 mind.

***
Whenever you meet anyone, no matter how briefly, do  you acknowledge their
being by giving them your full attention, or are yo u reducing them to a means to an
end, a mere function or role. What is the quality o f your relationship with the
cashier at the supermarket, the parking attendant, the repair man, the customer?

A moment of attention is enough. As you look at the m or listen to them, there is an
alert stillness. Perhaps only two or three seconds.   Perhaps longer. That is enough
for something more real to emerge than the roles we  usually play and identify with.

All roles are part of the conditioned consciousness  that is the human mind. That
which emerges through the act of attention is the u nconditioned–who you are in
your essence underneath your name and form. You are  no longer acting out a
script. You become real. When that dimension emerge s from within you, it also
draws it forth from within the other person.  Ultim ately, of course, there is no other
and you are always meeting yourself.

Chapter 9
Death and the Eternal

When you walk though a forest that has not been tam ed and interfered with by
man, you will see not only abundant life around you, but you will also encounter
fallen trees and decaying trunks, rotting leaves an d decomposing matter at every
step. Wherever you look, you will find death as wel l as life.

Upon closer scrutiny, however, you will discover th at the decomposing tree trunk
and rotting leaves not only give birth to new life,  but are full of life themselves.
Microorganisms are at work. Molecules are rearrangi ng themselves. So death isn’t
to be found anywhere. There is only the metamorphos is of life forms. What can
you learn from this?

Death is not the opposite of life. Life has no oppo site. The opposite of death is
birth. Life is eternal.

***

Sages and poets throughout the ages have recognized  the dreamlike quality of
human existence–seemingly so solid and real and yet  so fleeting that it could dissolve at any moment.

At the hour of your death, the story of your life m ay, indeed, appear to you like a
dream that is coming to an end. Yet even in a dream  there must be an essence that
is real. There must be a consciousness in which the  dream happens; otherwise, it
would not be.

That consciousness–does the body create it or does consciousness create the dream
of body, the dream of somebody?

Why have most of those who went through a near-deat h experience lost their fear
of death? Reflect upon this.

***

Of course you know you are going to die, but that r emains a mere mental concept
until you meet death “in person” for the first time : through a serious illness or an
accident that happens to you or someone close to yo u, or through the passing away
of a loved one, death enters your life as the aware ness of your own mortality.

Most people turn away from it in fear, but if you d o not flinch and face the fact that
your body is fleeting and could dissolve at any mom ent, there is some degree of
disidentification, however slight, from your own ph ysical and psychological form,
the “me.” When you see and accept the impermanent n ature of all life forms, a
strange sense of peace comes upon you.

Through facing death, your consciousness is freed t o some extent from
identification with form. This is why in some Buddh ist traditions, the monks
regularly visit the morgue to sit and meditate amon g the dead bodies.

There is still a widespread denial of death in West ern cultures. Even old people try
not to speak or think about it, and dead bodies are  hidden away. A culture that
denies death inevitably becomes shallow and superfi cial, concerned only with the
external form of things. When death is denied, life  loses its depth. The possibility
of knowing who we are beyond name and form, the dim ension of the transcendent,
disappears from our lives because death is the open ing into that dimension.

***

People tend to be uncomfortable with endings, becau se every ending is a little
death. That’s why in many languages, the word for “ good-bye” means “see you again.”

Whenever an experience comes to an end–a gathering of friends, a vacation, your
children leaving home–you die a little death. A “fo rm” that appeared in your
consciousness as that experience dissolves. Often t his leaves behind a feeling of
emptiness that most people try hard not to feel, no t to face.

If you can learn to accept and even welcome the end ings in your life, you may find
that the feeling of emptiness that initially felt u ncomfortable turns into a sense of
inner spaciousness that is deeply peaceful.

By learning to die daily in this way, you open your self to Life.

***

Most people feel that their identity, their sense o f self, is something incredibly
precious that they don’t want to lose. That is why they have such fear of death.

It seems unimaginable and frightening that “I” coul d cease to exist. But you
confuse that precious “I” with your name and form a nd a story associated with it.
That “I” is no more than a temporary formation in t he field of consciousness.

As long as that form identity is all you know, you are not aware that this
preciousness is your own essence, your innermost se nse of I Am, which is
consciousness itself. It is the eternal in you–and that’s the only thing you cannot
lose.

***

Whenever any kind of deep loss occurs in your life– such as loss of possessions,
your home, a close relationship; or loss of your re putation, job, or physical
abilities–something inside you dies. You feel dimin ished in your sense of who you
are. There may also be a certain disorientation. “W ithout this...who am I?”

When a form that you had unconsciously identified w ith as part of yourself leaves
you or dissolves, that can be extremely painful. It  leaves a hole, so to speak, in the
fabric of your existence.

