolution of bureaucratic departments which develop a life of their own and begin to exercise power far beyond what any of the respective branches of government ever intended. The
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correction of these mis-directions lies in the bowels of the human spirit and can come forth in the proper environment.

At present, the judicial branch can only evaluate against existing, often conflicting policies, and is severely limited in its empowerment and often does more harm than good. Many such judges, base decisions upon doctrine of sin and evil and further stymie the developmental progress of the nation. This branch has now become entangled with more administrative functions in carrying out corrective actions according to existing, and often flawed policies and laws. Their evaluations and suggested corrections often breed further intolerance, victimization, isolation, and loss of personal freedom.
There has been a resurgence in the judicial branch in recent years to presume that acceptance of the taking of human life under what are considered to be justified circumstances is in line with the moral guidelines of our society. Such actions have only resulted in demeaning the quality of life itself. In short, such actions have and continue to be counter-productive.

If this branch is to be at all effective at balancing power, it must clarify its role of evaluation. It must have ultimate authority to render decisions that are fully aligned with the spiritual adjudicator to ensure that legislation--even the constitution itself---and all forms of correction stay within the bounds of the divine design. With the final authority of natural law as evidenced in the emotional patterns, all cultural laws can be correctly evaluated so that all guiding policies continuously evolve to match the divine design.
This may require the stretching of understanding beyond the limits of religious dogma and tradition. It may require the acceptance of ideas that stretch beyond the limits of Judaic-Christian culture. It will require, at the very least, a willingness to seek guidance more from within and a trust that this is where all true guidance dwells.

Representative Government - The Value of Each Voice Like a body attuned to all of its cells, a government is indeed "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Enlightened governments are based primarily upon the input of the people they serve. Those that are based upon rigid worldviews, competitive economic interest groups, and
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limited ideologies discourage the purpose of self-development and shall relegate their members to daily doses of spiritual pain. Indeed, like the body, a government guides the development of the public mind---a mass reflection of the individual minds which comprise it, with equally important fluidity in its chosen beliefs and cultural strategies. Most governments remain in rigid adherence to value judgments handed down from earlier days wherein religious worldviews dominated governments.
While the old expression, "You get what you pay for", might be all too appropriate in our current economic/political situation, in the American system, citizens do end up with the kind of government practices they have come to tolerate. The fact is, like the governments we have come to expect, our cultural outlook is subject to the same limitations of our traditional way of thinking which are reflected in how those who govern us think and perform.

At present, those governments based upon this democratic input process have enjoyed the most success, but many still suffer the pitfalls of excess economic dividers. As long as representative government promotes competition at the expense of cooperation, there will be factions of power instead of the free opportunity for all to become empowered. The laws will follow the reinforcement of the "haves versus the have-nots" as those empowered become the loudest voices in the input process. These are the modern vestiges of institutionalized dividers along lines of blood and class, which forced many historical revolts as human voices raged in spiritual anger.
When 5% of the population ends up with 80% of the wealth, economic injustice is bound to prevail. Such economic power ends up being passed down from one generation to the next. Wealth buys the influence to protect those who have it. This state feeds a level of discouragement which can't help but grow toward mass indifference toward the political process and a social level of anger expressed in violence. Hence, more crime, prisons and public executions.

An enlightened government must also embrace the true meaning of freedom and equal empowerment and fully honor the spiritual meaning implied therein. These judgments automatically stifle many voices whose individual destiny paths necessitate experiences deemed to be off limits by the cultural moral choices of some which become local law. Laws which deny the free-flowing patterns of human trial and error experience merely thwart their own best interest.
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To have the principles of freedom stenciled in concrete around the statues of those who helped found a government, apparent for all to see and believe; contrasted against a compromised system which seeks to maintain economic inequality, is to breed a level of spiritual anxiety destined to result in a continuing level of decay. A government, like a parent, must allow some opportunity for learning through mistakes, as long as no serious harm is done and opportunity for corrective action remains in place.

Whether or not the contribution of each member is officially offered in a political process, all voices can easily be heard to an attentive ear. A truly representative government listens to all voices by attuning carefully to the spiritual feedback its structures bring. Market fluctuations, public opinion, cultural themes and trends, crime levels, mental illness, and every form of human pain are all voices to be heard.
When the government servants of an electoral system spend more of their time concentrating on acquiring the economic resources to get themselves re-elected than to attuning to the physical, mental and spiritual needs of their constituents, then the system suffers and declines.

Each community can readily observe the spiritual symptoms of its folly should it choose to avoid resistant defense. Black markets, economic subcultures, overcrowded prisons, exorbitant health care costs, welfare states, self-abuse, addiction, and violence comprise a veritable chorus of resounding voices which now falls upon deaf ears. Each social problem contains its own solution when the underlying needs and emotional patterns are addressed rather than ignored, denied, or written off as sinful or incompetent human nature. Good governments actively seek out these voices and effect immediate resolutions to the lingering malaise following the needs and purposes of spirit.
The cynic proclaims, "People are just no good!", while forgetting that he/she make up the very species they condemn. Too often, those who hold political power delude themselves into thinking they are separate and a step above those they are elected or appointed to serve. Thus, their time is spent listening predominantly to those of like mind and stature.

For example, most governments struggle against the human desire to experience altered states of consciousness by imbibing chemical substances. Likewise, many struggle helplessly to combat the sale of
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sexual services. They struggle because these offer, at present, necessary human learning experiences. As long as there is a demand for certain experiences, there will be a supply in the grand marketplace. This is simply in keeping with the trial and error nature of human learning, the hedonic inner movers, and the nature of free resource exchange---all inherent in the Divine Design.
The greatest government resistance is against those substances which can not be taxed. Those substances which are heavily taxed by government, become the subject of an economic addition when governments come to rely on the revenue resource. But the deeper problem is the general lack of understanding of human nature and its need to explore its surroundings. Also, it should be understood, that a life of frustration can sometimes lead to "chemical" escape.

As we now know, all experiences are moral if they serve as learning experiences, and steps in natural individual development. In fact, many of the current desires are based in defensive escapism due to the lack of selfunderstanding and the predominance of institutionalized disempowerment and pain. The demand for such experiences will dramatically reduce once more unifiers are in place.
To imprison people for initial mistakes may be educational in intent, but the company of warped attitudes present in such an environment seldom leads to a state of spiritual enlightenment. Further, if the economic system continues to punish people long after they have "served their time", then further violations of law are almost inevitable. Rehabilitating the wrong-doer should take precedence over punishment, and this requires understanding and compassion.

Although the answer of simple removal of unnecessary restrictions would profoundly improve the efforts of government, these symptoms are ignored and denied. The voices are given no official validity. Likewise, there are many positive voices which speak of systems, ideas and values which are working because they bring long-term pleasure. Thus, a truly representative government must actively search, listen, and decode each of its positively creative as well as negatively symptomatic voices. Fortunately, despite historical upheaval and revolution, many of the enlightened ideas have taken root here and there, for spirit does indeed push humanity in purposeful directions.
Government should be in a constant state of revolution, restrained and controlled, but guided toward the intent of constantly improving the
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opportunities of its citizens to express themselves in creative ways. Only in this full level of opportunity can spiritual enlightenment survive and thrive.

The modern technological advances are beginning to facilitate the kind of communication and information exchanges that can yield a far more representative government which can attune to and synergize all such voices. These information exchange technologies will begin removing the judgmental and divisive ideas and mechanisms and can open the floodgates. Administrative governments can interact within their various institutions to gather and analyze each kind of feedback and incorporate it into evolving policies. Then through the ongoing attunement and analysis of the feedback, governments can shape and develop themselves as effectively as the most enlightened mind. It can then allow its people to freely evolve and accomplish the maximum self-development and expression to hurtle humanity forward in enlightened cultural evolution. The government that follows the principles of unity of purpose cannot help but blossom and provide enriched opportunities for fulfillment.
With the communicative systems we now have in place for a significant number of our citizens, the public can make its opinion available to the most responsive branches of our government. Public support can and should guide government actions. Governments, in turn, can not afford the luxury of ignoring the public mind. Even today, our news media is beginning to solicit the public's view on daily happenings. This is an example of an institution taking the lead in moving toward a more enlightened society.

Financing Good Government The current situation of humanity is still far afield from the potential experience of full creative manipulation of energy and physical matter. The constant energy conversion and physical manifestation is now mostly accomplished through the earning and exchange of money. Thus, the grand natural marketplace has become an economic cultural resource arena wherein individuals work to receive the financial freedom to design the life course. The empowerment comes through job opportunities to create and contribute in the grand marketplace. Thus, freedom and empowerment now revolve around the ability for each individual to find an economic niche and make a living. Government then garnishes a bit of these earnings to contribute to the cooperative structures, or attempts to redistribute resources to the "needy" who are often not held accountable for any form
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of contribution.
So it is that government plays the role of arbitrator of the earned wealth of the majority, funneling a portion of same to those they deem in need and giving justification for the ever increasing size of each department in the process. The existence of poverty provides a comfortable livelihood for those who make up and apply the regulatory hoops the needy are required to jump through in order to get the needed assistance. But there is a movement of late to get them beyond the state of dependency which, if understood and appreciated, could lead to an increase in enlightenment on many levels, provided it is carried out with the proper level of compassion.

In lieu of enlightened guidance, most governments thwart themselves with conflicting assumptions that cause them to squander the available resources on ventures not aligned with natural emotional patterns. There is infighting and shifting of political tides wherein one party reverses a course, and then another reverses it yet again. Entire agencies are born and take on self-protecting lives of their own. Government can then become an unwieldy spendthrift, causing a citizen backlash of fear, anger, and mistrust against the government.
In a democratic system, these swings of the pendulum are regulated through the election process. Where this safety valve doesn't exist, change tends to be more violent in nature. Whatever the method of this warring mentality, it is clear that the nature of this dissatisfaction lies deep within the human psyche and will not be resolved until and unless the true values of human nature are once again honored.

When governments actually find out and provide what people are willing to pay for, they can earn the public trust and can easily sustain themselves upon a minimal monetary contribution from each member. Such contributions will be happily offered, for the fruits they bear will be apparent. Eventually, when a fully cooperative unity has been attained, the financial institutions will be deserving of the term "public trusts" and can serve as direct collection points for governmental taxes, dramatically reducing the need for entire collection and enforcement arms. The elimination of black markets makes all commerce above board, legitimizes each enterprise, and brings all humans into the cooperative whole, and thereby dramatically increases available resources. Once all individuals enjoy just freedom and empowerment, taxation can be likened to a simple
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banking service or a percentage interest rate charge. Public trusts and representation can even come together into some form of individual designation of how the tax dollars are to be spent. This can allow individuals to put their money where their mouth is. In this way the values which bring the most cooperative empowerment will naturally emerge.
In our present economic environment, corporations do their best to avoid paying their share of the revenue. In some cases, they are completely successful in finding sufficient loop holes in the tax laws to the point of avoiding taxes altogether. In a competitive system, this practice is naturally encouraged. However, since the cost of paying taxes is usually passed on to the customer as a cost of doing business, there can be no justification for avoiding this responsibility other than the mentality of pure greed. A general simplification of the tax laws could be the only practical solution, since it would remove the Murphy Law that more rules created, the greater the opportunity for exceptions.

Public Infrastructures The government can provide many unifying pathways between citizens which can bring the maximum freedom and mobility to each individual life experience. The public educational system provides a fundamental unifier and the most direct avenue to the task of providing unifying informational resources. It will be discussed later in some detail. But there are also other structural unifiers that the government can foster and even support if necessary that not only provide safeguards, but facilitate empowering opportunities.
There is always the need for some baseline of uniformity so that all can maneuver safely and comfortably within the parameters of reality upon which we have collectively agreed. Just as rules must be in place to foster the smooth function of automotive travel, so society needs to agree to certain rules of interaction to most benefit from one's surroundings.

Major infrastructures such as transportation and communication networks, public works, public health, and community utilities are all necessary to an unconnected body. Governmental guidance and assistance can develop and link private enterprises and increase need-meeting opportunities for all and ensure equal access to survival resources. They will draw upon the inner motivations to welcome all citizens into the collective, cooperative fold and foster the honor and responsibility of creative, meaningful
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membership in the world community.

Even the human body could not function in an operative manner unless certain understandings of how physical health should be maintained were not innate to all levels of consciousness. If and/or when a particular portion of the body or mind began to overstep its boundaries of influence, a state of dis-ease would surely develop. Just as the Captain and crew of a ship know that an indifference of one portion of same can result in disaster for the whole, so a broadening perspective among all portions of society toward the well being of the whole is necessary for the preservation of life in this spaceship we call Earth.

The primary governmental task is to open the free market doors and ensure that the maximum amount of resource exchange and trade can occur. At present, a great deal of infrastructure is controlled by administrative government, which could just as well, if not better, be taken on by private enterprise. The governmental hand is best when gentle, temporary, and guiding rather than firm, permanent, and controlling. A government that forms itself around these innate tenets, shall arise as the most effective, economically successful, and creatively helpful to the unfolding evolutionary destiny of the human species.
In the economic arena, government serves best by holding private industry to the task of serving public need satisfactorily, while remaining with the confines of justifiable but modest profit. Private enterprises may even compete for the right to acquire that limited responsibility, so long as competition does not become an end in and of itself.

We can now examine the specifics of the cornerstone equalizer of any good government, an enlightened public educational system. Global Government Mission Statement To faithfully, actively, and cooperatively honor divine providence by offering universal guidance in all ways which safeguard the natural interactive processes and resources of the planet, and foster purposeful, connected, creative evolution of the human species. Declaration Of Unity In acknowledgement of alliance with divine biological predestiny, we the people of the planet Earth declare that:

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1. By divine providence all humans are created equal; with the innate biological goodness, impetus, ability, guidance, and rights to freely control their individual destiny in cooperative concert with one another.
(Note the similarity to the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence.)

2. With the right of willful destiny comes the self-evident responsibility for humanity to purposefully, intelligently, and responsibly use culture to design systems, technologies, social structures, and cooperatives that align with and enhance natural predispositions in order to provide the most fulfilling experience for all life forms.
(Universal freedom cannot survive without an equal share of responsibility.)

3. Creative diversity shall be encouraged, in agreement that any cultural assumptions, values, beliefs, institutions, and activities shall strive to rest upon the solid foundations of natural universal principles found in the creation itself, and no longer seek to judge, defile, or deny the divinity, purpose and sacred value potential of all living beings.
(Nature, itself, can be the best illustrator of life values.)

4. There shall be no undue organized interference with the exercise of individual, willful acts of purposeful self-preservation of body, selfdevelopment of mind, and self-expression of spirit, within the guidelines of the global cooperative unity and dictates of natural emotional dynamics of adaptation and evolution.
(Freedom should predominate over outside regulation wherever possible.)

5. There shall be active, cooperative, and creative efforts to establish global freedom and equal opportunity to every human being as basic, just conditions which meet the nonnegotiable inborn needs for freedom, power, and connection; toward the goal of reducing deficit states which prompt fear, anger, isolation, and competitive defensive responses, and enhancing those desirable states which prompt joy, trust, compassion, and unified purposeful responses.
(Private citizens should have built-in avenues of communication to encourage the process.)
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6. There shall be active cooperative, and creative efforts which foster social structures to enable all humans to meet the secondary needs for esteem, creativity, and meaning which foster desirable states of faith, inspiration, courage, honor, and creative delight, without undue interference with the cultural choices of other members of the global community.
(In a fostered environment of cultural exchange, this can happen.)

7. There shall be a global effort of cooperative defense to prevent, reduce and correct any violations which interfere with the free empowerment for individual countries and persons to pursue the happiness derived from purposeful value fulfillment in manners they so choose.
(For a limited time into the future, this may require a form of military action.)

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Section Zeta Lesson Three: Implications For Education Developing The Public "Mind" Just as the government must facilitate the needs of body, it also must assist in the establishment and ongoing development of a common public mind. Public transportation, technological, and commercial infrastructures can unite individuals physically, but it is through public education that they are united in thought and action. Public education provides the essential communicative pathways which transmit and enhance culture in the organized, purposeful manner. Mass consciousness exists without public intervention, but it can be guided away from limitations and developed to its maximum value potential with enlightened approaches. As a top priority, the public mind must embrace and instill the basic self understandings within citizens to begin purposeful development of each individual mind.
There can be a thread of agreement allowed to run through the whole of public education. This thread can be a collective understanding that the subjects of the education system are capable of far more than is currently presumed and that the only restriction to unlimited development is the application of limiting possibilities.

Self-development is the most critical purpose for humanity to discover at this time, given the dogmatic assertion of science that survival is the only life purpose. The admission that "natural selection" evidences predetermined direction will bring the next wave of official progress. But it is self evident that humans, by virtue of this natural capacity to remember and learn, have the dual purpose of self-development. Learning allows adaptation to any external challenges far better than waiting around for genetic mutations. It will also allow deeper understandings to unfold concerning why such mutations occur and how they can be consciously controlled.
The "survival" instincts attributed to the human race can not, by themselves, explain the accelerated progress observed in recorded history. This process strongly suggests that a second, more intrinsic element is present and has its roots in a quality beyond mere body and mind. That quality, when finally recognized by science, will be identified as Spirit.
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The public mind is at present a loose conglomeration of conflicting bits of natural and cultural knowledge, attitudes, trends, and values, steered by the scientific community and limited by governmental defensive safeguards. External legal controls, and prepackaged value judgments become incorporated into educational approaches as educators scramble to balance conflicting ideals and offer "official" information. This problem is compounded further with the recent explosion of available information which often competes with---and wins out over---official declarations. As a result, the public mind presently flounders and individual minds are left with conflicting and limited guidance.
As long as there is conflict and competition, there will be a variance in what is accepted and taught. This is particularly true in the arena of metaphysics which has little if any standing in the scientific and academic community. It would take the discovery of an impressive body of information outside of the accepted paradigm to alter the current mind set in the educational field. Might this material serve that purpose?

This situation will continue until there is an enlightened awakening to the emotional patterns of human nature which expose the inner guidance, the divine system of self regulation that drives all purposeful learning. The line must be drawn between information that promotes versus the destructive path. The relative nature of reality, information, and individuality must be embraced. For the mind is not a vessel to be filled with useless facts and figures, but a receptive canvas whereupon each of inch individual life unfolds, with experience and spiritual evaluation as the brush which colors, shades, defines, and creates meaning. Such a natural portrait brings forth the most beautiful and complete expression of the innate value potential, symbolic of the most purposeful rewarding and most expansive life experience. This approach satisfies the recent request of the Dalai Lama to enhance education of the mind with "education of the heart".
Educational institutions such as the War College and the infamous training school at Fort Benning, Georgia must be closed down. We are beginning to realize that there is something called 'Emotional Intelligence', which is made up of more than cold facts and reasoning. It includes instinct and intent. As it becomes more appreciated, we will move toward a new level of learning.

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Creative Experiential Learning Vs Receiving Judgments A fundamental change in educational approach involves understanding the nature of judgment. As we now know, the mind has no capacity to make judgmental evaluations, due to the unrestricted nature of free will. Likewise, the creative nature of mind leads to unique, individual realities which will unfailingly replicate themselves in physical experience---slivers and all. For this reason, the mind is not designed to simply accept and absorb the conclusions and experiences of others, such would violate free will. Memory is as fluid and creative as reality. Historians are beginning to recognize that any given account of historical events is colored by the perspectives of the day and that as such, history is not fixed. This understanding, taken to its natural conclusion beyond the limitations of space time, recognizes that the power of mind is always in the present moment and to clog it with unnecessary limits defeats the very purpose of the creative physical existence.
The mind alone cannot make judgments. It is the body, through feeling, that evaluates. The mind, thinking it can "judge" by itself, is what Jesus meant when he said to "judge not" and what the bible meant by the "fall" when Eve bit of the apple from the tree of "human knowledge of good and evil". The mind can not judge or invent evaluative knowledge that works without emotional guidance. Also, the creative nature of mind has a direct impact on our physical reality, for better or worse. Even memory shares this quality and can recreate the past to our liking, should we choose to do so, and we do. This is what is meant by the virtue of "living in the NOW".

An enlightened educational approach must rest upon the trial-and-error nature of experiential learning rather than the one-way teacher-to-student flow of information. At present, many systems waste a huge amount of time and squander the potentials of great minds by failing to recognize the natural cycle of action, evaluative feedback, and adaptive learning. Boredom, loss of passion for discovery, acceptance of meaninglessness, and angry acts of rebellion are all symptoms of systems that fight the natural propensities of purposeful self-development. Many so-called "learning disabilities" would be far less debilitating if natural experiential, interactive, trial-and-error learning were allowed to occur.
The grading system of most educational institutions rewards those who best absorb the thoughts and undisputed facts of the authority figure in the room, the
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instructor. Yet, it is those whose spirit compels them to repel this system that are punished by it. Interactive participation and an opportunity to exercise one's creative quality will always outweigh passive non-resistance in the learning process.

The emotional system will continue to reject much of what is offered under the present systems, for the spirit fights to keep the mind free for its own creative sake. Of course, this is not to say that the idea of sharing the experiences of previous generations is not valuable and necessary. For the mistakes of the past can offer a wealth of strategic information. But it is to say that each individual must pass any incoming information before the spiritual adjudicator. The spirited mind seeks to find the patterns within the stories, the meaningful transitions, and feeling experiences emphatically and intuitively shared. The only way to discover innate values is by sharing experiences in such a way that vicarious feelings alert the mind of the personal interest or aversion to any given experience. Long-term learning comes only from impressing the mind of its duty to discover and create strategies that bring long-term pleasure and avoid all but learning pain. It must first be allowed to self-direct and create in order to evaluate and correct its work.
The student who is caught between accepting the instructor's or the text book version of truth and his own instinctive understanding of same, will find that going with the latter will result in his/her being rejected from the learning institution, or at least being "downgraded" for the effort. The making of mistakes should be a built-in opportunity and considered essential to the learning process. In other words, the current "grading" system is counterproductive and leaves little room for "doubt and reflection" on behalf of the student.

With this essential information in place, enlightened educators will focus far more on how to understand and embrace the natural learning and selfregulation process. In fact, they will distinguish immediately between mental value judgments and emotional evaluations, truly willful gems and conditioned slivers, and help individuals find and resolve existing judgmental slivers they may already hold. They will instill with mantralike constancy the understanding of the experiential learning cycle of "motive, action, outcome, evaluation, and correction". They will provide active, expressive opportunities to learn why things hurt and why they feel good, and how each feeling holds meaning at each step of this ongoing cyclical process, as they evolve evermore complex understandings of
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themselves, their world, and their purposes within it.

In other words, the best instructor will teach individuals how to best use their emotional bodies to learn and expand the Spirit. In this way, mental limitations imposed by prejudicial thinking will eventually be recognized for its limitations and the "limitlessness" of human nature will be encouraged and rewarded, not just in school but in life.

Classroom hours will be spent in far more interactive cooperative, experiential processes, and far more outer excursions and hands-on activities will take place. Meaningful transitions will be embraced and celebrated as abilities and boundaries expand, but without long periods of separation between grade levels. Opportunities to contribute will abound from the earliest ages, wherein peer counseling, tutoring, and mentoring allow mutually beneficial exchanges, skill modeling and plenty of practice communicating, negotiating, and creatively expressing. Public education can provide the safety-net for any citizen who may seek escape and solace from any ongoing situation of violation.
It might be time for educational institutions to formulate their own "Mission Statement". Much as that term is maligned, it would help to give focus to the purpose of what a properly educated person can and should be. Educational perimeters can be expanded when barriers between those in the learning process are removed and those who think they have learned something can be exposed to those who need to learn and both can benefit and grow.

There will be constant focus upon the natural developmental track that each human being proceeds along. It will stand in stark contrast and constant comparison with the wrong track of survival's competitive defense. There will be encouragement and opportunities to attain the highest and broadest level of self-development and self-expression. Trust will develop through the organized, synergistic, cooperative support networks wherein humans help each other along. All forms of resistance and defense are well known as roadblocks to long-term reward and students offer one another structured support with feedback when defenses are displayed in any form.
Because today's grading system rewards those who conform and comply with the line of information and the method of delivery, those who benefit the most from this erroneous method of indoctrination will also be its greatest defenders. Those who are given the lowest scholastic marks, will generally lack the self489

confidence and support to question those who defend and support it.

Such an educational environment will provide the common understanding and acceptance of the uniqueness of each person's reality and the sharing of perspectives with the goal of broadening each person's self-concept to include perspectives, needs, and purposes of others. This inclusion can range from anything from merely respectful, nonjudgmental detachment which allows very different individuals to respect each other's willful choices from a safe distance; to compassionate tolerance for varying developmental levels which foster cooperative interactions; to creative compassion wherein action choices pull vastly different individuals together in common cooperative developmental and expressive exchanges.
The greatest educational experience can come from the honest sharing of perspectives, based on individual experiences. Once we get beyond judgment, the method of involvement will be regarded as that which is appropriate to each individual and his/her comfort zone. The only basic ingredient essential in the mix is tolerance.

The Scope of Public Education The enlightened self-understandings will suggest immediate changes in the scope and structure of public education. The educational institution can play a primary role in ensuring the just conditions of equal empowerment. Thus, its scope must expand to ensure as many avenues of unifying developmental experiences and expressive opportunities as possible. This will involve cooperative purposeful structured interactions with the economic marketplace and all other social institutions. Government can play a leadership role in terms of setting policy, structures, and initial funding, but eventually the educational systems can be run by unified networks within private enterprise.
The concept of allowing private enterprises to handle the educational responsibilities of a society is not that foreign. The best schools are often those identified as private schools and tend to stay in business because they are able to compete with public schools of like kind, even though those who sent their children to them, were required to pay for the privilege out of their own pockets. But to create a level playing field, all schools (like businesses) should be private in nature, so no schools would have the financial advantage of being "free".

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First and foremost, an enlightened educational system must embrace each and every citizen--- with equal access at any and all ages. Access to unifying and empowering information and developmental opportunity is the best form of cooperative, preventative defense against a tremendous amount of individual and social pain. At present, the prohibitive economic dividers against equal access to educational opportunity have squandered a huge percentage of creative value potential.
If every citizen, regardless of age, had an equal opportunity to acquire a quality education, whereby the expense of such would be available to public funds paid to private institutions, which could collect those funds only if they prove capable of supplying and accomplishing the educational needs of each respective student. Schools would compete for students just as car manufactures compete for customers by producing the best product for the dollar. The presumption is that the better a society is equipped, the better it functions.

Another obstacle is the institutionalized belief that development is one dimensional, automatic, and stops at some magical age of adulthood, perhaps at age 18. In fact, if adequate emotional development is not in place by such an age, then it is all the more essential to offer educational support. Each and every individual who roams the streets of any village in the world, driven by corrective pain rather than being pulled by purposeful pleasure is symptomatic of this need. The world has not only been deprived the synergy of many ingenious offerings, but has been dragged further down, defending itself against the resulting competitive criminal approaches to basic need fulfillment created by injustice and emotional isolation.
Given a choice between learning a trade or acquiring insights into the meaning of life, versus being forced to adopt creative and daring means of survival which can lead to incarceration, the former will tend to be the likely choice. Universal education can provide a door to the positive alternative. The expense of "policing" a society is better spent in educating it.

The most fundamental goal of public education is to provide orientation and practice into the workings of one's self and the workings of the world in general. With enlightened education, each individual is awakened to his or her own purposes, value potentials, rights and responsibilities, and provide opportunities to develop and freely pursue them in any manner of willful choosing. It will find incredible success in engaging the inner self491

regulating mechanisms and pulling individuals toward their value fulfillment with the positive emotional reward of connected, esteem building, meaningful, creative experiences.
Eventually, awarded degrees (such as BA, MA or PHD) could be replaced with Certificates of Knowledge in particular fields of learning. Thus, each particular accomplishment would add to the individual's self esteem and allow him/her to pursue their own area of interest, regardless of what that interest might be, so long as it contributed in some way to the betterment of society.

The most successful structures will be those designed to accomplish the maximum opportunity for need-meeting, those that offer hands-on ways to meet the six universal needs and embrace the purposeful development within each experience. These experiences will facilitate understanding of universal needs and foster the cooperative respect for the needs of all others as well as crystallize understanding of how each feeling signal offers corrective guidance.
Educational institutions which equip their subjects with the broadest possible level of understanding of themselves, society and the universe beyond, and which supply them with the skills to function in a positive manner, are playing the essential role for which they exist.

This would include the earliest possible recognition of the connection and emotional universality between humans and foster cooperation, tolerance and compassion for the choices and errors of others. It would honor the inherent value potential in each human being, respect that the creative power lies in the present moment, and create an urgency for it to manifest itself in the world. It would make the mind aware of how esteem is earned through purposeful development and expression, and not through defensive superiority of belittlement, idle indulgence, family connections, materialistic competitive consumption, or empty external praise. It would release the mind from its chains of bondage, teach it to remove any existing slivers, and set it free to create.
So much of our intellectual and emotional energy is wasted in maintaining delusions about the measures of value that have little to do with inner spiritual development. These false perceptions may offer enhancements of self-worth to some, but too often do so at the expense of others. A uniformly rising tide raises all boats equally, regardless of size or stature.
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The Structure of Public Education This expanded scope can be facilitated by added structures which network individuals and groups and remove as many isolated conditions as possible. Public education would blend both purposeful self-development and self-expression. The expressive, experiential component can be facilitated by student networks throughout all age-levels who offer guided support to one another through structured community service requirements. Such roles as school bus helper, playground negotiator, cafeteria litter patrol, nurse assistant, art assistant, peer counselor, office assistant, language helper, math helper, etc., can all be structured into the daily educational experience. A shifting schedule of assigned roles can allow students to engage in varying levels of challenge and explore areas of interest that dovetail with the real-world of marketplace resource exchange.
Erasing the barrier between trade school education and preparatory schools for higher learning by allowing students in all school systems to play out roles of responsibility in all walks of life, will not only raise their level of experience in the world beyond schooling, but will help to reduce an elitist attitude in future societal roles.

At the earliest ages, this provides immediate understanding of how the interactive resource exchange occurs and engages the emotional system in the context of cooperative interaction. This affirms immediately that when one takes, one gives back to the best of one's ability, immediately embracing the esteem of being an active, contributing part of a cooperative whole. To the youngest students, each can pass equally through a set number of diverse "jobs" wherein they all gather a wide exposure, begin to feel attractions in special directions, and recognize that equal opportunity implies equal value, no matter what dividers might otherwise exist. Such experiences can bring positive emotional rewards at even the most tedious and "lowly" of jobs. For the feeling of connection and contribution alone can embrace even the most isolated individuals when they recognize their value and the rewards of contribution.
The best method of democratizing a society is to begin at the earliest possible stage where individuals must begin to have social contact in some formal setting.
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The educational field is such a setting. What the young learn here, they will carry with them into their adult lives. Adult society will function more or less smoothly, depending on what lubricants have been worked into the early social patterns.

A wide variety of such community service jobs should be offered at each age level, with more variety and diverse levels of challenge offered as the students progress to higher grade levels. This flexibility can provide opportunities for many levels of ability, interest, learning styles, backgrounds, and individual inclinations as well as encourage the taking on of increasing levels of challenge. Such community service structures can also provide significant manpower and resources to enhance learning without equally dramatic cost increases. Higher level students' regular structured learning would include assisting in the education of lower level students in cooperative resource. This can provide big-brother/sister mentoring and unions which can fill voids within family structures as well as provide enriched learning experiences for both parties.
The point and purpose of education would then move beyond the regular teacher/student relationship to a blending of student as teacher, applying that which is learned through the process of passing it along to others at an earlier stage of the learning process. Younger students would find role models to emulate and older students would develop a sense of responsibility toward others in society who wish to better themselves. The ramifications of such practices would have long term win-win consequences, both for individuals and society as a whole.

As the educational scope broadens, so can the actual structures utilized within the educational process. Interactive networks within and between all public and private need-meeting organizations can facilitate synergistic benefits and profitability for all concerned. For example, if it were to begin at much earlier ages, public education could provide quality, structured, enriched environments in lieu of day care for working parents, with emphasis upon early emotional engagement, self unity, and cooperative trust. This could provide safeguards which could dramatically reduce the isolating effects of family dysfunction as well as provide enrichments for the most fertile developmental periods. Likewise, senior citizens could share their wisdom and find purpose instead of isolation. Transitional housing, hostels and even long-term living arrangements can be incorporated into the educational network to provide the open-armed welcome social embrace of safe escape from situations of injustice and
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violation. Similar interactions with the judicial system can provide far more successful rehabilitation than can incarceration alone.
The very process of developing educational opportunities (whether they be in the role of teacher or student) in all areas of life could result in moving the more disillusioned from a life of despair to a life of promise and achievement; on toward the establishment of family and financial stability.

Once education is extended to individuals of all ages and circumstances these community service jobs can include actual apprenticeships and positions within the public marketplace. Within a continuum of complexity, the community service jobs can simply transition into established positions structured for the purpose within and throughout the larger community under the educational umbrella. Temporary, transitional, educational positions pave the way for gainful employment into private professional relationships.Open door education could facilitate adaptation to life-changing events, offer ongoing retraining, and offer opportunities for career changes at all ages.
While these transitional experiences are already taking place in present-day society, too often there are periods of genuine financial hardship experienced in the gaps between one stage of life and another. Refining the educational process along the lines suggested in these Lessons would go a long way in minimizing those hardships and keep society in a more stable state.

Interim systems of transferable monetary vouchers wherein students seeking any form of education can participate in interactive apprenticeship programs which provide labor in exchange for hands-on experiential learning. These specific "educational" jobs, designed for specific and myriad skill levels would offer increasing levels of challenge throughout the resource marketplace. Such strategies not only can balance the needs of all, but can accomplish mutual profitable benefit. Such cooperative structures could first be supported through tax breaks to participating businesses and alignments with non-profit charitable organizations. Eventually, such guided educational opportunities could be interwoven and solely supported by private enterprise.
Private enterprise can be moved toward a position of financial sponsorship when it can see that its vested interest is benefitted. A business that needs a study supply of trained and capable employees, will see the financial merit of helping
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to develop same. If tax incentives are the means through which a corporation is so motivated, this can serve as the instigating factor. Again, this can be a win-win situation. Companies that now hire lawyers and accountants to avoid paying taxes, could waive the expense and further experience the rewards of being philanthropic while improving their public image.

For example, each business could structure 20% of its work force to interact with the educational system to an equally valuable percentage of tax benefit. Hotels and living complexes that participate in educational safety-net housing would enjoy similar tax benefits or subsidies. Eventually, the wisdom and benefits of such cooperative interaction will eliminate the requirement of monetary exchange , for they will become integral profit enhancing parts of the resource marketplace, naturally improving upon existing systems and filling social voids. The ultimate governmental role would be only to provide the structural guidance of educational policy and to ensure the maximum avenues of educational opportunity are established. Just and equal empowerment is the ultimate educational goal.
Business can be brought to this point of enlightenment by those who can begin to see that long-term profit and financial security is based upon a balanced investment in human resources, leading to realization that all potential customers are employees and vice versa. It can become apparent that a trained, educated and employed society will keep the wheels of business humming. Government can and should play the role of leading the proverbial horse to the water, while convincing it of the merits of taking a drink.

Such a structure would far more validly align with human need, purpose, diversity and biological justice. It would acknowledge and facilitate the ongoing nature of self-development, acknowledge the long-term rewards of cooperative interaction and not confuse equal empowerment with equal result. It would celebrate and encourage individual proclivities and offer multitudinous avenues of opportunity most suited to any particular destiny path. It could prevent the continuing contraction of public education and replace musical and art programs that have gone by the wayside and aggressively increase all avenues and opportunities for creative expression. Rather than try to force individuals into narrow molds, such a structure would honor and encourage the diversity of thought and expression necessary to drive purposeful evolution.
A society's individual successes need not be tied to levels of productivity in the
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area of goods and services. Some of the contributions to the general well-being can and should come in the areas of the arts, for this is also necessary for a wellbalanced civilization. Just as corporations get tax breaks for their financial contributions to public radio and television, so such could get the same financial incentives for assistance to educational institutions which sponsor special studies in art, music and theater.

The additional work force from community service and training programs can also resolve unaddressed problems at their source, ultimately replacing many existing corrective social programs through successful prevention of the emotional disunity that creates most every social ill. It can even eventually replace much of which now goes into prisons and in global competitive defense, and shall remain the cornerstone of good government---indeed the foundation of civilization.
The pouring of government money into social welfare programs may seem like a good idea on its surface, but experience has suggested that it often tends to condition people to a state of dependence which ultimately is detrimental to the spirit. Because this financial aid is so minimal, those on the receiving end often seek other means of support beyond the confines of the system, a system that then punishes their efforts to help themselves.

Such systems which attune all individuals to the way life works, the way body, mind, and spirit each offer united and unfailing guidance, and provide the maximum amount of interactive opportunities can allow all people to understand and passionately follow the bliss that will manifest the maximum progress along the destiny path.
To take the bold steps in this indicated direction does require an enhanced faith in the innately positive nature of the human family. Some evidence is beginning to emerge that the potential of these broadened solutions is there and that maintaining a balance in financial areas can compliment balanced growth in human areas, as well.

Early and Elementary Education The earliest education should provide the enrichments which can allow hungry minds to flourish and the development of complex and balanced brain structures. The earliest school years will focus upon emotional attunement and early mental development as discussed previously. These
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are the spiritual fundamentals which must underlie all methods of transferring important cultural knowledge---teaching the standard reading, writing, and arithmetic. By combining these principles with early learning opportunities which exploit the brain's plasticity, incredible learning can occur---which includes dormant multi-lingual, musical, and artistic talents, and manifests dazzling potentials and creative inclinations which would boggle the present day public mind.
Educators are well aware that the learning of a language, for example, is easier at the earliest stages of learning. Creative opportunities in music and art are also ready for tapping at this early stage. When educational systems can layer the 3 "R's" upon a program of creative expression, the long-term result is an overall stimulation of the learning experience that lasts well into adulthood.

Spiritual understandings can be presently instilled without upsetting any existing doctrines which separate church and state, if the emphasis remains upon biological self-regulation of the dual-self model (body and mind). But one major change will be understanding that experience and emotional feedback are the best teachers, and the purpose of self-development insists upon an open, liberal, and individually designed mindscape. The idea of mind control, sheltered protection, censorship, and the filling of an empty vessel with "the right ideas" is quite limiting. Instead, classrooms will offer safe and structured real world interactions that immediately orient the child to their ability to control their own destiny. No legitimate controversy need arise from practices which facilitate cooperation, connections, empathy, respect, responsibility, and self control.
Universal principles of positive human relationships, devoid of the accouterments of dogmatic belief systems, can compliment the learning process and teach individuals that they can play a major role in creating the successes in their respective lives. How they feel about what they do can serve as the appropriate guiding factor to behavior. Guilt need not be programmed so deeply that it causes emotional problems later on. In truth, it need not be a "program" at all. Mistakes can be viewed as a part of the learning process and not something resulting in eternal punishment.

Curriculums, exercises, cooperative projects, field trips, stories, presentations, "job" experiences, and routines will seek to instill basic selfregulatory information, an empowered sense of unique value potential and willful perspective; an equal, universal, sense of belonging within a
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welcoming world; awareness of life along purposeful developmental paths, and the evaluating role of feelings. Contrasts will be made continuously between the right track of purpose and the wrong track of deadly habits. Mistakes become laughable growing pains and opportunities.
The greater the level of enjoyment associated with the learning process, the less resistance to the idea of learning. This is bound to have beneficial, long-term effects on an individual's life experience. Confidence is built by doing and much learning is meant to be a process of trial and error. Without a recognition and appreciation of the latter, there can be no lasting progress.

Providing an unwavering cultural expectation of mutual acceptance for all human mistakes as inevitable to the learning process, combined with communal agreement to support each other to make corrections, can build cooperative trust, empathy, and mutual respect, as well as minimize defensive responses which might otherwise become habitual. Making a clear distinction between meanness and kindness and emphasizing the feelings produced from both strategies will minimize the competitive and isolating defensive and offensive actions. Humorously contrasting effective communicative techniques with ineffective ones, both verbal and nonverbal, that contrast feelings of giver and receiver can foster solid expressive skills and awareness of how others' perceptions might vary. Enjoying ongoing repetitive cyclic experiences where plans are carried forth to completed outcomes will instill the understanding of how keeping organized and on top of all challenges keeps the stress and pain of unfinished business at bay.
Each instructor must keep the level of kindness in the learning environment at the maximum whenever possible. Nothing is more distracting and demeaning than the cruelty of one's peer's. Meanness is not only detrimental for the recipient, but it is also a harmful habit of conduct that results in negative experiences later on in life. We have already begun to see and understand the dire consequences of indifference to the "bully" mandate in our schools.

Recognizing the role and power of fear and anger as signals of deficit states that need immediate correction, and how they lead to hurtful defenses can keep even the youngest children aligned to the purposeful path. Offering clear understandings of how self-deception, even little white lies, are actually methods of defensive escape which create painful distance instead of enhancing happy connection. Play-acting scenarios
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which demonstrate tit-for-tat morality and vividly depict how lies always bring pain in the end can help curtail the development of many common deadly habits. All such self-regulation information will foster the emergence of natural morality and allow the unfolding of the higher feeling signals of trust, confidence, compassion, pride and courage, and prevent learned shame, guilt, arrogance, or hatred.
Plays and cartoons with a moral point can benefit those in the learning process, particularly when those "points" are a subject of guided discussion. In an environment where truth is encouraged, trust is bound to follow and, with it, a whole series of positive feelings and experiences.

People are always characterized as good, yet necessarily subjected to human learning error as the price paid for free will. Violations are treated as learning mistakes. Positive inducements are used to open inner motivations, and withdrawal of pleasure is used when corrections are necessary. Intimidation, ridicule, corporal punishment, and any form of negative, pain inducing motivators are contradictory, and even destructive to an evolving sense of value and cooperative trust. They demonstrate a lack of faith that the child can exercise self-control and are contrary to purposeful self-development.
In a positive learning environment, the subject is given the necessary instruction to perform a task. He/she is then allowed to attempt that task and, if an error is made, shown the correct way and encouraged to repeat the effort until the task is mastered. The rate of learning is not held against the subject and no social stigma is attached to the time or effort needed to achieve a particular end.