When this happens, don’t deny or ignore the pain or  the sadness that you feel.
Accept that it is there. Beware of your mind’s tend ency to construct a story around
that loss in which you are assigned the role of vic tim. Fear, anger, resentment, or self-pity are the emotions that go with that role. Then become aware of what lies
behind those emotions as well as behind the mind-ma de story: that hole, that empty
space. Can you face and accept that strange sense o f emptiness? If you do, you may
find that it is no longer a fearful place. You may be surprised to find peace
emanating from it.

Whenever death occurs, whenever a life form dissolv es, God, the formless and
unmanifested, shines through the opening left by th e dissolving form. That is why
the most sacred thing in life is death. That is why  the peace of God can come to you
through the contemplation and acceptance of death.

***

How short-lived every human experience is, how flee ting our lives. Is there
anything that is not subject to birth and death, an ything that is eternal?

Consider this: if there were only one color, let us  say blue, and the entire world and
everything in it were blue, then there would be no blue. There needs to be
something that is not blue so that blue can be reco gnized; otherwise, it would not
“stand out,” would not exist.

In the same way, does it not require something that  is not fleeting and impermanent
for the fleetingness of all things to be recognized? In other words: if everything,
including yourself, were impermanent, would you eve n know it? Does the fact that
you are aware of and can witness the short-lived na ture of all forms, including your
own, not mean that there is something in you that i s not subject to decay?

When you are twenty, you are aware of your body as strong and vigorous; sixty
years later, you are aware of your body as weakened  and old. Your thinking too
may have changed from when you were twenty, but the  awareness that knows that
your body is young or old or that your thinking has  changed has undergone no
change. That awareness is the eternal in you–consci ousness itself. It is the formless
One Life. Can you lose It? No, because you are It.

***

Some people become deeply peaceful and almost lumin ous just before they die, as
if something is shining through the dissolving form.

Sometimes it happens that very ill or old people be come almost transparent, so to
speak, in the last few weeks, months, or even years  of their lives. As they look at you, you may see a light shining through their eyes. There is no psychological
suffering left. They have surrendered and so the pe rson, the mind-made egoic
“me,” has already dissolved. They have “died before


 of the Tao.) Neville’ s
brief book had the same kind of magnetic allure for me as did the Tao. It
was in my seventh complete reading of Neville’ s book, and after listening to
some of his recorded lectures, that I decided to write this book in an effort
to make his stupendous insights more readily available and applicable to
those of us now occupying this planet as temporary residents.
I’ve taken exten sive notes on Neville’ s teaching and literally put them to
work in my own life. I have lectured throughout the world on the idea of
having our wishes fulfilled via the avenue of assuming the power of God
that is not only our birthright, but our very essence. Neville’ s words remind
me to seek my highest self, and whenever I make the decision to live from
this awareness, I am immediately at peace, and watch as Divine
consciousness seems to align with me in creating the fulfillment of all that I
ask for.As I finished the first 26 chapters in my seventh reading of Neville, I
heard once again the same holy refrain that U. S. Andersen offered in his
conclusion of Three Magic Words. Neville begins his final chapter, titled
“Reverence,” with these words:
In all creation, in all eternity, in all the realms of your infinite being the most wonderful
fact is that which is stressed in the first chapter of this book. You are God.  You are the “I am
that I am.” You are consciousness. You are the creator. This is the mystery, this is the great
secret known by the seers, prophets, and mystics throughout the ages. This is the truth that
you can never know intellectually. … The important thing is that it is within you, it is you, it
is your world.4
This is a monum ental awareness—a knowing that you can only feel. It
manifests as a feeling of love that is ineffable, and incapable of being
known intellectually. Neville’ s conclusion explains this perfectly:
The knowledge that your creator is the very self of yourself and never would have  made
you had he not loved you  must fill your heart with devotion, yes, with adoration. … It is when
your feeling of rever ence is most intense  that you are closest to God, and when you are
closest to God, your life is richest.5
I conclude that the closest you can be to God is through recognizing what
this entire chapter is about—you can’t be any closer to God than to be God.
When you realize this preeminent assertion, you regain the power of your
Source because you no longer  live as if you were estranged from your
Source. You see that God manif ests in a countless array of forms, and yes,
you are one of those sublime forms.
In Neville’ s conclusion that you are God, he uses the phrase, “You are the
‘I am that I am.’” These five words are an absolutely crucial component of
the essence of this book. They will be extremely helpful in getting you over
the hurdle of truly knowing that you are God. Why? Because you’ve most
likely been conditioned to believe that such an assertion is blasphemous and
likely to incur God’ s wrath by daring to question His supremacy.
A Journey into the I Am That I Am
As has always happened with my writing, there seem to be unseen forces
that direct me as I move forw ard on my own spiritual path, fulfilling a
dharma that Carl Jung also expressed about his life’s work. Like him, I’veoften felt that “sense of destiny, as though my life was assigned to me by
fate and had to be fulfilled.” Jung also said that this gave him an “inner
security,” which I identify with as well. And though he couldn’ t prove it, he
said that “it proved itself to me. I did not have the certainty, it had me.”
Throughout my entire professio nal career, when I’ve felt tugged toward a
newer and a higher spiritual place, I too have felt guided. It’s as if angels
send me information related to what I will be writing and experiencing—
long before the actual writing/ speaking. Strangers send me a variety of
media to listen to or to read that awakens something within me. Repeated
references in conversation or reviews about movies will ignite an inner
spark of inquisitiveness, which leads to what I didn’ t know I needed for my
next step up on the ladder to enlightened living.
This was true as I was preparing myself (or possibly being prepared) for
examining this idea of spiritual wish fulfillment. The work of Neville kept
knocking at my door in a myriad of ways, as did initiatic scienc e and U. S.
Andersen’ s Three Magic Words. But the teachings that I’d need to study,
experience, and ultimately know had to penetrate my consciousness. How
was my council  of angelic immortals going to get this informa tion to me,
this ancient teaching that I had been almost totally removed from for my
entire life? As I’ve said many times, when the student is ready, the teachers
will appear.
I feel that I was being made ready, and the teachers and teach ings were
showing up in just the right way to prod me toward the fulfillment of my
own dharma, and perhaps yours, too—since you are now reading these
words and are therefore connected to all that I am being taught as well.
Obviously, we are all in this thing together. Your being in posse ssion of this
book and studying the messages herein may be just as mysterious to you as
how the teachings came to me.
I had been away from my writing space on Maui for severa l months,
speaking and spending time with my family. When I returned, I received a
call from my yoga teacher telling me that someone had dropped off a
package at the studio for me. When I picked it up it was like a gift from
King Midas—wrapped in gold paper with a beautiful ribbon tied in a bow. I
brought it home and set the gift next to my eating space and looked at it
every day for three weeks, each time thinking it was just one more package
to open amongst the mountain of mail that had accumulate d over theprevious months  in my absence.  But there was something unique about this
package, so I just left it there through all of my meals, telling myself, I’ll
open it later, yet feeling strangely drawn to it at the same time.
One evening I finally decided to open it, and I must say I had a rush of
excitement that I couldn’ t understand at the time. As I undid the bow, I
discovered a note attached to the box, written to me by a Ms. Carol Ann
Jacobs, whom I did not know, nor had I even met. She had heard through
the grapevine that I practiced yoga at the Lahaina studio and simply left it
there to be given to me when I returned. The note said:
This gift of gold is a pearl of the highest wisdom on the planet,
handed down through the ethers from the Octave of Light. If taken up,
used, and made as a living flame  within oneself—it will lead them into
their ascension at the close of this embodiment.
 With sincer e love and gratitude for all the raising of the vibration
you have done for the earth, and for all the “beings of the elements.”
Lovingly,
Carol Ann Jacobs
As I unwrapped  the gold paper, I saw that the box contained a small book,
which I immediately decided (I thought) that I couldn’ t possibly  read, since
I had at least 25 books from all over the world with requests for me to read,
endorse, or write a Foreword. Because of the volume of such material that
perpetually show s up at my doorstep, I always have a large number of
books that I donate to charities. I left the book on the table and said to
myself, I’ll put this with the others destined to be donated to a worthy
cause. I simply can’ t get to it.
But this little package seemed to have an energy all of its own. I’d glance
at it, peruse it a bit, and then set it down, vowing to put it on the pile of
materials that I would never get to. Yet it remained next to me for several
weeks. One day while I was holding it, I felt a shaft of energy course
through me. I had goose bumps all over my body. And thus began a new
chapter in my life. I decided right there and then that I would read the entire
362 pages. The contents of this book led me to further inquiry, which
culminated in my? (probably not mine) decision to put these gold nuggets
of spiritual truth into my speeches and writing—and, most important, mylife. The book is Volume Three in the Saint Germain Series, titled The “I
AM” Discourses.
In my daily reading of the material, I began to see clearly the message of
you and I and everyone else being God. The 33 discourses in this volume
were channeled directly from the ascended master Saint Germain and
others, including Jesus Christ, between October 3, 1932, and January 1,
1935—when they were published as The “I AM” Discourses.
Guy Ballard was the man prese nt for these dictations, and he published
them under his pseudonym Godfre Ray King. He writes