It shall be readily acknowledged that grownups can make mistakes too, and neither teachers---nor parents---are ever excluded from the feedback process. Indeed, children have much to teach their elders about openness, spontaneity and discovery. The absence of blame and the presence of empathy shall allow exploration of alternative choices to any traditional approaches. Habit patterns from dysfunctional homes can be discouraged through "time-out" isolations where the child feels the loss of companionship and the benefits of cooperation, but the belief behind the behavior is discussed as well. Drawing comparisons and constant references to how each action puts one either on the right track or the painful path can quickly reorient the mind to the spiritual feedback cycle.
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Intellectual arrogance is an example that teachers and adults too often set forth. If learning is to be held up as a virtue and goal, then a willingness to learn should be something taught by example. Those who come from a less than conducive environment can be helped by those with an opportunity to spend an extra amount of time in one-on-one communication and empathy. This can be built into the teaching curriculum and made an essential part of the process.

The daily routine will be punctured with many hands-on, interactive projects and activities. There will be an emphasis on problem solving, puzzle completion, artistic creation, musical appreciation, and every form of experience through which meaningful patterns can be discovered. Recognizing patterns and rhythms within sound and light will create neural synapses which recognize and intuit patterns of meaning. Experiencing plenty of both linear and gestalt patterns will unite and strengthen the dual hemispheric functions within the brain.
The most balanced form of thinking is that which results from a complimentary relationship between those respective qualities of the left and right brain. It should be noted that there will likely be a tendency of any child to lean toward one side or the other. However, this need not be judged to be good or bad in any way, but as natural as tending to be right or left handed.

Reading and other exercises with vivid imaginative visual imagery and powerful emotional resonance can stimulate untold brain networks which would otherwise lie dormant, and open young minds to many of their highest capabilities. Physical movement, vocalizing, and the broadest variety of new and diverse activity experiences can all maximize physical, as well as mental, and spiritual health. Curriculums will include regular, fun, and actively shared dreams and detailed images of what children want to become in the future, how they want to live. Dramatic role playing or otherwise depicting or sharing the most exotic of fantasy potentials are "games" with very powerful and very real positive effects upon the developing mindscape, and the realities created.
Any activity which helps an individual exercise his/her creative potential, particularly that which puts into play the imaginative capabilities, is essential to reorienting and putting into practice the act of forming one's reality. While being introduced as imaginative play, it can be taught as a natural tool in a reality which is a product of one's inner world.

There will be regular and diverse treks into nature to explore and discover
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meaningful patterns and dispel fearsome myths. Resonating with nature and feeling a sense of belonging can rapidly facilitate respect for and attunement to the inner abilities and guidance. Pattern recognition is the most awe-inspiring within nature, wherein the mathematical precision of natural processes and cycles inspires the highest faith in the integrity and intelligence within creation, which transcends to the self as part of that creation. Children need never fear, but to respect the power of nature. They can find both safety and power in discovering the night sky, witnessing the foraging of nocturnal creatures, planting seeds in the dirt, being drenched by rain, and whipped by wind. Such exposure develops a healthy sense of unwavering faith, connectedness, and respect for the goodness and power of nature.
A respect and appreciation of the universal laws reflected in nature can only serve to ingrain a willingness to protect one's environment to the fullest degree. Once nature becomes less feared and more respected, the urge to exploit it will diminish and nature, itself, will adopt a greater role of protector instead of destroyer. Playing in the rain is even healthier for children than swimming in a chlorinated pool and certainly more spiritual.

As self-development unfolds in the context of freedom, power, and connection, the self concept of each child naturally expands to enfold an ever broadening range of "'others". Empathy and compassion deepens as the pains and pleasures of others are vicariously experienced. Competitive games of win-lose superiority will lose their allure, as the truly cooperative nature of playing by the rules and taking turns is recognized. Acceptable forms of competition will be those that pit any child against only himself as additional motivation to continuously better his skills and abilities. Winwin solutions are encouraged within all interactions, and activities structured to demonstrate that when someone a child cares for has any success, that success feels good to both. This vicarious pleasure indicates a healthy connection while the pain of jealousy or guilt is recognized as an indicator that further self-development is necessary.
To refute an often quoted sports icon, "Winning is not only not everything, it is not even the only thing." A game of golf played with one's self as the only opponent is far healthier than a game of professional football where the ultimate prize is little more than financial security or a loss thereof. Sports develop character only when they bring out the best in children, that being a willingness and understanding that all benefit from individual success.
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Early education can instill freedom and empowerment to create within the context of trust and cooperative connection in ways that can release humanity from its chains of survival-level competition. It can rapidly usher a far more civilized, cooperative state of existence.
For a system to change from what it generally reflects today to what it can reflect tomorrow, requires a paradigm shift in the general thinking of the adult world. Unfortunately, since the adult population is generally less open to nontraditional perspectives, it sometimes takes a major upheaval to stimulate that "shift".

Intermediate and High School As each grade level is completed, higher levels of both freedom and responsibility are to be the rewards of such rites of passage. At these older ages, children are ready to absorb more abstract and symbolic concepts, although the experiential and interactive strategies shall continue. The emphasis becomes providing a myriad of structured opportunities for students to independently manage, and learn from their experience---to try their wings and get support, corrective advice, and encouragement when they make learning mistakes or "fail". Cooperative empowerment is enhanced by more challenging and diverse opportunities to create, express, build esteem and be able to find meaning in each experience to further hone the budding mindscape.
Because peer pressure can be such a positive or negative force in the learning process and because it is often reflected in the outward appearances and manners of the young, great emphasis should be put on allowing the learning activity to take place as publicly or privately as circumstances can dictate, while keeping the supervision and encouragement of the learning process intact.

The most enlightened structures will allow for a blend of short-term and long-term goals which will allow the student to advance at any pace possible. Such advancement comes with the completion of structured challenges and within the broad array of experiential opportunities to test one's wings. There shall be no limits externally placed upon the desires and efforts when accountability and success is demonstrated, nor should there be judgmental sanctions placed upon paths which might meander or need additional time to recover from previous limits or deficits.
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So much emphasis is placed on keeping the learning pace as uniform as possible, that the heard instinct becomes predominant in the minds of the students and the educators as well. Instead of emphasizing the achievements, it is the failings in particular areas that end up getting most of the time and attention. It should be recognized that the learning process is as diverse as the individuals indulging in it.

Curriculums in traditional middle and high schools can build upon the earlier base with the finer and evermore complex points of the divine spiritual feedback system as well as share all forms of cultural knowledge and experience. All delivery of cultural knowledge can then be accomplished without the normal pitfalls of force-feeding facts, figures, and prepackaged judgments which are quickly forgotten, but rather emphasizing the dynamic patterns of human adaptation and creative change. All "information" should be acknowledged and treated as conditional, to be offered as potentials which might be useful upon the purposeful path at some point. Instilling the necessity of the complete openness of mind, how value is relative to the universal needs, and individual value potentials will be far more effective. Tolerance for the choices of others will lead to a natural state of open friendly banter, feedback, mutual respect, and agreement to disagree while remaining truly open to all potentially rewarding information and strategies.
The history of human progress is the history of creative response to the challenges of the time. Such successes (or failures) serve to point future generations in a constructive direction. Specifics are less important than patterns of behavior and sensing the experience of the times in a memorable manner which holds meaning in the mind of the student for an extended period of time. Just as perspectives vary, so do creative solutions. The sharing of perspectives in an atmosphere of open-mindedness is the key to a full and complete educational experience.

Job opportunities, direct and vicarious learning experiences, and general curriculums could revolve around the purposes of body and mind, the conflicts between them, the innate defenses and distorted mindscapes, and the deadly habits they create. Dramatic play-acting of undesirable as well as purposeful experiences can instill the preventative gut-level understandings of how short term pleasure can bring long-term pain, and develop life-giving habits which will endure short term pain to gain long504

term purposeful pleasure.

Here is where the arts and theater are essential to a completed education, as they serve as an opportunity for those in the learning process to identify with the problems of their own time and how the solutions they elect to apply to them can continue to reverberate throughout their lives. Such plays can be written, directed and performed by any and all who wish to participate. Then, they can be evaluated for their learning content.

The mind's evolving ability to recognize and intuit meaningful patterns will become ever more adept as deeper patterns within nature and within the mathematical and logical harmonies rise within the conscious awareness. Mindscapes freed from time consuming slivers, create realities and further developmental experiences which can instead expand upon themselves in astounding ways.
True creativity, when pointed in the direction of enhancing the quality of life in a harmonious environment, can produce results which can be expansive in nature.

At these stages, the complex emotional signals are deciphered and each feeling tone is seen in the context of self-development and self-expression as well as the complex emotional patterns of others. Clarifying the two good and bad life tracks can expand to include the stages of human evolution and how living within purpose naturally brings one from the survival level, to the being state on to the transcendent destiny potential. The specific pitfalls (cognitive distortions, deception, resistance, and revenge) of the wrong track of defensive responses become more complex, as students begin to grasp the higher level of the directive to "judge-not". Exercises which give plenty of experience with uniqueness of other's reality, and how honest intimacy builds and deception breaks down trust and communication can prevent a myriad of painful learning experiences in the real world. Developing specific expressive communication skills, win-win persuasion and conflict negotiation can foster success in all realworld interactions.
It is so much more effective to build these learning concepts into the process at the earliest stages, than to try to alter behavioral thinking patterns that are set in place, although this, too, can be successful, if and when the older generation begins to understand the value of creating a more enlightened environment.

This is also an appropriate age to discuss relationships and family life, love
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and its pitfalls, and the lifelong developmental path. Sharing and discussing biographical life experiences of historical and current public figures (both successful and the infamous), can offer emphatic resonance to the tenacity needed for overcoming challenges, and the clarity needed in avoiding treacherous choices. Blame-free sharing and contrasting of parents' individual and generational challenges with levels of potential value fulfillment can both foster respect, forgiveness, and ways to hold fast to and accomplish the highest of dreams.
The family environment, for better or worse, is and can be a positive part of the learning experience. For such to be the case, it must be viewed from a detached perspective in an environment where judgment is replaced by discernment. All experiences have educational value in showing the merits or adverse consequences of an established pattern of living. While thought patterns are often passed on from one generation to the next, there are always opportunities to keep the best ideas and leave the rest to the dung heap of history.

Reinforcing the equal value of each unique spirit in each structure and interaction will ensure that all students are embraced within the community of humanity through an enlightened public mind. With such a mass consciousness, the kinds of isolating and violent outcomes of fear and anger which exist now as scourges upon humanity will become virtually extinct.
We know from recent history what the consequences can be when some reflect their sense of isolation through violent means. The simple removing of the weapons of such violent expression can not resolve the problems nor remove the causes of negative activity. A shift in attitude and policy must begin to be explored by both educators and parents, alike. This should begin as soon as possible.

Continuing Education The most valuable structural change in public educational systems would be to ensure that each and every citizen has the opportunity to continue on to the maximum level of education desired, free of economic obstacles. When the government prioritizes its structures around the human needs and ceases squandering its resources on conflicting strategies and competitive defense, its first and foremost priority will become ensuring all citizens---of all ages---organizing educational opportunities.
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When the networks are in place with private enterprises, the transitional community services, projects, apprenticeships, and internships are established under this umbrella, the costs will be far less than might be suspected. This will not only allow any student to progress through to the PhD level, but it will also allow returning students of all ages and situations.
Most educators and economists would agree that the greatest boon to the American economy following World War II was the GI bill which enabled returning veterans to acquire a free college education. This educated class then went into the work force and benefitted the entire society. Had the program continued for veterans and non-veterans alike, illiteracy could have been nearly eliminated in the country. Just the curtailing of some defense programs (such as "star wars" for example) could initiate such a policy and could easily be paid for with a modest tax on the recipients over a later period of wage learning.

With enlightened understanding of the biological self-regulation system, the academic community can overcome the need of separation between church and state by acknowledging the emotional process as a feature of the third self-component of spirit. At the college level, the body-mind dual model of self can be fleshed out to contain the highest levels of meaning and implications which might formerly have been relegated only to religious discussion and found objectionable in the lower levels of public education. The separation being made between spirituality as attunement to the natural inner guidance, and religion being any specific set of beliefs in a supernatural higher power outside of the self, will more than adequately draw the necessary line between church and state. It would also acknowledge within the theory of evolution that consciousness indeed underlies all matter rather than being a product of it. This would liberate frustrated research scholars who are now forced down wrong-minded tracks of inquiry which only allow the public confusion and social pain to build.
The initial step of transcending the church-state block in the field of education is one that would be essential to any program of higher learning and universal education. Organized religion must face this issue by giving proper credence to the spiritual qualities innate in the human framework and accept it is the variance in perspective which leads to compartmentalizing of spirit and which results in different religions, and nothing more. Then the true nature of spirit and its relationship to consciousness can cease to compete with the scientific
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perspective.

The acknowledgment of conscious intention within natural selection will open many new areas of study wherein the inner self-regulatory system leads to the unfolding of the transcendental inner sensitivities and abilities that now lie dormant. There can then be experimentations with the boundaries and focus of consciousness that will unite and resolve many existing conundrums such as mechanical versus quantum physics. When the secrets of the mobility and connectedness of all consciousness begin to unfold, there can be tremendous breakthroughs in the approaches to space and time travel that cannot otherwise take place with physical technology alone. The universe cannot be understood until such inner pathways are utilized. As emotion becomes understood as the basic physical manifestation of spirit in pleasure and pain, it will allow the mind to open its intuitive pathways to more direct energy/information which resonates with the unmistakable validation of universal joy.
The current "limitedness" of thought in the area of physical/mental connection and it's relationship to emotion and spirit continues to result in a mechanical view of the universe we occupy, not just from the depth beyond the stars edge, but back to the sub-atomic level of our own physical bodies. Our very state of health is distorted by the ignorance of the potential power of mind. Our chemical/surgical attitude toward the practice of medicine, for example, has left us nearly financially drained and chronically ill. With physical and mental health so limited, so also is our potential for growth.

In such a structure, scientific academicians at the college level would take the reigns of the ongoing development of the public mind. Their activities and findings will not be limited to dusty unintelligible journals, but will be shared through many avenues of communication as the private media become aware that good news can help reduce the horrors of shocking violence of present headlines and televised stories. These networks will provide continuous updated self-developmental information to the public and directly to policy makers which would weigh much more heavily than the desire of special interests.
Shared knowledge is contagious, especially if it is of a positive nature. Further, a society not constantly bombarded by the negative, can get beyond the normal mentality of perpetual fear and anxiety and begin to function at a more creative level and in a ubiquitous fashion.
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The structural opportunities for learning specific technical skills and job training will ensure that justice is attained wherein each citizen is rightfully enabled to join in the resource exchange marketplace in any way that the spirit directs. Unique lifestyles, work schedules, and need-meeting approaches are not only tolerated, but actively encouraged throughout the entire structure. The most creative and visionary contributions will be actively facilitated and valued within such a system so that entities such as Albert Einstein need not squander precious life hours in boring classrooms or menial jobs in order to simply meet survival needs. Special think-tanks, artist communities, and other such structures will be encouraged to allow the most fertile and synergistic ground for fine minds to flourish. Likewise, special recovery communities shall serve those needing the most assistance. All structures will promote maximum value fulfillment and the most direct and personally rewarding destiny path for all citizens.
The concept of leisure can be redefined and expanded to the realization that such can produce many positive results when directed at problem-solving and producing works of art and literature which benefits society as a whole. It took the depths of an economic depression to produce an atmosphere where artists and musicians could enjoy financial security while they contributed to society. Today, that state is much more precarious and our society, as a whole, suffers as a result. It is time for us to reevaluate our priorities.

The educational system will be the crowning glory and the hope for humanity as the facilitator of cooperative defense and mindful development. We can now turn the discussion to the implications that enlightened self-understanding bring to concepts of mental and physical health.
Would that these concepts of "Enlightenment" reach the mainstream of our communication system. The challenge comes in removing the prevailing "bushel basket" which now covers them. Would that this "light" serves that purpose.

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Section Eta Lesson One: Implications For Mental Health The Concept of Health Throughout history, humans have struggled within mental prisons of their own making. The legacy of judgment, misunderstanding, and distortion befalls incoming humans immediately, crippling them through the well intended but unenlightened actions of parents. At present the human experience is but a pale comparison to that which is intended, and to many an utterly hopeless and hellish karmic sentence. Until understanding of the human self-guidance system is firmly embraced within mass consciousness, the very concept of health will be distorted by the judgmental interference with the natural developmental system.
If the above paragraph isn't enough to give motivation for expansion of our consciousness, it's hard to imagine what would be. If we look back over our lives and recount the number of times we have experienced illness and mental discomfort, is it any wonder life has so often been labeled a "vale of tears". Yet, nature seems to offer so much balance to the other forms of life on this planet, it has to be presumed that mankind should be entitled to a greater level of happiness then he/she presently enjoys.

Health is a reflection of how much energy spirit can bring through to its physical body-mind. The vibrant high energy, happiness, and creative enpowerment of an unimpeded spirit is a state of holistic vitality nearly unrecognizable to a species who believes firmly that health is simply the absence of disease. Indeed, health is ease of spirit flowing through an ingenious mindscape designed to its evaluative specifications. Health is an easy mobility of consciousness that accesses many alternate focuses and sources of intuitive information. Health is the experience of few and irregular painful feelings, for the mindscape and the cultural landscape are intended to be designed to minimize and eliminate these deficit states. It is folly to simply allow them to exist and assume that suffering is part of the natural experience. Such an idea is like a cancer, and indeed can bring about such maladies.
Once the perspective is switched from an attitude that health is simply an absence of disease to an assumption that when unimpeded, health is a consequence and result of spirit being reflected as it is naturally meant to be,
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then even the medical profession is compelled to move toward removing the psychological pitfalls and recognizing the merits of the wholistic approach to physical and mental well-being.

All pains are symptomatic of dysfunction within natural systems that seek immediate correction. When these symptoms are examined within the lens of self-understanding, many truths about health will become apparent. First, we will address the concept of mental health, for emotional selfunderstanding will forever alter the present concepts of "sanity", "normalcy", and "evil". Mental health, as suspected, does indeed reflect the state of mind, for it is the mind that holds the slivers that prevent the growth that is necessary for a vital and complete existence. Until the boundaries of body, mind, and spirit are clearly recognized, mental health will remain entangled with judgmental beliefs, confused with emotional dysfunction, and shrouded in mystery.
The Freudian school of thought gave strong credence to the presumption that mental illness lay in the dark crevices of the subconscious and was traceable to some unpleasant experience in early life. This was only a partial truth which was formulated without factoring in the spirit nature of human beings. Had the latter nature been taken into account, the solution would have evolved with an altogether broader understanding of the problem as well as a corrective solution to the experience of mental illness.

Biological Flexibility And Destiny Challenge Both mental and physical health are essentially rooted within the working and safeguard mechanisms of the body. As we will see, good mental health springs naturally from the unimpeded cognitive, emotional, and intellectual development that unfolds through experiential trial and error learning. But all humans are bound to the uniquely specific genetic package inherent within the cloak that they have donned for each specific lifetime. Indeed, spiritual entities choose specific physical features, sensitivities, and challenges when designing the chemical cloak to ensure the maximum possible success in overcoming both the general and specific destiny challenges. The evolving mental personality then works within that specific range of biological predestiny to maximize and express the innate value potential.
Again, in reviewing the learning experiences we have had, it should be apparent
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that those things we have said and done and those actions we have taken or avoided are all the consequence of the learning process and have resulted in pleasure and pain both mentally and emotionally. Sometimes that pain has even been physical which turned out to be necessary to focus our minds and realign our priorities. Yet, we did prepare ourselves and our bodies to meet those challenges we wished to deal with, choosing the make-up of our constitution as we would decide what kind of an automobile we would purchase and make the best use of in our journey down the road of life.

The range of biological predestiny is linked to the specific areas of focus of the spirit/entity. The entity desires that its multiple aspects enjoy the broadest and most well-rounded experiences in order to continue the expanding expression of consciousness. As we now know, the body is designed to pull and push the mindbound individuals in purposeful directions which fulfill these larger destiny challenges. These inner movers and shakers come in the form of human needs which when met in an ongoing manner, accomplish the destiny challenges of the earth experience. The needs guide the developing mindscape to create evermore successful beliefs and strategies. As the mind responds to the direction of its spiritual feeling signals, the mindscape becomes more and more attuned to the intuitive knowledge of other aspects of its spirit to further assist in a creative, purposeful life of self-development and expression. When body, mind and spirit are united in thought and action, health is a given and the experience would be nearly unrecognizable to modern humans.
The secret to optimum health seems to be in the understanding of the values of uniting mind and spirit through the guidance of our feelings. Once this is mastered and the old paradigm is discarded, the natural result is a healthier physical and mental state than we can yet imagine. However, once such a state can be imagined, such an achievement can not be far behind.

At present, the necessary potential range of biological diversity has been overlooked, and "normal" has been assigned to those falling in the midrange of any given trait or propensity. Those individuals who possess uniqueness at both ends of any trait spectrum have uniquely specific experiences and offer many hints into the human potential. There are varieties of intellectual ability, perceptual focus, sensory sensitivity, openness to interaction, and flexibility of consciousness---all of which allow specific avenues of experience potentially benefitting the whole of the entity.
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We have more to learn from the example of our fellow human beings than we could ever possibly learn from textbook theory. While we may dice the brains of our geniuses, hopefully after they have died a natural death, we can hardly find in such physical matter the reason behind their respective virtues or vices. Such are the result of mental attitudes which spring from spiritual guidance.

But for the most part, a great deal of what is considered abnormal, or disordered in terms of mental health relates to the developmental experiences in a world that is misunderstanding and thwarts the unfolding of the self-directing self-consciousness. Most syndromes and disorders are the direct result of misdirected emotional signals, the hardwired bodily defensive responses, the long-term mental judgments, and the patterned habits that follow. In short, a great deal of "disordered" mental health is an unnatural, man-made cultural phenomena, the inevitable perverted outcome of abusing the divine self-system.
A society that has failed to make the connection between the mental and the spiritual or that has placed more emphasis on fear and guilt than is rightly justified, has contributed much to mental disorders while failing to offer a sensible way out of perceived malfunctions.

Natural Self-Development We have discussed human development in the context of the unfolding universal human needs, But now we can elaborate upon how needs, feelings, spiritual challenges, and mindscapes are intended to naturally unfold in a healthy unimpeded fashion. In essence, as the needs of the body push the individual toward necessary experiences, and the mind observes and self-corrects via the spiritual evaluative signals, there is a wholistic balance between body, mind and spirit that allows for the maximum purposeful experience and vibrant health.
The nature of a human being is such that there is a constant coordinated effort on the part of body, mind and spirit to achieve the greatest amount of progress over the longest possible period of time. Sometimes this process is painful, but it need not be, provided that the mind is willing to seek and recognize the guidance from spirit. If this process is successful, there is hardly any limit to how much the entity can experience while in the physical state.

The universal needs correspond with specific spiritual challenges that are
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part of the physical experience. These spiritual challenges have been discussed in such contexts as karmic cycles and archetypal patterns within the collective unconsciousness. They are simply part and parcel of all human experience which assist in discovery and fulfillment of purpose. Conquering each of these spiritual challenges leaves behind the gems, the archetypal understandings which facilitate a healthy mindscape. The inner need to conquer them helps humanity discover the all-powerful nature of the creative mind, and appreciate the crucial importance of conscious development of the mindscape and the diligent efforts to keep it free from mental limitations. Conscious understanding is the only prevention against falling victim to the illusions of the physical system.
The progress that human beings can make toward the necessary understanding that frees us from the established limitations of our creative ability, are driven by spirit and its universal knowledge of what we were engineered to achieve. The distance between where we are and where we can evolve to is only as great as we elect to make it. The difficulty in spanning this imagined distance is only as great as we choose to make it. We have been taught by our religious institutions that we can not close this gap without their assistance but, in truth, these same institutions have proven to be more of a liability than an asset in such an endeavor.

As needs are met and these challenges are conquered, the human becomes "mature", and the desirable state of functioning can begin. The natural process of surmounting spiritual challenge, builds one upon the other to complete the functioning human being. The self-development allows for the innate value to come forward in the physical realm and then selfexpression can be ensured in as many realms as "time" allows. In short, life begins when these challenges have been surmounted.
Nothing builds character and develops a mature state of mind like the achievement of a goal. Each such "goal" accomplished is like another brick in the construction of the human dwelling. To view each level of completion is the equivalent of witnessing one's own personal growth and the satisfaction as well as the confidence that naturally follows.

As part of the physical growth process, one challenge will unfold after another in a predictable developmental pattern over the first two decades of life. The challenges can be likened to images on a vertical totem pole, wherein one climbs to new heights, each step based upon the one below. As the individual matures with age, the challenges unfold like the changes
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of the seasons. If each challenge is not fully overcome and the archetype readily available to the mindscape, there will be continued struggles until they are surmounted completely.
It is not unusual for the "climber" to discover that unless the "challenge" is completely conquered, it will fail to support one in the next step of advancement. Sometimes, it will be necessary to go back and repair/replace those steps that only appeared to be stable enough to support the climber to the next level and to get rid of those "steps" which ate away at the presumed accomplishments and threatened to bring the whole "totem pole" of life crashing down.

The less completion attained at each level of challenge, the more challenge the individual must then continuously juggle as the struggles of life become compounded. One who reaches any level of challenge in any degree will be pulled downward on the challenge totem pole on most occasions until the foundations are in place. Then they will snap back to the highest level of challenge. Challenge levels can vacillate from moment to moment. When the mindscape aligns empowering beliefs in any given moment, even if it might have conflicting or limiting beliefs held in memory, the challenge level can bounce quite high, only to plunge when the conflicts consciously align in a subsequent event. A healthy mindscape, of course, is free of such conflict.
What is encouraged in this process is a level of consistency. When this is not present, there are a great many steps forward followed by equal steps backward. But even with this rough road to progress, there is still a general state of progression. The educational process continues to motivate those who seek to evolve along the path. When the process is better understood and integrated into the life style of more entities, then the collective consciousness will become a part of a flow toward the universal end desired.

At present, average humans exist in various vacillations between one unmet need or another, and have surmounted some, but not all challenges or have mindscapes with so many conflicting beliefs that challenges often repeat themselves to no avail. Such individuals experience suffering, confusion, identity issues, and mood swings---but they are considered normal by most standards. Others are affected much more with long-term disruptions of the emotional system held fast by habits of thought and action that bring about corresponding chemical imbalances, and compromised mental health.

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It has become commonplace to accept as normal a perpetual state of anxiety which is compensated for by seeking outlets in the consumption of legal drugs and aggressive behavior experienced vicariously. Avid devotion to violent sports played by professionals or amateurs devoted to particular games is considered a prime form of entertainment and absolutely necessary for the proper function of society, even though such violence appears to bleed through into instances of uncontrolled violence from time to time. This is what is tolerated as a level of normality.

We can now discuss this spiritual developmental process, noting where specific challenges create specific constellations of mental/emotional syndromes. With each challenge, the mind must learn and become consciously adapted through right responses which overcome the challenge and refine the mindscape. With each challenge a new self-insight is added which together comprise the full levels of functional selfunderstanding. Either the mind adapts purposefully, or it adapts in ways that serve only to defend and preserve its limited boundaries, creating two distinct types of experience. We can then contrast two tracks of existence: the natural purposeful path versus the chaotic and painful path, to pull together the cognitive, emotional, moral, and emotional developmental components of the spiritual self-regulation process. Only within this perspective can the present day suffering be seen for what it is---a perversion of the natural process.
It becomes nearly impossible to discover the irrationality of some behavior when one is running parallel to the activity and the society around one is caught up in the merits of the process. Greed and need are so intertwined that to threaten one is to threaten both. Thus is the collective unconscious kept on track.

Challenge I: The Mother Versus The Victim The very first challenge that befalls an incoming infant is to experience that he or she is connected to a functional whole. The development of trust corresponds to an emotional understanding of what it means to be a mother. The mother archetype is the manifestation of what the mindscape contains after this first challenge is surmounted. The mother constitutes what has been called the yin force of the ability to receive energy and information through the empathic and intuitive pathways of insight. The mother embodies the concept of an unconditionally loving and giving
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universe that embraces each of its points of conscious light. The mother embodies the connection of the individual to the world. The mother listens and emphatically receives messages of the spirit and of all spirits. The mother concept encompasses both Mother Earth and the Goddess energies of mythology.
The "Mother" establishes a link with the physical world that leads to a trust in its friendly nature and starts the entity on the road to acting in a creative fashion. This is then reversed by the belief that other entities and their institutions are necessary to erase that "trust" and rely on an outside force to control further conduct of the entity.

During this most early challenge, the brain development is insufficient to hold many conceptual thoughts, and the senses alone provide the information. Actual conceptual thought is confined to memories of action patterns of approach and avoid. Voluntary movement is possible at this stage, but conscious strategic future intention is not yet present and most actions are purely bodily responses. The neural development ensures that the sensory systems will be the driving force, before the mind has an opportunity to absorb habitual judgments. A sense of permanence is not yet formed until the second year of life to ensure that the foundational patterns of moving to the inner needs are firmly ingrained.
Up to the age of at least two, the entity is in justified need of a full emotional dependency for the brain to develop along natural lines. A complete sense of security and reliance on the mother figure is essential to normal psychological development. For this reason alone, a child should be kept in a most "motherly" environment. Day care is, at best, a poor substitute.

The mother also constitutes that first sense of freedom to move within a safe and secure environment. As the parents nurture and assist the child in all of its need-meeting activities, the child is pulled up upon its own independent feet and the mind forever embraces what it means to be a mother. The child is firmly rooted in its body in its world, comfortable in the goodness of both. In an enlightened environment the child, either a boy or a girl, will conquer the mother challenge during the first year of life and shall carry this conceptual archetype within the mindscape and be able to function in the role of the mother if parenting should be a choice. With the mother, come the feelings of trust, faith and love which offer lifetime empowerment to be open and to receive life's feedback and courage to
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overcome challenges.
For the above reasons alone, these have to be considered the most critical years of a child's development. Though so called psychological experts may cut that time period in half for the sake of smooth productivity in the workplace, it will not serve society well to have anything less than fully developed children bring a state of balance with them into adulthood.

On the other hand, the child might continue to struggle with the mother challenge, perhaps for the entire lifetime. The quality of the early foster environment makes a crucial difference upon the first success or failure at this challenge. If the mother challenge is not surmounted, this sets in motion the less purposeful chaotic path of compromised emotional, intellectual, mental, and spiritual development (in terms of expansion of the entity.) The child instead develops the victim archetype in the mindscape. The victim archetype can last a lifetime unless consciously altered through conscious self-development. The victim fears for its safety, mistrusts the world, experiences a lack of mobility, becomes overly dependent, feels as if others "owe me", and uses the strategy of denial and blame instead of action. The victim becomes avoidant and does not receive the incoming energy necessary for fully functioning and unity. Since it is the receptive energy, the victim fails to do anything to change the situation, simply taking on more and more pain.
Once again, the "foster care" environment versus a more natural "mother care" one, is bound to have consequences for an entity, which can last well into adulthood. Nature offers its own lessons in child rearing and teaches most effectively by example. But because many so-called human experts consider nature as an inferior life form, the appreciation of natural law goes unnoticed.

The victim will also display a constellation of what have been termed anxiety disorders, for fear will become a lingering corrective signal. When the individual does not feel safe in one's own body or in the world, the stage is set for panic disorders, generalized anxiety, phobias, and somatic, bodily disorders such as hypochondria. This is a bigger potential pitfall for those who are particularly genetically sensitive to stimulus or having a low pain threshold. Organic propensities and events can also lead to autism, wherein a curtain is drawn between the individual and the rest of the world and certain sensory information is simply not received.
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Devoted "motherhood" is not necessarily a guarantee for the development of a perfect human being, but it can go a long way to modifying what might be the potential problems that can be present for other reasons. Although there probably have never been objective studies done between childhood psychological problems and the parental care environment, it would behoove society to take a much closer look at the relationship and the benefits that can result when natural patterns of nurturing are kept at the fore.

Challenge II: The Father Versus The Martyr The second challenge that falls naturally during the second year of life, is that of embracing the father concept. The father is the archetype that embodies the yang energy, the aggressive, rational, and active properties of the human self. The father energy is embodied in autonomy, initiative and empowerment to actively control one's own destiny. The father challenge furthers the sense of individual safety, connection, and freedom, and adds to it the power to make things happen in the world. It adds a grounding in the mind like the mother challenge grounded the body, as the mind chooses joy as its guide. The father is the developmental challenge, that hooks the consciousness into the divine system of self regulation. Both yin and yang can then interact in a balanced exchange and provide the solid foundation for unified, purposeful living.
In order for this opportunity to be present, a certain amount of leisure has to be enjoyed by both parents. To allow the necessary amount of time available for parents to carry out this role, (particularly the father, on whom society tends to place the greater provider role) society must come to understand the true value of the suggestions outlined above.

The developing brain at this point can hold crude representations but not long-term or complex strategies. The "mind" is not yet fully functional, but with each successful environmental interaction, it grows ever more able. Throughout this process, the child's basic sensory perceptions take on more and more intuitive abilities, and a wholeness of being begins to take form.
This suggests that the more time spent in "interaction" between parent and child, the mental and even psychic growth process of the child is enhanced. This results not only in enhanced mental capabilities later in life, but in the confidence in the self-awareness of the "wholeness" of one's being. Would that parents who compete against other parents to get their children into the best
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early schooling, see the true value of serving as their child's primary teacher and guide in the earliest and most formative years. In other words, putting the parent-child relationship first from the very beginning.

The father challenge builds upon the "all is one" receptive connection of the mother archetype to add "honoring others" in active thought and action. This provides the foundation for the aspects of parenting as well as the ability to take care of one's self in the cooperative context of loving others. The social strategies become cooperative interactions and the morality is to reduce pain in all. Feelings of confidence, hope, and honor accompany this passage. The father challenge is naturally surmounted within the second to fourth years of life.
Nothing teaches proper parenting to succeeding generations like example, especially as learned by the child in the early stages of his/her development. As closely as a mother's total presence might be to the child's development in the first year, so of equal importance is the relationship with the father from the second through the fourth years.

If not, the individual will struggle with "father" issues in addition to the mother challenges. They will revolve around freedom, power, and creating abundance and well being. There will be a tendency to take on pain on a long-term basis, and eventually to take on the pain of others in the martyr archetype. The fear takes on shades of shame and doubt as both active/receptive roles are questioned and bring a lingering fear of losing control. The martyr subjugates his or her own needs for the sake of others in a misguided attempt to please or actively provide. Many currently fashionable beliefs about self-deprecation and religious selflessness create this dysfunctional pattern. While the victim will blame himself or his oppressors, the martyr will blame opponents. There can be wildly creative strategies of self-deception that uphold and justify the martyr archetype. The main social strategy will become competition, and the moral development will be arrested at the level of avoiding punishment.
The mere spending of time in the father's loving care and company can result in the benefits listed above. This would apply to both boys or girls, as the consequences would be complimentary to the adult life of either. In a society that has come to place a great value on productivity, even at the expense of family life, there is bound to be serious consequences for each maturing generation, if "maturing" would necessarily be the appropriate word.
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Although the father challenge can be surmounted at any time during life, characteristic patterns occur when it remains unmet. The mental conditions that spring from the unanswered father challenge can result in impulse control disorders, obsessive compulsive tendencies, sexual disorders and dependency upon psychoactive substances. Impulse disorders spring from unmet needs as the martyr continues to neglect the self. Patterns of compulsion to engage in any behaviors that meet needs temporarily or provide escape from the pain of the moment can result in chemical addictions, gambling, workaholism, pyromania, fetishes, and other sexual perversions.
How many of the social disorders of our society can be traced to the absence of the father figure? Social policies that discouraged the presence of the father in the home seem to be taking their toll in present-day society. All this was the result of a decline in the general value placed on the importance of the nuclear family, which previous generations had valued most highly.

More severe conditions result from combinations of unmet mother and father challenges, which can base further developmental disorders. Individuals with a special gift of intuitively attuning to alternate selfaspects can later create multiple "mindscapes" wherein particular memories and responsibilities fall to different alternate personalities. Attunement to such intuitive senses at this age is one predictor, but this condition is generally facilitated by an abusive environment, and can usually be avoided entirely.
Multiple personalities in adults have already been observed to be associated with an abusive childhood. For this reason alone, the emphasis on providing a whole and loving environment should be given primary consideration. Should other emotional disorders be traced to similar malfunctioning family situations, it is possible that the importance of such may once again come into vogue.

Challenge III: The Contributor Versus The Servant The contributor challenge has been referred to as the whole child or even the warrior archetype, for it builds upon the yin/yang spiritual energy by adding a separate sense of self. The contributor challenge culminates in a unique conscious focal point identity that of "self". It is the culmination of the emerging "mind". The contributor attains a finalized sense of autonomy, but within the context of a connected interdependent world.
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When placed in the most advantageous environment, the child becomes a "contributor" to its own autonomy. There is a natural growth process that results in a creative stimulation, which is most motivated toward a maximum potential as result of being exposed to an optimum setting.

The contributor challenge meets the need of self-esteem within the context of freedom, power, and connection. Honoring one another translates to honoring self as an equal contributing part of the whole. The contributor challenge establishes a sense of equality and cooperative equal exchange, a personal sense of empowerment, value, and contribution to the whole. Feelings of pride, self-confidence, self-worth and excitement come from surmounting the contributor challenge. The contributor experiences a sense of personal reward for contributing their unique offerings. An early sense of creativity and meaning begin to form as strategies are personally chosen. The morality level takes on a sense of personal moral duty to contribute positively to self and society; and is no longer to simply avoid negativity but to actively contribute positively.
Just as a flower grows to full bloom when placed in good soil and provided with sufficient moisture and sunshine, so a human being is likely to live a fully balanced life when provided with sufficient nurturing and love. Like the necessary corner of a triangle, each child feels compelled to play a complimentary role of gratitude toward the creators of his/her environment.

The contributor challenge builds upon the others and can be completed by age six or during adolescence. During these years the brain is growing in leaps and bounds as the mind comes into its own. Its processing abilities and logical thought begin to engage in order to put objects in the world into order in the new mental repository. This is the most fertile time period for interventions which can turn around detrimental courses caused by abusive or under-stimulating foster environments, and prevent a good deal of future mental and emotional dysfunction.
This would suggest that the proper learning environment would compliment the ideal environment or correct the shortcomings of earlier experiences. The formal education would need to encourage a creative process and minimize the counterproductive programming which might come back to undo the benefits of the secure nurturing established by right parenting up to that time. This further educational process would not be a time for the introduction of fear and guilt.

On the other hand, the contributor challenge might not be met, and
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problems can continue to compound. If none of the challenges have been met, there can be further developmental delays and future anxiety, impulse control, and mood disorders. At this point, the child is particularly vulnerable to dissociation, since the mind is emerging as a singular selfunit. Although there has been a pattern of attuning to alternate states of conscious focus, they now can become alternate self-aspects, or multiple personality counterparts.
The nurturing process that avails the child to continued guidance from the devoted yin and yang influences will help to offset whatever negative influences that the contributory challenge might be required to face. In other words, good parenting does not end at the age of six.

Alone, this unmet challenge can establish the pattern of the servant. The sense of self is established, but within the dysfunctional martyred context of value in the self only from pleasing others. The servant experiences low-self worth, does not feel appropriately rewarded for his contributions, and becomes stagnant due to lack of pursuing self-needs.
These lower personality characteristics might make the subject more manageable in a controlled society, but it would also result in that decline in creativity and spiritual growth. More civilizations have probably declined because of a loss of creative freedom than any other significant factor.

Avoidant strategies of blaming continue, and accountability for one's actions escapes the servant's notice. Feelings of feigned superiority, inferiority, boredom, role confusion, and guilt all accompany the servant mentality. There will be difficulties in self-discipline, in setting personal boundaries and in meeting needs. There will be fear of rejection, over emphasis upon physical appearance even defensive narcissism, fear of making mistakes and over-sensitivity to criticism.
If these characteristics are apparent in the maturing child, it can now be clearly diagnosed as being the result of the environment created by the parents, in which the child has not been allowed to develop a balanced relationship with his/her world because of the misconception of feeling that he/she is supposed to remain in an inferior position, even into adulthood.

Challenge IV: The Lover Versus The Actor With the challenges surmounted that have satisfied initial connection,
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power, freedom, and esteem, the brain developed and the mind is place, the need for connection is revisited in the challenge of the lover. This challenge generally falls around puberty and early teen years and comes to the fore with the help of hormonal sexual urges, although sexual love is but a small part of its offerings.
One has to wonder what the absence of "hormonal sexual urges" is indicative of; of course such urges can be turned inward and result in masturbation until and unless a greater level of trust with another is accepted. Otherwise, this can be a very risky period to work one's way through.

The lover challenge entails learning the ability to have intimate friendships, to share openly without fear and to develop the deepest of human bonds. It fleshes out the early concepts of connection by coming full circle and offering yourself to others as the mother once offered herself to you. This stage marks the genuine expansion of the self concept to fully include others in the thoughts, feelings, and actions. Creative impulses also come to the fore and the need for meaningful encounters strengthens. The lover begins to build a common reality with intimate friends without limit, fear, or competition. The morality of the lover honors the social order, but takes on a higher sense of duty and commitment to building the intimate friendship.
Of the two qualities, sexual drive and intimate relationships, it would seem that the latter reflects a higher level of development in the human level of progression. This would explain why the female, at the earlier years of adolescence would seek friendship with more depth in thoughts and feelings and accept the sexual nature as a necessary part of male companionship.

Feelings of compassion, love, tolerance, forgiveness, loyalty, honor, faith, and hope are the rewards of surmounting the lover challenge. These feelings are based within a mindscape that understands love as the divine power. On the other hand The actor archetype can instead emerge. The actor understands that there is some inherent value in connection with others, but is overcome by limiting beliefs that create mistrust, fear, and anger. The actor uses deception to pretend intimacy but remains isolated within a defensive mindscape. There will be emptiness, shallowness, competitive dominance and submission, and sabotage of relationships that get too close for "the mind's comfort".
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The "actor" can have a strong sexual drive but will more than likely not have the level of maturity to be content in an emotional attachment. Such an individual will engineer a severing of any relationship that appears to demand a lasting and permanent connection with another person. This is often carried out on a subconscious level without fully comprehending the mental forces behind such behavior.