. Having experienced mttltiple health and perform
ance successes by modifying my dietary regimen, I feel that it would be
wrong of me to remain silent on this issue any longer. While I understand
that mine is not a popular opinion, it is a health-enriching one. Smokers,
drinkers, and drug users do not fmd campaigners against their self
destructive habits particularly popular either, yet they cannot argue that
their practices are nurturing or health building. Bttt, to speak Otlt against a
dietary "staple'' consumed by almost everyone is tantamount to heresy.
•
Humans thrived for ten million years withottt consuming grains.
Throughout the past several centuries, explorers have repeatedly
encountered societies worldwide who still did not use grains and always
commented on their remarkable beauty, endless vitality, and robttst health.
It is my position, which I believe I can support beyond argument,
that the failed experiment of feeding humans on starch's mostly empty
calories must end before we destroy ourselves. There are currently no
grain-eating societies who make the claim of exceptional health.
If you are an athlete looking to improve your performance, believe
you have problems with or addictions to grains, have failing health, or
just want to experience life as a fully healthy individual, then I sincerely
recommend that you qttestion the wisdom of eating a grain-based diet.
I hope you can read this book with an open mind, considering the facts
as presented, perhaps even removing grains from your meals for a time
before deciding whether they should be part of your diet. Natw·e's guidelines
are extremely clear. If you choose to live according to Nature's plan, you
can expect a level of health greater than any you have ever experienced.
3 Is the moon made of cheese? Is the Earth flat?
Does royalty really have blue blood?
No, but there was a time when
everyone believed these were so.
Ingrained
There has been a tremendous push in the past hundred years promoting
the use of grains in the human diet. Marketing initiatives that foist ttpon
us grain products such as cereals, pastas, breads, pizza, and rice have
reached an all-time high. Professionals from many disciplines are touting
grain as the ultimate health and fitness food, the athlete's best friend.
Doctors, dieticians, and nutritionists are prescribing diets based on
grains as the answer to many health problems, especially heart disease.
Research scientists have implied that the consumption of more cereals in
ottr diet may be the key to reducing our risk of cancer and other deadly
diseases.
Environmentalists lobby for more human grain consumption. They
maintain that this will create less demand for animal-based foods and
reduce the massive amotmt of animal waste that is fouling our water
supplies. Those involved with feeding the hungry contend that grains are
the solution to our worldwide food problems. They say that we could
feed fifteen times as many people if we fed them the grain directly,
,
Every single advancement on the planet
was made by a nonconformist.
4 Criticism is
the mother of improvement.
instead of feeding them the grain after it has been consumed by livestock
and transformed into living protein and fat.
Animal rights activists tell us that eating grai11s is not only healthy
for the animals (since we could eat grains instead of eating animals) but,
because we cot1ld save trees and live more compassionately, it is
exceptionally healthy for the whole planet. Personal trainers and athletes
from every discipline are apparently also in agreement, as they are
recommending and eating more grains than ever before.
"Carbo loading," having been proven many times over by research
scientists to be totally ineffective, came into vogue in the last twenty
years. Of course, scientists and athletes alike lmew long before the
concept of carbo loading was introduced that the htunan body has no
facility for storing extra carbohydrate except by converting and stoting it
as fat.
The tragic failure of carbo loading (Americans are fatter, not fitter,
than ever) has provoked a dietary backlash wherein millions have
embraced the low-carb craze along with all of its dangerous health
implications. While many experience short-term weight loss as a result of
First, the steak is ''out'' and potatoes are more ''in''
than ever, then potatoes are ''out'' and steak is more
''in'' than ever. What's going on here?
5 The illogic of low-carb diets:
You can eat all the butter and mayo you want,
but you have nothing to put them on.
eliminating forty percent of their caloric intake, the increased risk of
heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes, kidney disease, and breast,
prostate, and colon cancer is astronomical. Rather than blindly accepting
the latest dietary trend to overeat on animal protein and fat, or one of
rampant starch consumption, let's examine the facts.
A diet based upon fruit requires the consumption
of neither condiments nor supplements.
6 Could the old adage, ''crutches cripple''
apply to our beloved ''staff of life''?
The Staff of Life
We have learned since childhood that grains are the "staff of life,"
sustenance we can count upon in times of frre, flood, famine, drought,
siege, pestilence, or other crop failure. Becattse of their ease of storage,
grains have enabled civilizations to survive until more sttitable and
nutritious foods again became available.
Bttt let's examine this metaphor a bit, for its tnost connnon
interpretation belies another less favorable image which just may be
more fitting. What, really, is a'staff'? It is a stick, pole, or rod tradition
ally used as a support or crutch. We lmow that if we take a perfectly
healthy person and put him on crutches, his leg tnuscles will begin to
wither, eventually becoming nonfunctional.
Grains, like any crutch, become detrimental to us when we rely on
them constantly, three meals per day. Instead of thriving, we are
weakened by their continual usage. Is it possible that our beloved grains
are actually crippling us?
There are several viewpoints demonstrating
that grains are downright harmful.
This is not a popular opinion.
7 For more than 99.9% of. the time that
man has walked the Earth, he has done so
without consuming any grains.
Historical Background
Paleontologists have recorded that humans have been walking the Earth
for nearly ten million years withot1t any use of grains. Modem man has
only been cultivating grains for about ten thousand years, approximately
the same period during which he has used fire. The negative impact of
this unnatural practice upon humankind and the planet is astounding.
As author, evolutionary biologist, molecular physiologist, and bio
geographer Jared Diamond observes, many of history's great civilizations
brought about their own extinction by evolving into agriculture-based
societies. He expounds on this idea in his essay, ''The Worst Mistake in the
History of the Human Race,'' wherein he describes how farming, and in
particular the fartning of grains, led to the demise of entire human
populations. He explains that early farmers began growing just one or two
starchy crops, which were then relied upon as the main food source for an
entire population. This created a scenario in which calories were obtained
without mt1cb expenditure of energy. But, such cheaply acqtlired calories
came with a huge price tag: inadequate nutrition.
Fruits and shoots (young, tender greens)
have successfully made up the bulk
of the human diet for millions of years.
8 Dr. Graham'sfirst rule of holes:
When you are in a hole and wish to get out,
first you must stop digging.
Diamond also makes clear his concern about our current reliance
upon grains. He notes that wheat, rice, and com alone provide most of
the calories consumed by humans today, and that each of these is lacking
in certain vital nutrients we need to exist.
Before the use of grains, what did humans eat? They ate the foods that
were easiest to obtain: fruits, vegetation, nuts, and seeds. They may also have
been scavengers, opportunistically taking the few animals that Nature pro
vided. Of course, they would have had to fight off other scavengers such as
vultures, hyenas, and wild dogs, a dangerous plan at best. Millions of years
later, humans learned to hunt, but gathering fruits remains considerably
easier than hunting, and much safer.
During the "Golden Age of Man," almost three thousand years ago,
historical records indicate that man thrived brilliantly on a diet composed
primarily of fruit, with the addition of some tender vegetables. This time
period produced a disproportionately huge number of history's greatest
thinkers, given that the world's population was barely twenty million.
In nature there are no exceptions:
animals with similar anatomy
and physiology thrive on similar foods.
9 Bread simply does not exist in nature.
Does Grain Eating Come Naturally?
Our natural foods taste good, just as they are produced by Nature. In
particular, people always fmd fruit eating to be pleasant. Addiction, guilt,
and overeating are not usually associated with its consumption.