The lover challenge when unmet can create further mental conditions such as mood disorders, personality eccentricities and erratic and dramatic behaviors. The feelings of jealousy, contempt, hostility, and even hate can come from a lack of loving reconnection with the world. A good deal of histrionic, sociopathic and psychopathic behavior culminates at this point when there has been dysfunction at the lower levels of challenge. Individuals can retreat into severely limited mindscapes, and isolate themselves from others both mentally and physically.
Just as physical pain can serve as an alert to a state of bodily imbalance, so can emotional "pain" serve as an alert to a return to the totem pole of development. Here the need for rebuilding is likely to be called for. At the very least, a fuller understanding of the natural/obstructed process of human growth should be reviewed.

Challenge V: The Speaker Versus Silent Child During adolescence, challenges come upon one another as the growth process reaches its goal of physical maturity. The speaker challenge engages the creative impulses to the maximum level so that external expression can be shared with the world. "Speaking" in this sense means any form of creative expression in the world that communicates an original perspective, becoming an abstract or concrete cultural contribution to the world.
This is the point of verbal creativity, but can also be expressed in a succinct form of humor or a tendency to be rebellious. Whatever form it takes, it is an expression of uniqueness and should be appreciated as such. When funneled into positive activities, it can establish one of the bricks upon which future development can be made.

At this point in the natural unfolding development, the mindscape has been finely honed and is attuned to both body and spirit. Life becomes a passionate pursuit of self-development and creative self-expression. The
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need for meaning also becomes more and more salient as the intuitive pathways continue to blossom. The speaker is characterized by strengthened truth and integrity, seeking broader arenas for creative expression, solid boundaries and self-solidarity. The morality of the speaker continues to respect social duty, but also speaks up when limits of convention hinders any self in any way. The feelings of creative accomplishment, passion, courage, mirth, and faith become constant companions of the speaker.
As the "speaker" looks around and sees the hypocrisy of his/her world, there is a compulsion to make corrections wherever possible This leads to a level of natural hostility between the adolescent and the adult population and a strong drive to separate oneself from the trappings of conformity. Oddly, the conformity then tends to follow the trappings of one's own peer group for strength in the conflict between adolescent and viewed adult.

The speaker challenge accomplishes a sort of merging of the mind with spirit that appears to be a surrender to the divine, and opens itself freely to the offerings of life. The speaker courageously goes forth, speaks and acts creatively, and fears not what will come of it. For the speaker feels the spiritual joy of creative expression and is becoming more and more attuned to the meaningful patterns of life. The mindscapes that hold the fundamental archetypes, of course, minimize painful missteps.
Like sailors mindful of the rules of the sea, the better prepared for the voyage, the more likely the chances of finding an intended port. This is where the early comfort and assurances prove to be of tremendous value, for true creativity can not be carried if the distractions from early life have diverted the ship of destiny.

If the challenge goes unmet, the silent child pattern will instead be evident. The silent child falls victim to a limited mindscape that creates ongoing fear. It hides itself in shame and hurt. Its unexpressed creative energies are often channeled in internally directed anger. Feelings are held in, but burst forth in dysfunctional thoughts, and self-destructive actions. The pain of separation is a constant cross to bear, and the accumulation of pent-up feelings often prompt the escapism into avenues of chemical dependency or other forms of avoidant withdrawal.
When we see such a troubled adolescent, we see little more than a "challenge"
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who is lacking in an opportunity to indulge in an act of creative expression. Many times the mere discovery of a particular interest or talent can stave off a self-destructive path. The educational system can be trained to recognize the cause behind such behavior and bring to the attention of both adolescent and parent (on a separate basis, if possible) what talents are recognized; and establish opportunities where attention can be directed.

If there has been an ongoing failure to meet needs still at this stage, there can be quite severe psychological repercussions. The more severe forms of mood disorder and thought disorder begin to appear at this time in those most genetically vulnerable. Symptoms such as schizophrenic psychosis, self-mutilation, and suicidal depression can begin to present themselves.
In recent times, a great deal of financial attention has been directed toward the area of sports and away from such equally important areas as music and art. Even technology as is possible with the use of computers would be of benefit, provided it is encouraged to be used in a creative manner and not just as a tool to excel in a profitable career at a later period of one's life.

Challenge VI: The Seer Versus the Intellectual With all former challenges surmounted, the foundation is in place for the unfolding of the higher brain potentials. Enlightened mindscapes have all archetypal understandings applied in conscious thought and action and experience far less emotional interruption than that considered normal at present. Where the spiritual energy flows easily between body, mind, and spirit, there is no resistance to feedback, and the individual can "see" far more clearly and intuitively.
If not raised in that more perfect environment where parents are ideal models and everything is lined up properly for the natural evolution of mind, body and spirit, the only true road back to this solid balance between "body, mind, and spirit", may be through such practices as meditation or intent as expressed through prayer. The latter may seem a simplified process, but as a supplementation to intent, it is likely to produce powerful and satisfying results.

The seer has conscious control of the self and is unified in every sense. The seer has clear and accurate mental perceptions and has no need for avoidance or deception of any kind. He or she is secure in power, freedom, connection, esteem, is creative and now becomes compelled by the need
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for meaning. The seer begins to focus attentions to the higher, more meaningful aspects of mental creativity, but remains firmly rooted in body and in actively expressing in the physical world. The seer begins to access psychic gifts and tap potentials from beyond space/time. The seer begins to understand the meaning within the nuances and synchronistic nature of life. The seer no longer has the blinders created by a limited mindscape, and begins to embrace the true nature of the physical experience. The mantra of the seer is to "seek only truth".
What separates the "seer" from the intellectual is a willingness to strike out into territory that the so-called intellectual consciously tried to avoid for fear of being rejected by his fellow intellectuals. The seer can be comfortable both in the area of conformity and non-conformity, knowing that true mental and spiritual evolution comes from a level more sophisticated and detached than the world generally upholds and defends.

The seer begins to recognize and willfully control each of his creative events. Ideals of external controllers, superstitions, and fear-driven beliefs of power loss are simply not part of the seer's mindscape---for such slivers have never been seriously entertained. The illusory cause and effect relationships of the physical realm begin to give way to the higher understandings from beyond space/time as the seer becomes ever more broad in his scope of conscious vision and exploration. There are few lingering emotional corrective signals, as the seer creates events and situations that no longer limit and frustrate the spirit. The predominant feelings of the seer are compassion, love, honor, mirth, bliss, gratitude, passion of living and purposeful experience, excitement of creation, and the delightful surprise and wonder in watching how desired events will unfold.
The truly well-rounded person can look at life and see what a blessing it offers to those who do not take it too seriously. To see that it was meant to be enjoyed and to offer experiences that lead to greater understanding of our own nature and our role in the overall scheme of things. Once that relationship is fully understood, the limits to our creativity are put aside.

The seer enjoys the fully functional nature morality, wherein the moral directive is the universal principles of justice, equal empowerment, compassion, respect, honor, and accountability. The seer neither needs nor accepts external forms of moral or legal control, for they are known to be
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generally less enlightened than internal controls. The seer understands the deepest meaning within all symbolic morality systems and lives by the inner urgings of his spirit, enjoying cooperative, emotionally rewarding interactions with all fellow humans.
The "seer" transcends the world of power and control and establishes a confidence of both to where he/she does not need to rely upon others, be they individuals or institutions, to guide the conduct of one's life. Once the person is comfortable in such a state of mind, no additional guidance is necessary, except that which comes from within. The only challenge is to learn to trust in that inner guidance.

In an enlightened environment, the seer can emerge as early as in the late teen years. At present, however, the full value of the seer expressed in the physical realm is rare indeed. The more recognizable pattern can be recognized as the archetype of THE INTELLECTUAL.
The intellectual is too often judged by the educational credentials and the refined manner of expressing such information which is accepted among his/her fellow intellectuals, or at least not too far adrift from the "accepted". If the scientists declare that nothing can travel in excess of the speed of light, this is regarded as sacrosanct and not to be questioned. If the existence of the spiritual quality of humans is not immediately evident and measurable, it is deemed to not exist. Thus, whatever is placed at the highest point of the intellectual levels of society, is never to be doubted. It is the modern day practice of scientific dogma.

The intellectual has made some positive progress, but has a mindscape that revolves around the existing mindscape rather than a genuine openness to ongoing self-development. The intellectual has come to certain judgments and finite conclusions and holds fast to them, often going to great lengths to rationalize, justify, and even deceive to make incoming information fit the existing mold. The intellectual must constantly defend the mindscape against any corrective emotional signal and engage in selective perception. The intellectual will often have a strong sense of superiority and be loath to allow anything or anyone to question it.
A great many of the intellectual and scientific presumptions so highly prized in the world today, when compared with the previous ages in the development of mankind, bear a striking resemblance to the dogmatic positions of past centuries. It is not so much in the information upheld, but in the manner in which it is defended. The broadening of a perspective can not be accomplished
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without a willingness to question that perspective.

The intellectual will become less and less likely to engage in genuine selfdevelopment. The mental judgments will continue to become evermore complex and perhaps impressive to some, but all judgments do nothing but limit potential and create spiritual distress. The intellectual will find it more and more necessary to subordinate the intuitive functions to the rational analytic processes because the intuitions bring information contrary to the mindscape. Eventually the entire right brain will be less involved than the left.
This is especially true when the educational process defends and practices an attitude of programming which appears to worship one method and almost literally ignores the other. Degrees of recognition are awarded to those who conform to the process that is most recognized and accepted. Those who decline or veer away from such accepted curriculum, pay a dear price for such intellectual/emotional individuality.

The intellectual will not be able to escape the signals of fear, anger, sadness, and guilt. Their mental and physical horizons will begin to collapse. They will necessarily narrow their field of activity and limit their friendships to those who can be persuaded to agree with them. They will put others off with haughty superiority, rigid opinions, and judgmental expressions as well as ensuring a safe physical distance. They will lack compassion and tolerance, and may demand perfection in everyone but themselves. There will be a natural isolating effect as the intellectual retreats to live in the superior surroundings of his or her own mindscape.
The above description might be familiar to a great number of so-called professional people in our society. It might even be described as a state of insecurity that follows success. Unfortunately, it hints at a true sense of failure in that once a determined state of separation from ones fellow human beings of contrary viewpoints becomes an adopted life style, mental and spiritual growth tend to suffer.

The intellectual, having lost touch with the feeling system, will attempt to hold in feelings and subordinate them to ration, in evermore impressive mental contortions to justify the limited mindscape. The spirit will then work overtime during both waking and dream states to get its message through. The feelings will manifest inwardly, however, in depression,
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paranoia, and resentment. If underlying challenges have remained mostly unmet, there are serious repercussions to the intellect. Such a mindscape has little effectiveness at surmounting daily challenges, lifestyles; and world views are quite distorted and detrimental. In fact, not many individuals even remain living if a minimal amount of progress is not attained by this time. The entity might simply decide that willful limits are so profound that life is a try-again, do-over. There will then be a direct spiritual hand in the final exit. Perhaps a fatal illness, an "accidental" death, or the more direct suicidal exit.
The above paragraph clearly suggests that the repercussions of imbalance toward the intellect, at the expense of the emotional, can be life threatening. But before that point is reached, it can simply be life-distracting. In a left-brain oriented society which awards prizes to intellectual pursuits, we run the risk of maintaining a perpetual state of distortion which eventually supports rationalization to a point of disaster. A good example of this was this country's early attitude toward our involvement in Viet Nam. Even today, there are too many who believe that greater levels of aggression and violence would have achieved a desirable result.

The inner needs and intuitive forces which propel the challenge of the seer cannot help but broaden the bounds of consciousness at this point in physical development. If there are any propensities toward a mobile consciousness or personality fragmentation, they can become psychotically profound at this point. As the intuitions and information from beyond space/time impinge upon the closed mindscape they can be distorted and misinterpreted, but considered valid and real. They can facilitate episodes of delusional, paranoid, psychotic, and manic-depressive behavior.
If this isn't enough of a warning to inspire one to a point of self-examination, I'm not at all sure what it would take. The "episodes" listed above are too often considered by the medical profession to be little more than mysterious chemical imbalances when, in fact, they are more likely to be the consequences of one's personal distractions.

Challenge VII: The Transcender The final challenge lies in the continued focus upon the evermore complex levels of meaning that can be derived from the creative physical experience. As the self continues to expand internally and externally, so do
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the creative talents and powers of the individual. This archetypal understanding can be called the transcender. It has been historically referred to as the wise old man, the guru, the ascended master and other such related concepts. Reaching the full and complete state of the transcender is very rare indeed in the current Earthly experience.
While it is true that the current earthly environment is not conducive to developing the wisdom necessary to become an "ascended master", such can be overcome by intent. Information expressed in such examples as the "Lessons", can assist in the process. And while opportunities to apply these lessons may appear to be few and far between, as we absorb such information, the opportunities will automatically present themselves.

The transcender lives spontaneously in the present moment but can only do so due to the finely honed mindscape that is skilled in all worldly spheres. The mindscape is free of both positive and negative judgments, yet the experiences created bring emotional delight, and the spiritual resonance from a blissful instant, intuitive, ineffable, energy/understanding. The transcender is indeed, the full and whole human potential---the experience that the physical embodiment is designed to be.
A major step in evolving to the status of the "transcender" is getting beyond the temptation to indulge in the "positive and negative judgments" spoken of above. Naturally, this is difficult to do in an atmosphere where so many others revel in the practice, but it need not be. We are all individuals with the freedom to choose to do or not to do whatever we like. It may require getting beyond our comfort zone, but the rewards are far greater than mere security.

The transcender has the entire world at his or her fingertips in complete understanding of the purposes and functions of the physical realm. Such an individual has developed and enjoys a tremendous flexibility of consciousness and is no longer simply limited to the narrow mental daytime focus of the personality. The transcender is often competent in mobility of consciousness in realms beyond space/time, enjoying out of body sojourns, lucid dreaming, extra-sensory perception, telepathic communications, and is highly effective at manifesting energy into matter. The transcender is also competent at conscious willful control over bodily processes, and exhibits impressive healing abilities. Some individuals have mastered some of these potentials including those that can manifest matter seemingly from thin air without any time-lag. The entity known as Jesus
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Christ can be offered as the best example of the potential of the transcender.
There are those alive today who have mastered many of the qualities indicated above. Yet, they are not fully recognized by a world so caught up in the intellectual illusions of our time. If it doesn't fit into the current paradigm, it simply can not be incorporated by the international media. So, those few who do witness these qualities tend to worship the "pointer" and failure to comprehend the lessons behind the genius/spiritual qualities that make it possible.

Therapeutic Approaches to Mental Health To the enlightened mind, it should be clear that the best approach to mental health is in allowing it to unfold, without messing it up with social fear, judgment, and external control. Evolving beyond the idea that human nature is flawed by mental disorder or "sin" can go a long way toward attaining mental and emotional order and purpose. Until the emotional system is understood and given its rightful place as the divine selfregulation system, most attempts at mental cures will be only marginally successful.
Let's begin again with the acceptance that we are not automatically introduced to this physical existence in a state of perpetual probation, with the only hope of being allowed to evolve into complete entities tied to the governing regulations of some particular institution. Rather, let the beginning of a person's physical existence be unmarred by anything other than the past-life baggage he/she might choose to bring aboard. From that point on, we can sail and tack in the direction we elect to travel.

At present, many cures for mental illness cause far more harm than good. It is only when the emotional patterns are recognized and accommodated in the natural developmental process, that mental health will naturally manifest. Approaches which examine and alter belief structures are of course the most effective forms of therapy, but the added spiritual understandings are essential additions to any such practice. Loving connection, trust, compassion and support between human beings is far more therapeutic than most "cures".
Would that the medical/psychiatric profession come to understand that the establishment of an honest relationship between two human beings is the necessary groundwork for working toward the cure of emotional problems.
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Once that is established, then the examination of the patient's belief system could be approached for review.

Pharmacological approaches are by far the most popular cure for most serious disorders, but often do far more harm than good. Most individuals that take regular doses of psychoactive drugs can only continue to take them because the chemical system has adapted to interfere with their potency in order to right and protect itself. But more often than not, individual bodies and spirits heartily reject regular doses of powerful chemicals that simply alter the emotional system instead of attacking the problem at its source. In fact, pharmacological therapy is a symptom of mass denial regarding the knowledge of the human condition.
One of the saddest conditions of so called "modern" medicine is the administration of drugs to maladjusted children. While it may have temporarily positive effects on their respective conditions, it leaves the true cures more distanced and difficult to bring to the fore at a later time. Surely we can leave a better heritage for future generations.

Healthy emotional systems can easily be thrown off balance by ongoing stressful situations which tip the delicate chemical balance. But there is presently far more susceptibility to such imbalances due to such factors as diet, exercise patterns, and of course internal and external conflict. Many individuals who find themselves in a period of depression can simply enhance nutrients and eat a more natural and balanced diet to completely restore chemical balance. Although individuals often respond positively to a temporary dosage of certain medications, it is because they have jumpstarted the natural system into producing the chemicals that have been insufficient. Even inert substances, when empowered with belief, can bring astounding improvements.
What do placeboes do if not pay tribute to the mind's capability to address and correct the state of dis-ease that exists within us. Chemical substances such as typical manufactured drugs, have their place in the treatment of illness, but as we come to understand the true nature of what makes up a human being, we will elect to approach these states of imbalance with the balancing qualities of nature itself.

But it will only be through the loving cooperation within humanity that true mental health can emerge. With this lens of mental health in place, we
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can now discuss the ramifications and connections for physical health.

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Section Eta Lesson Two: Implications For Physical Health The Physical Focus Historically, humanity has focused on the study of human health and based the therapeutic approaches upon the inner workings of the physical form. Although it should be readily apparent that the body comes complete with its owns systems, balances, developmental and healing processes, humanity has assumed the modern scientific understanding to be superior to the wisdom of the body. Although the expansion of scientific selfawareness is a noble and necessary pursuit, at present, the level of understanding is quite meager indeed. The emphasis is still upon the physical manipulation of the form as if matter were an inert, unconscious, malleable putty to be shaped by human hands.
What is not taken into account when viewing the human body is that consciousness (mind) is an integral part of the state of human health and that unless it is addressed and factored into the practices of health maintenance, the physical body takes on little more viability than an automobile and the physician no more empathy than a mechanic.

This level of understanding has based most approaches to the practice of medicine on the central assumption that permanent corrective alterations can be made through introducing external substances and externally manipulating symptoms of inner states. Indeed, when an organ is surgically removed there is a permanent change made to the material body itself. And indeed, there can be some valid benefits in taking such drastic approaches when humanity is in the early stages of its evolution. But this approach only addresses a single aspect of the self-construct, and works only at the level of the body. It manipulates symptoms when actual causes are located in other aspects of the self. Therefore the physical approach cannot help but be shortsighted, and can yield only limited and temporary health benefits.
With the evolution of mankind, it should become more apparent that that which appears to be is more and that the underlying explanation for a condition can be determined with the cooperation of the subject at the deepest level of his/her being.

At present, this assumption is so deeply rooted within mass consciousness

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that it underlies many common beliefs and daily health practices. Some support good health, but most create a fearful artificial dependency upon external medical caregivers and substances that are necessitated by the lack of faith in the natural healing processes. The modern day health care crises illustrates the absurd level of external power that has been assumed. The government has been forced to become entangled with providing health care due to its misguided efforts to control so many other aspects of human experience. Ultimately, the removal of unnecessary legal restraints and expansion of its educational role will reduce governmental involvement and allow individuals to reclaim their rightful power for selfdeterminism and well-being.
Ultimately, it is reduced to a question of "control". Who is going to have it? Is it going to be something that will remain within the individual or must it be imposed by an outside source. The state of one's healthful balance and the treatment of an imbalance must, in the end, stay with the individual, until and unless the outside source is invited to play a helping role.

Be aware, internal empowerment is the key to optimal health. And indeed, the focus upon the body can give back a degree of that power. People can, in fact have quite a positive impact upon their health by simply respecting and caring for their body. This is true because the body has its own set of needs and requirements for its peak operation and carries out everyday healing miracles below the level of human consciousness. It must simply be given clean air to breathe, wholesome foods to eat, clear water to drink, the activity and mobility to keep its strength, flexibility, and vitality, its required level of restorative rest, and a lifestyle which honors these six universal needs. These simple requirements underlie the smooth operation of many incredibly intelligent inner systems of checks and balances that when left alone can bring far better heath than might be expected.
Although these "simple requirements" might be considered to be acceptably achieved in the normal course of one's life, there are serious questions about the quality of our food and water, the opportunity for sufficient mobility, the chance for necessary rest and the emphasis being placed upon these requirements by those who can have an impact upon our environment, whether it be in the workplace or in our homes.

Active Faith In The Body

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The first strategic approach then becomes accepting the accountability for one's own health and embracing the natural wisdom of the body. This will involve replacing any limiting ideas about "natural" disease processes, vulnerability to communicable diseases or pollutants, and genetically inevitable disorders of any kind, with the simple and well-founded faith in the body. The body's ability to cleanse, to adapt, to manufacture anything it needs, and to control and protect its "self" are far and away more reliable and effective than any external medical methods. Indeed it is the spirit that works beneath the mind's conscious focus to ensure health and immunity, and its available information of how to do so is vastly unlimited compared to even the best of modern minds. Truly embracing this understanding naturally brings the necessary feelings of faith.
This is a most significant paragraph and one that holds much potential to the state of good health. If we are truly spirit beings, with minds that have total control over our physical nature, as these 'Lessons' seem to strongly suggest, than it is not unreasonable to presume that we can and do have control over our state of health and well-being. That said, we must also factor in the belief system under which we were raised and we now operate. The drugs and outside treatments we accept for our healing are our conditional placeboes, without which we have difficulty operating. Yet, with the exposure of our minds to this new 'Enlightenment' we have an opportunity to consider a basic point of understanding and, hopefully, move in the direction of universal health, as it was/is intended.

This faith motivates taking active responsibility for one's health and designing a lifestyle best suited to supporting, rather than interfering, with the automatic unconscious bodily mechanisms. This faith will be courageous enough to listen to medical advice or to take in the latest scientific information, but to do so without embracing any limiting ideas which create fear. When faith is stronger than fear, and integrity and honor for the body is stronger than denial of the personal responsibility and creative power, the limits of the world need not become the limits of one's mind. With faith and relative absence of limiting beliefs, the spiritual energy will flow naturally and unobstructed, the immunity and healing processes will operate at peak performance. This approach will spur a natural evolution and betterment of the lifestyle in general as the individual finds higher and higher levels of meaning within daily experience.
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The key to any state of health and well-being is faith in the best possible nature of our being. This 'faith' transcends all of life's operations, whether they be tied to our vocational practices or our accepted health practices. In the end, nothing will give us satisfaction or relief unless we believe we are gaining physically, mentally and spiritually from that which we process into our lives.

There is far more individuality than might be suspected in lifestyle approaches that can bring equal health and vitality. This faith will include adherence to the spiritual feedback in designing the individual lifestyle. Like all human systems, health is a self-evolving condition which is directed by the genetic challenges and propensities and spiritual desires of the entity, and mediated by the energy/information provided by the feeling system.
This suggests that we may inwardly know as individuals what is best for our physical state of being, even if our health problems are related to our genetic make-up and have little to do with any current, environment conditions. If we can offset the external causes of illness with faith in what we can become, we can also alter the genetic codes that we are supposedly conditioned to be victims of, should we so decide.

As individuals are allowed to explore life, follow inner urges, and learn through active experience and spiritual feedback, they will develop the best internally directed approaches to all aspects of health. As these lessons suggest, feelings of pleasure and pain are the essential language of spirit that speaks specifically to each aspect of the self. An essential rule of the body is: "If it feels good, do it". Of course, this advice comes with the usual caution about denial, escapist short-term pleasures, and selfdestructive tendencies based on reduction of pain, but pleasure by its very nature is health-giving.
A warning is suggested here that the consumption of recreational drugs for the obtaining of immediate and temporary "pleasure" is simply escapism at its worst, not to mention its ultimate, destructive consequences. The true feelings of pleasure come from the unobstructed sources deep within our nature and must be gained without such outside stimulation.

The Pleasure Principle Creating the conditions which invoke emotional pleasure releases hormones which affect all organ systems and make physical changes to the
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form itself. Sensate pleasure and pain is the language of body, with emotional neuropeptides and receptor cells in every area of the body to reap their benefits. The natural pleasures need never be questioned, for they are as valid as any other universal truth. They are integral to the selfdevelopmental process and intimately connected with meeting the universal needs, whether or not the mind is yet aware of the details.
It is the natural pleasures that are too often stifled by feelings of supplanted guilt which, when so effected, often lead to other substituted pleasures offered from outside oneself. These pleasures come in the form of legal or illegal drug forms and soon fall beyond the realms of control. Whereas the natural pleasures of life, when tied to altruistic emotion, can be most beneficial in spiritual development.

Although pleasure is an individually defined pursuit, there are some general validities which affect all human forms. The life-giving habits have already been offered which can facilitate this process and enhance the state of vitality through specific expressive activities. A lifestyle which incorporates creative movement, vocalization, and touch into the daily routines can bolster the physical health no matter what other choices might be made. Explorations into any number of ways to give the body pleasure can yield many surprising methods of invigorating and restoring the body.
Nothing can bring pleasure to the spirit, (and thus the mind and body,) like an activity carried out with an expression of love, whether that be in contact with another human being or in some collective or artistic fashion. Tapping the creative juices is the equivalent to touching the spiritual, inner self.

For example, human touch and massage provides a great deal of pleasure because it stimulates and influences many of the automatic bodily processes--including the muscular, central neural, and lymphatic systems, as well as providing human connection. Vocalization from speaking and singing to shouting and crying not only vent emotions, but they give the body, a rest from the effects of the mind, and they cleanse and move blocked energy. Such expressions help restore the bodily feelings of freedom.
If one can get a good massage from a devoted masseuse, share a hot tub with someone who can indulge in a meaningful conversation or just sing one's lungs out in the morning shower, then there is a restoration of the circulatory system in all aspects of being.
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Pleasure and pain is always a valid spiritual guide. One simple truth, however, is that many humans at present will experience physical pain and emotional resistance to needed levels of physical activity. Movement satisfies needs for freedom, creativity, meaning, connection, and builds self-esteem as the body is actively respected and consciously honored and new challenges and worlds are conquered.
A form of daily physical activity is essential to the maintaining of a state of balance in the system, not to mention what it does for one's sense of well-being. Whatever momentary periods of pain may be involved, these are more than offset by the positive results.

This is because such overemphasis has been placed upon the mind and its abilities, the body has been neglected. Mental work and play have replaced many of the active forms resulting in sedentary lifestyles. Physical activity will be painful at first, and the long-term gains and pleasures must be the driving force to get past these growing pains of the body. But the required activity is so well accommodated within the natural flow, that the body itself compensates for any temporary growing pain with natural chemicals that reduce the pain and allow the natural pleasures to take over. Endorphins are released that find purchase within pain-reduction receptor cells, the heart gets pumping, and the body comes alive with vitality and enthusiasm. Pain is often symptomatic of very neglected, sedentary bodies that have begun to atrophy for lack of vital activity.
Some pain is essential as a signal to alert us to a deteriorating situation and a reminder that allowing that state of deterioration involves a price for correction. Happily, the mind helps to reduce the severity of the lesson by instructing the brain to reduce the severity of the needed pain with a naturally produced chemical. With this kind of assistance and a little discipline, the individual can recover from the self-inflicted state of imbalance.

Athletes that utter the mantra "no pain no gain" are aware of higher pleasures that follow activity and the more normal functional realm of the body once such deficit states have been transcended. But one need not be an athlete to enjoy the life-giving pleasures of movement. (Any simple, but regular regimen of dancing, walking, running, Yogic posturing, Tai Chilike movements, sexual activity, sports activities, etc., ----anything which honors the integrity of the body, that allows the breath to increase, the heart to pump, the cleansing sweat to flow, and the feelings of free-flowing
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spiritual vitality to arise, will do.) Generally, any action is better than inaction, but a routine of such movement three to five times per week for 15-45 minutes each is sufficient for vibrant health.
A vigorous walk every other day for a half hour may be just enough to get one back on track. Then, whatever additional activity one might feel comfortable with, would only be an added plus. Age is a relative factor and subject to the human will. A 30 year old might become a skilled athlete, while a 90 year old might end up doing a slow jog. Each person will provide for his/her self whatever is wanted and needed.

Physical health can also be enhanced by ensuring the body adequate rest and relaxation. There are physical and mental approaches to relaxation, both of which bring pleasure and restoration. Winding down periods of relaxation after mental and physical exertions are also necessary toward keeping the overall balance of health. The body responds well to muscle relaxation techniques, deep breathing, saunas or hot baths, massage, or even moderate alcohol consumption. The mind responds to music, to expressing feelings and concerns to loved ones, to absorbing tasks, to engaging hobbies, watching television, working puzzles, playing games, meditation and creating visual imagery, as well as to some natural mind altering substances. All pleasures which bring active learning, selfdevelopment and expression are divine by natural dictate.
To the degree that we wish to, we can gain in physical, mental and spiritual development by the simple actions of indulgence. If a good walk is followed by a drink and a little soft music or television, then to that level, there is gain. Should it be a degree of meditation, followed by an act of reading and written communication, so that will be the level of gain. We all select our own timetable and compete only with our inner selves.

Sleep itself is a highly individualized process, but human sleep cycles have been dramatically affected by the cultural choices and conventions of humanity. For example, six hour sleep periods alternating with six hours of wakeful activity are much more suited to peak physical health. Short restful naps also enhance mental acuity and physical coordination. Meditative sessions are also helpful for many reasons, but do not compensate for lack of sleep.
The accepted adage that everyone needs eight hours of uninterrupted sleep daily is probably not sound advice when it comes to physical and mental health,
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particularly when artificial drugs, (i.e. sleep-eze, etc.), are taken to guarantee that full eight hours. A mid-day nap, in a cultural environment that encourages such, can be much more beneficial to one's overall well being.

In sum, the simple, unobtrusive, care and feeding of the body can make profound differences in one's state of health. Simply attuning to and answering the bodily urges will lead to meeting needs and ultimately to conscious understanding of unconscious bodily wisdom. But with the human mind, comes the ability to take over conscious control of many of the body's subconscious processes. Indeed, the challenge of the physical realm is to learn how to manipulate matter with mind and create the conditions which allow for the broadest expansion of spirit. But with mind also comes the capacity to reap ignorant destruction upon the body. Thus far, the effects of individual mind and mass consciousness have been far more detrimental than necessary due to the lack of enlightened selfunderstanding.
We live in an era of spiritual ignorance. Religious institutions have failed in their efforts to teach their members the importance of balancing the qualities of body, mind and spirit. Consequently, our societies have become equally unbalanced, one feeding upon and contributing to the other. The solution to this detrimental influence lies within, should we elect to seek it.

The Power Of The Mind For mind creates the reality of its beliefs, and the generally accepted mixture of conflicting directives within the concept of health and medical care is enough to burden even the finest minds---and negatively impacts even the finest bodies. The mind can imagine and create any number of maladaptive beliefs, attitudes, and strategies that can interfere with nearly every automatic process.
We can, in effect, end up being our own worst enemy when it comes to creating an environment for growth and even stability. We tend to thrive on contradictions and are satisfied to ignore the end result in order to worship methodology. To answer the question of "Why", we need to explore further.

For example, the widely held belief that health lies in the hands of a medical practitioner. With this belief, healing and cure can be stimulated simply by a conversation with a medical practitioner, or it can be impeded by the thought of one's physician being incompetent or uncaring.
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Suggestions of potential diseases which fit nicely into limiting belief networks, judgmental attitudes, and unresolved spiritual challenges, can manifest those very conditions if fear is allowed to take root over faith. These kinds of limiting beliefs are so deeply ingrained within many societies that people often suffer much shorter lives simply because they believe themselves to be without the medical support needed, or hopeless victims of the latest popular disease.
Our pervasive medium of education in western society has now become the television set or the printed word. The evening news brings into our home environment a high level of negativity regarding, among other things, our personal health and well-being. Not a day goes by without a new threat to worry about. What else but a state of "dis-ease" is likely to thrive in such an atmosphere.

As stated, the body is an elegant cloak designed with incredible resiliency and tenacity toward maximum vivacity and health---unless the conscious mind misguidedly decides otherwise and actively interferes. (Indeed, having no mind at all is often better than one which works against its master). The body responds incredibly well to the directives of mind, for the mind is intended to consciously expand and become the willful, creative controller of the self. An elegant example of the bodily adaptive cooperation with mind is what has been called the "placebo effect". Even with minimal suggestion, the body can heal itself or stop pain simply by using the energy that comes with the idea of cure.
People of little capacity for rational thought or focus, such as those in mental institutions for most of their adult lives, manage to enjoy relatively good health well beyond their expected life span. Those of low intelligence, as we tend to measure it, will recover from illnesses or maintain a state of good health, with no more stimulation than a suggestion from a respected source.

No matter if the curative property is a sugar pill, a strong chemical, or a ritual chicken sacrifice, the body responds to the idea embraced in the chemical or ritual. Generally, this is enough to release bodily chemicals to right imbalances, but soon enough conflicting beliefs will return and negate its effect. Indeed, the body can produce far more substances than are yet recognized, when maintained properly. But it is not the property that has cured, it is the belief in its power which has channeled will energy into consciously altering the body. (Hypnotic suggestion and exploration
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will be a future area where much will be discovered of the mind-body interactions.)
In our present state of "mind" western man is still too caught up in a mentality that dictates those limited beliefs of a mechanical nature toward the treatment of the human body. Each part is regarded as a separate, disconnected section and a cure is the result of such limited focus. The "placebo effect" is not to be accepted into this paradigm. It simply doesn't fit. As long as mind is regarded as a product of physical evolution, it can not be allowed to play a part in the creation of reality. It is this particular belief that serves as the essential flaw in our physical/mental/spiritual progression.

Whether it is the entangled slivers about health care, its own misguided need-meeting strategies, or its inefficiency in the role of converter of spiritual will energy, the mind is truly the source of health. If individuals are to simply look to their lifestyles and the beliefs that support their choices, they will see many, many practices that work against the simple bodily requirements.
If mind is eventually accepted to be the source of illness and cure, then it will have to be accepted as an essential creative force of the state of optimum health and well-being. Ignoring the obvious can only prolong a general state of suffering. Western society will have to begin by facing the reality of things as they are and then move in the direction of what spirit wants them to become.

For example, the concept of food and what it means, sets people up for many mind traps. Food becomes entangled with many of the psychological needs, with cultural and social rituals, resulting in many dietary preferences, habits and attitudes that close the mind to the wisdom of the body and the benefits of ongoing development. Food then is no longer considered primarily as a nourishment mechanism, but becomes an avenue for pleasure that is missing in other areas of unfilled need. Mental deficits, not physical ones, may prompt dietary choices and result in lifestyles that compromise the body's balances. Such choices over time can contribute to weight problems, digestive problems, hormonal imbalances, diabetes, cancer, and many other disorders and diseases.
Do we eat to live or do we end up living to eat. Eating out and consuming lavish amounts with regularity results in exaggerated appearances and, more seriously, internal and incurable states of illness. Intermittent pleasures override the simple need for nourishment. Our excessive "gain" results in unanticipated
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"pain".

An effective strategy to counteract the habits and patterns which often inhibit the body, are cyclic dietary restorations. Since the body develops tolerances and accommodates many debilitating habits, it can be reset, by periodic fasting. Breaking a rigid dietary habit pattern can allow the body to return to a more natural state of balance and actually alter conditioned taste preferences and habitual impulses, allowing the actual hunger and satiety conditions to change. Indeed, it honors the body to regularly, perhaps once per year, undergo a three-to five day period of cleansing with juices alone as the diet. Then the gradual introduction of solid foods over the next two weeks, beginning with fresh fruits and raw vegetables and relatively smallish portions taken regularly throughout each day as directed by the urges of the body. This restorative fasting allows many processes to return to much more natural states, and new preferences and patterns to emerge. Indeed, any habitual pattern should be broken from time to time, to simply invite innovative alternatives.
Such activity reflects a trust of the body to know what is good for it and assists it in moving toward its natural state of balance. It is the "trust" that motivates the process. The very act of fasting and abstaining is appropriate to reinforce the connection between mind and body. This natural bonding can not but help achieve positive results. It is comparable to the "bonding" which takes place between mother and child and the long term consequences which have been observed to follow.

A mindscape with a simple, natural approach to food drawing upon the gifts of nature, without much mindful intervention, will experience something much closer to peak physical vitality than even the most complex knowledge of vitamins, supplements, and curative potions. Nature has provided all the organisms and seasonal rhythms to offer many forms of the basic nutritive requirements, as well as the inner self guidance system to evolve the best personalized approaches to diet.
If this is a matter of doubt, make a close and unbiased observation of nature when not exploited by man. Balance is the base line upon which all natural life on the planet thrives. There is a constant act of communication going on between plant/animal life and that higher source of its being. Only when interfered with, does the system break down.

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As the natural self-developmental process unfolds, the mind automatically seeks higher and higher levels of meaning, and there is a corresponding alteration in the evolving lifestyle of the individual. Thus, there are as many approaches to food, exercise, and health as there are levels of spiritual development. If the mind is truly doing its job, the spiritual feedback signals will bring continuous improvements to the strategies that underlie health. As denial and blame are replaced with accountability for all of life's experiences, the importance of building health will take a much higher priority, and a corresponding change in diet, exercise, and general faith in the body will naturally unfold.
The key to our growth and maintenance in our physical state is an appreciation of our ubiquitous spiritual environment and nature. As we continue to raise our ideals and intentions, we invite the balancing aspect of nature to come to the fore. The two are a blend that is not to be separated for as long as we occupy this physical state. When we have completed our understanding of our capacity to manipulate our physical environment, we can take the value of that lesson on to a more etheric state and continue to expand upon the process.

There are no necessarily right or wrong approaches to meet the body's requirements, and an overemphasis upon which approach is "the highest" can sacrifice the faith in the body and bring unnecessary fear. For example, vegetarianism. As entities begin to evolve the self-concept to include all life forms, it can become dissatisfying to choose to eat animal flesh and rob a conscious life form of its experience. Such choices are well within the range of necessary human experience as the species' evolution unfolds. But at the present level of mass consciousness, the limited concept of a "life form", the illusions of space-time, and the tremendous disconnection from spirit create a good deal of confusion. Honoring the natural urges and learning from all emotional experience is the best way to honor all spirits as well as design a dietary lifestyle.
Because of what we have likely been exposed to in the usual programming under which we were reared, there is a tendency to become dogmatic about the proper way of going about conducting ourselves. It is best to avoid doing so (being dogmatic), lest the means becomes more important than the end. All roads can lead to Rome, if that is one's destination. Keeping the ultimate goal in mind will serve as a guide to whatever individual road we choose to take.

At present, removing slivers is the first challenge to the mind's role in

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maintaining health. For a mind choked with conflicting beliefs invests its energy so poorly that its higher potentials cannot even present themselves, let along develop. There must first be an unblocking of energy, before the full vital force can flow. Then there will come an individual developmental process where each person attunes more to the feeling signals of body and embraces many available intuitive insights about what the body needs at any given moment to bolster its vitality.
Habits of thought die hard. Breaking a pattern may involve altering an environment or those within it. In the end, we are nothing more than the result of our intentions. With that in mind, we can not fail in the long run.

The idea that the form is the only controlling force has blinded researchers to the role mindful experience plays in the onset of most disease processes. As individuals embark upon this developmental process, they will become acquainted with the bodily predispositons and the spiritual challenges they represent. As the challenges are surmounted, certain symptoms begin to disappear. Many disturbances with symptoms such as allergic reactions, cancerous tissue overgrowth, and hormonal imbalances are the direct result of emotional stress that has not been properly understood or addressed.
As we continue to expand the stress in our society and in our individual lives, we will invite the consequences which follow. When we begin to backtrack from the end result to the primary cause, we will also begin to experience the benefits. It may become unaffordable, economically and otherwise, to continue the patterns of poor health and a state of "unaffordability" may ultimately end up being the motivating factor.

As the divine self-regulation system provides its unifying guidance, many apparent genetically inevitable conditions will simply reverse or not arise. Hidden beneath a pile of conflicting and limited beliefs about health, lies the valid need for the mind and body to constantly interact in the divine feedback process.
Pause, look and listen. The answers to our problems lie within nature and within ourselves. It has always been this way and will continue to be so.

Managing Emotional Stress An essential part of maintaining health in the world at present lies in understanding and mediating the daily stressors. Reconnecting to the inner
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spiritual guidance will put the concept of stress in its proper context, as the cumulative level of unresolved emotional conflict. Stress is the symptom of conflict between the self and world, due to the opposition between body and mind. Each conflict obstructs the flow of spiritual energy and begs for correction. The more the stress, the bigger the physical detriment. Stress then has both a role in the natural feedback process, and in how emotional energy builds, accumulates and creates disruption. At present, the ability to understand and manage stress is essential to building health.
Stress has been identified by conventional wisdom as a major contributor to a state of poor physical and mental health. However, that having been done, a permanent alleviation of the problem has not been addressed. There have been partial solutions suggested but none truly address the whole problem. While it is agreed that stress is essential to our normal activity in this physical world, more is not necessarily a good thing.

The divine self-regulation system is the instrument for effecting purposeful internal and external change. Since this divine self-regulation system is intertwined so completely within the human biology, emotional arousal has a direct effect upon the physical immune system. It is to be expected that any sort of change will bring emotional signals, and the more unexpected and dramatic the change, the stronger the feelings will be--both good and bad. But in a general sense, stress is the cumulative effect of lingering negative feelings of fear, anger, guilt, envy, resentment, etc. Embracing the concept of growing pains and responding to the slightest signal will ensure that unhealthy amounts of stress do not accumulate.
It would seem that the wisest way to deal with any kind of stress is to invite the body/mind to recognize it early and deal with it accordingly. The greater the accumulation of negative stress, the greater the risk of damage being done to oneself. When not dealt with and relieved, the negative feelings associated with it, will pile up like bricks creating a wall. As the wall becomes higher, it separates us from the All That Is.

The amount of momentary stress or emotional dissonance, experienced in any given moment can range from minor anxious growing pains, to a shocking and overwhelming emotional reaction that can even overtake consciousness and cause one to faint dead away. The highest stressors have to do with major losses, such as death of a loved one, loss of health, businesses, jobs, or major need-meeting resources. The worst experiences
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often surround the power, freedom and connection needs. In the world today, sudden, unexpected, and painful life events will surely arise, until fully enlightened mindscapes are in place and events are created in line with all desires.
It is not so much the nature of stress-causing happenings which are our undoing. Rather, it is lacking of a broader understanding of these events which cause us to react poorly. As we grow in knowledge of our physical, mental and spiritual nature as human entities, we will be better prepared to deal with the stress created by these unexpected events. When age brings wisdom instead of just accumulation and deterioration, then we will be able to integrate the lessons of life and help to pass on this information to future generations.

Indeed, as humans begin to embrace the enlightened understandings, there will be accelerated progress and plenty of change. Individuals will begin assessing the very core assumptions and values which have based longterm decisions. They may outgrow their friends, and even spouses, yet attract entirely new and more suitable comrades. They might change jobs and even whole careers when recognizing and answering their inner urgings. They might end or begin all sorts of group affiliations. Although this brings tremendous progress to the individual, it comes with a good deal of emotional ups and downs---all of which can be reflected in the health unless a solid strategy of stress management is in place.
The art of managing one's stress is just that, an art. To achieve the quality of success necessary in achieving this end would take an equal amount of wisdom and dedication (not to mention discipline), and could not be achieved on any lesser plane than that which would inspire that dedication to change in the first place.

In addition to the tender, enlightened care and feeding of the body, good stress management will involve structured ways to promote enlightened feedback and support for the process of change itself. Such structures will include intimate friendships wherein life circumstances can be discussed. Each human being can benefit tremendously by simply sharing life events, feelings experienced, and solutions in the context of connection and the search for meaning. Such community is tremendously pleasurable as well as offering a forum for exchanging perspectives, information and potential solutions.

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Would that such environments could be created and encouraged. Despite all the clubs and organizations that exist as extracurricular activities, few pay tribute to the free flow of ideas and values and the tolerance to consider what might be opposing points of view.

Such structures will also counter negative events with balances of healthy pleasures. Individuals can benefit tremendously from counterbalancing each negativity with one active positively given to the self. This is particularly important in an historical age when selfishness is condemned and martyrdom is advocated. The popular ideas that "suffering is good for the soul", or that giving something to one's self is somehow less noble that giving pleasure to another, are simply unsound and create further emotional stress. With a united body and mind and expanded self-concept, the pleasures of the individual self are never excluded from the pleasures of all. Balanced and appropriate levels of self indulgence are not only recommended, they are required.
To overcome the programming that so many were subject to as young children and which remains so deeply ingrained in the human psyche, we must begin at some defined point in time. For the sake of all concerned, that time must be NOW. If the seed of such change can grow to fruition in only one individual, there is hope for a better world.

Restoring a sense of equity and balance can keep stress to a minimum. Thus, it is essential for each individual to know exactly what brings about personal pleasures. Producing a list from the highest, to even the most minor, pleasures can clarify exactly how the universal needs are fulfilled. When painful changes occur, after the necessary right and light responses are made, it is time for legitimate celebration and reward. A selection from the pleasure list of an indulgence of appropriate size and correspondence to the problem itself can help counter-balance stress as well as motivate quicker corrections.
This is, no doubt, good advice and many people practice it instinctively by seeking pleasures from a variety of possibilities when they have been struck with a most damaging experience. As long as such "pleasure" is not at the expense of or damage to someone else, then it can only be spiritually beneficial.

Even "guilty pleasures", sinful foods, vacation getaways, or expensive gifts when parceled to one's self in a balanced way can greatly enhance
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health without compromising the contributions to others, the form of one's body or the resources of one's pocket book. Again this is an individual process, but there are indeed many healthy pleasures to be had, with balance and moderation being the key. Universal pleasures, are of course linked to the universal needs. Optimism, altruistic actions, confessional intimacy, continuing education, creative expression, gaining control, life examination and finding meaning, laughter and tears are healthful and lifegiving.
We are entitled to enjoy the best pleasures in life because we are, collectively, the best that life has to offer. If we elect to refrain from this "doing and being" because we have been programmed to believe that the more suffering we experience in this life, the more happiness we will experience in the next, then it will likely be that it will take a long time to break that pattern of thought, regardless of whatever state we find ourselves.

In sum, the mind should be designed around the parameters, needs, impulses, and urges of the body to promote the most natural flow of health and vitality. Take care to attune to and honor the body, to face all growing pains with courage and integrity, and to embrace full accountability for making healthy lifestyle choices. The mind can then ride the wave to faith in the integrity of nature, of spirit, and of the body to build and maintain health and vitality.
In the end, the optimum word is "trust". If we can trust in the universal goodness of All That Is and see that quality in all that surrounds us, we will likely find unlimited possibilities to express our true nature.

Wholism Fortunately, the time has come wherein humanity is awakening to a bigger version of health and indeed a broader understanding of the human experience. Not only has the power of mind begun to be suspected, but over the past several decades, there has been a growing interest in alternative and wholistic approaches to health that also add the spiritual component. Wholistic self-unity is indeed the bedrock for all kinds of health and vitality. It is only when there is disunity that the spiritual energy force cannot flow freely between physical and nonphysical worlds, and freely throughout the physical body.

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There is a spiritual force that permeates the physical body and it is the same force that exists in mind and the same force that is Spirit. It is the ocean that exists in a wave and it is only mind and its programming that contrives a state of separation so that there can be a source of control from without. Once this state becomes a realization and is put into practice, the "last" source of control becomes the "first" and the "first source of control eventually becomes the "last". This is the true state of the awakening.

Humanity is poised on the brink of discovering and enjoying a radically optimistic view of health---and life in general---as they embrace the enlightened understandings. It is reclaiming the divine emotional system that shall at last reunite body, mind, and spirit in the vital whole that is intended to regulate and support the most purposeful physical experience.
There are subtle shifts taking place in the thought processes of the "so-called" political leaders that seem to suggest that a new paradigm is beginning to have an influence. At the moment, there is strong resistance from the collective establishment. But like a thief in the night, this "shift" is creeping into the collective unconscious and bringing in the "gems" of enlightenment that spread like the vines in a vineyard, until a wholistic view can no longer be ignored.

As individuals re-attune to this long-lost inner sense, the natural process will unfold. If the right and light responses are made to each painful emotional signal, the mindscape is more and more cleansed of slivers and judgments, awareness of the natural bodily processes evolves and unclaimed potentials will simply emerge. Health and vitality come along with this process, and the unification of body, mind, and spirit in any given lifetime cannot help but promote maximum health and expression in all counterparts and aspects of the entity. Indeed, healing brings a fuller spectrum of spiritual vitality across space-time.
There may be many conventional processes we may have to go through in order for the body, infused with spirit, to take control of the situation and gain that state of balance and unity with Spirit. But being in a state of knowing (as is provided by these Lessons), will spark that process and achieve that healthy state as is desired.

When this unifying sense becomes embraced within mass consciousness, tremendous catch-up progress can be made. The focus will immediately shift to the model of the trinity of self, and the roles of both body and mind will be recognized as integral in the expression of spirit. The body will be
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rewarded and fulfilled by the mind, and the mind will fully accommodate the spirit through enlightened belief structures, and be free to create any experience of its choosing. As higher and higher levels of meaning are attained, individuals will recognize the constant interactive cycles within and between the physical and non-physical realms.
On a planet where only a small portion of the population can read, it would behoove us to find a way to distribute this information and these insights in a ubiquitous fashion. One such method might well be television. It would require a collective effort on the part of the communicative portion of society to be willing and able to pass along the wisdom these Lessons offer. The internet could not completely serve this purpose, since it normally requires a state of literacy. However, this technology is constantly expanding and greater possibilities are at the fore. What is needed now is a human catalyst, a force of dedication to such a noble cause.

For as purposeful self-development and self-expression occur, there is an actual expansion of consciousness itself. With evolving vibrancy there is a continuous increase in mental abilities where the eventual instantaneous manipulation of matter by mind is entirely possible. Health and healing will be entirely different constructs than those which currently exist within mass consciousness. We can now discuss the first step to this destiny in the new holistic understandings which are becoming known as energy medicine.

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Section Eta Lesson Three: Implications For Wholistic Health Health In The New Millennium The turn of the millennium marks a significant transition in the human consciousness with the rediscovery of the inner self-regulation sense of feeling. Upon reattunement to inner guidance, when feeling signals are decoded and acted upon purposefully, the subsequent enlightenment will naturally unfold. Individuals will begin to discover and reclaim the vast empowerment that now is invested in limiting beliefs which purchase only minimal levels of expression---and allow only minimal levels of physical vibrancy.
The opening of a chakra is the equivalent of an opening of a portion of the mind to the spirit. The terminology may seem strange and uncomfortable to us, but if we can accept that we are basically "spirit beings" and are in a state of programmed limitation, we can begin to accept that there is a built-in physical/mental/spiritual system in place through which we can expand our predestined potential. "Argue for your limitations and they're yours". These are the words from the book: "Illusions" by Richard Bach. Today, they have more significance and meaning than ever. We have had our limitations chiseled into our minds like the words that are chiseled in stone on our monuments. It is now time to abolish these monuments and get on with living our lives as the creators that we were designed to be.

The lack of self-understanding has dramatically reduced the amount of the potential health and vitality of "normal" human living to the degree that disease, disorder, personality and even character development have been placed outside of individual control through the "truth" offered by mass consciousness. In a world that insists that humans are slaves to genetic predestiny, or the effects of bad parenting, or cultural violence---only to be rescued by blindly following religious doctrine---the creative power of mind is short-circuited. The power over health and development has been placed in the hands of "experts" instead of in the minds of each individual where it truly belongs.
"Conditioning" is a powerful tool, especially when it is used on the pliable minds of the young. If the mind is stifled during even the rebellious years, it is very difficult to bring one into a state of rebirth until and unless the condition can be recognized for what it is and corrected with determination.
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But as the dawn of conscious enlightenment sweeps humanity, there can be a fairly quick recovery and return to the state of conscious, unified, creative experience of spirit in flesh. This empowerment will replace the emphasis of good health back upon each aspect of self as a self-regulated, willful, unified whole and a far more profound understanding of the spiritual aspects of humanity will be apparent.
It would be hoped that the "enlightened sweep" would take place like the "Hundredth Monkey" principle, i.e. that as one person comes to realize this new concept of consciousness, his/her state of enlightenment would somehow be transmitted on to those in the same environment and then beyond, so that it would spread in a subtle but effective manner throughout the world. These "Lessons" offer the opportunity of such seeds of enlightenment being planted at various points and that, with encouragement, their respective growth would bring this material to fruition. So as vines of a vineyard spread and produce their fruit, let nature take its course.

Energy Medicine & The Flow Of Consciousness The beginning of this trend can already been seen in the recent interest in energy medicine by Western civilization. Although Eastern disciplines and medical approaches have long embraced the nature of the body electric, with this shift, the energy will be recognized as the vehicle of consciousness itself. Reclaiming the emotional sense will sever the final strand of the Western notion that consciousness arises from life, instead of consciousness underlying all life. It will create a flurry of intellectual connections between many isolated areas of science including quantum physics, as consciousness takes its rightful place as the energy/information of the cosmos, the expanding "mind" expressing the spirit of All That Is.
Going back in time to correct a fundamental flaw in perception of what consciousness really is and what role it has always been destined to play in the understanding of what we are really comprised of and how we can retain our state of physical and mental balance, will unleash a plethora of new concepts that can barely be imagined from our current perspective.

The energy field will be recognized as various manifestations of consciousness and seen as an interacting portal between body, mind and spirit---with varying intensities and mental and physical manifestations perceived as various aspects of the emotional system. Indeed, varying
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levels of certain features of energy such as vibratory frequencies etc., will be recognized as unifiers of body, mind, and spirit as consciousness cycles into and out of the physical space/time continuum. These cycles and processes will be central to the new concept of wholistic energy health.
What seems most lacking in our understanding of the true nature of health at this point, is the realization that we are not the end product of evolution. We are, rather, the examples of a universal consciousness which is responsible for all evolution and that this "consciousness" existed before time/space and the material world we experience. These latter qualities are simply the illusions we experience for the purpose of our consciousness/spiritual growth.

Indeed, the flow of energy and its conversion from one form to the next is the process that maintains all physical matter, and the conscious human mind plays a far bigger role than is yet suspected. The energy network that comprises the spirit in flesh can be likened to an infinite cycling of energy of spirit flowing through mind and body. A visual depiction can help: Imagine an infinity symbol and the pattern of cyclic energy flowing between its two sides. One side is the physical realm and the other is the nonphysical spiritual realm. Trace the outline of the figure below to feel the cycle course of energy flow.
Physical Realm Non-Physical Realm

*Note the point of interconnection. This is where body/mind/spirit can meet and move toward that unlimited point of All That Is.

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Within this image of circulating energy between physical and nonphysical realms, we can recognize the conscious energy potential of spirit. The spirit's breadth of consciousness transcends any attainable level of physical consciousness, but provides guidance through the emotional sense to bring the fullest breadth of conscious physical experience to mind. It resides in the nonphysical and constantly journeys into, and out of, the physical realm when the entity is embodied. It is the life force that animates the body, handles all "subconscious" processes and moves it impulsively towards its purpose. Thus, both sides of the infinity symbol can also be acknowledged as body and spirit within the trinity self construct. But now focus upon the intersection point between the two, as this tiny point is actually the mental realm, or the mind, as depicted below.

Body

(Mind)

Spirit

To quote Edgar Cayce: "Mind is the builder." It is the focal point between the physical and the non-physical aspect of our nature. As we program it, so it functions and as we limit our beliefs, so do we limit our progress.

The mind is the focal point of the individual personality, the conversion center of the will energy, as well as the mechanism for expanding consciousness. With this image, it is apparent how the mind, as a door-like portal, can influence the energy flow. The mind receives energy from both
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the spirit and from the body and directs thought and action through belief structures. The body, with its needs and impulses cues the mind through unconscious impulses to consciously act in ways that meet the physical needs. This is how it receives feedback from the world regarding how well its needs have been met. The spirit, with its challenges and drive for breadth of expression, moves the mind through pleasurable inspirations, dreams and creative insights. The information from the energy of spirit is experienced in the mind with the emotional resonance of joyous connection to the divine.
As creatures of spiritual creation, we are entitled to all the "joys" that accompany the existence of spirit. That is to say, we are entitled to all ultimate happiness. However, that said, it should be noted that there is no free lunch. We can not expect to be handed this gift without participating in the acquisition. We were created and supplied with the given tools to carve out our own, individual work of art. We are invited to be co-creators of our own reality. We are given free choice of how and how long we wish to take to discover our true nature and to make all that we can make of it. Our possibilities are only as limited as our imagination and that, once we become fully realized, has no limits.

The energy from the physical world is experienced in the mind as more basic emotional feelings and impulses. The feelings are experienced as need hungers which seek satisfaction and which are satisfied through the impulsive movements of body. If the body's needs are not satisfied in any given moment, it cues the mind through the painful corrective feelings of fear and anger, and impulses for fight and flight responses. As the mind recognizes meaning within the patterns, it expands its conscious ability to direct purposeful thought and action as well as embracing and expressing its value potential in any manner desirable.
The greater one's familiarity with the true workings of the mind as it relates to one's body and spirit, the greater the likelihood that one will accelerate toward the truly intended goal of spiritual expansion. The concept of this relationship is not so complicated as to be beyond the limits of any range of what we measure as "intelligence". Rather, it is within the confines of any trial and error basic learning pattern; that which is evident in the lowest form of plant and animal life.

In organisms less complex than humans, there is a more direct connection between body and spirit, without much conscious mind to intervene. The energy information flow from spirit acts directly upon the body. But in
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humans, the energy information from body flows into mind so that it can become consciously aware and take willful control over need-meeting actions. This is how it learns and can come up with creative need-meeting strategies which are far better than the simple "instinctive" reflexes of body. While the energy flow within animals is relatively constant, in humans, the energy flow to body can be disrupted by the will choices and contents of the mind. If the mind chooses to not attune to the incoming emotional messages or clings to beliefs that do not do the job, the mind closes it's doors in self-defense, and little of the precious energy can flow between physical and non-physical realms.
Such is the peril or possibility of the quality of free will. Not only do humans reap the negative consequences of adhering to wrongful choices, but we are also gifted with the positive capability of creating our own reality. Once this latter quality is recognized and appreciated for what it is, and the system of the feeling-feedback is put into practice, the "positive" benefits will be both appreciated and applied.

But a fully closed mind could not facilitate life and a closed mind is not usually the true obstruction. It is, of course, the beliefs that become part of the mindscape. As we now know, the mind develops from the moment of birth in order to consciously and willfully direct the creative experience, so it builds beliefs in a third mental realm which transfers the energy from it's spiritual form to its mental form. In this mental realm, the beliefs act as energy targets which channel and direct the will energy into creative events in the physical realm. The energy flow is not disrupted or minimized unless limiting belief structures are planted within the mind, and these disruptions, of course, prompt the corrective signals of emotional pain. In this context, emotional pain signals distortion of the pure energy/information of spirit and suggests changes to the mindscape.
Emotional pain is the feedback which should signal us to make a course correction as we travel along the space/time continuum. When we ignore this type of "signal", we are missing an opportunity to develop our physical/mental/spiritual nature. If we can take the time to identify the "sliver" that is signaling us through this emotional pain signal, we can revise the belief and benefit from future pain.

The mindscape is meant to be designed to the desires and specifications of each individual, to be planted and nurtured like a personal garden which
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converts will energy into purposeful and desired life events. The mind is meant to become complex with the individually unique perceptions and value expression as part of the experiential expansion of All That Is. As mind evolves conscious understandings, it can speed up and personalize the flow of energy between body and spirit, but at present serves more to obstruct and water down the flow of life force. This is the very genesis of the condition of compromised mental and physical health.
The implanted state of our mental and physical health is directly related to the failure of our created society and its institutional structures to compliment our creative capacities. This is done by keeping the proverbial door closed to such creative possibilities. In great part, this status quo is maintained in order that power and control factions can remain intact.

As depicted below, the mindscape, the creative mental realm can either convert energy efficiently with its myriad gems, or it can block it, if it contains a sizeable amount of slivers. Emotional signals mark the trapped energy in the mind that is frustrating the flow of spirit and underenergizing the body.
Body/Physical Mind/Mental Spirit/Nonphysical

With this image, the complete energy construct can be introduced. What has been depicted with this infinite energy loop is the trinity of self. The mind is the conversion portal of physical and nonphysical energy. It is not simply one construct, but a series of energy conversion points which have been termed chakras. The mind or mental realm has also been termed the emotional body, energy body, or ethereal body, but it can now take its rightful place in the self system.
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Adopting a visual aid to understand and expand our acceptance of our true nature, may help and encourage us to operate on a higher level of existence. Once we are exposed to this form of expanded information and let our true nature follow its "natural" course, then the outcome can be trusted to reach an accepted level of achievement.

Now the image of the infinity symbols can be collapsed back down into its more valid depiction. The trinity of self intersects at the portal chakras of mind in an overlapping interactive conversion system that has been likened to a "spinning wheel". Each chakra of the mindscape is more accurately depicted below.
The Trinity Chakra Center

Indeed, the "mindscape" (with its beliefs which either increase or subdue energy flow) is not located in one place, but rather it straddles space-time encapsulating the physical body. The mind is thus centered at seven locations corresponding with each of the universal needs of body and the spiritual challenges. During the natural developmental process, as the challenges are surmounted and the successful needmeeting belief structures are put into place, each of the mind's chakra portals becomes fully engaged and operating at peak capacity. At peak capacity the will energy is smoothly converted from the non-physical realm into the physical realm and back again through its personally chosen belief structures.
There then exists in every human being a system that, when properly programmed, can deliver an exchange between physical, mental and spiritual as a source of information which can be in maximum creativity and expanded enlightenment. The only variable appears to be an awareness and an expanded
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series of beliefs.

This is how reality is created through the mindscape as well as how it is guided by the feedback of the spiritual energy force, and how peak health and well being is attained. If belief structures are limited in any way they will create events which cause emotional signals to tell us that we are focusing our energy in ways less conducive to spiritual intention. If signals are not answered with conscious adaptive learning corrections made to the mindscape, the energy disruptions affect thought, action, and the health of the physical body. For ongoing painful signals indicate unacceptable deficit states wherein the individual is not fully functional, or even fully alive.
Understanding the nature of the mechanism that allows us to exercise our creative capabilities may well enhance our confidence in doing so. Once this system is not only understood but appreciated, we can begin utilizing it for not just our health and well being, but in the variety of ways in which we can lay aside our limiting beliefs and free our creative nature.

This energy state underlies all aspects of mental and physical health. For the displaced energy lingers and builds, creates chemical imbalances, and adds urgency to the body's unconscious need-meeting impulses until some purposeful change occurs. The body can help dissipate the energy through movement, creative action, vocalization, and tears, but it will continue to be problematic until each of the spiritual challenges are surmounted permanently with successful belief structures that bring positive emotional outcomes on a long term basis. For physical life is the creation of blissful human experience which delights and expands the universal consciousness of All That Is. Suffering is not a spiritually desirable state.
This last sentence runs in complete contradiction to the emphasized beliefs of current Christianity, as it has been practiced over too many centuries. The very concept of "Hell" is an ingrained part of the "suffering" scenario. Now we can begin to see and accept that there is an alternative belief, based upon this newly described paradigm, that can free all human beings from anticipated suffering and open the door of opportunity to levels of happiness that heretofore have been unimaginable.

Humanity has become so mired in limiting beliefs that disorder and disease have been accepted as normal or inevitable conditions of life. Each
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emerging mind has been so choked with value judgments that the intended course of human development remains unattained. Although physical life is graced with tremendous flexibility and resilience such that we can survive with severely under-energized forms, such a life is painful, brutish, relatively short, and devoid of much meaning and value. Full healthful development is the challenge of bringing unconscious processes under willful conscious control through purposeful belief structures. This peak development is mastering the ultimate potential to creatively manipulate matter with the conscious mind. The fully aware and alive human being can convert matter into energy and quite literally prevent and cure disease with the power of the mind.
Just as the belief system can explain the phenomenon we know as the placebo effect, i.e. causing someone to obtain health-restoring results from a mere sugar pill, so are we gradually beginning to understand the power of the mind and its potential effect on our physical state of health. We need not suffer. We need not die in pain. We need not lead lives of quiet desperation.

The transcendent potential within humanity includes transmutation of the physical form itself. Wherein conscious conversion, dissipation and reintegration of the physical form can allow certain types of time-space dimensional travel. With such a destiny, the species are profoundly handicapped even when we appear to be fairly alive and healthy. But the progress of the species is contingent upon conscious awakening to the interaction of the trinity of self and ceasing to ignorantly interfere with the unfolding mind.
A minimal level of consciousness, on the physical level, has been responsible for the level of evolution observed and championed by the "Darwinists". But what has been missing and should soon become apparent, is the role of the mind in the evolutionary process, both in fact and in potential. Mind is not only the builder, it is the "evolver".

The process can proceed if the energy flow remains open and circulating, the chakras spinning, so that mind becomes conscious of all spiritual potential and expresses it in the world. At the optimal energy flow, feelings from the nonphysical realm deliver steady enthusiasm, creative inspirations, and a passionate drive toward purposeful self-development and self-expression of its value potential in line with the entity's desired destiny path. When this optimal flow occurs, health is naturally vibrant,
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and life is consciously directed, spontaneous, meaningful, and rewarding. Otherwise, disruptions occur which effect health and well-being and misdirect energy into limited beliefs and creations.
"Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you". These are the words of Universal Law. The key to opening this promising door lies in the simple application of feelings. Passion for the unlimited, positive possibilities is as viable and possible as mankind's desire for freedom and opportunity. HENCE, LET THE PROCESS BEGIN!

Disturbances To The Chakras Of Mind Interference in the natural developmental process manifests itself in one of two ways. The energy comes into the mind from both directions, flowing through the mind's belief structures cycling feedback information between physical and non-physical realms. As mind evolves its consciousness, it becomes better and better at deciphering the energy information from either side without creating distortion, while choosing any desirable manner of belief to carry out spiritual guidance. Any limiting beliefs of mind can act like a conceptual gate at either side of its portal which filters and limits a portion of the energy. The mind can also develop habitual defensive strategies that can substantially impact either gate. If the mind blocks the energy from either direction, the chakra itself will contain either too much or too little energy.
Implanted fear is the characteristic of most of the blockages or portals which interfere with the natural flow of energy into the mind from either the physical or spiritual sources. In the former case, it is usually physical pain, but in the latter case it is the unfamiliarity with the spiritual state itself which causes most of the panic. We are so conditioned to believing that the source of Spirit must be some religious cult or institution, that when it comes to us in pure and natural form, we fail in our ability to trust It.

The mind can block energy as it comes from the spiritual realm if it contains belief structures that do not honor the divinity and connection to All That Is. This is the condition of being under-energized , with characteristic mental and physical symptoms resulting in lethargy and depression. Or the mind can allow the energy/information to enter, but lack the efficient belief structures to channel it properly in creative expression, resulting in a frustration of blocked energy. Or the mind can defend itself
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with denial to the incoming feedback from the physical realm. This is the condition of being over-energized, with its own set of symptoms, which involved increased impulsive urges.
Under-energized - Feelings of Lethargy, Depression

Over-energized- Frustration and Impulsive Approach/Avoid Feelings Increase

The practice of blocking the "spiritual energy" from entering the mind is bound to have negative effects on one's mental and physical well-being. What the paragraph and diagram illustrate is that these "effects" can be identified and the process/reason for experiencing them can be avoided.

Either condition prevents the full breadth of its potential experience from flowing into the physical realm and back to its source in the nonphysical realm. The condition of being under-energized, can still allow a flow of feedback information between body and mind, but spiritual input is minimized. A chakra that is open to spirit but becomes closed to feedback from body, fails to act upon the energy information, and experiences creative frustration and pressure from world challenges that increase subconscious bodily impulses.
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All of existence is a cyclical state. The more this is accepted and encouraged on the personal level, the more our Spiritual/Mental/Physical state is enhanced. These Lessons admonish us to learn this principle, but even a simple observation of nature, itself, can bring such truth into our understanding.

The energy is then forced into future experiences through unconscious approach and avoid responses to complete its intentions of selfpreservation and drive toward conscious self-development and selfexpression. This trapped energy moves the body in the purposeful directions, in specific patterns of behavior so that the mind can take note, "get it right" and change its structures and increase the energy flow. It will continue in endless cycles of negative events until the mind becomes aware enough to get it right.
We can either learn slowly and painfully or we can learn pleasantly and quickly. It's our choice. What is also our choice is whether to hang on to our programmed beliefs or to expand them toward love and understanding. To do the latter is not to establish a state of conflict with the world but to simply play a chosen role in its evolution.

If the person allows their mind to cling to its limited beliefs and shuts down at both ends, this is the most serious compromise of the health of the mental chakra, and the most powerful threat to survival. This generally occurs when denial strategies prevent the feedback from body from entering the conscious awareness, yet there are also few belief structures to receive the higher inspirations and feelings of faith offered by spirit. Without using the feedback information, the mind becomes disconnected from body and body alone acts out its pain. This creates a sense of futility, yet an energized anger that is unleashed upon the world.
How many examples of this "anger" can we see in those around us. It might be in the form of road rage or more generalized in the form of mass oppression. It can be domestic in the form of spousal physical or mental abuse and, sometimes, even child abuse. If we choose to let it, all these states can affect us in an adverse fashion. However, if we can recognize and understand these states, we can begin to heal them and remove them from our physical/mental existence. The Seriously Compromised Chakra

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This is the essence of the concept of karma. If the mind is not sufficiently open at any point, it will be forced by the negative experiences it creates to learn of its power and how to utilize it more purposefully. Such a mind will create disease by continuously forcing the body into stressful emotional cycles---disease that does not necessarily go away with the physical death. For even if the life ends long before the mind has opened itself fully, it's experiences and limitations then become future challenges for the entity to overcome in alternate/subsequent experiences and incarnations.
The opportunity to make corrections in our learning is most optimal while we are in the physical state, but the opportunity to understand the process can be available in whatever state we might wish to exist. Learning and sharing what we learn are activities that never cease to exist.

The person's chakras of mind become part of the entity's "history" of expansion following any given incarnation and all deficits become top priorities to round out and complete itself as part of the general expansion of All That Is. This is how choices are made for subsequent birth conditions, physical challenges, and all genetic predispositions. They are intended to focus developmental efforts on the least fulfilled spiritual challenges. Enlightened health analysis will use genetic conditions and propensities as indicators of the specific challenges that must be addressed, such that these disorders need not arise. Enlightened parents can then ensure the best conditions to keep this pattern from repeating, and the individual can use the information to recognize inner urges that relate to these challenges. Indeed, wholistic health reaches far beyond the simple aches and pains of any given day, or the disease processes of any given life, addressing the spiritual challenges and their broadest implications.
We are, in this century, approaching a point of comprehension; one in which we can begin to grasp the true value of identifying the genetic code. If we can grasp the value of using this information in a way that protects and helps us offset the
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worst of the negative consequences and help each other to benefit along our respective paths, the rewards can be unimagined, but most fulfilling.

The Seven Chakra Centers Of Mind The secret is, of course, realignment with the inner self-unifying processes through understanding the function of spiritual feeling signals as they circulate within and between all aspects of self. As we now know, the bodily needs and the spiritual challenges manifest in this process of purposeful mental self-development. This developmental process is the intended natural opening or turning on each of the chakras of mind.
The optimum word here is "understanding". If we don't completely understand or appreciate the workings of the Chakra system, it only requires exposure to this information, even if that means repeated exposure. There is no shame in having to read or listen to it more than once, considering how alien it is to most of our belief systems. It is as mysterious as our understanding of how atoms and molecules relate and this is something that most were not even exposed to a mere hundred years ago. When we open the gates of the mind, we allow a whole universe to flow in and, with discretion, we can grow as a result.

Ancient symbolic wisdom has linked the chakra system to the elements of earth, fire, water, and air; to the sensory system; to aromas; to musical notes and tones; to colors of the spectrum; all in addition to health issues. The recent pioneering efforts in energy medicine have begun to synthesize the ancient symbolic wisdom and to tap into the physical maladies linking them with the unmet physical needs and unfulfilled spiritual challenges. Although there is less specificity and precision than will ultimately emerge, this rudimentary holistic concept of health is a necessary step in the evolution of the species.
The whole concept of digging into the ancient past in order to understand the present and alter the future for our betterment, might strike some as unorthodox, at the very least. But a rudimentary review of history will show that our understanding of such things as philosophy and mathematics comes from the thinkers of Greece and other cultures who made their contributions thousands of years ago, or what we might describe as "ancient times".

To assist in this evolving self-understanding, it is most useful to discuss the over-energized and under-energized symptoms at each of the chakra
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centers. These physical and emotional conditions can be used to identify the unfulfilled spiritual challenges, to resolve conflicting beliefs, and to remove the destructive slivers. Individuals can draw from this wisdom to find many useful techniques to assist their self-developmental progress. The use of tone and color are particularly helpful in visualizations, vocalizations, and creation of soothing, relaxing, and grounding external conditions.
Once the mind is opened to the idea of examining new ways of bio-feedback, then the suggested techniques, no matter how foreign they might seem, can be put in place and the benefits applied.

As the chakras themselves are introduced, their descriptions will include some of the traditional wisdom. But it is essential to recognize the supplementary nature of element, tone, and colors associated with specific chakras and that the focus remain upon the spiritual challenges and conscious development of the mindscape. The chakras must first and foremost be recognized as the very manifestations of mind itself which have a direct energetic, electrical, and chemical effect upon the body. The chakras are where and how the specific beliefs of mind effect the bodily conditions. In a general sense, the chakra system has three major categories or stages in a sequential developmental process. The primal or bodily grounding, the psychological or mental grounding and the psychic spiritual awakening.
We are now moving into a territory that modern technology can not yet measure. This means that current scientific thought will have difficulty in accepting the existence of the matters described. This may be significant but not that important. Science has always played catch-up to reality and frequently uses the word "discover" to describe its latest findings.

Chakras One & Two: Bodily Grounding The first two chakras are opened fully as the mind learns its place in the world, becomes connected with inner and outer processes, and learns to both give and receive energy information. There can be a good deal of overlap in the physical process and symptoms of these two basic centers, but the health maladies offered can point the mind in the direction of the spiritual issues and bodily needs that require corrective attention.
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The mere fact that these two chakras are up and running at the time of our entrance into physical reality, should serve as a stimulant and incentive for further development. The next step is to learn to use them to their maximum potential.

The Root Chakra The root chakra is the first and most basic energy center of the emerging mind. It is located around the tailbone, and it represents the basic connection need to be grounded in one's body and in one's world. The feelings of body push and pull through inner impulses to lead the mind to develop the successful beliefs which overcome the mother challenge. The root chakra is profoundly effected by the infant's environment and is influenced by the predestined focuses of the incarnation. It is the tribal connection and offering of mass consciousness which can make or break an emerging sense of connection, freedom, and power.Unconditional love from family and acceptance into the world is essential for the complete opening of the root chakra. The root chakra has been associated with the sense of touch, the color red, the earth element, the note of C, and the tone of short "e" as in "red".
Here is an example of where science is beginning to catch up with the metaphysical. Experts in child psychology are starting to recognize the importance of the giving and acceptance (or absence) of the "love" emotion in the life of a newly born. By experiencing this emotion, the individual also achieves the necessary grounding which will have the long-term positive effects necessary to aid in the development of a balanced life.

A fully open and balanced root chakra is characterized in the mother archetypal energy, by a centered groundedness, a safe and healthy sense of self-empowerment, unlimited physical energy and the ability to manifest abundance. It supports the values of loyalty, honor, and justice. The sexual energy is loving affectionate, passionate, trusting and sensuality is experienced throughout the body.
Kinda makes one wonder where the rest of us went wrong! Well, the good news is that it's never too late to make a course correction. If only those born to a perfect environment could have an opportunity at evolving, the universe would begin getting very minimal in size. In fact, just the opposite is true. The greater the opportunity for improvement, the greater the opportunity for expansion.

Disturbances in this chakra relate to unresolved challenges and mental slivers that have been instilled which close the door at either end of mind.
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An over-energized root chakra presents itself in such characteristics as: victimizing archetypal energy, perfectionism, impulses of greed dominance, and addiction to wealth. Sexuality is often indiscriminate, mostly genital, often sadistic and filled with nervous sexual energy. An under-energized root chakra is well captured in the victim archetype, characterized by weakness, confusion, inability to attain goals, and selfdestructiveness. Sexuality is influenced by feelings of being unloved, or of being abandoned, and often results in little interest in sex or masochism.
We all know people who occupy such categories and may even recognize a certain portion of ourselves in this description. This should not be of great concern, for the mere capability of "recognizing" suggests that we are sensitive to those lesser qualities which we might wish to alter. The capability to do so will soon be expanded upon.

Physical symptoms of disturbances of the root chakra will involve: the spinal column, nervous system, legs, feet, immune system, the blood, and the bladder. They can include: lower back pain, sciatica, hyperactivity, fever, low or high blood pressure, sluggish digestion, flaky skin, varicose veins, shock, anemia, poor circulation, rectal tumors, and depression.
If all those symptoms are not enough to point to a recognition of a chakra shortcoming, it would be difficult to imagine what might do the trick. There are so many signals in our physical existence that can help us to make the necessary course corrections, that to ignore them would be to put our ships of state into reverse. But the tide of progress travels in only one direction and sooner or later, we must fulfill our deemed destiny.

The Second Chakra The second chakra is located in the lower abdomen. It is associated with the father challenge, the sense of taste, the color orange, the element of water, the note D, the tone "o" as in "open". It involves the sexual organs, the hips, bladder, appendix, pelvis and large intestine. It is the center for physical prowess, empowerment, friendliness, creativity, money, blame, guilt, and sexuality. A healthy and open second chakra of the mindscape drives a friendly, humorous, and optimistic disposition, solid attunement to feelings, strong empathic connection with others, creativity, imagination, and intuition, and a beginning sense of universal connection and altered
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states of consciousness. Sexual energy is very sensual and a potential desire to have children if such has been a destiny choice.
It should be of interest that three of the qualities attributed to the second chakra are "money, blame and guilt". Among all the qualities listed, these would have to be regarded among the least virtuous.

Excessive energy in the second chakra is evidenced by emotional explosiveness, aggression, being overly ambitious or manipulative, being caught up in fantasy or delusion, and overly affected by the feelings of others. The sexuality might be obsessive, with a view that people are objects. An under-energized condition is characterized by detached emotions, shyness, guilt, mistrustfulness, self-sacrifice and resentment, and well described by the martyr archetype. Sexuality is often overly needy, repressed, guilt-ridden, dysfunctional and may bring difficulty with conception.
What are listed above are all the adverse consequences of a state of imbalance in this particular chakra. These are qualities that might be recognizable in western society, especially in the more urban centers where populations tend to be condensed and competitive.

Physical symptoms of disturbances in the second chakra can be: Ob/gyn problems, kidney weakness, constipation or diarrhea, lethargy, allergies, urinary problems or bladder infections, muscle cramps or spasm, infertility, impotence or frigidity as well as chronic lower back pain.
At various periods in our life process, we are often prone to experiencing the above related physical problems. Should such problems be recognized and appreciated as signals designed to encourage course corrections, we might learn to appreciate one of the more obvious benefits of physical and emotional pain.

Chakras Three & Four - Mental Grounding The next two chakras are concerned with the mind's grounding in its tasks, abilities and functional role as the conscious controller and instrument of self-development and creative expression. The Third Chakra
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The third chakra is located in the upper abdomen at the solar plexus. It is the center of personal power and value fulfillment at the developmental point where the person comes into one's own in full recognition of the drive to develop and express inner gifts. It is associated with the contributor challenge, sense of taste, the color yellow, the element fire, the note E and the tone "aahoom" as in "room". It involves the stomach, the middle spine, liver, gallbladder, adrenal glands, spleen, abdomen, upper intestines, kidney and the pancreas. It involves issues of trust, selfesteem, pursuit of happiness, compassion for self and others, responsibility for decision making, fear and intimidation, sensitivity to criticism, and personal honor.
It is presumed that on each occasion when there is the experience of pain or discomfort in this particular area of the body, that a signal is being transmitted to the mind that a review of one's thoughts and actions in the attitudes being currently reflected, is in order. If such a review results in a positive step being taken to alter such attitudes or beliefs, than the result would lead to a greater level of happiness both within and without.

An open and balanced third chakra is characterized by: respect for self and others, an outgoing and cheerful disposition, a strong sense of personal power and responsibility, awareness of inner value potential and its need to express; skillful, relaxed, intelligent, spontaneous, enjoys good food, and likes challenge and activity. Sexuality is free, uninhibited, emotionally warm, intimate and mutually pleasurable, with a sense of tremendous value for, and committed responsibility to, family.
To have all of these qualities, all of the time would suggest that one has achieved the "opening" and the balance that has been imagined and achieved by desire and dedication. This might sound like a lot of hard work but, in fact, it is simply a state of mind that has been allowed to make the shift to intent. From that point, all progress comes in an uninterrupted fashion.

Disturbances in the over-energized third chakra include: judgmentalness, perfectionism, workaholism, demanding, resentful, overly intellectual, seeks chemical escapism, and a superiority complex based upon feelings of inferiority. Sexuality might include complaining, testing one's partner, being overly demanding or overactive but rarely fulfilled. An underenergized third chakra brings: depression, lack of confidence, confusion, following rather than leading, fear, and loneliness. Physical symptoms of
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these disturbances are: poor digestion, food allergies, gas, liver problems, diabetes, hypoglycemia, over-sexuality, depression, difficulty breathing, gallstones, and nervous exhaustion.
The overachiever and the underachiever seem to share balanced extremes. Both also share a state of perpetual unhappiness, which when viewed from a detached perspective, are no more permanent than a state of mind. These personality characteristics are similar to the descriptions we read earlier of physical pains which signal us of states of imbalance.

The Fourth Chakra The fourth chakra is located in the heart area. It is the center of full connection and empathetic compassion. It is associated with the lover challenge, the color green, the element air, the senses of touch and smell, the note F#, and the tone "a" as in "ah". It involves the heart and lungs, the circulatory system, and the thymus gland, the arms and shoulders, the ribs, breasts and the diaphragm. It involves the issues of love and hate, grief and anger, resentment and revenge, loneliness, commitment, hope, trust, forgiveness and compassion.
It is clearly the most feeling of the chakras and that in most need of exploration and definition in our current time/space experience. It is too often confused with the sex drive when, in fact, it is the parent of that particular expression. In this age, we tend to put the order in reverse, presuming that the passion aroused in sex is the perpetrator of genuine love. This might explain our notoriously high divorce rate.

A balanced fourth chakra is characterized by: full emotional attunement, intimate relationships, compassion, humanitarianism, faith in human nature, nurturing, in touch with feelings in self and others, active in community, discriminating, and outgoing. Sexuality is a merging of spirits in intimate communion, a dissatisfaction with lesser forms and the strong inner motivations and patience for the higher intimacy.
It is difficult to have compassion if there is little passion. It is difficulty to have higher intimacy if there is no appreciation for intimacy at a lower level. The stifling of the sexual drive is detrimental to those qualities that enhance our humanness and motivate our love of the divine. It is for this reason that so many of those who take vows of celibacy are drawn toward sexual activity or end up having a difficult time making an emotional connection with those they have made a commitment to simply serve.
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Excessive energy in the fourth chakra is reflected in: possessiveness, overly demanding and critical behavior, melodramatic, manic-depressive, uses money and or guilt to control. Sexual energy is conditional love, and manipulative control. Under-energized conditions result in: self-pity, indecision, paranoia, fear of abandonment, fear of vulnerability, and worry over family members. Sexuality is stifled by feelings of unworthiness, fear of rejection, neediness for constant reassurance.
When emotions seem to run the gamut from being overly demanding to a semistate of depression, it is likely a natural energy of some sort is being stifled. If that energy is emotion, it will likely be reflected in the natural methods that society regards as acceptable. When certain practices become unacceptable because of age, an unmarried state or a religious position, then emotional problems are likely to surface in many ways, particularly among those which are described above.