 come consciou s of the gaps between words, the brief
silent intervals between sentences. As you do that, the dimension of
stillness grows within you. Y ou  cannot pay attention to silence  without
simultaneously becoming still within. Silence without, stillness within.
Y ou have entered the Unmanifested.SP ACE
Just as no sound can exist witho ut silence, nothing can exist wi thout no-
thing, w ithout the empty space that enables it to be. Every physical
object o r body has come out of  nothing, is surrounded by noth ing, and
will eve ntually return to nothing. Not only that, but even inside every
physical body there is far more “nothing” than “something.” Physicists
tell us that the solidity of matter is an illusion. Even seemingly solid
matter, i ncluding your physical body, is nearly 100 percent empty space
— so vast are t he distances between the atoms compared to t heir size.
What is more, even inside every atom there is mostly empty spa ce. What
is le ft is  more like a vibrational frequency than particles of soli d matter,
more lik e a musical note. Buddhists have known that for over 2,500
years. “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form,” states the Heart Sutra,
one of the best known ancient Buddhist texts. The essence of all things is
emptiness.
The Unm anifested is not only present in this world as silence; it also
pervades the entire physical universe as space — from within and
without. This is just as easy to miss as silence. Everybody pays attention
to the things in space, but who pays attention to space itself?

Y ou seem to be  implying that “emptiness” or “nothing” is  not just
nothing, that ther e is some mysterious quality to it. What is this nothing?

Y ou can not ask  such a question. Y our mind is trying to make nothing
into something.  The moment you make it into something, y ou have
missed i t. Nothi ng — space — is the appearance of the Unmanifested as
an externalized phenomenon in a sense-perceived world. That’ s  about as
much as  one can say about it,  and even that is a kind of paradox. It
cannot become an object of knowledge. Y ou can’ t do a Ph.D. on
“nothing.” When scientists stu dy space, they usually make it into
something and thereby miss its essence entirely. Not surprisingly, the
latest th eory is that space isn’ t empty at all, that it is filled with somesubstance. Once you have a the ory, it’ s not too hard to find evidence to
substantiate it, at least until some other theory comes along.
“Nothing” can only become a portal into the Unmanifested for you if you
don’ t try to grasp or understand it.

Isn’ t that what we ar e doing her e?

Not at all. I am giving you poin ters to show you how you can bring the
dimension of the Unmanifeste d into your life. W e are not trying to
understand it. There is nothing to understand.
Space ha s no “existence.” “T o exist” literally means “to stand out.” Y ou
cannot understand space because it doesn’ t stand out. Although in itself
it has no existence, it enables everything else to exist. Silence has no
existence either, nor does the Un-manifested.
So w hat happens if you withdraw attention from the objects in s pace and
become aware of space itself? What is the essence of this ro om? The
furniture, pictures, and so on are in  the room, but they are not the room.
The floor, walls, and ceiling define the boundary of the room, but they
are not the room  either. So wha t is the essence of the room? Space, of
course, empty space. There wou ld be no “room” without it. Since space
is “nothing,” we can say that what is not  t he re is more important than
what is there. So  become aware of the space that is all around you. Don’ t
think about it. Feel it, as it were. Pay attention to “nothing.”
As you do that, a shift in consc iousness takes place inside you. Here is
why. The inner equivalent to o bjects in space such as furniture, walls,
and so on are your mind objects: thoughts, emotio ns, and the objects of
the sens es. And the inner equiv alent of space is the consciousness that
enables your mind objects to be, just as space allows all things to be. So
if y ou withdraw attention fro m things  — obj ects in space — you
automatically w ithdraw attentio n from your mind objects as well. In
other words: Y ou cannot think and  be aware of space — or of silence, for
that matter. By becoming awar e of the empty space around you, you
simultaneously become aware of the space of no-mind, of pureconsciousness: the Unmanifested. This is how the contemplation of
space can become a portal for you.
Space an d silenc e are two aspec ts of the same thing, the same no-thing.
They ar e an externalization of inner space and inner silence, which is
stillness: the infinitely creative womb of all existence. Most humans are
completely unconscious of this dimension. There is no inner space, no
stillness. They are out of balance. In other words, they know th e world,
or th ink they do, but they don’ t know God. They identify ex clusively
with the ir own physical and psychological form, unconscious of essence.
And bec ause ev ery form is hig hly unstable, they live in fear. This fear
causes a  deep misperception of themselves and of other humans, a
distortion in their vision of the world.
If so me cosmic convulsion bro ught about the end of our world, the
Unmanifested would remain to tally unaf fected by this. A Course in
Miracles  expresses this truth poignantly: “Nothing real can be
threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.”
If yo u remain in  conscious connection with the Unmanifested, you value,
love, an d deeply respect the manifested and every life form in it as an
expression of the One Life beyond form. Y ou also know th at every form
is destined to di ssolve again and that ultimately nothing out here matters
all th at much. Y ou have “overcome the world,” in the words of Jesus, or,
as the Buddha put it, you have “crossed over to the other shore.”
THE TRUE NA TURE OF SP ACE AND TIME
Now consider this: If there were nothing but silence, it wouldn’ t exist for
you; you wouldn’ t know what  it is. Only when sound appears does
silence come into being. Simila rly, if there were only space without any
objects in space, it wouldn’ t exist for you. Imagine yourself as a point of
consciousness floating in the vastness of space — no stars, no galaxies,
just emptiness. Suddenly, space  wouldn’ t be vast anymore; it would not
be t here at all. There would be no speed, no movement from here to
there. At least two points of reference are needed for distance and space
to c ome into being. Space co mes into being the moment the One
becomes two, and as “two” be come the “ten thousand things,” as LaoT se calls the ma nifested world, space becomes more and more  vast. So
world and space arise simultaneously.
Nothing could be  without space, yet space is nothing. Before the
universe came into being, before  the “big bang,” if you like, the re wasn’ t
a vast empty space waiting to be  filled. There was no space, as t here was
no t hing. There was only the U nmanifested — the One. When the One
became “the ten thousand things,” suddenly space seemed to be there
and enabled the many to be. Where did it come from? W as it created by
God to accomm odate the universe? Of course not. Space is no-thing, so
it was never created.
Go out on a clear night and loo k up at the sky. The thousands of stars
you can see with  the naked eye are no more than an infinitesima l fraction
of what is there. Over 100 billion galaxies can already be detected with
the most powerful telescopes, each galaxy an “island univer se” with
billions of stars. Y et what is ev en more awe-inspiring is the in finity of
space itself, the depth and stillness that allows all of that magnificence to
be. Not hing co uld be more awe-inspiring and majestic than the
inconceivable vastness and stillness of space, and yet what is it?
Emptiness, vast emptiness.
What ap pears to  us as space in our universe perceived through the mind
and the senses is the Unmanifested itself, externalized. It is the “ body” of
God. An d the greatest miracle is this: That stillness and vastness that
enables the universe to be  is