Physical symptoms of fourth chakra disturbances are: congestive heart failure, heart attack, mitral valve prolapse, asthma, allergies, lung cancer, bronchial pneumonia, upper back and shoulder pain, breast cancer, high blood pressure, negativity, fatigue, breathing problems, tension, insomnia, anger, cancer and paranoia.
Listen to those terms: Heart failure, heart attack, lung cancer, breast cancer, high blood pressure, tensions, negativity, anger, paranoia. Those all relate to the emotions or the organs we identify with emotions. It is only when we have related these doorways with the forces that pass through them, that we can begin to make progress in the areas of our most prolific problems.

The Final Three Chakras - Grounding The Spirit The final three chakras are involved with the grounding of spirit and attaining the maximum connection with the highest guidance and communion with All That Is. The Fifth Chakra The fifth chakra is located in the throat area. It is the center for creative expression. It is associated with the speaker challenge, the color blue, the sense of sound, the note "G", the tone "u" as in "blue". It involves the
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throat, the thyroid, mouth, teeth & gums, trachea, esophagus, parathyroid, the neck vertebrae, and the hypothalamus. It involves the issues of: creativity, choice and strength of will, value fulfillment, personal expression, judgment, faith, and knowledge.
It is not only the "center for creative expression", but the guiding force of that expression, allowing for a direct link between body/mind and spirit. It effects the balancing of the tools of expression and maintains a ideal of focus.

The balanced fifth chakra is characterized by: artistic inspiration and expression, spontaneity and living in the present, good speaking and meditating skills, intuitive, centered, and prolific. Sexual energy is incredible, or it can be channeled into other creative outlets, making abstinence an easy choice.
One would not think that the choice of sexual abstinence would necessarily have a positive result but in this case, that is exactly what happens. The greater the abstinence, the higher the spiritual development, the more positive the expression of spirit. Is there life in the absence of sex? Yes, and most abundantly.

Excessive energy in the fifth chakra involves: being over-talkative, selfrighteous, dogmatic, addictive, or arrogant. Sexuality is preoccupying, subconsciously macho and might seek partners that can be dominated. Too little energy results in: intimidation, holding back, unreliable, inconsistent, confusion, devious or manipulative, and having trouble expressing one's thoughts. Sexuality is fearful, tense, and in conflict with cultural teachings.
Here, again, a self-examination of one's personal characteristics can give clues to where greater balance can be achieved. Of course, the primary incentive for achieving that state of balance is the desire to do so, and without that desire, the imbalance and all of its ramifications will remain dormant.

Physical symptoms of disturbances in the fifth chakra include: thyroid problems, sore throat, teeth and gum problems, exhaustion, mental fatigue, skin irritations and rashes, ear infections, laryngitis, and swollen glands.
Any visualization techniques exercised to alleviate these conditions should also include a vision of achieving balance in the chakra to which they are related. In fact, this is a sound suggestion for all consequences of chakra imbalance.

The Sixth Chakra

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The Sixth chakra is located in the forehead area. It is the center of intuitive vision and finding meaning through an ever-widening conscious awareness. It is associated with the senses of sight and self-regulation, the color indigo, the note high "A", and the tone "om" as in "home". It involves the brain, nervous system, the eyes, nose, and ears, and the pineal and pituitary glands. It is connected with issues of: the seer, seeking truth, self-evaluation, uniting intellect with emotion, openness to others ideas and feedback.
The connection of the balanced state of this chakra and the sound "om", might suggest that if one were to spend a modest amount of time making this simple sound, he/she might well be enhancing those positive qualities in self that are listed above.

The fully open sixth chakra is evident in: charisma, attunement to universal consciousness, emotional detachment from material things while open to the joy of aesthetic, no fear of death, model of liberation and selfmastery, telepathy and clairvoyance, and a mobile consciousness. Sexuality is spiritual melding, with androgyny attained by both partners, or celibacy and transcendent bliss is substituted.
It is only through the evidence expressed above that we can know that these portals to the higher level of development are truly open and operational. In our current society, the qualities described herein are not always appreciated, especially by those who have no clue as to what is being "described".

An over energized sixth chakra results in: authoritarianism, religious dogmatism, manipulation, and egomania. An under-energized sixth chakra instead brings: lack of self-discipline, fear of success, and a melding with feelings, energies, and identities beyond the personality.
The "over energized" characteristics might be attributed to many of our "socalled" successful political and religious leaders. Unfortunately, these personality types are tolerated (and sometimes admired) by the general population because of a state of imbalance within the general population. This is true of the "under-energized" qualities, as well.

Health conditions that accompany sixth chakra disturbances, include: stroke, brain tumors or hemorrhage, neurological disturbances, blindness or deafness, full spinal problems, seizure disorders and learning disabilities.
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In other words, the more egotistical and "uptight" we become about the world around us, or the more insecure we find ourselves to be, the greater likelihood we will develop the above described health problems.

The Seventh Crown Chakra The seventh, final chakra of the mindscape is located at the crown area of the head. It is the center of spiritual transcendence. It is associated with the transcender challenge, the need for the highest meaning, the color violet, with extrasensory perception, and the transcendent lure of life-long unified self-regulation, the note B, and the tone "e" as in "see". It involves the muscular and skeletal systems and the skin. Its issues are spiritual awareness, mobility of consciousness, conscious creation, faith, inspiration, and cosmic humanitarianism.
As we move toward the greater "opening" of this last chakra, we will begin to feel the peace of mind that can only be associated with our arrival at a complete state of balance. Those not near this state will find themselves feeling uncomfortable around this balanced state and take steps to distance themselves. This is as it should be, for all must travel their own road in their own time.

The fully functional seventh chakra is characterized by purposeful thoughts and actions that lead to the highest ethics and values of natural morality, communion with the divine, the self actualized potential, the endless boundaries of the self concept, miraculous abilities, the humanitarian efforts for the broadest realm of self-expression, faith, courage, compassion and devotion, and a relative absence of negative emotion.
This is often set up as a near unachievable state, but we are much closer to it than we might imagine. A great deal of progress toward the opening of this and the other "chakras" can be achieved effortlessly by the simple act of making a defined request before we go to sleep at night. This technique might appear very attractive to those who indulge in multi-tasking, a term of our modern era.

An over-energized crown chakra brings: constant frustration, unrealized power, frequent migraine headaches, psychosis, depression or mania, destructive impulses, and delusions of grandeur. Sexuality fluctuates between passion and distance. An under-energized crown chakra leads to: indecision, low vitality, and catatonia. Physical symptoms of the crown chakra disturbances include: energetic disorders, mystical depression,
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chronic exhaustion without any physical source, and extreme sensitivity to all forms of sensory stimuli.
It would seem that any apparent state of personality or physical/mental imbalance can be associated with a state of too open or too closed chakras. With this particular section of the Lessons, we can now identify which chakra point we can direct our attention toward.

Personal Health Care In light of the reunification of body, mind and spirit, health maintenance becomes the daily care and feeding of the body, and of ongoing refinement of the mindscape to expand the consciousness through the specifications of spirit. As more successful belief structures conduct spiritual energy/information, the chakras that comprise it can open and "spin" freely allowing for the most purposeful, vital, rewarding, and healthy life experience.
The mere exposure to enlightening information regarding the relationship between body, mind and spirit is the initial necessary step in this expansive process. Once initiated, it will become impossible to reverse the course of events. There may be steps backward, but they will be simply detours in the time/space environment. Progress comes as the result of a simple request.

Infant natal charts will include courses of parental actions regarding the specific challenges indicted by genetic strengths, weaknesses and disorders. Individuals can then take the lead at any point which they become conscious enough to recognize their unique sensitivities and life events as relating to the overall challenges of the spirit and any deficits that may be lingering. They can quite literally map the slivers of mind by using the information from the body through the evaluative wisdom of spirit.
No doubt, the above described process will rob the conventional scientists of their own plans to explore and manipulate the information gains through their genetic research. However, as values change and become more spiritually refined, so will the benefits of the knowledge gained through this research.

Enlightened individuals can immediately begin using the mental and physical symptoms to find disruptions in the energy/information flow, and alter the slivers that now stand between the spirit and the person. The
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spiritual challenges, the physical needs, and the mind's conscious ability to meet them through personally designed willful strategies are all reflected through the various manifestations of the emotional sense, with the spirit pulling humanity toward the highest feeling tones, the broadest mind, and the most vibrant health.
Each state of imbalance offers a clue to what need only be connected through willful intent. A great deal of the energy to carry out the restoration of chakra balance can be carried out while we are in a semi or unconscious state, such as sleep. The process of doing so should be obvious.

The chart below can be of tremendous assistance in analyzing all aspects of every health challenge:
The Chakras Of Mind

With the understanding of the interacting self-construct, health is no longer a power handed over to external professionals, but an individual responsibility of continuous self-development and self-expression. For health is but a byproduct of the divine unified self-developmental process. It is a process that not only drives the evolution of individual consciousness, but one which drives the very evolution of the species---which we can now discuss.

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Section Theta Lesson One: Implications For Evolution The Pursuit Of Self-Understanding Throughout human history, the need for meaning imbued within human beings has driven the constant quest for self-understanding. Humanity will feel the existential pull of emotional angst and will suffer the mental, social, and physical symptoms, until it achieves the unifying of selfunderstandings that are offered within these Lessons. The emotional push and pull, of course, underlies and drives all kinds of purposeful change, developmental progress, and all aspects of evolution itself. This information prepares the mind to open the door to inner channels of information and processes that can allow the many further secrets of life to unfold which can then maximize the evolution of the species along the most fulfilling probable course.
The suggestion made is clear. These "Lessons" are not designed to supply one with metaphysical enlightenment as much as they are to stimulate and motivate a willingness to find spiritual knowledge and wisdom within oneself. There are methods of doing this that are suggested, but the stimulus for doing so must come be as a result of desire and intent.

But at present, a good deal of progressive change has been stymied by the mass misconceptions which have resulted in the disunity of the Trinity Of Self, and an historical dualistic split in human theoretical approach and perspective. Some philosophical "schools" of cultural traditions chose only to believe in or focus upon the body, or the material aspects of the self--an approach which was officially adopted within the realm of science. This line of thought held fast to the idea that all natural phenomena, including human behavior, was driven by natural physical forces, often denying that anything that could not be seen with the naked eye could even exist. And as we will see, there is a large element of truth underlying this assumption, although the answer is far more complex than presently accepted.
The definition of what exists and what doesn't has grown to include that which can be measured by current instruments and made apparent to our five senses. As our instruments improve (as they continuously do) and our senses expand, so will our sense of what is "reality" and how we can manipulate it.

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From this first perspective came the ideas that would dominate the evolution of Western scientific thought, A central theme was one of dualism, wherein opposing forces interacted to cause all worldly events. Such concepts include: the energetic and material universe with Newtonian mechanical laws governing predictable and deterministic actions; the Darwinian notion that organisms and environments competitively interact, with nature chaotically selecting and recreating genes which cause human behavior and drive evolution; theCartesian notion that mind and body are separate entities; and the overall rejection of any supernatural or nonphysical forces at work in Earthly events.
Nothing conceived could have resulted in a greater state of unexplained chaos than the concept that life and the universe we know was nothing more than a series of accidental circumstances subject to a lack of a uniform center of intelligence or even guidance. It would be the equivalent of trying the explain the function of a horse while ignoring the obvious fact that it has a head.

The second approach held fast to the intuitive and emotionally appealing idea that something more must be going on than that which meets the objective eye. Those of this leaning gave supremacy to the concept of spirit, and ideas of higher levels of intelligence that had a causal or influential effect upon the physical world. This second approach most heavily influenced the Eastern evolution of thought and action. The great world religions all contain symbolic wisdom gleaned from this approach. But this approach led to black and white ideas about supernatural forces of good and evil ruling the Earth, the need for rigid and punitive external moral controls, and promises of afterlife rewards for enduring a painful, brutish, and disempowered existence, all of which tended to minimize and devalue the entire purpose of human physical experience.
No system of organized religion or philosophy that relies on fear, guilt and control from outside of the individual, whether it give credence to Spirit or not, has merit so long as those who are exposed to its ideas are also expected to comply with its limited dogmas. Free will and a commitment to the guidance of the spirit within, must always be the ultimate bedrock of any spiritual system. All others are subject to the corruption of those who seek power and control.

Unfortunately, both approaches failed to define nature properly (science too narrowly and religion too judgmentally), and neither left any room for the free will of human beings to have any sort of influence upon the events
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of their life. No matter the doctrine, the conclusions were the same: Either natural or supernatural forces pushing or pulling the hapless, helpless humans hither and yon---which ultimately ruled out effective selfunderstanding, self-unification and self-control. Also, these initial assumptions have been worked and reworked by subsequent human minds and have left a huge gulf within mass consciousness between the two valued perspectives. This gulf has perpetuated conflicts between science and religion, between impulses and laws, between socio-political objectives, and ultimately between the body and mind of human beings. At present, the most elemental manifestation of this problem is the ongoing causation debate between creationists and the evolutionists.
Those who try to melt the gap between religion and science, as is often the case with religious institutions of higher learning, tend to create more confusion than clarity in the minds of those they wish to mold. The problem in achieving success in such an effort lies within the built-in flaws of each of these fields, as previously described. Once those "flaws" are addressed and the closedmindedness of science and religion laid aside, the great minds in each field will be able to bridge this "gap" and the mind of mankind will be set upon a path of unlimited enlightenment.

Evolution Vs Creation Without a more complex and accurate concept of "the self", such debates and conflicts will continue to range---thus the urgency of spiritual reconnection. But without the elementary understandings offered herein (concerning the basic boundaries and functions of body, mind, and spirit and the unifying language of human feeling), the intricate layers of the self that relate to its many gestalts can never even begin to unfold before human consciousness. Indeed, as human beings reattune to the lost connective and evaluative sense of human feeling, the expansion of consciousness will expose the many secrets of the depth, breadth and intimate functions of the human self which explain in full the delicate balance between free will and divine intention.
It can be said that it is the Divine Intention that humans be allowed to exercise their free will in a fashion that allows them to unilaterally create their reality and that such reality serve to reflect the Spirit in all that exists.

But spiritual reconnection is the essential first step. For the present, the
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evolution versus creation debate illustrates that nature's divine "intention" or "purpose" is not even yet acknowledged within mass consciousness. The turn of the millennium will mark a dramatic shift forward as scientists begin to embrace and carry forth in theory and action the implications of the discoveries of quantum mechanics. Although this information has been available for some time, it so radically challenged the existing dualistic and dogmatic paradigms that supported and even defined the scientific approach, that they were fearsomely resisted and ignored in biology, psychology, medical and political science. Indeed, the rediscovery of the emotional sense will achieve the critical mass necessary to prove that nature not only has intentions, but that humanity has spiritual access to understanding, as well as the responsibility to carry out such intentions. It will become common knowledge that each human body participates unconsciously, and each mind participates consciously in both evolution and creation.
Evolution and creation are processes motivated by an intention that we are still struggling to recognize. But, in fact, the capability to ignore the obvious is quickly disappearing and what will take its place will serve to explain not only our reason for being but the vast potential we represent.

The spiritual reconnection offers final reconciliation with the scientific acceptance of a redefinition of consciousness. At last, nature will be recognized as the manifestation of interacting gestalts of consciousness which constantly exchange energy and information at every level of biological organization. It can no longer be denied that such energy/information that operates so flawlessly below the human level of consciousness, is not highly intelligent and does not come from some nonphysical source. This acknowledgment will open the door to reunification between science and religion as the reconnection with spirit meets their long-pursued mutual goal---to discover the natural wisdom, secrets, and desires of "the creator".
To put it in more precise terms: Nature and all that is observable beyond it, serves as unquestionable evidence of a master plan in operation. We, as humans, can elect to either recognize and tap into that ocean of thought, or we can continue to swim against the proverbial tide, wallowing in the shallows of our limiting vision.

The Trinity of Self, the symbolic Trinity of Father, Son & Holy Spirit can
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be reconciled and understood within the scientific self-regulating paradigm of body, mind, and spirit, providing a backdrop against which both can compare, identify, and purge their respective misassumptions from mass consciousness. With this cohesive approach, both creation and evolution become valid and significant concepts in the ultimate timeless reality of the ongoing expansion of All That Is. For evolution is simply the cumulative changes that result from ongoing purposeful creations that are accomplished by all life forms within the physical system. In short, there need be no tension between the concepts of creation and evolution---both are equally valid. It is only the physical illusion of time that separates them.
Because we judge all processes from our particular perspective of the illusion of time, we are prone to separate evolution and creation, crediting the former with an individual identity and the latter with some undefined mystery when, in fact, they are one and the same and serve to illustrate our own unlimited capabilities. We are both the observer and the creator, the sender and the receiver and, ultimately the subject and the object of our own being.

The self-regulating principles that balance creative change and stability, operate at all levels of physical complexity in accomplishing nature's divine purposes. At varying levels of complexity, each life form---each gestalt of consciousness---each "self" plays its role by following its inner urges. The least complex forms fulfill the most basic stability purpose of self-preservation which gives the continuity necessary for physical form and interactive existence. This is the purpose that scientists already embrace, but they have no idea of how intricate and creative this basic purpose is within the Earthly ecosystem. Indeed, the inner impetus of selfpreservation, with each simple life form doing its own particular thing, is what accomplishes a great deal of the ongoing reaction of the physical realm.
It is in observing the "Whole" that we come to understand the sum of the parts. It is in appreciating all that is involved in maintaining a state of balance, that we can come to see a reflection of our own true nature and the creative energy source of inspiration we can draw upon, should we elect to do so. As we add more of the parts to the puzzle, we can begin to see the complete picture. That picture is nothing less than the All That Is.

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The Ongoing Evolving Co-Creation With this new awareness of consciousness expansion, the primitive ideas of one single creator and a long-ago creation will give way to the reality of ongoing co-creation. Indeed, when the full understandings of the quantum implications are embraced, all life forms will be recognized as integral perceptual conduits for converting energy into matter, and quite literately recreating the Earth in each moment. The process of photosynthesis is an excellent example of how the "lowly" plant life forms convert light energy into matter, a single process that provides renewable food resources and makes possible the entire food chain. What is not yet realized from this fact is that all life forms play an equally unique and important role in translating energy from the probable field---the unlimited possibilities with the spacious present self-awareness of All That Is---into matter to form the actual physical realm. It is the arrogant assumption that humans are all knowing, "soldiers of God" with a self-generated Word-Of-Truth" Bible in hand, given dominion and the manifest destiny of conquering nature that has led to ecological disasters that are yet to be recognized.
With the understanding that man and nature are integral parts of a collective whole and that this whole is a perpetual process of converting energy into matter and vice versa, it will become appreciated that each and every form of life is essential to survival and growth of the other, in a physical, mental and spiritual sense. From this realization will come a greater level of respect for life in whatever form and the barriers of prejudicial separation will melt away.

Each level of consciousness plays a purposeful role despite its level of complexity. Without the simple operations of atoms consciously attracting, repelling and exchanging electrons, no physical life would be possible. Indeed, it is at the atomic level that all dimensions and realities connect, exchange energy and interact. Through atomic activity, the energy is converted from the probable to the actual fields as electrons zip into and out of "orbital fields" or alternate dimensions, retrieving and delivering information with each action---information that provides the very elements that organize and comprise all physical matter.
If such activity does not provide sufficient evidence of a universal presence of intelligence, it is difficult to imagine what would be necessary to do so. To suggest that this would be the result of some random accident is to decline the validity of any intellectual intent and to put the point of life in the category of a mathematical minus.
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Each life form, simply by meeting its basic survival purposes, plays its role in this ongoing manifestation of the physical realm. What will follow from the initial revelations about the role of consciousness, will be that more complex gestalts or "selves", through their actions and sensory perceptions, exert conscious directions to all inner selves comprising that life form (be they organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, molecules, enzymes, substances, elements, atoms, or subatomic particles) that create material changes to both the environment and the organism at all levels of organization. When organisms are sufficiently complex, with brains that allow a unique new form of self-consciousness, they offer forms of experience that include thought and electro-chemical memory patterns that serve as mental blueprints which facilitate the ongoing co-creation of existing life forms of lesser complexity into which consciousness can enter and achieve self-expression.
At the top of the scale is an already recognized human consciousness. What can now be discerned is that the overriding characteristic of this state of consciousness is it's co-creative quality. It will further be discerned that this particular quality is the glue factor that keeps the lesser levels of consciousness in the consistent, dedicated, ubiquitous pattern which permeates all material existence.

These blueprints create psychic structures with physical counterparts likened to the enzymes similar to those within photosynthesis, that help recreate the life forms that it experiences. (Simply by being locked in the memory of a predator, the prey's existence is energized.) The physical manifestation of this process can be observed as the replications and mutation genetic DNA. (The mental, self-conscious thought processes have far more effect upon matter than is imagined, which is why the inner guidance system is so essential to ongoing re-creation.) All such thoughts, perceptions, and actions are evaluatively driven by inner electromagnetic emotional guiding principles. The sum result is that the physical realm has a continuity of existing life forms into which consciousness can venture and seek expression. As long as there is sufficient latitude for value fulfillment within a species, it will continue to be chosen and reproduction will continue. On the other hand, if a species loses sufficient opportunity due to imbalances within the ecosystem, extinction will occur.

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Herein lies the ultimate value of a balanced state of being, for if humans can achieve a uniform state of balance as a species, that state will reverberate down through the ecosystem and, in doing so, sustain a continuing state of balance and growth throughout the nature of All That Is.

The Power Of Free Will At higher and higher levels of self-awareness, gestalts of consciousness from mammals, to primates, and finally Homo sapiens, along with more complex brains and thought, there is ever more willful control andconscious creative participation within this process. At this stage of complexity, the crude psychic blueprint can be tremendously affected by the mind itself in ways that can enhance the experience and opportunities of the species. This is the power of creative will energy---the power that can either enhance of destroy---depending upon its level of attunement to inner guidance.
There is a base line quantum here that is key to creative process. It is comprised of a connectedness and appreciation for the body, mind, spirit complex. When the mind is open to a higher level of guidance and ideals are formulated which make for a reality which compliments the role of humans as a whole, the process of creating one's reality is smoothed and enhanced.

Herein enters the secondary purpose of self-development joining the first, wherein the mind can exert its creative control and influence upon the many levels of existing processes. Herein, also, enters the complex feeling tones that offer the mind its highest directional guidance in order to ensure quality control. Self-development allows the mind to collect and utilize ever-increasing levels of understanding concerning the processes of its many levels, so that it can do a high quality job of enhancing the value of experience. Self-development occurs first through conditioned unconscious learning processes until at some point the organism recognizes the meaningful patterns and mindfully adapts with right responses. In either case, the mind will create actions and reactions, which in turn create chemical alterations which change the external environment and, to some degree, affect its own DNA, allowing it to pass along the improvement to its species' gene pool as well as the collective species consciousness.
There is a recognition and unconscious understanding achieved wherein the
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evolution of a particular member of a species, upon reaching a higher level of physical, mental and spiritual development, will alter its DNA in a way that aligns with this state of development. That portion of species most responsible for the reproductive act, will seek out a reproductive relationship with that species member in order to participate in the developmental process. In more mundane terms, development along the lines described enhances one's state of sexual attraction.

Both thought and action create evolutionary change. It is through the changes, the creative enhancements affected by the highest life forms that new gestalts of consciousness become possible within the physical realm. Indeed, the human species itself is collectively a "self" as its mass consciousness exerts influence upon the free will and biological predestiny of the humans that comprise it. The more guided purposeful expansion of consciousness, the more complete becomes the creative free will. Thus, the broadest self-actualization of each individual helps enhance the potential fulfillment of the entire whole. (The whole includes all members of the human species despite any sort of racial diversity, for a species is defined by its members' ability to reproduce.)
There is a sort of hundredth monkey theory suggested here. While the conventional process of elevating the general state of the human species is considered the physical reproductive system, the very thoughts of any particular member can cross the imaginary lines of separation in some form of morphic resonance and result in a collective raising of consciousness among those who are open and desirable of such an elevation.

The most dramatic forms of human evolution occur now within the realm of mind. The changes in mass consciousness are trends in human cultural evolution and are driven by the collective changes brought about by all three purposes accomplished by each individual. Following the inner urges to manifest the inner value potentials, humans create ever more complex mental and ethnological tools which drive the expanding mass consciousness. Indeed, the human mass consciousness can rightly be described as a single planet in a still higher universe of planetary consciousness---with its own value to fulfill. Thus, it becomes essential for each portion to offer its highest and best contribution to the whole. This is the most deliberate form of expression, described herein as the purpose of self-actualization.

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The initial process of thinking one's self into existence is followed by the creation of the higher levels of mind and the physical and mental tools to expand that expression. On a physical level, the planet is experiencing a global connectedness through a system commonly known as the internet. On a mental level, the opportunity to share information in a quick and inexpensive manner, as provided by this same "internet", enhances the occupants of the planet as a whole.

Humans are indeed the creative custodians over life forms influenced by their culture and technology. Without the inner guidance, there is much corrective work to be done. For example, the treatment of the cattle species for the food source of beef by many Western cultures. Beef production that disallows a natural developmental experience and free range sensory experience, offering instead only a life of limited mobility, manipulated by growth and anti-bacterial chemicals, and ending in a painful and violent death, has negatively affected the mass consciousnesses of the species, resulting in such anomalies as "mad cow disease". On the other hand, cultures that honor the cow as sacred and allow it a more meaningful natural experience, have positively affected the species' consciousness, perhaps forestalling a mass extinction.
The seeds of destruction of a particular animal species are sowed by the attitudes of the higher life forms in its relationship with that species. If the qualities of free will are not honored uniformly, than the general deterioration that follows will serve as an early signal of the adverse consequences to follow. The difference between feeding lots and a free range environment is just beginning to be signaled and appreciated.

Early aboriginal peoples, particularly the native Americans, had a much more highly evolved consciousness in terms of spiritual connection with animals of all kinds. They had quite well-developed intuitive senses and actually practiced telepathic communication with animal totems who offered wisdom and guidance. They asked permission in pre-hunt prayers and post-hunt celebratory feasts, dances, and rituals. This honored the spirit of the animal, creating an emotional connection highly desirable to the species. They participated in the food chain as their needs dictated, but they did so with honor, gratitude, and respect for the life that was taken, and called forth only those that were ready to end their physical journey. They used humane killing techniques and utilized every portion of the animal with minimal waste. Unfortunately, the Western technological
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dominance disrupted such cooperative practices, arrogantly misunderstood and defiled such "savage" rituals and concepts, and created near extinction of the buffalo species through their own misguided and willfully ignorant approach to hunting.
To this date, a folk hero known as Buffalo Bill is still romanticized for his practice of contributing to the near extinction of the animal he slaughtered with impunity. His activity, and the profit and prestige he gained from such, earned him a special place in the American psyche, much to the detriment of both animal and man.

There are endless examples of how free will of humanity, when separated from its inner guidance, has diverted the species' evolution from its most directly purposeful and rewarding path. As we have learned, it is the force of human emotion---the unifying voice of Spirit---through which all levels of consciousness are evaluatively informed of the directions of movement and creative thought that will best manifest the highest purposeful opportunities in the physical experience. Human consciousness is guided in both quantity and quality by the feeling sense to avoid the potential pitfalls of free will before the higher understandings emerge. Thus, the basic blueprint for human development compensates for ignorance, but is propelled forward by the spiritual challenges which assist in designing the mindscape and opening the chakra energy centers to full mental efficiency and communication with the higher wisdom from gestalts of consciousness (levels of self) with which it is most intimately affiliated and directly connected.
To try to put this in more colloquial terms, the act of asking for guidance from our higher spiritual nature, when relating to our environment, will bring forth the best of both that same environment and ourselves. To make that connection most effective and enduring, we will need to relearn and re-appreciate the feeling system with which we have been so graciously endowed. It is the fairer gender of our species who can be most helpful in this process.

Of course, the energy information that is constantly infused into the physical realm, springs from these more complex gestalts of consciousness that exist in the nonphysical, spiritual realm. This is the "location" of the spiritual gestalts that are symbolized in the religious ideologies (as angelic hierarchies with a pinnacle Godhead as that most complex, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent gestalt), that recognize the various levels of
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organized self-consciousness within the total of All That Is. The most appropriate term for the self-aspect just "outside" or psychologically adjacent to the physical realm would be the entity of which each past, present, and future incarnate physical ego personality is a part, just as cells comprise an organ. It is the wisdom of the entity and its own source of higher, more complex and broad wisdom that unifies and guides the thought and action of its personalities through feelings of pleasure and pain.
As an aura surrounds the physical body of a species and serves to both reflect and collect information helpful to the physical and mental state, so there exists an aura of wisdom that accumulates around the mental body and connects it to its higher levels of being and maintains that guiding connection with the more spiritually refined portion of one's nature. While this entire complex exists as a singular unit, it is only through conditioning that we have come to maintain a misperceived state of separation.

Thus, creation is ongoing and evolving in far more elegant and purposeful ways than many suppose; for both are ongoing aspects of the everexpanding consciousness of All That Is. Quite simply, through the active dilemma of desiring to know itself, all actions of consciousness continuously recreate and evolve evermore complex gestalts of consciousness. When the self-aware mind enters the picture---whether the mind is simple or complex---seeing is believing, but remembering enhances the believing that in turn colors the perceptions of seeing, which re-create the mental blueprints into which energy can flow and manifest as matter. So scientific objectivity is joined by the subjectivity on the part of all "observers" within the physical realm. Indeed, thought and feeling create perception which re-create the blueprints which reinforce believing and generate thought---completing the subjective, objective, creative cycle.
Just as we learn about our physical environment and the history of our activities by reviewing material in our institutions of higher learning, so we expand our understanding and individual/collective gestalts of consciousness by the very act of exercising our creative qualities. We evolve ourselves and our environment in an expanding and never-ending spiral of enlightenment. This is nothing more or less than an exercise of free will.

This objective subjectivity of co-creation is why staunchly held beliefs, assumptions, and competing concepts of creation or evolution work in
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direct opposition to the needed conscious inquiry and can stymie the creative process itself. Mass consciousness must be sufficiently evolved to orient the human away from misusing the free will, or the very mental blueprints of life will be---and have been---altered in destructive ways. All beliefs about anything must be open to momentary re-evaluation and change as part of the evolutionary thrust of life.
As decadent belief systems go unexamined and unchallenged by contemporary minds, the society, as a whole, is prone to slip into a decaying state of existence. Fresh and renewing mental/spiritual activity must be brought to bear on the physical world for the evolutionary process to progress along all lines of development.

Until recently, such assumptions as "natural selection" having no prior plans, intentions, or predestiny; that humans are born sinfully flawed; and that emotional suffering is a necessary cross to bear have clouded the mass mind and quite literally degraded the human experience---and the effect of limited human consciousness has been detrimental to the overall evolution of consciousness.
As the understanding of the spiritual origin of the species is not only appreciated but realized to have been and continues to be a natural state, such realization will expand the boundaries of what the species can achieve as it proceeds with the progression of this alignment.

Evolution Of Consciousness & Information Processing A crucial stumbling block for scientists has been their stubborn assertion that everything in the physical realm is caused therein, with chaotic natural competitive forces that evolve ever more complex organisms---quite by accident. They witness the incredible amount of intelligent energy exchanges going on within cells and organs and between plants and animals, yet deny the deep wisdom and information that it takes to accomplish interactive life so seamlessly. They wonder when consciousness arose, ignoring the quantum implications that consciousness itself is the very fabric of the universe---for their mathematics predict far more dimensions than their crumbling paradigms can handle. Each and every minute particle of matter is a manifestation of energy imbued with consciousness in some form or another. Where there is matter there is energy, and where there is energy there is information, and where
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there is information there is consciousness.

Where the presence of information exchanged is perpetually present wherever one looks in nature, it would be a tremendous stretch to presume that such a state would be reflective of accidental activity. Intelligence is hardly possible without information and its expansion through an interchange system. Nor could such a system exist for long without the element of intent. Chaos is in and of itself the formula for destruction, even when it is organized. Survival demands supportive forces to come into play in order to support such a goal. Finally, energy and matter are ubiquitous and even science proposes they are interchangeable. Thus, how could they be sustainable as uncomplimentary forces when they are more likely to be simply different forms of the same essence.

The information processing concepts will help scientists overcome the dogmatic fiction that consciousness is a result of life. They will find that it is its ultimate cause and destiny as thought is allowed its rightful place in the creative cycle. For indeed, without consciousness coming first, there would be no chicken or egg, or any cause and effect relationship of one begetting the other. But all ignorance and arrogance aside, they are correct in recognizing the power and dominion gained by the emergence of the human mind. This will be the key to recognizing the evaluative guidance that came along with the emergence of mind.
To place thought in the position of being the consequence of material evolution is to not only place the proverbial cart before the horse but to suggest that the cart causes the horse to move in a random direction when everything suggests that the horse is motivated by a more sophisticated form of guidance. Man.

Humanity will recognize from their own technological accomplishments of the information age that the Trinity of Self operates like a computer. The body will be likened to the hardware, with its preset parameters, brain processing and memory, and protective systems designed with the highest non-negotiable laws and values which are to be honored, respected and preserved. The body's emotional communication network will be recognized as the language of the human operating system, when found in electric brain pathways, in chemical production and receptor centers throughout the body, and computer chip-like properties and operations of the very cell membrane. It can then no longer be denied that the human self is an information processor, cycling information within and between
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all spiritual, mental and physical realms. It will be clear that emotion mediates the evolving consciousness at physical levels through subconscious, instinctive and impulsive actions.
It should also become clear that even if some type of extraordinary force of circumstance was responsible for bringing the portions of the computer together, it would still take a source to throw the switch, a source to provide the power and a source to utilize it in a creative fashion. When the evidence of such a source becomes so overwhelming as to defy misinterpretation, a new paradigm will be in place.

The mind will be recognized as the metaphoric software for the computer system. The focal point of human mind, which begins at birth of any given personality, collects self-experiences and makes patterned sense of them. It takes the sensory processed outputs of the hardware and consciously alters and adapts them creatively---becoming the full designer and conscious controller at the keyboard. Beliefs, habits, attitudes, and strategies will be recognized as the macros which are used as creative shortcuts by the mind. Herein comes wonder and power of free will to not only be aware of existing and ongoing bodily processes, but to actively and creatively participate in ways that enhance the life experience---and allow the unfolding of the highest destiny path. Emotion will be recognized as the evaluative guide of mindful thought, which aligns itself with the patterns of impulsive action and creates long-range strategies for ongoing pleasure.
The described "will to survive" is exceptionally short sighted for, again, nature suggests so much more, especially in the case of higher consciousness where creativity is evident. When one observes the strides in music, art, prose, etc., one sees expressions of spirit being the primary purpose of life and the survival skills simply relegated to a secondary role.

The spirit is the timeless energy source and grand designer of the entire hardware/software system. Without the spiritual force, the system would be unplugged---dead. It is indeed the breath of life that connects the most minute and least complex levels with the ultimate complexities of All That Is. It is the inhaling of all energetic sensory wisdom and exhaling the mental and emotional self-created expressions that manifest the lyrical artwork of human culture. Upon attunement to the spiritual guidance available in feeling language and attainment of conscious unity in each breath, the human awareness can expand in both quantitative and qualitative ways to its full cosmic proportion.
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Just as the computer can not activate without the operator throwing the switch, so life forms, at whatever point in physical reality, can not exist in a dynamic state without an energy source. Each new computer model plays a role in the design of a more complex and efficient one to follow and that process is dependent upon free will and the universal creative force.

In humans, and many animals, the safety features of the hardware parameters of the body are designed to accommodate varying levels of mindful consciousness, depending upon the quality of the willful use of mind. As humans learn and grow through the individual evolutionary process we have described as purposeful self-development, the mind collects more and more quantitative information about what is going on in the information/energy exchange process. (This energy flow has been described as the infinite cyclic exchange of energy information which is allowed admittance and exit through the chakra centers of mind as the spiritual challenges are met.)
There is an efficiency in nature that encourages all systems to enhance themselves with use. This is especially true of those systems that acquire and perpetuate information. Knowledge begets knowledge as intelligence begets intelligence and spirituality begets spirituality.

An "evolved" consciousness does a high quality job of adding enhancements rather than disrupting the process by dishonoring, suppressing, ignoring, judging or attempting to overrule the hardware parameters of body---particularly the suppression of feeling signals. If the mind has not sufficiently expanded to successfully handle a given situation, this is when the body will take over with its unconscious control and instinctive actions. These are the impulsive aspects within the feeling system that work behind the scenes with which the mind must align. In short, if the mind is not yet capable of doing the multi-purpose job, the body will default back into pre-set, unconscious, single purpose, safety-net control. If emotion cannot guide thought and action it will always settle for protective action alone.
When the mind places the body in a position where circumstances pose a fatal risk to it, the body will do whatever is necessary, even a temporary shutdown of all system in order to preserve itself. This is a part of the self-learning process. Of course, if this becomes a pattern of behavior that is repeated to the point of being insulting to higher intelligence, a permanent termination of activity
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results. To put it less subtly, we die.

This process is mediated by the degree of fear or joy that the incoming perceptual information contains. If the thought processes are sufficiently evolved through willful guided learning, feelings of confidence will allow acceptance of the information into mindful consciousness. Fear affects the perceptions, and any information likely to overwhelm the mind is filtered or denied entirely. The ego identity of the mind responds to these feelings unless they are decoded, serving as a gate that can swing closed in order to protect the stability of the mind and the subjective reality it experiences. When this happens, the information is rerouted back through the body for unconscious processing and corrective, active responses are carried out through impulse. This is how a person can have instinct take over before the mind has even comprehended what has happened. Although a wonderful safeguard, the ego gate is intended to evolve away from this function (as soon as we understand the messages within feelings), for it stymies the potential expansion of consciousness. (This ego resistance is also how chakras can become under or over energized.) If we are unaware of how feelings grease or freeze the ego doors, our defaulting to the autopilot mode to control sacrifices the higher potentials and relegates us to a lower level of mere survival.
Anyone who has spent time around the higher animal forms, i.e. those most popular of the "pet" type, will see clear evidence that our dog or cat will learn to carry out certain activities through reward or punishment. More accurately, it is the motivating factor of joy or fear that will act as the near exclusive motivator of behavior. Because these species are hardly capable to getting beyond these limited processes, they can not reach a point of emotional maturity or intellectual equality with their masters. Oftentimes, portions of the human species can become entrapped in the same limiting mindset and kept there for the duration of a particular physical existence.

The physical system is quite elegant in its flexibility and ingenious in its balancing of spiritual predestiny with mental free will, and the clues to this type of biological evolutionary flexibility are readily available to the scientists. From the lowest and least complex organisms, all the way up the purported phylogenic evolutionary ladder to humans, along with the increase in the complexity of form, there is also an observable increase in behavioral flexibility, brain capacity, and emotional processes that all support varying degrees of conscious willful control over the life
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experience. At any stage, there will be successful bodily regulation either through unconscious instinctive processes or conscious willful processes, or a combination of both---mediated by the emotional information flow and experienced as a unique spirit-in-flesh kind of experience.
Just as we can know and appreciate this variance, we can also come to understand that there is a point and purpose behind the existence of such a system. As simple math can evolve into a form of near abstract calculus, a seven note musical scale can be manipulated to produce the complex gestalt of a classical symphony, or a brush stroke of paint upon a canvas can initiate the production of a captivating work of art, so the spirit which exists in All That Is can continue to evolve into a state of perpetual growth.

As we have learned, emotion is a sense that is the closest approximation to the non-physical informational vibrations of All That Is---the language of spirit linking physical and non-physical portions of any gestalt of self. Without casting judgment upon any particular form of life, humanity can observe a myriad of available experiences and adventures in consciousness, each expressing value and experiencing emotional reward while dovetailing together in the physical realm and co-creating the Earthly ecosystem.
The evidence of this uniform state of being is virtually impossible to ignore. What is apparently possible to ignore, is the evidence that there is an interconnecting theme woven through a physical reality that is composed of those same qualities (to a greater or lesser degree) that we recognize in each other.

As humans become more and more consciously adept at recognizing the patterns within their own physical history, they will surely detect this evolving nature of consciousness and cast a new light on evolution both at individual and species levels. As this awareness unfolds, the gulf between hard-nosed scientists and those of enduring religious faith will come together. There shall be a reconciliation as the light dawns upon them both that the never-ending questioning of science is coming up with many of the answers that the faithful have long held. They will both recognize the inner compass and the true north of Divine Joy. They will achieve Divine Acceptance of the mutual connection, and interface and exchange more information allowing dogmatic rigidity within both camps to relax and a far more cooperative venture shall drive a cultural evolution which is long
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overdue.
This anticipated state of blending of tolerance for each other's position, followed by a new paradigm of understanding of what each contributes to the whole will bring about a more complete understanding and adoption of the so often suggested Heaven on Earth.

Darwin & Lamarck Revisited No scientist will dispute that it is indeed the individual within each species that is the unit of evolutionary change---that it is the genetic contributions of each organism that influence the species as a whole. But this is only a part of the story. The moral to this incomplete story is that the only purpose of any life form is to reproduce---to perpetuate his/her genes within the pool. It is assumed that genes are unchanging, predetermined codes (unchangeable hardware parameters) that constantly reproduce themselves. It is only when some error in the copying of genetic information that mutations occur which offer any form of adaptation which may enhance the genetic information. But it is well known that mutations can also degrade genetic information, and thus all enhancements or anomalies are accidental whims or mistakes of nature.
Why should it be presumed that something so basic to life itself, i.e. the genetic code, be excused from the evolutionary process? Surely there has to be something more to such a complex system than mere "unchanging" perpetuation.

But the DNA is far more complex and attuned to human experience than is now suspected. Fortunately, the information processing model will offer the uniting paradigm that will make it plain that both genes and the environment create changes in one another that call for and depend upon the higher purposes of self-development and self-expression. Not only does the physical environment effect inner changes, but the entire realm of mental thought is also a profoundly influential addition to the environment. Likewise, the coded instructions of the genes create chemical expressions and secretions that contribute to the ecosystem. The ongoing energy conversion/information processing cycle will leave no doubt that the effects of the environment which are largely controlled---and indeed created---by the human mind, have a profound effect upon the activity and replication of DNA itself. This fact will bring about a revolution in the
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realm of evolutionary thought, but it will also hearken back into human history where this possible path of inquiry once diverged.
The concept that our destiny is locked into whatever DNA qualities are discovered to exist in our physical history will now be subject to a widened interpretation of the what this system is and how it relates to our own creative capabilities. It should become clear to scientists and religious alike that the quality of free will and the capability to create our own reality out weighs any pre-ordained presumption that we are stuck with predetermined probabilities unless this is accepted as an unwavering belief system which we have chosen to adopt.

Long ago, before Darwin became canonized and causality was decided to be in the genes alone, there was an alternate evolutionary theory set forth by Jean Baptiste de Lamarck. Lamarkian thought was that there was some cooperative force at work within evolution that worked toward the benefit of the entire species, not simply the genes alone. He intuitively understood that the experiences of any given life form must have some way of affecting their offspring or all learning and creative expression would be meaningless. His concept of "felt needs" which inspired certain changes was far ahead of its time. For indeed, it is the mental and behavioral adaptations that create emotional conditions which alter the chemical reproduction and coding within the genes themselves.
Again, the genetic code is not likely to be so permanent as to be impossible to alter if one so wishes. The process of changing one's DNA is no more complex than affecting one's immune system by visualizing a strengthening process which the mind can than convert into physical alternations. All past, present and future conditions are subject to our creative free will. Having said that, one need now only to believe it, a process directly connected to our needs.

It is also the ongoing developmental and expressive exchanges between parent and child which alter, switch on or off the genetic potentials with which either are born. Indeed, it is the constant replication of DNA, that very re-creation of any given bodily form that can be profoundly influenced in each moment by the consciousness that creates it. The mind can dramatically enhance the rapid, creative "adaptive mutations" thought to be accidents of nature by simply creating mental and physical experiences of long-term pleasure.
The DNA are the tools of the mind and can successfully alter our own
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developmental potential, not just that of our children. This is just another form of information locked deeply within our cellular make-up. Once activated, it has massive and nearly unlimited power to formulate whatever state of being we can imagine.

The concept of ongoing, evolving co-creation would have arisen long ago had both parts of this picture been recognized as valid contributions instead of opposing approaches. With the information processing model and emotional self-regulation uniting the two, it will be plain that evolution is driven by both internal environments (spiritual, mental, electrical, chemical, genetic, and atomic processes) and external environments (sociocultural landscapes, opportunities for purposeful development and expression, and basic survival conditions). It will be clear that a constant give and take mediation is occurring wherein adaptive mutations are created by thoughts and actions---ever guided by the balancing, safeguarding, and enticing emotional messages of spirit.
More progress is stifled by the artificial establishment of opposing concepts than can ever be found justified in our current state of mind. All competition must include the trust in spirit which guides the human being toward the greatest possible potential.

The turning of the millennium marks the potential of critical mass as the revelations of the inner unifying mechanisms sweep through mass consciousness, accomplishing another dramatic shift which will propel humanity up to a higher "being state" of consciousness. With the understandings of how evolution is accomplished, we can now take a closer look at the trends within human cultural evolution.

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Section Theta Lesson Theta Two: The Spiritual Compass In Evolving Gestalts of Consciousness The Quantum Potential & Expansion Of All That Is Once we have the enlightened perspective upon the concept of evolution as ongoing co-creation, we can begin to recognize the undeniable spiritual unity within the material Earthly realm. For indeed, the expansion of All That Is, the unfolding of universal consciousness itself, underlies the energetic/information wisdom that moves each organism to fulfill its unique creative purpose. It is this expanding action force that drives the interacting processes of stability and change which accomplishes all forms of evolution. The informational networks we have been describing are simply the particular flow and attunement channels, or self focal points within and between the overall consciousness of All That Is.
All systems have describable characteristics. The qualities and the processes of interchange are what define the particular characteristics which we recognize and relate to. We imitate, emulate and identify with all physical and mental reality to whatever degree we choose. What we often fail to achieve is the understanding of the roles nature offers us, thinking such is there to be exploited or controlled. This is basically the result of our sciences and religions indoctrinating us with the fear element and failing to make us fully aware of our own creative qualities.

With each individual life experience, regardless of whether that life is an atom, a molecule, a cell, an organ, an organ system, a vegetable or animal organism, or a human being, the motion of its electrical existence alone legislates interactive influences with the quantum potential which is the energetic manifestation of the consciousness of All That Is. Indeed, that which physicists have begun to recognize and term the quantum potential, is indeed the energetic informational database of cosmic consciousness, the Akashic Record of all experience, the Brahman of truth, the source of omniscience, of "God" and is also known as many other names---all of which imply the ultimate divine informational source. This is the spiritual energy/ information that both guides and drives all organisms in the unified and ever-expanding cooperative gestalts.
On a limited level, this so apparent "truth" has been labeled in a limited fashion
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in such terms as the survival instinct or the Tao, for those more metaphysically inclined. Some have called it the forces of nature, for lack of a better description. What might better describe it might be the term omnipotent interconnection. It is not simply that "All Is One", but that such "One" is in a perpetual state of expansion. It is not just that the physical universe is in a state of expansion, but that each form of life is in that state as well. It might be added that in a dynamic universe, each state of movement is a form of life.

For humans to take their rightful place in evolutionary history, it now must be understood that it is this co-creative process, with its delicate balance of biological predestiny and free will, that allows all organisms to mutually coexist. For it is the guidance of spirit as communicated and accomplished through the experience of emotion and feeling which regulates and maintains this balance and ushers maximum value fulfillment and expansion of all forms of consciousness. Through purposeful responses to each inner guiding impulse, all the physical life forms participate in the ongoing co-creative process, likened unto vessels steered about on the material sea by ever-present guidance signals from the cosmos.
We are never far from a source of personal navigation. It exists to assist us in our every step along the progressive pattern of our physical, mental and spiritual development. It is not something that we have to qualify for. The indigenous societies and the most technologically sophisticated ones are equals in the qualification to the tapping of this source. We of that latter category might find ourselves more handicapped, but only because we have been programmed to believe in our limitations.

Receiving The Purposeful Guidance Just like the ancient mariners learned how to steer their ships by learning about the patterns of the stars, humans have also been in training to learn the most pure form of directional guidance by observing the patterns within human feeling. For like the light energy perceived from the stars, the quantum field sends forth spiritual signals which are fine tuned to each of the living receptors which offer unfailing, individually tailored, directional guidance toward the highest purposes.
Unlike the ancient mariners, the guidance of human feeling does not need to rely on available outside technology but has been equipped with its own system located within. Connecting with our human feelings is not a capability of one gender versus the other. It need only require the overcoming of some early
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conditioning.

It is most useful to think of the spiritual signals from the quantum field as likened unto radio waves available on various bandwidths. Each form of organism is equipped with specific receptors and innate responses which are effected by the radio signals it is designed to receive. Thus, by simply attuning to and reacting to the available information, the organism regulates the self activities necessary for purposeful experience. As organisms conduct their daily business, their thoughts, and actions affect changes---physical energy manifestations---that are encoded with information which cycles back into the quantum field, expanding its wisdom and potential guidance. Since the information is continuously sent forth from the expanding ultimate source, it contains within it the requirements of all other organisms---all bodies---within that physical cooperative. This force is the infinite cyclic action of consciousness, the ongoing information flow between and within the multiple aspects of the human self, the body, mind, and spirit.
The very concept that humans, not to mention all of nature itself, can and do contribute to the ever expanding gestalt of the All That Is should attract the attention of anyone seeking to expand beyond their current perimeters. In many quarters, this proposed "principle" would have to be considered to be sheer sacrilege. In fact, it pays tribute to what is described as "God" by suggesting that we are no less noble creations than those whom we conceive and strive to bring to maturity in our own homes.

These are the evolutionary dynamics which take place in the Earthly ecosystem, manifesting as the scientifically observable interactions between organism and environment. The grand, economic, need-meeting marketplace runs smoothly due to these inner mechanisms. These are the interactions that allow the chaos within the quantum field to become the orderly ecological interactions that underlie the idea of "natural selection" and the idea of "the intentions of nature" or the "divine plan of the Creator". Since the separation between any form of consciousness is an illusion necessary for unique forms of physical experience,there is no real division between organism and environment. But all the richly magnificent diversity within nature is based upon the relativity of the "self" unit.
There is no greater proof of the validity of this observation than nature itself. It is our grandest "need-meeting marketplace" and even when it appears to be
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malfunctioning, it is merely indulging in a form of self-correction or balancing, if you will. While what often appears to be a whole picture, under close examination reveals itself to be a grouping of separate units and, in turn, what is often labeled as separately functioning parts does, in fact, have a holistic quality. A prime example of this might be the human physical body.

Indeed, the self is every bit as relative as time and space beyond the Earthly physical boundaries. Although this might come as a shock to the human ego consciousness, who knows itself as a separate, distinct, and perhaps superior life form to a plant, an animal, or a rain drop, such is still the case. For it is the self-defined identity, the self-consciousness experienced by the organism which corresponds to a specific bandwidth of quantum informational guidance that creates the illusion of separation and the resplendent wonders of diversity within the unity of All That Is. The internal "self" environment of any given organism is that which receives information directly through its emotional signals from the quantum field, and the external environment is everything outside of its innate identity.
Might it be considered proper to suggest that a "rain drop" could enjoy a state of immortality? Yet, why should any form of sub-atomic vibration be excluded from a permanent state of existence. Because its level of "self-consciousness" might be at a different specificity of vibration, it need not be excluded from all the potential of the most refined form, no more than the Morse Code beeps of a short wave radio should be excluded from the same broadcast reception that delivers the strains of a violin concerto.

Thus, in the ultimate sense, the quantum potential comprises the entire environment---with internal and external boundaries as arbitrary as space, time, and any self distinction. And although the boundaries of consciousness may change, the self-regulating spiritual dynamics remain the same. With this in mind, we can explore the various manifestations of self and the interactions which underlie the mysteries of life itself. For these principals underlie the Trinity of the human self and facilitate both its cooperative unity and collective progress, or its competitive diversity and ongoing suffering.
There is a constant in the referred "spiritual dynamics" that remains such in order to support an environment of unity necessary for a confidence in progression; for the All That Is must remain in place for "All That Are".

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The Self In Evolutionary Context Every self consciousness knows what it is. An oxygen atom even recognizes itself as distinct from perhaps a hydrogen atom. Through the simple knowledge of the boundaries of itself, it interacts with the quantum field (its internal environment) and with other atoms (its external environment) to form the foundations of all organic life. Likewise, a cell knows itself as a cell, an organ knows its identity as a heart, pancreas, or kidney, and an animal knows that the boundaries of its skin or fur mark where the self leaves off and where the world begins. (In the humans, the precision of the immune system defines that which is the body self, and protects the body against invaders that are non-self, while the ego defines the self-parameters of mind and seeks stability through the protection of the self-identity from any incoming information that might be too painfully overwhelming.) Like humans, but in less complex forms, each self of any given species is attuned to its particular frequency within the emotional sensory waves of the quantum field.
What constitutes the difference between an Einstein and a water molecule? Did the former play out his role in society because he was perpetually aware of the level of his genius, while the water molecule plays out its role without giving it a second thought. We are beginning to consider the existence of a quality described as "emotional intelligence" and, of course, presume it to be a quality of humans only. But what we may have to do is come to expand the definition of the word "emotional".

But within each self consciousness unit, there is also a gestalt of miniselves---a collective consciousness attuned internally to its signals and changes of collective "body" as part of the interactive information exchanges within the spiritual network. Each gestalt of self, regardless of its complexity, both gives and receives energy information from the quantum field that allows for the cooperative interactions that facilitate the need-meeting of all organisms involved. As stated, this is orchestrated by the emotional signals received within the range of its relative receiver.
While we may appear to be sole individuals operating independently from one another, the above paragraph suggests quite the opposite, i.e. that each of us is a part of a collective whole which operates at the physical, mental and spiritual level and has a built-in support system at each of these levels. The efficiency of the interchange of information between these three systems is conditional upon the development of our feeling skills.
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As we now know, the emotional spectrum spans electrical, chemical, motivational, and cognitive ranges that bring many forms of sensory guidance. As a general rule, as self units become more complex, their physical structure, sensory equipment, and brain size dictates how much of the bandwidth of emotional information is available. The less complex the life form, the more simple the experience, the more pure and of relatively short life duration as compared to more complex forms. As the complexity increases, there is also an increase in the free will of the organism to choose self-directed behavior. In other words, a simple self is a body only, while a more complex self is joined by a mind as well. Thus, with any form of mind, comes volition and more potential misuse of free will, so nature provides safeguards in the form of more levels of emotional guidance to ensure both the quantity and quality of physical and mental development of any given life form.
Free will appears to be a compliment and a reward for advancement of complexity. Just as the teenager has reached that stage in life where he/she can get a driver's license and begin the practice of moving tons of metal around in some safe and responsible fashion, so other life forms take on greater responsibility as the mind becomes more developed. It is presumed that youthful drivers probably have "guardian angels" that are required to perform extra duty.

For example, an atom is attuned purely to the electro-magnetic positive/attraction and negative/repulsion properties of emotion. It has little ability to freely choose imaginative behavior, although it follows its innate feelings of attraction and repulsion that allow it to enter into chemical bonds with other atoms which underlie other material life forms. (It is due to this relative lack of free will that the Newtonian precision of the material universe can be counted upon.) But it is the thrust to expand encoded in all information from the quantum field that drives the atoms to enter into unions with other atoms which orchestrates the chemistry of all organic life and creates higher and higher levels of self consciousness.
There is in the lower/lesser forms of existence the will to "expand", but there is also the minimal ability to choose "imaginative behavior" that maintains orderly expansion in the physical universe. It is the evolution of the "mental" aspects of the species that results in the tapping of the spiritual energies and the capability of creating the near unlimited form of one's reality.
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By simply following the inner guidance, atoms participate in cooperative gestalts to create molecules that are consciously aware of themselves as a self unit, and molecules to participate in gestalts to create cells, and cells to create organs, and organs to create organ systems, and finally entire plant and animal organisms whose self consciousness perceives internal information from the gestalt collective consciousness of all its component parts. This is accomplished by specific sensory attunement to a broader and broader bandwidth of emotional guidance. A good deal of the bandwidth information, (the electrical and chemical aspects in particular), are carried out below the level of conscious awareness of the complex selfidentity, thus not having to burden the mind with extraneous details.
The human mind/body has a similar system in place which is commonly referred to as the subconscious mind or the involuntary nervous system. This system keeps our heart pumping blood and the gastrointestinal system digesting our food, etc. But because we have evolved imaginative capabilities, we also have the capacity for greater creativity in the exercise of free will. This "capability" can override all other systems within our reality.

For example, consider the man-made automobile. It would be unduly burdensome if the driver needed to consciously direct the operations of the pistons, the gears, and the rotation of the tires in order to use the car for its intended purpose---transport his body from one place to the next. The details of traffic negotiation and avoiding accidents would be much harder to keep in mind if the driver had to consciously concern himself with controlling all workings of the car as well. Thus, they run automatically by design. Such is the case of many life forms. But as life forms become more complex, they also are designed with more attunement to the guidance--guidance which is necessary for the conscious participation of the willful mind.
To continue with this analogy, the modern automobile has a computer system which shuts off the headlights within a minute or so after the motor is turned off, in order to avoid discharging the battery when the driver forgets to do so. The human mind can condition itself to carry out many automatic functions, but we have yet to tap the full creative capacity that lies just below the surface of our normal functionality.

Like in our car and driver example, human life forms are intended to use conscious free will to design a mindscape that allows for living within the
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three purposes. Simply trusting and respecting the feeling signals will ensure that all the inner mechanisms of the body remain in peak performance without undo interference from the mind. (Humans need not consciously concern themselves with the cooperative efforts of their cells and organs, other than awareness that they are intended to regulate, correct, and heal themselves.) The ego self of mind must instead attend to and heed all our incoming regulatory informational signals in the secure knowledge that the body speaks its needs in this manner, and all will be unified and well.
Of course, the process of keeping ourselves in an optimum state of good health does not get much support from the modern media which bombards us with drug commercials (and the side effects connected with each of them) which are supposed to correct whatever physical ailments we are troubled by. It only reenforces the belief that all solutions come from outside of ourselves, rather than from within. We have yet to appreciate how such experiences as reflected in our dreams, for example, can be much more helpful in maintaining a state of balance than can the medical profession.

Thus, the self-regulating guidance system exists as a natural force. By natural law each self-identity marks the bounds of conscious involvement and the Earth falls together by all organisms exercising varying degrees of free will choice. This accomplishes the on-going, co-creative, adaptive, evolutionary expansion while also preserving the genetic integrity of the life forms that consciousness can inhabit. Through the interaction of unconscious and conscious information processing, life forms enjoy a spectrum of behavioral guidance ranging from nearly complete instinctive or "autopilot" self-regulation to nearly complete "manual" control, free will self-directed self-regulation which only intervenes automatically when low quality choices are made. And as is the central message of these Lessons, it is through the emotional corrective signals that are received within the motivational and cognitive bandwidths that the guidance is both communicated and carried out in such complex forms as the human being.
As humans, we are complex creatures. But at times, we fail to appreciate and often confuse the differences between conforming behavior and a state of what is often defined as mental illness. We just recently began to understand and appreciate the mental state known as "idiot savant", for example. Eventually, we will come to realize that when placed in a collective environment of like kind, these people can operate a near perfect society without the help of the outside
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world.

But humans are also subject to all emotional information whether it is processed consciously or not. It is crucial to be aware of and trust the influence of the electrical, chemical, and motivational aspects of emotion in order to interpret the encoded information of the cognitive feeling experience in order to offer the highest kind of creative participation in the life process, to live within one's highest purposes. This means that although humans are much more complex, they are also subject to simple autopilot self-regulation that can come into conflict with the manual directions of the mind. Mindful humans must ensure the right use of free will to maintain the integrity of the body, just like a driver must be aware of his or her role to avoid mistreating or wrecking the car. (Not to mention if the driver misguidedly puts brake fluid in the gasoline tank, the car would experience breakdowns in its smooth operation, or blatantly ignoring warning lights and road signs would crash and burn.)
This may be where the emotion of love plays its most important role. If we can approach a normal activity such as driving with a loving attitude toward our vehicle and those who operate such vehicles in our environment, we can begin to experience a much safer driving style, as well as protection of the "health and well being" of our own vehicle. A similar attitude toward our physical/mental/spiritual conveyance will likely do wonders to improve our respective journeys in that sphere.

Autopilot, Semi-Autopilot and Manual Modes of Guidance Autopilot Self-regulation In order to gain full control and the highest benefit of the emotional guidance, it is essential to cognitively understand how it operates at three basic levels. For it is the ignorance of mind and gaps in self-understanding that allow the breakdowns in communication between the electrical, chemical, and motivational signals of the spirit's emotional guidance that lie at the cause of mental and physical breakdowns of the body and mind.
What we don't understand results in a malfunction of a process that, when grasped at a mental level, can lead us to correcting this "malfunction". We need not have PhD's in psychology or biology or even chemistry to grasp a system that pervades all of nature, of which we are a normal part.
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Humanity must recognize that all mini-gestalts of self within the bounds of the physical body and mental identity know how to do the best things in order to keep the whole functioning---without much intervention from the mind of the person involved. This is the autopilot level of self-regulation that is characteristic of atoms, molecules, and cells which make up the body proper. They are attuned to the electrical and chemical bands of the emotional sensory spectrum and both give and receive information within the whole body that keep each piece well, intact, and operating toward its highest purpose.
Observe a woman in the pregnant state. She does not have to concentrate on the act of building a human being within her own body. This process takes place in a natural pattern, time after time. An interchange is taking place automatically between woman and the child who is in the process of becoming. Nowhere does there exist a more perfect example of what is being discussed above.

Although at the autopilot level, self-preservation is the primary purpose, self-development also occurs even at these most simple levels of organization, as atoms, cells, and organs adapt themselves in order to cooperate and adjust to changes in the environment. This kind of adaptive self-development also allows for higher, more elaborate and complex forms of self-consciousness to emerge.
In the human, there exists a capability to be physically and mentally innovative when forced to deal with an unanticipated change in environment. A person moved from a particularly warm climate to a cold climate, will find his/her body adjusting to change in simple ways such as thickening or thinning the blood. Over longer periods and more dramatic changes, other portions of the body will do what is necessary for self-preservation. While scientists may see this and wonder at the capability of the body, they inevitably miss the whole picture.

But at the autopilot level, the flexibility of behavior is relatively fixed, that is to say there is not much willful choice over the actions of an atom, a cell or an organ beyond their hardwired responses to the electrical and chemical messages they receive. Honor, respect, and gratitude should be given them, for their fixed type of experience provides the essential and necessarily reliable building blocks which give foundational support to all life within the grand ecological dance. Like automobiles, higher gestalts of consciousness could not exist without the nuts, bolts, and gears which comprise them.
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It is evident that all portions of the collective whole are programmed to carry out necessary functions to maintain a total state of balance; and while some systems have limited functions and ambitions, they are just as necessary as those which exercise more complex and sophisticated patterns of behavior.

But the experience and purpose of an atom or a cell is every bit as important and "rewarding" as any other more complex life form. Indeed, it cannot be overemphasized that it is through the individual cooperative participation of these autopilot forms of consciousness that the Earth exists with the predicable trustworthy continuity upon which more complex forms rely. They respond with predictably reliable actions of attraction and repulsion to positive and negative electrical polarity within the emotional signals, they respond with agonizing (cellular bonding and creating change) and antagonizing (blocking and preventing change) responses to the chemical messages of emotion, but are far less aware of the familiar sensation of hedonic pleasure and pain than higher life forms. For example, an atom or a cell can quite happily die when it is no longer needed by the whole without feeling any lack of purpose or discomfort--for its purpose has been served, its potential has been actualized---it has lived its chosen life. Atoms can spontaneously be reborn in some other organization or form, as they transform from one complex gestalt to another as part of the grand energy exchange process. Certain aspects of the human experience are just as fixed and spontaneous. (The human spiritual challenges are orchestrated through inborn instinct and movements to meet the universal needs.) When the mind becomes aware of these innate patterns through the feeling language, the development of less automatic kinds of volitional adaptive behavior begins to arise.
Going back to the automobile analogy, as we become more familiar with the operation of the vehicle and trusting of the performance we can expect by carrying out actions on our own part, we set aside our conscious attention to these functions and allow the vehicle to "do it's thing". It is this level of trust and understanding that results in a more perfect and productive relationship. Herein lies the potential for all the relationships with our physical universe, whether it be with the auto carriage or our personal physical carriage (our physical bodies).

In sum, the experience at this guidance level is fixed, automatic, and ruled mostly by the natural laws of the physical realm. The self-consciousness is less complex, the identity is more merged with All That Is, and it is only
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the grace of these autopilot organisms that allows the continuing expansions of higher and more complex forms of life to emerge.
A long-standing relationship between the lesser energy forms and the All That Is, supports the necessary stepping stone to the next level of existence (below).

Semi-Autopilot Self-regulation To the degree that the life form has sufficient neural complexity, sensory networks and a broader emotional bandwidth receptivity, it begins to be able to move about a bit under its own self-direction with creative kinds of adaptations based upon not just its hardwired responses but from learning from past experiences. These are animals ranging from reptiles all the way up past mammals on the evolutionary ladder, who have specific brain structures to process a new kind of emotional information, the motivational bandwidth, the sensations of pleasure and pain.
Here is where we can observe how our pets relate to the world around them; how they seek out those things which give them pleasure (i.e. eating, sleeping, being given human attention); and how they make certain independent decisions to achieve those goals.

With brain processing capabilities that can pair emotional experiences with memories, these animals can learn through classical conditioning how to respond to situations before the outcome actually occurs, based upon past experience. This allows for tremendous adaptive and creative advantages. Although this kind of guidance does not yield much free will, it does allow for much more behavioral flexibility than in lower organisms which have fixed attract/repel motions from the feeling guidance. At the semi-autopilot level, there can be memories that create electrical and chemical responses within the cells and tissues that allow the whole animal to move protectively away from danger and move instinctively toward things that bring growth and pleasure.
We, as humans, have the same built-in hardwiring and, when trusted, will bring the same self-preservationary results, not to mention "growth and pleasure". It is often when we worry and doubt in the universal All That Is, that such natural qualities are short-circuited in our electrical and chemical make-up and unsettle our natural thinking/feeling progress. Our mothers, often in the belief that to worry is to do what mothers are supposed to do, are actually undermining a process which can serve us well as we grow into adulthood.
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At more complex levels within the semi-autopilot category, the emotional experiences of joy and fear are added to the perceptual receptors from the spectrum of emotional information. This allows for more complex, longterm, kinds of conditioned learning known as operant conditioning, wherein the animal knows that there is a link between its actions and the outcome that was created. The feelings of joy and fear form electrochemical loops in memory that allow for even better adaptive selfdevelopmental actions to take place. (Such patterns underlie the energy body and emotional memory that can be recognized within the human chakra system later on in the evolutionary scheme.) Feelings of joy promote behaviors that are creatively adaptive, such as play. Play serves as practice for real life situations, and marks the threshold into willfully cooperative behavior, the preferred adaptive strategy over simple competition alone.
Young animals are seen playing in a natural way and we know that such activity, even with our own young, can contribute to the development and adjustments that will be needed later in adult life, so long as such activities do not stretch beyond enjoyable play into the stress of achieving perfection for the sake of a parental goal. All life should be an experience of learning and pleasure. Pain need not be essential to progress unless we make it so.

As we now know, the general pattern of increasing self-complexity includes increasing complexity in conscious volitional experience. The semi-autopilot level is essential so that an evolving mind can have time to learn, while the body and its needs are still protected by the hardwired responses of attraction /repulsion and approach/avoidance. Thus, this kind of learning is not conscious learning, but it has conscious corrective results. The emotional guidance comes in the form of the feeling which follows a given action, but gets stored in the cellular memory in order to activate defensive responses in the future before another disaster strikes. (Perceiving fear when a threat to survival is looming, and being able to run in the opposite direction before it strikes is highly beneficial.) But the animal is not truly conscious of what has occurred until after the fact. This level is also apparent in humans, as learning experiences create cellular memories and flexible habits and attitudes that can either contain gems or slivers. (Ongoing fear, of course, robs humans of their conscious participation.)
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Fear has its role in our existence, but it is only to stimulate the sensible action of fleeing a life-threatening situation and to, thus, maintain our physical existence and comfort. Once this has been accomplished, "fear" can be compartmentalized and we can go on enjoying that life we so naturally just preserved. Keeping it at the forefront of our thinking will only end up obstructing our growth and development, which is only a more subtle form of death.

Manual Free Will Self-regulation In the highest animals and in humans, the emotional experiences of joy and fear branch out into the six basic feeling signals which not only offer approach and avoid motivational guidance, but also the opportunity to comprehend the cognitive informational messages within the feeling tones themselves. As experiences are remembered and external situations become familiar, the feeling of fear speaks of external threats, the feeling of anger speaks of potential obstacles to need-meeting opportunities, the feeling of sadness speaks of losses that must be replaced, and the feeling of disgust speaks of unwholesome foodstuffs that should be expelled and avoided in the future. The motivational urges still operate upon approach and avoid impulses, but the joyous feelings associated with growth also prompt a good deal of purposeful creative innovation.
With greater emotional development comes the complexity of choices which can often lead to levels of anxiety that get beyond our control. What passes for simple self-concern can become a state of obsession/compulsion and, eventually, neurosis/psychosis. If we can practice sufficient detachment from ourselves occasionally, we can spot these trends and make the necessary course corrections. We can also rely on those who love us to make these observations and suggestions.

As humans pursue that which brings them joy, they begin to learn more and more about their innate needs for freedom, power, connection, esteem, creativity, and meaning. Conquering the spiritual challenges fully opens the chakra centers and allows full conscious experience and fosters excellent mental and physical health. It is through the successes of their creative adaptations that all human culture arises, and mass consciousness takes a place in the creative formation of the life experience. It is at this point when right and light responses can replace the cruder fight/flight, and approach/avoidance responses that served only self-preservation purposes.
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There comes a point of morphic resonance when the human race turns from its less evolved practices associated with such emotions as fear and anger and begins to relate to each other in ways that promise greater joy and fulfillment. Each of us contributes to the achievement of that "point" with our personal commitment to that end.

With full manual control over one's actions, the emotional guidance becomes even more important than ever. Because if the self is not attuned to all the available information within the motivational and experiential aspects of human feelings, the mind can create all sorts of slivers that will promote thoughts which electrically stimulate chemical messages which operate oppositionally upon the inner selves (the cells, tissues, and organs.) This is how the mind and emotional baggage can create all breakdowns and disease processes within the human self system.
Now we have an explanation of the direction relationship between a state of mind and the state of dis-ease in our physical and mental bodies. It is not the complexity and stress of our societies that cause our states of illness, but how we react to that stress and what steps we believe we can take to remove ourselves to an environment where we can exercise our creative nature and experience the joy we should feel we are entitled to as participants in the All That Is.

It is also only in the highest life forms that an experience of time (past, present, and future), and a cause and affect relationship can be drawn between actions and changes they create---for their commission, their role in the entirety is to create meaningful change instead of maintaining the status quo. Non-physical entities (the higher gestalts which direct their human personality manifestations) do so from beyond space-time allowing for an overall perspective that enfolds all human "incarnations" at once and indeed, many alternate forms assumed simultaneously. The manifestations of creative change in all sentient organisms come from the impetus of the entity and bear the distinct mark of conscious, purposeful intention and of course are communicated through spiritual feeling signals.
It is the establishment of contact between ourselves and our "higher" selves that can and should be the goal of our existence on this earthly plane. There are a variety of methods to establishing and maintaining this state, but the first step must be desire and the second, intent. Creative opportunities will follow.

The choice to embody a specific life form is open and available to all
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gestalts of consciousness, and indeed many who think of themselves as isolated identities have far more roles than they can possibly be aware of, different focuses of the gestalts of which they comprise. But then this is part of the fun for All That Is to be able to experience so many unique aspects of itself. Simply knowing of these types of consciousness games can tremendously enhance the meaning of a single individual. The knowledge of one's role in greater challenges and games is communicated during the dream sojourns and awareness of this fact can tremendously enhance the guidance.
Think of oneself as an "us" and not just a "me", and consider the possibility that the experiences that each "me" of the "us" has can be shared during a nonactive portion of our daily lives. This would occur at that point when we put our intense focus (active consciousness) aside and open ourselves to a vast array of information that can enhance our individual lives in a plethora of ways.

Indeed, it is through dream sojourns that entities interact directly with personalities, as the ego gate is closed for direct interactions and exchanges occur with the higher gestalts of self within the quantum field. It is in the dream state when collective missions get carried out on psychic levels that facilitate the optimal evolution of the species. For humanity has been collectively creating the evolutionary course of its species---and with some pleasurable successes and with some very painful limitations.
Here is a field of opportunity which has barely been tapped for the rich source of wisdom it is capable of providing. If appreciated for its full potential, much of the "pain"mentioned could be replaced by a greater sense of joy.

The Emotional Evolutionary Destiny of Humanity The trust for expansion and value fulfillment of All That Is can be likened to a force that desires the fastest straightest course for each of its living vessels or "ships". But since life is not all autopilot, that creative free will and imagination can define and influence the life course, the fastest most direct course is that which is mindfully imagined and purposefully created, but under the full guidance of the spiritual compass. This means that there will always be varying degrees of value fulfillment, courses that are more or less meandering and indirect, and with potentially less than complete value fulfilling journeys. This fact is built into the physical system and its
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reincarnational nature so that necessary ignorance can be accommodated as the species evolves its consciousness. Indeed, human ships can turn in continuously misguided circles, repeating the same mistakes again and again until the patterns of self-created pain are too powerful to ignore. Such is the tradeoff for the gift of free will.
On the surface, this may appear to be a callous system which is not concerned about the level of suffering which might result from repeated errors in judgment. However, the alternative to such consequence would be to remove the "free will" quality from the human creature and surrender control of all activities to a "Higher Power". While this might result in a more consistent state of contentment, it would also result in a total absence of the development of the divine quality of creative will. It would further result in limiting the benefits of varied experiences enjoyed by the All That Is.

But it is always true that positive feelings will mark the most direct pathway and negative pain will steer the vessels away from misguided courses. With the strategies of attuning to and acknowledging each feeling signal, immediate progress and recovery from past slowdowns is possible. The key is in the acceptance of as much incoming information as possible, the broadening of consciousness, that begins with letting in the feeling signals themselves. When the individual human ego consciousness attains divine acceptance, formerly painful situations will then be experienced as neutral and the mindscape will be built into the evolutionarily desirable perspectives that will promote positive feelings in all situations.
It is beyond the time when we should put aside the misbelief that the more suffering one endures the greater one's reward in heaven. This distraction has led many to states of unhappiness that were better avoided. The path to enlightenment can and should be a joyous one.Anything less is misdirected and should be brought to a halt as soon as possible.

Indeed, the evolutionary path is away from pain and toward the highest pleasures, and ultimately to the feeling experiences of universal oneness with All That Is. The beating stick of pain is merely a crude form of spiritual guidance, and when the static is removed from the clouded consciousness, all inner channels to broader bandwidths of information can become consciously available through direct intuitive insight. The mind will become consciously aware of how information is received directly, electrically, through the very action of each breath. Humans will then
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breath in insights as easily as the air. This is the transcendent destiny of humanity, that will come as consciousness expands at the direction of the emotional messages of spirit.
This is the direction and means that humankind was meant to travel as a natural process in the continual acquisition of enlightenment. We are but ships traveling toward a home port and, in the process, bringing with us the tails and lessons learned on our various adventures. Unlike those who read about the experiences of others, we are in this physical environment to create our own ships and do our own sailing, which is what being in the physical is all about.

On an individual level, development progresses in designing the optimal mindscape through the spiritual challenges which can be chartered by the feelings that occur in the present. Humans can use the evolving course of feelings to examine and refine thought processes and to reframe perceptions within higher feeling states in order to heighten their individual progress. The chart on the next page offers a general pattern of the human spectrum of feeling and a picture of how the expansion of consciousness toward universal oneness is experienced along the way. It can be used to assist individual examinations of the life course. It can be used to determine how close one might be to acceptance, and to offer insights into how to find alternative beliefs that can immediately replace slivers with gems. Such activity will, of course, rapidly increase the progress upon the destiny path, and the more individual efforts, the faster the species mass consciousness can evolve its own value potentials. With these dynamic patterns in mind, we can now turn to the evolutionary patterns within the human species that have carved out human history.
Each building block of spiritual information can play a role in accelerating the process of development. We need only open ourselves with the intent of gaining that which is given.

Evolutionary Path Of Evolving Consciousness and Feeling Experience

- - - - + + + + + +
Fear => Anxiety => Growing Pain => Acceptance => Learning Anticipation => Confidence => Excitement Courage => Faith => Universal Oneness

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Anger => Frustration => Annoyance => Tolerance => Acceptance => Patience => Curiosity => Mirth => Compassion => Universal Oneness

Sadness => Loneliness => Acceptance => Liberation => Attachment => Trust => Hope => Love => Universal Oneness

Disgust => Annoyance => Tolerance => Acceptance => Curiosity => Camaraderie => Attachment => Friendship => Compassion => Grace => Universal Oneness

Envy/Guilt => Anxiety => Frustration => Acceptance => Confidence => Compassion => Grace => Universal Oneness

Attachment =>Trust =>Hope =>Love =>Compassion =>Faith =>Universal Oneness

Worthiness => Confidence => Pride => Gratitude => Devotion => Universal Oneness

********* Watch your thoughts - they become your words Watch your words - they become your actions Watch your actions - they become your habits Watch your habits - they become your character Watch your character - it becomes your destiny\
We create our spiritual destiny with our repeated thoughts and most of those thoughts are implanted in our minds by others who suffer long-standing mental mis-presumptions which are seldom, if ever, examined. These Lessons are an invitation to indulge in that examination. Rejection of it will only add a level of delay and pain that is clearly not necessary.
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Section Theta Lesson Theta Three: Human Evolution The Journey From Pain to Pleasure Just as individuals proceed down a path of optimizing spiritual value and purpose, humanity as a whole, the mass consciousness of the species, travels a similar path. The self-developmental impetus moves humanity forward in the expansion and creative use of group consciousness as surely as it does for each individual
Although it might not be too evident at times, we are a more evolved species now than we were a millennium ago. We have made progress and continue to make progress in our spiritual evolution, both collectively and individually. Now we can come to understand how the rate of this "progress" can be dramatically accelerated.

As with individuals, the species has vacillated back and forth between the dynamic forces of protection (self-preservation) and growth (selfdevelopment) as it has become collectively conscious of natural processes and evermore adept at quality creative participation within them. When groups recognize their common roots, interests, and collective power, group purposes and self-identities begin to emerge---kinships, villages, cities, and countries. Each group then responds to its collective social patterns of pain and pleasure to attain its highest value fulfillment. Of course, the "self" is relevant, and any group distinction that does not include the entirety of humanity is limited in its breadth of consciousness.
It must be made clear in every element of society, from family to country, that all human life has dignity. Individuals who have personal frailties and seem to be out of place with the collective, deserve the respect and love of the group simply because the are a part of the All that Is.

Historically, the pains and pleasures of each group within the species have collectively influenced the overall health and evolution of the whole. In a world where some choose the higher path of cooperation and others remain at a more reflexive competitive level, all humans must default to some degree to the lower defensive, fear-driven path. For example, the early European practice of colonialization, the seizing of power and imposition of Western culture upon any isolated communities. This era
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was simply a power-seeking expansion rather than a unified cooperative effort honoring the connection need, the insights, or the wisdom of different others. Many enlightened collective and ecologically sound cultural traditions were obliterated, squandering a good deal of value that had been earned. For when thoughtful ideas and words are up against guns and perceived superiority, the meek will predictably suffer.
Yet, despite the collective cruelty shown by these conquers, those who survived under the imposed tyranny were able to bring forth a conviction of love and forgiveness that eventually overcame the pain being inflicted upon them and the "power-madness" of the particular era eventually gave way to a giving and caring that can still be found in the less fortunate, should one elect to look for it.

But as many seers have also predicted, the meek shall indeed inherit the earth. For the cooperative destiny of the human species shall only unfold when humanity recognizes the universal guidance within the human feeling sense. The meek are those who consciously embrace the wisdom within the feeling sense, that recognize the universal connection of all life, that honor the human responsibility to create purposeful change, and are driven by egalitarian respect, compassion, gratitude, loyalty, devotion, and love instead of competitive fear, anger, superiority, contempt, and hate. Although there have been many groups that have had advanced consciousness and understandings, they will continue to be overcome by the ignorance of those who do not--- for the species is indeed an evolving whole with "majority" if not mob" rule. (The Energy of every human thought forms the pool of mass consciousness, no matter the purposeful quality of thought. As creative will power is equal, all energy is equal.) Indeed, the most accurate measure of the condition of any connected chain is indeed its weakest link.
We, as human beings, are linked together in thought. We experience this most acutely with those we care about and less so with those we only know. But we all know each other on another level and can influence each other with emotional energy. Giving strength and love to those who are the "weakest" among us, allows all of us to move together to change our world.

The self-defining identifiers within mass consciousness offer clear reflections of the transformational energy progress that has been made. For any competitive, divisiveness, warring, discrimination, prejudice, or injustice marks the early stages of human progress. Until the majority of
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the human population becomes aware of the emotional guidance available, pain will be the teacher and pleasure will take the back burner, as repetitive historical patterns of mistaken and limited-purpose choices continue to occur. The measure of Earthly pain marks the necessary corrective call to action to remove the cultural slivers from mass consciousness. At present, ongoing human pain is thought to be a normal condition of life, competition is heralded as the highest value, the universal human needs are frustrated, and humanity has created profoundly excessive emotional malaise. The disease model approach to human mental and physical health dominates, whitewashing the massive symptoms of humanity's folly. From this perspective, it becomes clear that humanity has a long way to go. But it also becomes clear that with reattunement to the emotional sense a good deal of catch-up progress can be made.
It is written that "as we ask, so shall we receive". The keys to that Kingdom of Understanding are no further away than our reach. Once the door to desire is unlocked, the emotion of love will come rushing in and bring with it all we seek.

The evolutionary patterns of punctuated equilibrium, the sudden and rapid changes within longer periods of relative stability, mark the times of enlightenment such as that which now presents itself to humanity. At such times, there is a critical mass attained within mass consciousness, such that it effects a sudden burst of evolutionary movement.
These convoluted periods of fascination that we have witnessed within this past century, periods of racial, cultural, economic and political division, act as mirrors to reflect back to us the mass confusion we have brought upon ourselves with our personal prejudices and our preoccupation with what divides us from each other. From all this will eventually come a new understand and appreciation of where we should direct our future energies.

Each such change begins with a wave of new information becoming available within the mass consciousness of humanity. As each individual receives creative insights and contributes cultural enhancements to his or her group, and each group contributes to the species, the culture undergoes a new cycle of progress. These cycles are simply large-scale turns through the human action cycle wherein the social, emotional evaluation of that which has been created increases public awareness and hones the public motives. With sufficient consciousness of the cause and effect relationship between beliefs and outcomes, and recognizing the emotional evaluation to
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the degree that right and light responses are effected to the public mind, evolution marches forward at an efficient pace and in a highly purposeful direction.
We have an opportunity to alter the course of history by merely altering how we think and putting those thoughts into the mass consciousness for evaluation and further reflection and action. Each of us can be a spark in the chain reaction of enlightenment. We need only present our "gift" and let the ocean of thought carry it beyond the shores of what we conceive as our immediate boundaries of influence.

Of course, it is the task of each individual to embrace and utilize the available information if the highest collective progress is to be made. Embracing the fact that humans (and even many complex animals) have two ways to process information, one higher and one lower, it becomes apparent how and why humans continue to spend time on the lower evolutionary track. Since humans are undergoing the individual process of becoming even more aware of the information cycles, and have suffered the loss of disconnection of the spiritual guidance of that process; at present, humanity remains largely driven by unconscious processes, still struggling to gain basic understandings necessary for conscious control.
To be still is to come to that state of knowing. In an age in which we are bombarded by messages to buy and try, to acquire and control, to achieve and obsess, we can hardly imagine where to find that opportunity of silence. Yet, it is there waiting for us every night. We need only close our eyes and ask.

In short, humans are far more like animals than the biological form allows. (Compassionate understanding and recognition of this fact will allow the "ego" gate to remain open long enough to comprehend and effect the necessary changes.) The pain persists because most humans still process the flow of information in largely unconscious ways, because the mind has not yet evolved enough to handle the job. Most individuals then struggle between high and low roads as life goes on without the conscious understanding of how their self-accepted slivers interfere with selfdevelopment and reinforce the unconscious habitual reflexive protective processes. And, of course, individuals are immediately subjected to the gems and slivers of past generations as soon as the incarnation begins.
The concept of "good" and "evil" contributes to a duality of thought that
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suggests that "joy" can only be achieved through "suffering" and "pleasure" through "pain" etc., etc. When, in fact, we can experience all the positive gems of life without going trough the negative slivers, if only we will accept ourselves as reflections of a higher nature which is permeated by the All That Is.

Thus, the individual and group minds continuously interact in the dynamics we have described---pushing the species with pain to discover the destiny of purposeful spiritual pleasure. These dynamics underlie the historical progress of every human group. As local groups struggle and test human value systems to see how the spirit responds, certain unmistakable trends appear.
Because it is our nature to try, it would seem to be our nature to fail. But from the experience comes the lesson, again and again, until errors become fewer and the trials become more positive and exciting. At some point, we realize that a little inner guidance can carry us on a long and pleasant journey.

A Brief History of Cultural Evolution What we have described as mass consciousness is indeed the collective species consciousness reflected in local and overall trends of cultural evolution. (The species is simply a less recognized gestalt of consciousness.) As the evolving social mind tries out new ideas, it runs them up the flagpole by testing them in the world, either the collective spirit will salute or not, with informational signals of pleasure or pain. As the individuals and groups continuously respond with right and light responses, more information is exchanged, and more inventive mental and physical tools and technologies are created.
All that we have in the physical world, especially that which has been invented and distributed by mankind, is the result of creativity siphoned from the spirit down through the human mind. In some cases the new idea worked to the spiritual benefit of the physical/mental world. In other cases it has not. In the latter, it has been a failure of the human mind to adhere to the spiritual signals being given when the idea or invention reached the mental state which has resulted in a negative experience.

A brief historical assessment at the species level can set the contextual stage for the current evolutionary quickening as well as showing the potentials for that which is to come. In essence, the trends will show that
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the evolution of mass consciousness is steadily moving humanity toward conscious creative, cooperative interdependence, and away from the pains of brutish competitive animal survival struggles. This can be observed in patterns that relate to how well we process and exchange information with one another, for---just like individuals---societies are either pushed by the pains of unconscious animal safeguard processes when they can handle less information, or are pulled by the pleasures of conscious creative successes when they can handle more. For as we have learned, emotion guides the expansion of consciousness by mediating the information exchange internally as well as externally and can protectively close the door to consciousness and default to lower levels of information processing when necessary.
Technology has advanced to a stage where the thoughts and ideas of humanity, as a whole, can now be shared on a mass scale, without the interpretation or misinterpretation of the vested interests of those who are threatened by a loss of power or influence. This is evident not only in economic or technological spheres but in religious and philosophical arenas as well.

We can examine human history within this context and see how the dynamics of freedom, empowerment, and connection either enhance and speed up cultural evolution, or slow it down to ongoing battles for simple survival. As we discussed within the context of human development, natural morality, and politics, humanity is indeed a cooperative, interdependent species. But until the mass mind can embrace the plural "we" self-concept, the emotional motivation will remain on a lower animal "me" level.
There are forces in place in many societies on the planet that seem to be striving to create a level of separation wherever possible. The traditional communication systems appear to be attempting to capitalize on states of division and, in doing so, contribute to that state and even enhance it.

Indeed, when we reconnect to inner guidance, individuals can reclaim the natural trust upon which the empathic attachment to other human beings rests. It then becomes generalized to a strong sense of public trust, providing a safe and sturdy mental framework for the cooperative interdependent nature of humans. It is only due to the emotional ignorance of humanity that this was not the case long ago. As such, the destiny of the species has been unduly influenced and stymied by the slivers which have
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become institutionalized truths ---such as for scientists: "survival is the only purpose of humanity", for religions: that "all humans are born with original sin". From the truths held in the public mind, comes the creative reflection of its misuses of will energy and misdirection of spiritual purpose.
Taking the above mentioned "institutionalized truths" alone; there is enough mischief to divert human thinking for eons to come. The first is extremely limiting in explaining the purpose of life. The second simply puts humans in an inferior position from which they must struggle their entire lives (under the tyranny of an institution) to avoid a state of eternal pain.

Without the concept of unity between body and mind, and unity between people, the higher needs and meanings cannot enter the realm of consciousness. With this inner communication breakdown, there will be an ever-present tension between the "me" body and the necessary "we" mind as well as the "we" collective species. This internal tension is reflected externally in social groupings by symptomatic communication breakdowns, mistrust, disempowerment, loss of freedom, and war within and between groups. (It makes no more sense for humans to compete and interrupt the social information flow than it does for the body's cells to fight amongst themselves interrupting the flow of energy information necessary for physiological functioning.) Indeed, without unity between the individual brain cells which make up the human collective mind, human progress will seem dogged by a dichotomous social yet uncivilized nature.
Nothing seems to illustrate that better than the presidential election of 2000. It would take a great leap of faith to consider the possibility that the waging of legalized war every four years can be detrimental. But when competition is taken to the point where it is considered essential to the betterment of a society, then the dedication to that misconception is bound to spill over into all aspects of life and eventually result in mass malfunction.

Human cultures arose due to the economics of need-meeting which we now know is mediated by the emotional language of spirit in all life forms. Freedom and power were attained when need-meeting resources were readily available. When the territory of the hunter-gatherers was filled with natural bounties, early humans began to communicate and share information about where the best resources might be found, and to
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coordinate cooperative need-meeting activities. Learning from others about distant resources allowed bands to travel with the turning of the seasons to seek naturally occurring resources---plants, animals, toolmaking materials, etc. This expanded the territory and eventually led to the insightful practice of domesticated resource management and replenishment. But it was the informational exchanges between people that led to the changes in the mass mind that facilitated these cultural trends.
The history of the development of culture exists as a beacon of what can be accomplished through the distribution of information. By itself, it is not enough to turn a society into an environment which can sponsor one's full spiritual potential. Clearly, the acquisition of information from within (where the Spirit thrives) must be a part of group and individual development and it's appreciation must be recognized and emphasized.

When humans began to till the land and grow their own plant resources, the traveling became less physical, than mental. The development and use of common language allowed the transport of information and new insightful ideas to cycle between individuals, just as the senses cycled it within the individual minds and bodies. Over time, it was the ideas, the flow of mental information that became evermore complex so that humans began to rely upon the tremendous cultural knowledge resources that are now taken for granted. Indeed, power, freedom and connection are far more about mental exchanges than the simply physiological exchanges involved in sharing and finding food.
Ideas are the food of the soul. The sharing of them is nourishment for the Spirit.

Free will must be able to function in an environment in which it is honored. Creativity must be respected as a spiritual quality in which humans are encouraged to indulge. Only then does the advanced technology that makes all this possible tend to be a servant to mankind rather than its master.

As the information within the mass mind continued to accumulate, and roadways and networks expanded between people, there became a need for some sort of centralization and leadership for more efficient assessment of sharing, and organization of the available resources and information. With farming came the first forms of early governments and chiefdoms, that created cooperative groups larger than families and bands. When leadership accomplished the successful cooperative meeting of the needs
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of the group, all would be well. But more often than not, lack of freedom and equal opportunity for each of the members, would create inner strife and competition within the group and would break down the cohesive structure. (Like any mind, a social ego can only handle as many challenges as its own belief resources.) Large groups would then fraction into smaller, more manageable groups with differing strategies and ideologies---and more often than not, competitive rather than cooperative goals.
The adverse consequences of competition may well be traced back to a concept that wherever there are competing components, one must almost have to be considered to be "good" and the other "bad", with each group presuming the other was in that latter category. Would that we could replace those concepts and perspectives with that which can contribute to the betterment of the whole.

One undeniable trend, however, despite these conflicts and dynamics of change, was the evolutionary trend toward larger united groups that coincided with cultural inventions that increased information flow and shared the mental resources. As humans shared their technological advances, the capacities increased and everyone benefitted in kind. With the advent of written communication, chiefdoms evolved into city-states, with the printing press came modern civilizations, and with the Internet came a globally connected information network between humans. Even without the informational guidance, human creative technological innovation itself pulls humans to recognize the undeniable cooperative nature of the species.
Could it be possible that the present trend in technology can bring with it an expanded understanding of the complete nature of human beings and that the distribution of that information through the exponentially expanding communication system is the best possible hope for the world?

A central message of these trends has been overlooked. This message is that the sharing of information and resources, builds a feeling of public trust, and yields far more long-term benefit than does the fearful power mongering, hoarding of information and resources, in order to gain superiority or short-term advantage. (Taking less in order to share in the short run, always adds up to far more resources in the long-run, since there is synergy and a lack of competitive retaliation from those left out.) Indeed, all cooperative changes lead to increased freedom and empowerment of the individuals within the group, and the increased
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interdependent connection within any given group---pushing humanity to recognize and acknowledge all three needs within social structures. It is a fallacy that competition will bring anything other than ongoing battles and limited resources for all, but the unenlightened impulsive mind cannot help but fight until the light begins to dawn. Indeed, humanity still struggles with the first developmental challenge, that of understanding and creating trust.
Here is the point of true conflict in the current age: On the one hand you have the expansion of shared information through such instruments as the internet, which is resulting in the "trust" level rising naturally on a worldwide basis. One the other hand, you have political, economic and religious institutions feeling threatened as they become aware that their level of control is slipping away. What we are observing is the confusion among these institutions which this trend is causing.

Thus, there was a great deal of isolation, revolution, mistrust, and fear that caused information hoarding and breakdowns to occur in ways that yielded the Eastern-Western split between emphasis upon external versus internal empowerment, rational versus intuitive processes, cooperation versus competition, freedom versus connection, and allowed opposing forms of government to arise. The West honored freedom and the capitalistic right to earn economic power, while the East leaned more upon the connection need, but often at the expense of basic freedom and empowerment to control one's destiny. The concept of equal opportunity was misconstrued and mutated into an equal result. The entrenched ideas of mechanism and original sin also arose which facilitated a dogged, ignorant denial of the emotional forces which underlie and guide the evolutionary process.
We sometimes confuse progress and achievement with material acquisition. This is not a difficult thing to do when the results are so apparent. Yet, the signs of a not-so-apparent emptiness still abound in a number of social failings in a society that appears to have so much. There are gross inequalities and rampant brutality. The courts are filled with people seeking to correct perceived injustices and children growing into adulthood in environments that are not complete.

To the degree that any ideology provided the information for individuals to empower themselves, the freedom to cooperate within the whole, the higher needs for esteem, creativity, and meaning could arise and be met within the emotional system. Great art, literature and music arose during
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particularly enlightened times, but only within the classes that were afforded access to the informational resources necessary to meet both basic and higher needs. (Far too many great artistic revelations are still born of frustration and pain, due to humanity's inability to fully value and accommodate the universal need for creativity.) The pains of disenfranchisement would always arise and tear at the social fabric until required evolutionary changes arose. The newest, most evolved, forms of government are attempts to ensure the foundational freedom and empowerment that must underlie any successful collective cooperatives.
While the rights to certain basic political freedoms have been written down and held as ideals in the operation of government, attempts have been made to correct the economic inequalities that have resulted from an economic philosophy that makes a virtue of encouraging unparalleled greed. On the surface, these latter attempts seem to have failed, but the latest chapter of this particular period of history is yet to be written.

In sum, although humanity thinks it is at the peak of the biological evolutionary ladder, the information flow and the capacity for cooperation remains well below that which the form demands and the spiritual pull suggests. Humans still struggle with the simplest of their developmental challenges. In short, they are far less evolved and aware than they suppose, and in far less conscious participation and creative control than they believe. To the degree that basic freedom, power, and connection are accommodated, the consciousness is allowed to expand, to receive, create, and exchange more information. But to the degree that humans must fight for basic freedom and empowerment, they will retreat into autopilot, survival modes of fight and flight impulse responses that continue to tear at the fabric of society. The spirit will not be silenced, for it has a much higher plan than the mass mind can yet fully conceive.
There is a propensity among the elite in any society to presume that the knowledge at hand is the final word in all that is worth saying. In other words, currently accepted beliefs are quick to deteriorate into a form of dogma, whether it be in the religious, political or the scientific field. Arrogance is the most formidable opponent of truth. Yet, if history teaches us anything it is that this type of "formidability" is constantly being overcome.

The trends are very clear, and it is only now, at the dawn of the new millennium that the forces of spirit can be given their full recognition.
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Indeed, it is the force of anger that causes disempowered individuals to rise up and change that which is unjust, revolutionarily moving society toward the biological conditions nature and Divine Intention have set forth. Unfortunately, the mass human consciousness cannot yet accommodate the flow of feedback information from its own citizenry, due to the lack of universal values and spiritual self-understanding. Without such, the public mind will have less and less cohesive influence, offer less cooperative advice and be vulnerable to all the impulsive actions of its weakest links.
There still exist, in many intensive portions of the planet, pockets of political and economic unrest which literally threaten to ignite a nuclear power keg at any given moment. Words are not being heard. Injustices are not being addressed. Passionate young people are dying in the causes of peace and equality. If hope for better solutions does not arrive in time, hoped-for progress in these significant areas will be set back centuries.

Indeed, the global community which has always been spiritually and ecologically connected, is now fully technologically and economically interconnected and there can no longer be any lingering at a lower level of consciousnesswithout epic consequences. The recent assaults with computer viruses, germ warfare, and acts of terrorism with technological weapons illustrate the urgency of the need for this enlightened shift.
Hopefully, the content of these "Lessons" will serve to ignite those prophetic words: One small step for man One giant leap for mankind, providing they reach a sufficient number of people in an adequate amount of time.

Levels Of Human Conscious Experience By divine design, the physical experience has built within it the laws which direct the evolution of consciousness. These laws, however, do not violate the potential creative free will which is inherent in the human experience, but simply include physiological safeguards that ensure the mind can be oriented in the most fulfilling directions while operating within the limits of the physical realm. The human needs and the feeling informational signals of the body motivate humanity to pass through the developmental stages and to become aware of and surmount spiritual challenges which prepare and open the mind to the fully creative human experience.
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The physical or mental experiences that seem to be and often are the result of incorrect choices or a failure to hear the messages of our higher nature are the same experiences that stimulate growth in these areas by bringing home to us the realization of the capability we have of creating our own reality. The bad news is: We create our own reality. The good news is: We create our own reality.

As we now know, it is the divine acceptance of as much incoming information as possible which will tip the scale from feelings of corrective pain toward those of purposeful pleasure. Acceptance marks the entry into the ego gate in both individual and cultural minds. Habitual denial ensures ignorance and ongoing corrective pain until there is conscious acceptance of that which has been created. The degree of acceptance corresponds with the level of conscious experience. At present, the species ignorance of the emotional guidance sets the stage for incoming personalities to fall victim to the limiting beliefs offered as institutions, traditions, and truths. The structure which accomplishes the acceptance of emotional guidance will give rise to far more optimal kinds of humane experience. This fully human kind of functioning encourages the expansion of consciousness at a much faster pace than has yet been experienced by most human beings.
Acceptance suggests trust and trust equates with faith. But the faith suggested is not a blind faith in that which is being served up by our established institutions, but rather a willingness to trust our inner feelings when inviting higher knowledge to penetrate our consciousness. This material attempts to make the point time and again, that there is already in place a system that can flood us with the knowledge of unlimited potential of spiritual development and we need merely understand and appreciate the universal concept of the All That Is.

Nevertheless, these evolutionary levels of experience are all well within the grasp of any given individual to the degree that an environment accommodates the inner impetus to evolve. There have been several cultures whose beliefs and isolated nature allowed for some quite impressive development of inner abilities that much of the world has yet to embrace. Those cultures that advocate meditative practices or utilize meaningful dream guidance which access inner information through altered states of consciousness, have indeed much to offer the masses. But the most useful information source which can bring such insights into waking consciousness and daily experience shall be through the original
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path--- the feeling signals.

This term, "feeling signals", may still present itself as part of a mystery when it comes to capitalizing on its true meaning and implementation. If such can not be fully understood and utilized at this point in time, no matter. Other practices, such as those mentioned in the above paragraph, i.e. meditation or dream guidance, will help us move toward the "feeling" goal. These will serve as experiences to prime the pump of our imagination, so to speak.

Since a critical mass (the predominant percentage of energy) must be attained for macro evolution to occur, there will always be individuals interacting who are at different places in terms of consciousness. Although the majority still linger in the darkness, there are many intuitively enlightened individuals who have tenaciously gathered and evaluated as much information as possible and have expanded their consciousness significantly. They recognize the self-made limits within mass consciousness and are responsibly striving to remove them.
The role in this process is not limited to anyone but those who wish not to play their own personal role in this evolution. All who occupy the physical have chosen to do so because of a particular gift of some kind. Such gift or gifts are held on a genetic level and can be brought to the surface by simply expressing desire and intent.

There are many who answer the calling spirit and offer spiritual truths through artistic interpretations which resonate with others. Such inner directed and outer expressive individuals are often referred to as light workers. Such individuals have accomplished the spread of spiritual information to the degree that critical mass is closer than ever. It falls to these enlightened ones to carry the torch and to help bring their own higher levels of consciousness to the masses. These people, the compassionately meek yet with courageous integrity, understand and forgive the cost of ignorance for the benefit of free will. They seek to bring forth the Christ consciousness that lies dormant within the human potential---faithful that even when pushed by pain the spirit will lead humanity from the darkness.
Those who struggle against conventional thinking to give expression to their inner spirit are now the beacons of light that shine as examples of the potential within each soul. As the recognition of the connection between body, mind and spirit becomes more apparent, the path of these pioneers will become more easily tread.
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Thus, there are levels of human experience ranging from painful, unconscious incompetence and confusion, to pleasurable, consciously creative competence, and spontaneous value fulfillment. Such is true for the entire species. On the macro level of human evolution, this occurs as three distinct levels of existence with varying degrees of personal awareness, purposeful understanding, creative competence, social justice, and painful and pleasurable symptoms.
The choice of where we wish to place ourselves along this path is ours. The tool to what knowledge we wish to accept or reject is our feelings. In the truest sense, if it feels right we can and truly should do what we imagine we can.

The Survival Level of Existence The first level is that which is currently familiar, but it is actually a very primitive and crude form of human experience more likened to animal instinctive experience. This is the normal condition of humans who have not yet consciously embraced their inner guidance system, and are subjected to the autopilot modes of spiritual self-regulation. Free will and consciousness awareness are both severely limited at this level, but the genetic collection of body wisdom ensures the divine goals will be protected and that the urgings of spirit can always become known.
There are portions of humanity in the present day that reflect the "primitive" qualities described above. Unfortunately, these "portions" can, at times, become quite influential in the affairs of the world. It might even be observed that such mentality is often supported and encouraged by those institutions which regard themselves as having predominant superiority over the functions of most human life and all of nature.

This, the survival level of experience, is characterized by supremacy of body, with limited awareness of a good deal of the available bandwidth of quantum information. The information exchanges happen largely behind the scenes carried out through electro-chemical interactions within the body that bypass any form of mind and directly interface with the world. But even in the forms with the most meager brain structures, these unconscious informational processes are depositing information in varying forms of memory banks. There is a cellular form of memory which is the
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accumulation of all experiences of that particular gestalt of consciousness---in its highest form. This kind of memory bank speaks within the bandwidths of quantum energy gestalts (available to all forms of consciousness who can attune to it), directing all genetic operations, and it's information is called upon as bodily wisdom.
The body enjoys its own form of consciousness that is yet to be appreciated. Yet, this "gestalt" is quite capable of learning and progressing; and observable history of humans on the planet stands in evidence of this process. To often, as societies become more technologically advanced, its members become educated beyond their level of understanding. Minds pried open with knowledge become closed by the force of intellectual arrogance.

But also through these purely physical processes, a second kind of memory then begins to take place. This occurs through a body's pairing of events and feelings in memory in order to benefit from the experiences and creative will of the individual. This manifests as conditioned learning in animals and in humans---and is created without conscious intervention--but it underlies and gives rise to the emerging mind and personal forms of memory. For it is in the ability of any organism with a complex enough brain to pay attention and recognize the patterns within the context of space and time and make some self-directed changes and choices in the process. Over time, a mindscape develops with the unique mental representations of the physical information that can take on an ego identity of its own.
Humans are a primitive species engaged in the process of reaching a state of selfrealization. This "process" and the end result are guaranteed by the innate qualities of the species. What is not guaranteed is the directness of the path taken. Free will can accelerate the process or delay it. Creativity can be loosened or stifled. Sparks become flames only to return to the state of burning embers. The universe, in all its forms, reflects a state of expansion and contraction, but never extinction.

Thus, as the survival level mind evolves, these bodily patterns are not only recognized, but the mind takes on more and more conscious control and creative participation within the regulatory processes. In the natural expansion of consciousness, the mind first needs to grasp what is happening. The feeling signals bring conscious attention to the outcome after the fact---after the behavior and twice removed from the intentional
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motive itself. This leaves the mindful consciousness mostly focused in the past with confusion resulting over why things happen. Due to the resistant impulses of the defensive safeguards, the first kinds of answers will not embrace creative self-determinism within the physical system and blame will be assigned externally.
An avoidance of responsibility for creating one's own reality will continue to lead to the habit of pointing a finger of blame in every other direction deemed appropriate at the time. Such patterns of mental activity are usually followed by some physical expression or action that eventually accelerates to a point of massively inflicted pain. Demonic personalities are pumped up well beyond their level of importance, usually to encourage solutions of an over-simplified nature.

Take, for example, human superstition. Since the typical human experience is driven by mostly unconsciousness intentions, which create actions and outcome perceptions that bring many surprises (both good and bad), the mind begins to recognize the timing and coincidence of events and begins to assign cause and effect. This is a typical pattern as the mind strives to make sense of what is happening as life unfolds each day. With the error of human judgment pairing the outcome with the feelings and allowing conditioned learning, the mind can inadvertently associate cause and effect in a willy-nilly fashion. A free will mind can then believe that human sacrifices bring the sun or rain, that different others are evil demons, or that vengeful Gods are meddling in human affairs, in turn creating those very realities and perceptions---complete with all corrective signals.
A collective mind that dares to question the status quo and is encouraged to exercise a God-given free will to do so, will soon take a society from the depths of ordained forms of superstition to a state of enlightenment which outpaces the qualities of fear and guilt.

Since the mind first emerges with its initial holdings gleaned from the past, the present remains driven by impulse, with the feelings of pleasure and pain most meaningful in the moment, with long-term concepts and future events rarely considered. This is what leads to the trend for competitive, short-term thinking instead of long-range, strategically cooperative interactions, and mental strategies of cultural institutions that are based upon win-lose warring. It will only be when the connection is made between the contents of mind and the outcomes created that trust in humanity's power and ability can be established.
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If the current threat of environmental disaster on a global scale does not stimulate a broader vision of what can and must be done, the planet's population will surely descend into another "dark" age. Yet, it is the collective consciousness, acting on what may currently be an undetected level, that can turn the tide toward a more positive result.

Survival Empowerment and The Chakra System Another way of grasping this point is to look to the spiritual challenges and the opening of the chakra centers of mind---but within the mass consciousness of the species. The survival level experience is focused upon the lingering challenges of the first three chakras as tribal freedom and empowerment are learned through the unconditional trust and acceptance of mother archetype and the autonomous creative activity of the father archetype. As the cultural information provides for better and better parenting of its children, valid connection and creatively expressive contributors propel humanity to the other higher understandings of the heart chakra for true global unity.
The correlation between a microcosmic and macrocosmic state gives evidence of how what can be accomplished on a unit as small as the family can effect a collective body as large as a planet and beyond. A society that encourages the importance of understanding the parental role in the development of a child can take hope that, in the end, an entire culture can be elevated above the mentioned archetypes.

The species is now faced with surmounting the spiritual challenge of the heart chakra, necessary to balance the mass energies for full connection. The trend can be noted in the shifting values of religion, and indeed, a good deal of the evolutionary patterns have been influenced by religion. The influence has been largely due to the fact that religions have been the keepers of such concepts as spirit, soul, and divine guidance, and have been concerned with the questions of empowerment and moral authority. In other words, as the mind evolves the ability to realign with internal empowerment, the species will struggle to open its first three mass chakras to the full energy of spirit.
This is a natural process that must follow in evolutionary order. What can short circuit the process is the establishment of those systems which distract or derail
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the natural evolutionary connection with divine guidance and self-empowerment and replace those qualities with a form of moral authority that is enforced from outside the individual.

As humankind has struggled to gain knowledge and value systems that afford external empowerment over the harshly competitive conditions of the environment, the spiritual impetus within has also been pushing for discovery of the internal values upon which cooperative empowerment can arise. At first, religions focused mainly upon these internal values due to the natural sensitivity to the feeling signals. But over time, the struggles for external power and authority allowed religious doctrines to mutate in ways that promoted unified values and morality only through competitive external power.
At this point it would appear that the pendulum has swung as far as it can justify. With greater knowledge and open information exchange coming to the fore, the maximum point of acceleration has been reached and we are beginning to move back from the extreme of the authoritarian world and toward the appreciation of free will.

As we now know, the uses and misuses of the emotional system underlie these dynamics. In essence, any aspect of any religious doctrine that demands adherence to external authorities (be they deacons, shamans, or Gods) through bribes or threats has limited purpose and will be identifiable by its exploitation of fear, guilt, and anger from vengeful retaliation. Conversely, any that inspires internal cooperative empowerment is multipurpose and calls upon the higher feelings of compassion, integrity, courage, gratitude, loyalty, and faith shall be those that stand the tests of time and unite humanity. The old and new testaments of the Holy Bible illustrate the trend away from fearful adherence to vengeful Gods, external power sources and competition, and toward internal cooperative selfempowerment---true spiritual empowerment ---advocated by the entity Jesus Christ. Still, humanity remains conflicted between two levels of conscious understanding.
While certain portions of the "new testament" are given much lip service, it is still those other portions of same (along with complimentary portions of the "old testament") which support the system that encourages control from without. This is the great failing of the message advocated by Jesus the Christ. It is also the flagrant misuse of the Bible to the point of Western shame, i.e. not teaching
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His message of internal empowerment by example.

This vacillation between internally directed cooperative power and externally based competitive power has influenced evolution in several ways. First, the tremendous diversity that exists in the human gene pool is characteristic of the geographic, environmental and sociocultural interactions that have taken place between genetically isolated groups. Religion has helped to both isolate and bring together the formerly noninteracting genetic populations due to competitive holy wars and as missionaries associated with "savages" in order to spread the good word. Second, religious ideologies also have resulted in self-preserving group identities and distinctions that continue even when geographic isolation is no longer a factor, creating uniquely interacting kinds of gene pools and social environments such as race and ethnicity. (Indeed, scientists have given little attention to the profound socio-cultural effects upon the gene pool.)
It should be evident that the greater the mixing of racial and cultural genes, the greater the advancement of such groups. Nature approves of this process by bringing the best forth that each contributor offers. This is true on a physical level as well as a mental level. There is no reason why it should not also be true on a spiritual level.

For example, the self-identifier of the group "catholic" influenced the intermixing of formerly isolated genes and physical traits due to the beliefs advocated by that group. The purposeful concept of equality of souls and equal access to salvation within the ideology resonated with the universal connection of humanity, and helped influence the mating patterns between formerly isolated groups. The downside has been that less purposeful tenets have also been included such as indiscriminate reproduction, institutionalized judgment, fear, guilt over natural drives, and loss of personal accountability. Nonetheless it will be those united in spiritual community that will continue to lead the species until science embraces the spiritual nature of the human being. The spiritual impetus is of course, moving humanity to unite, to connect, and for the whole species to benefit from the unique talents and skills and cultural answers that have arisen. This sharing and exchange of both information and genes is what will drive both cultural and genetic evolution toward its cooperative destiny. The fearful and angry racial hate is simply a survival level phenomenon of less consciousness.
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A lesser level of consciousness, especially on a spiritual level, is destined to give way to a greater level of consciousness. It is not just the "survival of the fittest" at work here, it is the impetus of progress that motivates the process. It is one of the explanations for the greatness of a society which encourages a constant influx of diversity, along with an integration of that diversity.

In sum, the survival level of experience is the mass mind's struggle to open its first three chakras. It is characterized by low levels of conscious awareness, information comprehended, conscious competence, social selfunderstanding, self-acceptance, purposeful creative expression, value fulfillment, social justice and cooperation, and positive emotion; and high levels of unconscious intentions, incompetence, confusion, superstition, misinformation, impulsive actions, inner and outer competitive conflict, spiritual malaise, and painful fear, anger, and hate. Individual pain manifests in social symptoms such as depression, rage, suicide, violence, and creates a predominance of mental and physical health disorders. Of course, this is but a pale comparison to the rich potential of higher level experiences that consciously embrace and participate within the cocreative flow of life.
Experience drives the mass mind to find better ways of conducting itself other than to pay a negative price of short sighted behavior. It suggests that there is an inner guidance system in place which can bring an elevated level of consciousness, when accepted and encouraged.

Indeed, hidden within all major religious themes, are the seeds of the spiritual truth that humanity needs to re-attune and be guided by the highest feeling tones such as compassion, integrity, forgiveness, courage, and faith. All the answers do lie within and the promise of full human living can be attained by simply decoding and following wisdom within the feeling signals. The discovery of the emotional sensory compass and the spread of information regarding its use, will be the final catalyst necessary to unite science with all the religions and for the species to fully balance the human heart. With this information, humans can then rise to the challenge of unity by using the feeling information to allow the mind to align with---instead of war against---the desires and bodily processes and wisdom of spirit. This will generalize socially to end the external warring between individuals and groups for basic power and freedom.
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There are as many aspects of truth as there are perspectives, but it is "perspectives" which bring "truth" its potential for expansion and encompassing the All That Is. We need not all agree all of the time, but it would be of great benefit to learn to celebrate our varied perspectives. It would also be a broadening experience on all levels.

Thus, at the survival level of existence, humans are most concerned with self-preservation and the basic needs of freedom and empowerment, both in obtaining resources and in creating a competent mind. The first competence a mind must embrace is that of its own emotional guidance which relaxes its ego identity and propels it forward with enthusiasm and faith upon the purposeful developmental path---this is the only valid and authentic form of empowerment. A freely empowered mind can then begin to overcome the fight and flight impulses and respond with right and light responses that are effective over an ever-longer period of time. A freely empowered mind learns from the past but is focused more in the future as it plans and strategizes how best to maintain creative control over its destiny.
The school of life is full of lessons which are not always pleasant to absorb, but once the individual masters the art of learning in a way that results in the least amount of pain, the mere joy of attendance becomes the driving force to the acquisition of greater enlightenment.

This empowerment and liberation of each personality then drives the creative expression that accumulates and manifests as cultural evolution. Each individual contribution builds toward empowerment and freedom of the whole---building connection. The current information explosion within human culture marks the nearing of the end of the survival stage and entry of the species into its next level.
We might even consider recognizing the qualities of the internet as being an essential part of this ordained process.

The Individual Task At Hand As we have discussed, at present, humans remain poised at a crucial threshold, ready to consciously embrace the undeniable truth of the emotional, ecological, economic, and cosmic interconnection. As science teeters on the brink of recognizing the unified connection between body
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and mind, as religions recognize the folly of superstition and the emotional voice of spirit, as political leaders recognize the futility of oppositional parties, philosophies and countries---the connection need will come to the fore, competition will give way to cooperative social justice and vault humanity up to the fully human state.
A half a century ago it would have been anathema to suggest that cooperation might be a greater virtue than competition. The latter was the American way of life. Now it is safe to consider that unlimited capitalism might be a crucial threat to not only to the ecology but to the survival of the human race.

But this will not occur due to some dramatic polar shift, weather patterns, planetary alignment, miraculous cosmic forces, or divine intervention---it will occur due to the creative efforts of each and every individual to become aware. The miraculous divine forces are already at work and have been throughout the entire evolutionary history of the Earth. The quantum informational field has been ready and able to provide as much guiding information as the inhabitants of the Earth are prepared to consciously assimilate, rationally synthesize, and to willfully act upon. This will go on being true no matter how long it takes for humanity to open to this wisdom and evaluative guidance.
To use another analogy: The electrical grid is in place and one need only plug the lamp into the socket and turn it on in order to draw the energy source and bring the desired light into one's surroundings. What we're talking about is not so much creating as recognizing and utilizing.

Nevertheless, a much more creatively delightful form of existence awaits beyond the shadows of human ignorance and has long been unfolding before the minds of those ahead of the group game. With each individual effort to embrace the accountability to free will choice, to proceed through the spiritual challenges, to develop the mind to be able to receive and process the maximum amount of information, and to share those insights with creative expression which hone the cultural mass mind, the evolutionary progress of the whole will benefit. By the very act of reading these Lessons, the energy increases---and by embracing the energy, increases exponentially toward the mass enlightenment and the higher destiny. There shall be no martyrs of this cause, for the personal rewards of transcending mere survival are beyond measure.
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This is not a situation of suffering our way to a state of success. Rather it is a point of reference which we can choose to connect with and build upon. We are not operating beyond the limits of our capacity. We are simply in a position to recognize that our limitations are self-imposed.

With awareness that the survival level is but a first step along the macro path, we can now go on to discuss the higher potentials within the destiny of the species. Historical Survival The patterns of human history reveal that humanity, despite all of its advanced technologies and creative cultural achievements, is still in the early stages of its evolutionary destiny. Although nature sets forth a clear course through the interactions of genetic memory and the quantum environment, this biological predestiny is intended to be embraced and creatively enhanced with purposeful use of free will. Indeed, human consciousness plays an integral role in the pace of human evolution. But the protective self-preservationary safeguards within the system ensure that the direction of evolution will always remain the same---pushing and pulling humanity toward the True North of adaptive self-development, meaningful self-actualization, and cooperative co-creation.
Just as rivers can never permanently run uphill, so the human spirit can not avoid it's destiny, that being an envelopment with All-That-Is. Each time we embrace a fresh thought, share in idea, create something new out of the multiplicity of our existence, we move toward a greater level of expansion, of which there is no limit.

Despite the repeated mistakes and cycles of ongoing pain within the Earthly experience, the patterns are readily available for conscious comprehension and punctuated enlightenment to occur at any time. The higher destiny awaits, beyond space-time, whole and intact, ready to unfold before the willing eyes, minds, and hearts of humanity. The survival stage is merely the necessary transition as humanity grasps the meaning within the automatic processes and its abilities to consciously enhance them. As a normal part of the expansion of All That Is, the human experience includes a transition away from automatic processes and biological predestiny and toward ever-more creative, willful empowerment. Learning through the cycles of pleasure and pain, however,
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will lead even the most recalcitrant to higher uses of the conscious mind until the inner delights of the highest feelings begin to take over. It will only be due to continued mass rejection of the available guidance that humanity could now undo the progress and destructively set themselves back, although such is within the realm of choice.
Free Will shall always be a part of human nature, along with the ability to create one's own reality. The appreciation of the former and the comprehension of the latter are the twin horses that pull the metaphorical wagon on it's unending journey. But we are the final arbitrator of the pace of our travels, as well as the direction. The nature of our adventure is ours to control. This is both our privilege and our responsibility.

But the biological variety within the human gene pool provides for many unique destiny paths to be chosen by advanced entities or "old souls" and ensures that individual personalities can evolve higher levels of aware existence and be far enough ahead of the pack to help instigate purposeful changes on the mass scale. Due to the collective efforts of the most enlightened ones, at the current juncture, the species consciousness is approaching the critical mass.
Like the "Hundredth Monkey", we can play a significant role in bringing about those insights which take the human race to that next step of evolution. It does not matter in what area we make our contribution or the comparative size of such. We are equal in the totality of all life and can measure results against all we have been, currently are and are yet to be.

As such, the historically painful struggle to understand and establish the biological conditions of justice can, at last, come to an end. When the painful signals of fear and anger over survival competition are finally quieted, humans can begin to attune, comprehend the meaning, and respond to the higher, more subtle and complex feeling tones of the spiritual language, and begin embracing the higher purposes with all thoughts and creative actions. Such purposeful expressions will model and share the knowledge and as the enlightened information sweeps across the international community, earthshaking shifts will be made. Intellectual and social barriers will be removed, ushering in a new era. An era in which the species can begin to experience what it means to be fully human.
We can put on this mantel like a fresh set of clothes and upon reflection, realize
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that we have not so much altered our capabilities as recognized them. We will make that quantum leap as if it were little more than stepping from one rock to the next across the stream of life.

The Being Level Of Human Existence This is the best state of human experience, wherein human beings are more than just surviving animals, but fully alive with an ever-broadening receptivity to the available bandwidths of information within the quantum field. The focus will shift away from self-preservation and become meaningful self-development so that consciousness can expand to its full potential and be guided to prepare itself for the highest quality creative expressions. The focus upon the external senses will be shifted with the recognition of the inner senses beginning with the attunement to the emotional sense of spirit. At this stage of experience, humans are much more likely to surmount all the spiritual challenges, open and balance all chakras of mind, and have a wholly creative human experience. Thus, humans will also be far more healthy, energized, alive, creative, and passionately involved in the daily business of purposeful co-creative living.
If this stage of development can be imagined and experienced, it would be the equivalent of achieving heaven on earth. It would be the accomplishment of erasing the line between the physical and non-physical state of existence. What we now view as life-after-death would be life-in-life or living completely in the now.

The being state allows for the mind to be focused in the present, but prepared with solid strategies, skills, and perspectives to act spontaneously in ways that will facilitate and create a positive, purposeful, future. There is little impulse avoidance, rationalization, blame, or any other form of survival defense necessary. This is the juncture wherein creative will unites with biological predestiny and forges them together on the purposeful path. The daily life will be far more pleasing, as the unfolding mind embraces evermore meaningful information and begins to direct multi-purposeful thought and action.
Imagine for a moment that one no longer had to preoccupy oneself with a sense of survival and could concentrate solely on acquiring knowledge automatically and exercising creative expression without the fear of negative influences for
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those who did not comprehend the virtures of self-empowerment. We could easily move into the All-That-Is State of Consciousness.

At the being level of evolution, humans have embraced the inner guidance and can both learn at accelerated paces and can unlearn everything contained in both kinds of memory banks. They can cleanse the mind of the distortions left over from instinct, conditioning, and from low-quality conscious intervention. All conditioned learning, which is affectionately known asemotional baggage, can be unpacked and processed through the conscious mind so that the fear and anger are dramatically reduced from both the perceptual and creative aspects of the life experience. Right responses examine and decode all emotional signals, to reconcile them within the perspectives and contextual frameworks that bring the highest emotional responses.
We can evolve our personal mindsets by replacing those of lesser quality with those in line with spiritual evolution. We can remember and build upon whatever we elect to, as well as revise and reject those beliefs and conditioned thought processes which have and continue to lead us down the road of pain.

At the being level, humans are aware that every pain is a corrective signal to inform the mind to right uses of free will, as the spirit's instructional guides to thinking and acting. As the changes are made to individual minds through right responses and expressed outwardly in the light responses, the mass mind evolves accordingly in the creation of the just and civilized social perspectives, strategies, and structures. Once the deficit pain of enslavement and disempowerment have been reconciled within the cooperative, interconnected, enlightened world, tremendous cultural progress can then occur.
It is no accident that such practices as meditation and prayer have been suggested as the best methods to contacting our inner spiritual nature. Now it is beginning to become clear that these practices are the keys to opening the door to our self empowerment, as well as setting free our creative possibilities.

At present, a nearly sufficient number of humans have attained enlightened minds to the degree that this shift can take place. For although we have many institutionalized traditions of survival level consciousness, most are recognizing the basic fact that all people comprise a common species. Instead of the historically predominant experiences, and impulsive
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responses to the protective pangs of raw fear, anger, and maladaptive guilt, resentment, and hate; the majority have begun to collectively create the being state of passionate, creative enthusiasm and egalitarian feelings of love, compassion, respect, courage integrity and loyalty.
This is what could only be described as a "grass-roots" movement in that it is not developing and being spread by our contemporary institutions of power, nor by those who head those institutions. Rather, the movement toward this more enlightened, spiritual state is happening where it's least expected. As religions and governments begin to crumble and display their ineptitude, the general populace stands back in bemusement.

At the being level, the optimal developmental path will become the normal experience for each incoming human being. Without all the painful static characteristic of the survival level, the mind can turn up the volume on all sensory channels and allow in much more information---rapidly increasing the self-developmental pace. Humans will embrace the inner guidance system from birth as enlightened parenting and educational systems shift from the paradigm of external authority and competitive power to cooperative internal self empowerment.
This sounds almost too impossible to imagine as we view our present competitive society. Yet, it is the strength of the imagination that precipitates progress in any stage of development. When any collective attitude is carried to a near impossible extreme, its flaws become that much more apparent, even to those who are the least motivated to recognize them.

With proper social structures and parenting techniques, individuals will be off and running with the most effective personality patterns, attitudes and strategies, the full natural morality, and fully creative passionate empowerment to begin maximizing their value potentials by age eighteen or even less. There will be no need for stages of confusion, rebellion, isolation, addiction, or depression when the mass consciousness embraces and accommodates aspects of the feeling system and welcomes and fosters the unique gifts that each human has brought to Earth.
It is in the most reactionary of times that the greatest amount of progress is achieved, for it is such states that the most inner reflection is stimulated. If the 60's era seems to have reversed at the moment because the younger generation is no longer doing drugs, dressing unfashionably and leading marches in the cause of peace or justice, it is only because that particular group has moved on to a
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state where change can be accomplished through more subtle tactics.

Three Perspectives Of The Being Level At the being level, although positive emotions will lead the way to purpose, negative emotions will still arise. This is simply due to the fact that humans can---and will---make mistakes and perpetuate violations upon one another while learning through trial and error. But the difference between the survival level experience and the being level experience will be that the perceptions of the mind honed by feeling guidance will be different. When the mind is cleansed of its slivers and its gems accumulate over time, the mind's perceptions are quite literally altered by the attitude and interpretations which fall from the purposeful belief systems. Indeed, when allowed to develop naturally, the human mind arrives at universally optimal ways of thinking and acting.
As a society progresses along the spiritual path, there will always be those that appear to want to swim against the tide. The difference will become clear as the tolerance for error will increase as compassion begins to replace harsh judgment and the spirit of All-That-Is is recognized to be within all human beings, just waiting to be brought to the fore.

Thus, the being level of human consciousness is characterized by three mindful perspectives that are the natural result of the mind responding to its own emotional guidance. First, the mind comes to see the world through "The Lens Of Unity" in reflection of the fulfilled connection need and the enlargement of the ego-identity to enfold the feelings of others within the emotional self-concept. Indeed, the role of the ego becomes less necessary as the mind understands the difference between defensive resistance and empowering acceptance. Although the individual sense of self is still intact, the ego "me" protector is no longer necessary. For the mind's identity understands the meaning sense of "we" and its individual role within the interconnected whole, as its natural morality emerges. Through this lens, individuals automatically emote in tune with the needs and feelings of others, thus making personal choices that will benefit others. They will be able to intuitively stand in the shoes of all others involved and make cooperative decisions accordingly.
If such a paradigm shift sounds too idealistic to the average cynic, we need only be reminded that the teachings of our religious institutions have been suggesting
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the importance of a collective love for quite some time. The lesser members of these churches are now about to take them at their word. As this collective mindset expands, the leaders of these institutions will find themselves being motivated to realize the direction of this progressive parade and put themselves in front of it.

As the ego relaxes to allow in all the available information, the mind will become attuned to the subtle meaning and messages of the complex feeling tones as opposed to being gripped by the raw fears, angers, and compulsions of the basic autopilot mode. The initial empathic connection, trust, mutual respect, and loving connection within the family automatically generalized into the public trust, public respect, and compassion for humanity that drives cooperative civilizations. Meanwhile, the individual self concept blossoms into a full awareness of the unique inherent value potential and destiny challenge and becomes the driving conscious force behind all motives and actions.
This is a two-step pattern. The self-preservation of the individual begins to give way to the realization that a collective caring and awareness can provide much greater security and happiness. It then follows that out of this settled state can come increased awareness and creativity.

This brings the second character perspective of the being level mindscape. This driving passion to discover, develop, and creatively contribute all innate gifts brings with it feelings of enthusiasm, mirth, integrity, courage, and profound faith in one's ability and in the meaning of each life event as an opportunity to advance along the destiny path. This mindset that emerges from these feelings can be called the "Personal Accountability Perspective". Although the compassionate mind is aware of human frailty, accepting of inevitable mistakes, and forgiving violations, the empowered accountable mind takes full and complete responsibility for multi-purpose living, seizing every opportunity to progress along the destiny path, and solving every problem that the personality encounters along the way.
At this stage, society begins to become objective about its state and encourages its individual members to exercise their innate talents in creative ways to do more than just understand the state of its troubled members but to envelope them in ways that bring greater respect and appreciation to who they are and how they can be helped.

With the being level lens of accountability, each individual activity avoids
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impulsive fight, flight, and approach responses and ensures right and light responses become the predominant course corrections. With such a mind, there will be no blaming others---no matter what role they might play in the situation; no self deception of any kind, no rationalizing mistakes, no denying incoming information, nor being dishonest in interactions with others; and no competitive aggression (whether passive to active) unless a violation has occurred and light responses have not been successful at creating the needed change. The accountable mind seeks out the meaning within each and every life experience in the faith that meaning is indeed to be found which guides the most purposeful immediate action to keep the self upon the most rewarding life path. The mind then can see its own signature upon each event that is created and the final vestiges of survival level confusion, resistance, and blame slip away.
What begins like a painful trip in the dark, evolves into an enlightened experience wherein the traveler becomes aware that he/she need not progress by feeling one's way in some haphazard manner but can actually "see" the road ahead and has the capability within to steer a more efficient course toward what chosen goal one might wish to attain and that the ultimate "goal" is to be one with the All-That-Is.

The third perspective that arises naturally at the being level of experience can be termed the "Big Picture Perspective." Such a mindset allows all outcomes to be evaluated in the context of the broadest awareness of the most information available over the longest period of time. This perspective allows for the discovery of the meaningful patterns which make sense of the surprises of every day events. Feelings of hope, faith, courage, and universal oneness both build and spring from this perspective. The consciousness begins to recognize the relativity of space, time and even self, in order to see the meaningful opportunities and learning messages in each moment. The "Big Picture Perspective" also results in the kind of intuitive understanding of exactly what the longrange effects of any thought or action will have. It affords the person the rightful and full range of conscious choice. It is the antitheses of impulsive, unconscious, short-term autopilot responses to simply bring immediate pleasure in order to alleviate pain.
We might imagine, for a moment, what the consequences might be if we were able to examine a choice we are about to make and see how each choice might
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play out in the long term. We would then be able to exercise our free will in a more sophisticated fashion and avoid the slivers or pitfalls which might cause ourselves and others undue pain. With less "pain" there would be more pleasure and with more "pleasure" our lives would come closer to what they were intended to be in the initial creation of our species.

Together, these three perspectives will help remove any slivers and build a mindscape of gems. These optimal tools can also be used to help people vault themselves into the being level. Individuals who feel trapped in the patterns of survival level consciousness can simply borrow these perspectives as a way of reinterpreting any outcome that brings a painful emotion. In doing so over time, they can become as automatic as if they had developed naturally. Thus, the active right response of reframing each and every painful experience through one or all of these being-level lenses can be a tremendous aid to the individual enlightenment process.
This suggested process does require a commitment of time for reflection. At this point in our cultural history there are many who feel compelled to occupy every waking moment with some type of productive activity. We even have a term for it: Multi-tasking. We have come to relate happiness and completeness with accomplishment and acquisition of material things. Until we can begin to value repose equally, little progress will be made.

For example, some driver cuts you off in traffic, and the immediate feeling is one of anger, survival impulses take over and you might likely honk, yell, or flash a crude gesture at the offender. But if you respond after the fact with a bit of reflection, a right response can be attained. You might think in ways that allow in additional information for processing of an alternative decision. By drawing upon the "Lens of Unity", you can put yourself in the "offender's" shoes. You might think back to once when you made a mistake in traffic that was taken as a personal offense against a stranger, and the painful regret you felt. With adopting the "Big Picture Perspective", your mind can find alternative, more purposeful interpretations of the act. As such, you might realize that the offender did not know you and could not have meant any personal offense, might be stressed to get somewhere in a hurry, or that the poor slob might just be hopelessly ignorant of anyone except his own immediate needs and most likely did not even see you. At the very least, to recognize that this was an unconscious act of a struggling survival mind allows compassion to replace and reduce the defensive anger.
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The above serves as a good modern example that most of us who drive in urban areas can relate to and use to advantage. Others can find similar examples of occasions when we felt anger toward someone without remembering our own transgressions and misguided behavior. These annoying experiences might just be considered gifts to stimulate both our memories and, hopefully, our sense of compassion.

Each such thought can reduce the amount of anger and perhaps on the next occasion, only annoyance will be felt when someone cuts you off in traffic and the impulse to act does not occur. Using these perspectives in this way, in and of itself honors the "Personal Accountability Perspective", for you are making the necessary changes within your own mindscape and modeling them to the world. That is the highest gift one human can offer the species. Over time, with many such right responses, you will at some point be able to shake your head with a knowing smile or even laugh when someone cuts you off in traffic. The fear and anger signals of a defensive ego will have been replaced by the compassionate acceptance of the fact that people can and will do that sort of thing without it affecting your freedom or power---or connection---in any way.
We make our spiritual progress in increments at whatever pace we choose. Each step is not only of personal benefit but, even more, a gift to a multitude of others. Each such action serves as an example and motivating force for those around us and can serve as a salve to an irritated state of mind.

In time, the being level experience will shift focus away from issues of power, freedom, and connection as true civilizations arise, and humans can get right to the higher challenges and chakra centers. The needs for esteem, creativity, and meaning will usher the highest levels of activity development and expression and the focus upon the highest chakras will be the major life effort. As individuals find and use their empowered voice, the words of the leaders who have conquered the speaker challenge will help humanity move ahead ever faster. The focus will ultimately be in becoming conscious of ever more complex levels of meaning, or seeing and transcending the limits of the ego "self" identity as all chakra centers open to full capacity---and beyond. The seers will experiment with altered states of consciousness and gain far more awareness of ever broadened bandwidths of information, being enticed into a still higher level of human potential.
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What begins as a point of intent will soon spiral upward in an ever-expanding awareness of our own nature and that of all that surrounds us, until we both blend with the whole and come to comprehend the potential of our accelerated progress.

In sum, the being level is characterized by: attunement to the emotional voice of spirit, recognition of the higher informational use of complex learned feeling tones, individual purpose, optimal course of development, internal self-empowerment, interconnection, cooperation, social justice, awareness of how and why things happen as they do, enlightened character perspectives which alter perceptions of outcomes, and far more positive emotional and creative experiences. All of these conditions pull humanity ever higher toward potentials far beyond what the present consciousness can yet conceive.
Above is the portrait of what we can become. We need but apply the paint of imagination to this blank canvas and create an unlimited series of gifts to and for All-That-Is.

The Transcendent Level Of Human Existence Inherent within every human is the ability to achieve a still higher level of experience which can be described as the transcendent level of human potential. Indeed, nature familiarizes us with these potentials through the highest emotional tones that resonate with direct insights and flashes of this kind of experience. Dreams also contain many hints of the mobility and breadth of human consciousness, should humanity recognize that they are not simply ramblings of brain with its consciousness removed by sleep. Indeed, it is a mobility of consciousness wherein the dream state affords the spirit its freedom to interact directly with the body, with the personality as mindful controller out of the way. But as the mind evolves, it is no longer a liability to mobility of consciousness, and can instead bring the creative personality into the game.
Eureka! Moments of cognition. The more frequent, the greater the appreciation of the human potential. Personality, with all its baggage and hang-ups, becomes less of a distraction and more of a partner with the mind, determining the what's and how's of greater moments of creation.

At the transcendent level, the full creative capacities can come to the fore
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as the mind has broadened to attune to and embrace all the wisdom of body and add tremendous creative enhancements to the processes. The mind has transcended the pitfalls of a struggling body and is finally fully in control, but plays a lead role in directing high quality thoughts and actions. There is no longer conditioned learning, since all information flows into the mind for processing and as it expands, the more subtle and finer distinctions can be made within the multiple levels of information that are available within each experience. The predominant experiences are those rich feeling tones with the joyous resonance of universal clarity, the joys of compassion, grace, courage, justice, mirth, exuberance, divine love, faith, honor, gratitude, devotion, and universal oneness.
Just as meditation brings into the mind fresh insights about the totality and meaning of our lives, so can mind grasp the wholistic picture when not being distracted by physical senses and programmed apprehensions. While our five senses are being reduced to a near neutral state, our soul (the Greek word for mind) opens its unfulfilled capacity to the depth of understanding.

At the transcendent level of human experience, all chakra centers are open and continuously expanding as the mind attains an ever broader conscious participation within the co-creative processes. The emphasis is upon the crown chakra, however, as the individual actively practices the expansion and mobility of the conscious mind. Transcendence begins with the recognition that the entire bandwidth of quantum information contained within All That Is, is accessible to the human spirit and that the challenge of the Earthly experience is to actively create the conditions within mass consciousness to align the mind with the breadth of spirit so that the species can evolve away from the necessity of limiting bodily safeguards.
Could this be what is meant by the proclamation, "The Father and I are One"? Mind and Spirit can blend and in doing so, can put aside the preoccupation of self-preservation, knowing that the state of heightened awareness can now compliment a greater state of security on all levels.

Once the being state unites the external senses with the internal voice of spirit, the finer aspects of inner sensory perceptions will automatically begin to awaken. Indeed, the range of emotional sensitivity involves vibrational insights, and multi-sensory mechanisms to enhance the breadth and quality participation within the co-creative experience. Although the species has much progress to make as a group, certain individuals have
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attained transcendent level experience---it has been attained in the dream state, through chemical manipulation, through meditative practice and even through religious revelation. Fleeting glimpses of these abilities remind humanity of this inner potential, as flashes of intuition, sudden shifts out of the relative time, space or "self", or instantaneous joyous, harmonic resonance with the quantum field.
Such sparks of insight are like fireflies that light up the night and suggest that were they to eventually become more plentiful, the night could turn into day and we would come to see more of our world than we could ever imagine. We need not wait until the hereafter to experience this knowing. It could be as close as our fingertips.

Indeed, the genetic physical potentials within the most chemically sensitive personalities allow for tremendous spontaneous mobility of consciousness---often chosen for uniquely challenging, leadership destiny paths. Many misunderstood experiences, that the survival level consciousness world deems to be abnormal, are in fact simply the innate ability for mobile consciousness. Psychic, telepathic abilities, multi-modal perceptions and projections, multiple personalities, and even psychotic delusions are all manifestations of a giftedly mobile chemical vessel intended to facilitate out of space/time/self conscious sojourns in order to offer unique creative insights and contributions of the most challenging destiny paths.
Using the descriptive word normal, we tend to build walls around those observed experiences that seem too bizarre to fit into our limited paradigm. In doing so, we lock out many potential experiences which could broaden our soul view.

Indeed, what appear as "mental disorders" to the confused public mind are actually splendid opportunities to learn the mobility inherent within the human consciousness. Oftentimes, gifts in one area come with apparent weaknesses in those held to be of value. It is an ignorant travesty that such individuals are feared by the masses, and taught that they are disordered or evil, and are chemically medicated away from their gifts. Such out-of-time individuals often suffer rejection and isolation, and never fully recognize the meaning within their unique experiences. They should instead, be revered, studied, and helped to align with and balance their chemical sensitivity, attune to, and manifest their uniquely creative offerings. For
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even within the survival level mass mind, these individuals often transcend severe limitations and put forth the most insightful and indeed ingenious offerings.
It may just be that our propensity toward fear is what keeps us from appreciating those within our midst who could bring us to the next stage of awareness at an even greater rate than we now hope and anticipate.

Of course, life at the transcendent level will include tremendous mobility of consciousness as a routine of daily creative living. Even the normal range of human potential has far more gifts than have been discovered. Lucid and creative dreaming, astral projections, and spiritual travels will become a far more common practice as the inner aspects of self take on larger and larger roles and the mind attains ever more access to the vast information within the quantum field. The focus upon value assigned to external sources of information will dramatically shift toward internal scientific explorations of time, space, and self. With an open heart, the mind and eyes of humanity will expand to take in more and more of the wonders within All That Is. There will be such highly creative and effective cooperative social structures that self-preservation and selfdevelopment will be a respected right of every human citizen, so the immediate purposes of self-actualization will be the primary purpose of humanity. This will include both the fulfillment and expansion of all potentials---hurtling humanity ever-further along the evolutionary path.
The above words paint pictures upon humanity's canvas which already shows the outline of what can be developed. We can fill in the blank spaces with the colors to be found within our innate nature. By exploring ourselves, we can find the door to a world we could hardly have dreamt into existence. Once a candle is lit, darkness must retreat.

At the transcendent level of experience, there will be an unprecedented flow of newly available information affecting all levels of consciousness. There will be ever-increasing intensity of inner telepathic resonance, of attunement to deeper and more core memory banks, of self-hypnosis and inner time/space travel, of unifying the wisdom for altered states and dream consciousness, of directing lucid dreams and facilitating communications and resource sharing with alternate personalities or incarnations, as well as experiencing all the inner senses in the distinct nuances not yet even conceived. But most of all, the human experience
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will be the spontaneous creation of exactly those experiences which can most fulfill the entity and all levels of gestalts of consciousness within which the personality lies. The person will experience the rapturous resonance of fulfilling the ever expanding destiny of All That Is with precision, creativity and panache.
Imagine going from the travel mode of a small scooter to the most sophisticated of jet aircraft. It would be the equivalent of accelerated learning starting in kindergarten and arriving in graduate school in a single year. Of course, this pace of advancement would be erratically self-determined. However, the potential remains a constant.

The potentials will continue to expand as the telepathic and intuitive pathways become dominant. Communication within and between people will be far better and less restricted by the limitations of language. Thus, new mechanisms and levels of information exchange will become the norm. Deception will be a vestige of the ancient past as travels in altered states of consciousness allow humans to bypass the illusory boundaries of time, space and even self. The depth of empathic compassion will have truly transcendent qualities as will the creative abilities. The social manifestations of the transcendent level of humanity will be a global community much more akin to the elusive utopian society than the present pessimistic mind of man can consciously embrace. Technological advances will occur more in inner realms as the self-system, internal abilities, and willful self-empowerment are intellectually and institutionally embraced. Intuitive research, travels, and technologies including energy medicine, and conscious participation within energy dynamics will be mainstream. Ultimately the creative adaptive efforts of humanity can enhance the genetic code, and transcend certain limits of the psychic form. Such advancements can allow consciousness to create physiological changes independent of biological processes---creating many of the instantaneous miracles of religious legend. Value judgments and human knowledge will also be vestiges of ancient history, as the Eden-like condition of mass consciousness is restored.
This is promised to be a process of advanced evolution of unprecedented dimension, wherein mankind will move from the conventional physical/mental state into a profoundly spiritual state with all that such a "state" can entail. We are on the threshold of such a shift - we need only seek it as our future ideal. If all this sounds like something similarly described in our understanding of the
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after-life, it is only because it is little more than what brings that state into our current physical state by erasing the barriers which separate that state (the after-life) from this state (our current life), as well as that which separates us from each other.

Such is the promising path set forth for humanity. From this vantage point, the historical and present events provide empowering evidence that the era of competitive self-preservation is nearing an end. All fear, isolation, confusion, and war are the death rattles of the unconscious stages as humanity begins to consciously embrace inner empowerment, trust, connection, meaning, and global unity. Each individual who embraces the inner voice of spirit shall help build the energy to propel humanity forward. Such is the challenge at hand, a challenge to be entrusted to any and all whose consciousness resonates with these universal truths.
Such is also the state of mind for those who will open themselves to the inner wisdom which occupies all inner feeling. It is only when we stop fearing our deeper selves and remember to trust that which we intuitively knew before we entered our present state of physical reality, that we rise to the level described above. We can begin doing this right now.

Summary In sum, the eras of humanity have all been leading the mass mind to become aware of the higher destiny, to make that significant shift in consciousness which reconciles freedom and empowerment within cooperative connection to vault into the being level and to begin to taste the fruits of human potential. The more individuals attain purpose in their personal lives, the more the world can be shaped by their light responses to become the just, civilized, mass consciousness that is necessary for the blossoming of human potential. This kind of evolution will not happen automatically, for the human physical consciousness is necessary for the most purposeful and expedient cultural evolution. Of course, if humanity fails to rise to the challenge, the unbridled misguided mass mind will ultimately lead to self-destruction---the outcome of the utter lack of selfdevelopment.
It is only through intent that the positively described future above can become a reality. A reluctance to travel down the road of spiritual awareness and expansion can only lead in the opposite direction. For this is a dynamic universe,
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occupied by dynamic beings who are either moving forward or declining. Free will prevails.

Fortunately, the gathering impetus of individuals following the urges of spirit have already begun to set forth a successful outcome. The macro patterns of human evolution are depicted below. The chart shows the relationship between individual purpose and social justice, and how with each increase in individual purpose the world at large improves. The arrow constitutes the history of humanity which is at present, poised to vault into the being state---guided by the enlightened ones.
The outline is in place. The dynamics are in motion. Each of us can now elect to be a part of the process or a part of the resistance to it. The only question now is the nature of our contribution.

This is the legacy that awaits humanity when enough individual minds become enlightened to shift the mass mind toward reattuning to the inner guidance system of the voice of spirit. The information contained within these Lessons is designed to shine the light so that ever-more aware individuals can contribute to the critical mass necessary to boost humanity over the threshold from the crude and brutish survival state of experience to feel what it means to be fully human. From there, the pace can rapidly increase, leading individuals and eventually the species to the higher calling of the transcendent abilities and leanings of nature toward the most creative and unlimited physical manifestations of the expansion of All That Is.
The challenge now is to get this information before those who would wish to participate in the evolution which is in progress. The greater the distribution, the sooner the evidence of success will begin to become evident and acceptable. As shown, we have in place, at this time, a system known as the internet, which is quite capable of spreading any piece of information around the world and back in a matter of hours or a few days.

We can now turn the discussion to the final summation of what the Lessons have been sharing and see the concept of enlightenment in the broadest perspective.

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Section Omega Conclusion Lesson Omega One: Epilogue - The Lessons of Enlightenment The Mission of Enlightenment The purpose of these lessons has been to align the reader with the direct path to inner spiritual guidance. It has been to awaken the reader to the reality of the awesome power of the creative mind and the urgent need to apply consciously guided willful choices. It has been to acquaint the mind with the default patterns that will remain in place until the mind is sufficiently enlightened to take over its own destiny course. It has been to establish faith in the spiritual nature of the universe and the creation---in the knowledge that even the slow and painful path is advancing humanity in purposeful directions. It has been to establish the calling, the compassion, forgiveness, courage, and integrity within those who wish to enhance and accelerate the process with creatively positive feelings and expressions---as is the desire within the thrust of All That Is. It has been to plant the first seeds within mass consciousness to bring about crucial shifts away from mere survival consciousness, negative motivations, superstition, and submission to external controllers--- to the fully human being experience---the joyous guided liberation and positive motivations of internal creative empowerment.
Like seeds which lie dormant, waiting to be placed in the fertile ground and watered with the desire of progression, so this information has been placed into various computers, at various points upon the planet, awaiting distribution and examination until they become fully integrated into the New Age.

Although there have been many tremendous offerings of enlightenment energy/information throughout human history, this offering is significant in several ways. First, the uniqueness of this offering is relative to the evolving consciousness and in response to the timely opportunity for a great leap forward. Second, this spiritual manifesto is also unique as an accomplishment that has been long underway by a network of entities---as participants in highly complex gestalts of consciousness---with the unified mission of rescuing humanity from the illusory limitations so thick within the physical experience.
The Lessons are clearly a collective effort which was initiated from beyond this
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physical state and introduced in the hope that those within the physical will bring them into a fruit-bearing point. This is a most opportune moment in the stage of spiritual development and an opportunity for accelerated progress may not come along again for eons. Those who come to drink at this fountain of knowledge can pass along the inert energy of this liquid wisdom to all the deserts of the world.

Indeed, the words within these pages are some of the first made possible by the former successes and advances of this enlightenment community. Throughout history, various manifestations of their energy have brought about the spiritual wisdom that now exists as gems within the cultural mind. But they have always been limited by the boundaries of consciousness and creative awareness of the species, and thus have utilized many vicarious and even backdoor routes to deliver the information necessary for each shift in species consciousness. They have worked near magic slipping intuitive insights, dreams and inspirations into the consciousness of particular individuals, guiding them to make contributions through artistic, religious, literary, and scientific revelations. With each such expression, the evolutionary winds have gathered force.
Like interconnecting vines of the vineyard, so are the various plantings bringing forth a pattern of progression which might soon satisfy the thirst of the world. We each have our own unique contribution to make to this process. Up to now, the effort has been more oblique than direct. That is about to change.

On the other hand, far many more insights have fallen upon deaf ears, or were received but never acted upon, due to the limited beliefs and protective fear. Or the new insights expressed were socially stifled or rejected, taking a bit of the wind out of the evolutionary sails. Still, throughout history, the accumulation of enlightened beliefs has reached many points of critical mass that have propelled the species forward in punctuated strides---such as that which is now at hand. This happens at both cultural and biological levels as individuals interact with the quantum environment.
Never has the mind of humankind been more fertile. Hardly ever has the level of communication technology been more complimentary to the spread of this information. We need only ask for assistance in bringing about the envisioned results and there are legions standing by to assist us.

Historical Shifts & Modes of Attunement

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The first such shift was accomplished when specific entities with the mission of light work had significant enough physiological sensitivity and mindful clarity to begin to receive particular insights from extra ranges of the quantum spectrum. Although the information was often incomplete and distorted, the general spiritual thrusts achieved creative completion to the degree that the mass mind began to take note. Although most of this information ended up being credited to superstitious sources, still the concept of oracles and other types of intermediary paths to some form of higher wisdom, became part of the mass mind. At that point of the human cultural journey, the interaction between the energy within the mass mind and the corresponding genetic adaptive mutations facilitated the next major stage in the expansion of human consciousness to include some of the inner sensory pathways.
Some of the evidence of contact with the Spirit was viewed as genius and some was presumed to be madness. Because the connection was not always pure, there tended to be a mixture of both. We have now reached that evolutionary state of rationality in that the recipient can bring forth that which is of a sufficiently pure strain so as to be taken seriously enough to be threatening to the status quo.

The next major shift was accomplished when the human gene pool began to contain specific abilities for certain unusual individuals to experience a broader mobility of consciousness---to have a different experience of space and time than their "normal" others. This allowed for specific sensory sensitivities that permitted the voice of spirit within the quantum field to be more accessible---so that messages could be heard and more guidance could be obtained. This led to the next major energy shift which allowed for the adaptive mutations of even more mobile forms of consciousness in which the experience of self also became highly mobile and unique. With this shift, humans with this unusual mobility could displace their personality and allow the channeling of alternate gestalts of self to communicate directly through the physical forms. This phenomenon has become widely known as mediumship---and was subjected to much distortion and misuse and still faces rejection as a legitimate experience by the scientifically inclined. But the genetic diversity in the mobility of consciousness allowed for the first transmissions of more direct information between the physical and spiritual realms.

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Some of the material attained through "channeling" was of the highest quality. Yet, we have also come to realize that such type of information must be reviewed for flaws of "misinformation", just as one would read a book of factual intent that betrayed certain distortions by the author. There is a tendency to become mesmerized in this field simply because of its other-worldly source.

Although this genetic ability (and the willful acceptance of extrasensory information that it added to the mass mind) was a valuable and necessary step, it required the disengagement of the personal mind from the process. The experience was also largely spontaneous and although often desired, was not within the realm of conscious control. The individuals often were subjected to uncontrolled intrusions and chemical fluctuations that were highly confusing and often even promoted certain forms of self-fracturing psychosis. Willful creative choice in the matter was minimal. Thus, these unique individuals were labeled as mentally disordered, the implications of the mobility of consciousness was largely lost, and the lives of these individuals were often brutish, painful, and short. Indeed, many complex souls have chosen such a path.
When sources of this type of information are semi-deified by the recipients, they tend to let their egos get away from them. In other words, they tend to believe their own press coverage. Once this happens, the humility that accompanies truth is lost and so is the subjective/objective status of the person acting as the conduit.

Nonetheless, this route of the medium or psychic, led to the next step in terms of even more direct access to higher energy information. Next came the phenomenon of trance channeling, in which the personality had relative control over the mobility of consciousness and maintained a certain relationship with other gestalts of self included in the enlightenment mission. But still, this required little direct development of the mindscape and its belief structures. Thus, many of the benefits of the information channeled could not be exploited even by those providing it for the masses. Still, the path of humanity's march toward direct contact with higher gestalts of consciousness was ever progressing.
Progression is a perpetual path. As greater awareness replaces lesser awareness, the quality of human nature becomes more recognized for its greater potential. It is when we recognize ourselves as spiritual beings in physical form that we gain the comfort of all the ways of expressing that spirit quality.
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Were it not for the efforts of all such heroic contributors, humanity would not now enjoy the energy which virtually sizzles with potential at the dawn of this millennial era, nor the promise of the evolutionary propulsion now possible. Indeed, there is a collective celebration occurring beyond spacetime as the first experiments in direct transmission have been a relative success For these Lessons have been delivered, not due to vicarious or displacement routes, but due to the accomplishment of personal awareness and unified attunement to the inner spiritual sense---for the time is right. Indeed, many individual facets of this body of information are arising through many other sources.
To find proof of the evidence that our world is in transition per the above suggested paradigms, one need only open one's mind and heart and sooner than excepted the trends will become evident. However, the "apparentness" of it may not be in the conventional medium, but more in the eye of the beholder.

This is a momentous occasion for those within the enlightenment community at all levels of consciousness, for it constitutes the evidence that the genetic memory of humanity---as well as the cultural mindscape--are sufficiently prepared and united to usher in the age ofdirect attunement between personalities and their higher entities. The conscious recognition of the emotional language---the sensory voice of spirit---has been a singular goal for eons, since it was originally lost due to the error of human judgment. It has been a long and arduous path, traveled through the landmines of human knowledge and misassumption, for the energy information to have finally reached acquisition.
This is the now we have struggled to achieve in the time/space environment and what it represents is a measure of success that can barely be dreamed of at this point. An analogy in technical terms might be the equivalent of going from the 15th century to the 21th century in ten years. The greatest challenge will be in absorbing the comprehension of it. Those who cannot will pass on to an environment where they can adjust to it in their own time. Those who can, will become masters of their own fate and all that this entails.

Human language alone does little to help the transmission. As readers discover, nearly every word has become loaded with judgments and distortions that make the language constructions necessary for this transmission difficult to embrace. But rest assured, even the focusing upon them does far more than any reader might yet be aware. Those that brave
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the growing pains necessary and build the mindscape around these new uses of words and concepts will be those who are instrumental in tipping the scales still further. For the more will energy infused within enlightened concepts, the more the species will feel the effects. Indeed, each human mind that reads, grasps the information and/or attunes to the inner voice will make it easier for those that follow to embrace and utilize the information.
It is through the struggling to give new meaning to the words we use that we will influence the changes to come and personally grow with those changes. Speaking, listening and reflecting is the path which leads to an expanded consciousness. The invitation has been delivered.

Direct Access The most salient significance of the method of the delivery of this material is that it marks the biological opening of the inner channels within the species form. The cultural strides have been aligned with the emergence of biological mechanisms for normal sensory information processing, to extra-sensory, to multi-sensory, and now to the full emotional inner sensory pathway as the precursor to the entire intuitive language of spirit with all its transcendent potentials. The mindscape has not abdicated the personal self to obtain the higher knowledge, but instead accommodated the feeling signals with the purposeful belief structures which allow expansion of self and the inner channels to open. Indeed, the channels grew ever broader as the material itself was delivered. For this reason, the word constructions have particular value relative to their sequential placement in the material.
The mere exposure to these written words has resulted in biological change in the recipient and that change is essential to what has to follow. The gates to consciousness have been pried open and what will follow will thrill the expansive mind.

For this reason alone, readers are encouraged to study the material beginning to end, rather than skipping in and out of particular areas of interest---with at least one full reading. The will energy applied to this first reading will enhance the species consciousness regardless of the level of personal understanding gleaned. But the personal benefits will also occur on multiple levels of consciousness. Indeed, multiple readings and study
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of the material are highly recommended, for each such reading will ready the mind with a new layer, which builds upon the last in an ever broadening conscious embrace.
This is dynamic material and our interacting with it is essential for the promised progression which must follow. We can read and absorb it, but the ultimate value will come as we integrate with it. Each paragraph is like a pearl and as we continue to review the string, each will become more polished and valuable. We are the grains of sand that the material will polish until we and it will become one, totally engrained force.

With the first reading, it is perfectly normal for many of the concepts to appear to simply make no sense. This is because there are not yet any existing hooks of understanding upon which to hang the concepts. But diligence in the first reading will build the foundations necessary for building hooks upon which they can be later placed. Another typical response to new information of this type is confusion and resistance, due to the confounding or challenging of existing beliefs, attitudes, and protective patterns.
Each new perspective on current reality runs the risk of being ignored or rejected as being simply not applicable to existing paradigms. Like a nail being driven into a board, it takes repeated whacks of the hammer to drive home each new point. Eventually the will becomes stronger and the board weaker until step-by-step a new metaphorical structure rises from the ashes of the old.

It is essential to recognize these feelings as growing pains so that corrective adjustments will be made to the mindscape. (Retreating into unconscious habits of fear and resistance for the sake of ego safety, comfort, and familiarity will only prolong and slow the journey to a most tedious and painful crawl.) Simply facing daily challenges and feeling signals with faith in their meaning will allow even the most rigid egos to eventually find a delight in purposeful change. Daily experience will provide the proofs and insights, but a program of active study and application of the ideas will dramatically increase the enlightenment process.
A simple prayer of requested help from the oversoul of our being will aid us in our journey to the higher desired state. It will also do a great deal to smooth the road we travel and make it less arduous for those who follow.
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Final Words What If I am Struggling? A word to those who are struggling with the new information: Trust. Trust that the universe is creative and compassionate. Trust that All That Is allows---and desires---for you to progress at your own pace through willful choice. Trust that there is meaning within all events. Trust that you are a worthy, special, and gifted individual with a uniquely valuable offering for the world. Trust that all mistakes are healing and growth opportunities. Trust that all pains, violations, and fears are reflections of misuses of the creative mind, but will always mirror and expose the faulty beliefs that created them.
Without this level of trust we would have to presume that there is no intelligence behind the workings of the universe and that we are the consequence of an accident. What little we know of ourselves shows that we occupy a unique place in the general scheme of things.

Trust that all feelings carry guiding messages of your most purposeful uses of mind, from you the spiritual entity to you the physical personality. Trust that these higher authorities within more complex gestalts of consciousness know what is best for you in each moment and whisper through your feelings. Trust that your body and mind are designed to attain positive, conscious, purposeful change far faster than the protective, unconscious, default path. Trust your spirit as your unfailing guide. For it is so.
The greater the level of trust, the smoother the process of being in this physical environment. We have come to that point of knowing when the inhibiting quality of fear can no longer be held up as the prevaricator of progress.

What If I Can't Break My Destructive Habits & Patterns? A word to those who worry that they might not be able to break rigid patterns, to those who have blocked out the inner voice for so long that they are unaware of many of their feelings:
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Courage. Courage to allow yourself to feel that which you have long suppressed. Courage to breathe in the power of your spirit in moments of pain and resistance and proceed purposefully in the face of obstacles. Courage that each small success will open more vast possibilities for larger ones in the future. Courage in the knowledge that the universe provides all the "time" necessary for your journey, that despite missteps and false starts, even the smallest of purposeful steps will take you where you need to go. (There are as many lifetimes as you need, and each moment is your point of power to resist or accept---in fear or in faith.)
Courage is like youth. When it begins its growth to maturity it might shine because it does not know what it should fear. We can recapture that state by coming to the realization that most of what we fear is little more than a consequence of our own belief system and that once changed, the positive of life will fill the vacuum of the negative that we have elected to hold in place.

Courage from the knowledge that even the smallest purposeful steps are of creative spiritual value. Courage in the knowledge that braving your growing pains will always reap multiple rewards, even across space/time and levels of self. Courage in the wisdom that with self honor and integrity all challenges can be not only accepted, but surmounted. Courage that others will love, honor, and support your efforts and that they will forgive any mistakes along the way. For it is so.
It is too often the fear of how others might judge us that prevents us from listening to and carrying out the inspirations of our higher selves. We block the messages of spirit because we have been taught that being different will lead to ridicule. Yet, it is the one who takes that risk that will triumph in the end. History offers a plethora of examples.

What If My Journey Takes Me Away From My Loved Ones? Love Universal love exists beyond space/time and even self. Find strength in the wisdom that the illusions of the mind and the physical experience never allow love to end. Love can only expand. It can not contract despite the end of relationships which are no longer purposeful.
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In examining the true nature of love, it must be evident that it transcends the boundaries of social acceptance. Those who love us conditionally may well find themselves deserting us when our conduct transcends the boundaries of conventionality. It is when we love all equally that we have the greatest love experience.

Love is not a state of deficit need, although such conditions can strengthen the protective attraction to a love object. But the added strength comes only from the motivations of fear. To run away from one thing to the safety of a need-meeting love will only recreate that which is feared. Love is an abundance of spiritual energy flowing between two connected individuals, while fear diverts and redirects some of that energy and minimizes the connection. Love is the path of least resistance. Love without fear accepts all events and instigates creative change in the most purposeful directions, regardless of how much of the past must dissolve before a more valuable future can unfold. To truly love is to let go when the time is right. To truly love is to honor and respect the potential in all, but to exercise choice according to the creative manifestations they have attained---little or great.
Love broadens the mind as mind is brought into alignment with spirit. Conflicts and difficulties crumble in the face of unconditional love. It opens the eyes of the observer and allows us to see the inner light of all about us. It removes the prejudicial trappings which adorn the powerful and the disenfranchised. It restores confidence in our stature and strengthens our broadcasting qualities.

How Do I Deal With the Unlovable Ones? Compassion. Compassion is the vibratory aspect of universal love that can be readily accessed for those who suffer the results of their ignorance and who blindly or vengefully violate others in doing so. The price for creative free will is the potential abuse of it until the consciousness expands sufficiently to use it wisely---thus patterns of learning error, violations, corrective feelings, and protective responses are all an inevitable and enduring part of the physical experience. Situations that spur feelings of frustration and anger can be perceived through the lens of compassion in the knowledge that everyone has been a violator at some point in the course of their spiritual evolution. Compassion for the pitfalls of the physical experience and the trial and error nature of learning can move mountains. Although
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those blind with fear and anger seek to seize external power through competition and violation, the authentically empowered compassionate shall redesign and inherit the Earth.
Compassion is a reflection of enlightened souls. We reach that state by going through a process of learning and while in that state, we are dealt with in a manner that reflects either more or less compassion. Compassion is directly related to spiritual growth. It follows as day follows night.

What About The Worst Perpetrators of Violation? Forgiveness. To those survivors of multiple violations, perhaps the greatest power comes with forgiveness. Consider the forgiveness you would like to receive for your own errors born of unconscious ignorance, and give it generously to others. Forgiveness washes through the body-mind with a cleansing power of pure spirit, forever reclaiming the energy held in the past pain. For the anger, shame, guilt, fear, or sadness experienced in any moment is the message that the event has not been concluded in its most purposeful probability---and will continue to manifest in some form. Forgiveness of self often restores the most power, and readies the mind to expand the forgiven self to unfold others with a blanket authorization to be human. Forgiveness, then, opens the door to compassion and universal love.
When we can see ourselves in an objective light and can accept the fact that our errors were a natural process of our own evolution, then we can begin to apply that same kind of forgiveness we apply to ourselves, to the others we meet in this life.

How Do I Survive The Darkest Moments? Faith. Each moment that any given life event is perceived along with the feelings of trust, courage, love, compassion, forgiveness (or any other of the highest feeling tones), will bring the enduring beliefs, the gems, which provide spontaneous faith.
Faith is but a state of knowing. Knowing comes with seeking. Seeking begins
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with intent. Thus, the path to faith is a natural consequence of wanting to be more than what we are, or more accurately coming to know that we are more than the way we act .

Faith is the unwavering validating feeling that accompanies sound beliefs and understandings that every event is creative, purposive, and meaningful. Faith empowers each purposeful action, perception, feeling communication, and corrective action in each moment and prevents the automatic processes from allowing us to backslide unconsciously into the darkness.
It is a looking forward and a commitment to movement toward an everexpanding state of consciousness that is compatible with an ever expanding physical, mental and spiritual state. It is an unwavering belief that this is both our nature and our destiny.

But the darkest moments are those filled with the most potential. They are our constant tests and reflections of how well we are using our conscious mind. Embracing the message within the darkness can bring the most brilliant flashes of light. Breathing in the depths of faith in the most frightening moments can counteract even the most convincing beliefs and events created by ignorant fear.
It is only in our state of desperation that we can dare to reject the slivers which have been programmed into us at an early age and reach for that intuitive knowing. Unfortunately, this will be our primary pattern of progress until and unless we can come to recognize our true nature and its relationship to the All That Is.

Faith has empowered the species perhaps even more than the feeling of love, for it is the glue that holds the spiritual consciousness in the moment and keeps the mind involved in the creative processes. Without faith, there is darkness, automatic default processes, limited guidance, and painful corrective signals. But faith need not be dressed up in Emperor's clothing as it has been throughout the history of the species. Faith need never pit one system of belief against another, or pit one group of humans against another, as has been the pattern. Faith allows the purely joyous energy force of spirit into the physical system through a well designed mindscape of unlimited, yet purposeful, beliefs which manifest as fully open, efficient, chakra centers transforming the non-physical into physical
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creation.
It is through faith that we acquire the wings which carry us from a state of crawling to the confident strides forward into the knowing.

The Universal Spectrum of Love and Light The spectrum of joyous universal love includes all these highest feeling tones, like the rainbow color spectrum which derives from pure white light. When human beings experience them, they are attuned to the wave length of spirit, with body and mind aligned with the wisdom of universal consciousness. The darkness of fear and each of its relatives (anger, sadness, guilt, etc.) are simply precursor interim states to recognizing and correlatively attuning to the wonders of creative consciousness. The more humans can heed and respond to each emotional tone, the broader and more effective the use of creative will energy.
It is through our emotional state that we are motivated to open the door to our greatest understanding and to unlocking our potential on all levels. Essential to following this road is passion and the desire which drives it. Once this is understood, there can be no metaphorical darkness.

It is a process of awakening to one's highest potential, likened unto each newborn opening the eyelids to the wonders of the visual world, yet the language of spirit, with each of its colors, spans the relative continuum of space, time, and self. In each moment, every human has the opportunity to awaken from the slumber of unconsciousness and default living patterns, for each present moment offers a fresh co-creative beginning. There is no harm or retribution for past (or even present) patterns of protective behavior which seek the safety, protection, or comfort of the darkness when one knows not how or what to do in the light. There is simply the endurance of the painful signals which call to the higher and more pure manifestations of spirit that await just beyond the door of the known. They will wait patiently---as long as it takes---for willful choice reigns supreme in the co-creative process.
Just as the portrait of the Christ standing before the door with no latch, we can make this state of Spirit available to us by simply opening the door from within. It is we who have the latch. The only effort required is to lift it.

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But with each effort to find the meaning and choose the purposeful response to each whispering of spirit, the door begins to crack open. The darkness is simply the void that attracts the most necessary information in each moment. With each brave peek, the door will eventually open wide and be ready to receive the most complete information in each moment needed to make the most enthusiastic decisions, actions, and the most rapid progress upon the destiny path.
What lies beyond the door of opportunity? Only the promise to make clear the statement that we are made in the image and likeness of God. We are, in fact, the waves of the ocean and our essence can never be questioned, as it makes up the All That Is.

You are now prepared to go forth into each new creative moment as fresh as the newborn for the willful creation of your destiny. As with any sage creator, the task of your genesis is to "let there be light". Should you now recognize your unity with all co-creators and choose to feel your way along, in each creative moment..there shall be light. Amen, so be it.

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