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not conﬁned to China since for the Egyptian alchemist the
real quest was for the golden colour which embodied the
‘spirit,’ so that to achieve the colour was suﬀicient in itself.
Any goldcolo ured metal contained that ‘spirit,’ which was
also perfection; hence the Egyptian gods had bodies of
that colour. In fact all metals were conceived of as having
spiritual power, thus the solar yellowness of sulphur
sublimates the earthly and puriﬁes it, ‘washing away its
sins’: a religious viewpoint echoed later by the Gnostics
and Christians in the conﬂict between the powers of good
and evil in the world. Egyptian wealth depended largely on
gold-mining and the making of gold was the Royal Art, the
secret being  imparted to only the priests and royalty; it
was, as in China, a sacred matter and not a question of
producing wealth. Hermoupolis, the town of Hermes, was
the ‘town of the holy technique,’ i.e., alchemy. Gold was
also used ritually in India: ‘By means of gold they cleanse
themselves, for gold is life immortal.’ Gold was called
‘mineral light.’ ‘For gold is light and ﬁre is light, gold is
immortality and ﬁre is immortality.’ Gold, with silver, also
had a cosmological signi ﬁcance as the colours of the Sun
and Moon.
Chinese culture did not set store on wealth as money,
while the Taoist scholar in particular regarded it as an
encumbrance, ‘fetters and hand-cuﬀs’ in the words of
Chuang Tzu; at best it is a necessary evil. The real wealthwas scholarship and the scholar was always valued above
the merchant money-maker who was, in fact, looked down
on and occupied an inferior social status. The scholar
adopted a sublime indiﬀerence to money, so for the
scholar-alchemist the use of gold was purely for an elixir
or medicine.  ‘As to the True Man, he makes gold because
he wishes by its medicina l use to become an Immortal...
one becomes  an Immortal, the object is not to get rich,’ as
Ko Hung wrote. The alchemist's riches are ‘contentment
and learning... the properly balanced man is beyond
proﬁt and loss.’ The Confucian school also showed
contempt for material riches and adopted a highly anti-
commercial attitude, regarding merchants as social
parasites and calling them' reprobated persons,'
subjecting them to restrictions and excluding them from
oﬀicial posit ions which were reserved for schol ars. The
only honourable vocations were the scholar and the
farmer. The pursuit of gain was considered low and vulgar,
and although oﬀicials obviously enriched themselves, such
activities were not recognized and were swept under the
carpet, just as the alche mical making of gold for riches
took place but was not mentioned in alchemical works.
The true science/art, however, was followed by intelligent
men unlikely to be devoted to material wealth; to attain to
the True Man was only possible for those of rare quality.
So, for the scholar-alchem ist the use of gold was purely as
an elixir or medicine. ‘When men make gold they wish to
take it in order to bring divinity or hsien -hood upon
themselves, not riches.’1Metallurgical Sage superintending the work.
Gold and cinnabar, as the Great Medicines, were the
most powerful and sough t after of the elixirs and could be
taken without the precautions necessary for the lesser
medicines. However, it was better to use artiﬁcial gold.
When asked why it was better to go to the trouble of
making it instead of using real gold, Ko Hung replied:
‘Gold created by transformation, being the very essence ofa variety of ingredients is superior to natural gold.’ ‘The
gold which is made by transmutation embodies the
essences of many diﬀerent chemical ingredients so that it
is superior to natural gold.’ Artiﬁcial gold was considered
to have the added value of being obtained only in diﬀicult
conditions, needing ‘seclusion in some famous mountain
range, isolation from profane unbelievers and critics,
religious ceremonies, purifying rites, abstentio n from
pungent ﬂavours and ﬁsh, to say nothing of fasting, long
heating unde r exact conditions of temperature, needing
taxing watc h, and ﬁnally the indispensability of oral
instructions from a genui ne adept teacher.’2 Artiﬁcial gold
could be made so hard that nails could be made  from it
and there are various recipes and instructions as to the
means of softening or hardening the metal, such as ‘if too
hard, heat it with lard, if too soft, with a mash of white
plums.’
Silver was also sought and made artiﬁcially, but it was
considered inferior to gold and jade as a medicine. ‘To
make silver put mercury in an iron vessel and insert three
inch-square spoonsful of litharge. Fire to fusion. Pour into
water and it will become  silver at once,’ according to Ko
Hung, but he also adds that taking silver can only make
you an earth hsien ; it can be made edible in barley water
or in vermilio n grass wine, or in raspberry juice. Silver can
also be taken when it is dissolved with large pearls from
oysters; this, too, is inferior to potable gold, but the
preparation of gold is not always possible since it requires
the usual necessity of retirement to a mountain, fasting,
avoiding certain conditio ns and so on: all this limits the
number of those able to set about making gold. Another,
and even more limiting,  factor was the need for ample
funds. Both eastern and western alchemists warned
against attempting the work without suﬀicient reserves.
Ko Hung emphasized this when he wrote:You may wish to mount to heaven by preparing gold
or elixir, but you discover that the important
ingredients all require so much money that you
cannot aﬀord them all. It is then necessary to go back
to seek resources through farming, herding, busin ess
or trading for years and years, expending much
eﬀort. Only after that can the concocting be
undertaken... Even then it is necessary to fast again
and purify oneself: foregoing all human activities.  To
all these things must be added concentrated thought
of the gods, preservation of unity, dispelling of evils
and protecting one's own person.
Both gold and silver can be considerably debased and
still look like the real metal, and various types are called
‘false’ and ‘true.’ The Greek alchemists called ‘gold’ all
that glittered, even if it were only some veneer of gold-
seeming metal, but their Chinese counterparts called this
‘artful deception’ (cha) and made their artiﬁcia l gold and
silver of the same substa nce all through. One of the side
results of this exoteric alchemy in transmuting metals was
the discovery of, and concern with, the making of alloys
which were later used in making bronze for the superb
objects in Chinese art, for both secular and religious use.
Alloys were capable of having the appearance of gold
and silver without actually containing either of those
metals; such alloys were bronze and brass, nickel, zinc and
tin; there were also complex combinations of metals.
There is evidence that zinc was used as far back as the
second century BC and there are also accounts of ‘yellow
and white metals’ which the Chinese introduced into other
lands; these metals were not necessarily gold or silver but,
from the records of their usage, may have been
complicated alloys. Professor Needham writes of ‘the
remarkable fact that 2 per cent of arsenic can confer upon
copper a beautiful golden colour, while 4.6 per cent makesit shine and glow like silver.’ The Chinese had a ‘white
copper’ which they exported to the West in the
seventeenth century; it was used for ﬁre grates,
candlesticks and ornaments, did not tarnish and looked
like silver. It was known as pak tong and is, in fact, now
almost universally employed in modern coinage and
electroplating. Professor  Needham points out that the
modern world owes this debt ‘to the alchemical adepts and
technicians of ancient and medieval China who ﬁrst
studied and made use of nickel.’ It is also believed that the
Chinese used aluminium.
Various methods and mixtures can produce endless
variations in colour, from olive-green brass to brass
looking like gold; copper can be anything from red-brown
to silvery-white. ‘Tanyang copper’ looked like gold and a
Chinese expression for being duped is ‘to buy brass for the
price of gold.’ Artiﬁcial gold-making was a considerable
industry and lumps of gold from alchemists' furnaces were
regarded as highly valuable by foreign merchants who
paid a good price for them. There were fourteen di�


 importance of remembering who we are.DA Y 251
T o d a y  I  a m  a  c o n s c i o u s  c o u n t e r f o r c e  t o  t h e  w o r l d ’ s
d e s p a i r.
T oday is a time o f rebirth and renewal. Our world is threatened  by an
over -identification with the material world. Humanity is called to
awaken from an irresponsible stupor, in which we have recklessly
for gotten that dictates of love s hould be central to all we do. T oday I
commit myself to a path of awa kening, that I might be of service to the
new.
May all that I do and all I cr eate be of use to God. May my life be
in some small way a counterfor ce to the world’ s despair. May the
pr oducts of my mind and the work of my hands bring forth
miraculous r esults for everyone.DA Y 252
T o d a y  m y  l i f e  i s  r a d i c a l l y  n e w.
T oday, I choose not to be who I was yesterday. I choose to no longer
identify with the darkness in my past. I choose to detach from the drama
of former times. I put my life in the hands of God.
Through Him, I enter the radic al blessing of new possibilities. My
heart is unburde ned by the shad ows of painful memories, for in God I
have new life.
T oday I will loo k inwar d, not b ackwar d, that I might r eceive th e
miracle of r ebirth. The past is over and lives only in my mind.  I
for give myself and others and walk ahead into the light of God.DA Y 253
T o d a y  i s  t h e  d a y  I  h a v e  p r a y e d  f o r.
E very day of fers me the miracle of life, if I am open to receive it.
Everyone of fers me the miracle of love, if I am willing to bless them.
Every m oment of fers me the chance to start over, if I am open to its
messages to me.
T oday is the day I have prayed for, a day of peace and blessing for
everyone. God creates only beautiful days. Through Him, may I create
nothing less.
Dear God,
May I live up
T o Y our cr eative genius
W ithin me.
May I partner with Y ou
In co-cr eating a world
Of beauty and blessing
For everyone.
Use me that I might be of use.
And so it is.
Amen.DA Y 254
I  d o  n o t  w a l k  a l o n e  t h r o u g h  l i f e.
W hatever happens in my life today, I know it is a part of my journey.
If I’m happy, I will not take my  happiness for granted. If I’m sad, I
will rem ember that times will ch ange. If there is conflict, I will p ray for a
miracle. If there is fear, I will pour forth my love.
Every moment is part of a divi ne curriculum, and I do not wish to
avoid it s lesson s. I open my heart today to the fullness of e xistence,
praying to receive its blessings no matter what they are.
I d o not walk alo ne thr ough life, for God is within me and ar oun d
me. I am blessed and pr otected in all I do. Every moment carries
a gift for me. May I r eceive it and pass it on.DA Y 255
FOR REFLECTION
O n  t h e  M i r a c u l o u s  A u t h o r i t y  o f  a n  A w a k e n e d
H e a r t
U ntil we rememb er that each of us is entitled to miracles, it’ s easy to
despair a bout the state of the world. If we think of power only in external
terms, it’ s easy to feel hopeless when unjust systems have power.
But whe n we remember the magic of our inner selves—activ ating
otherworldly forces through devotion and for giveness and love—we rise
to realms of mir aculous authorit y that can, and always do, transcend and
cast out the injustices of the w orld. No external system of tyr anny can
stand fo rever in the space of an awakened heart. In the space  of light,
darkness disappe ars. In the spac e of love, fear disappears. In the space of
people who have remembered who we are, why we are here, and who
lives wit hin us, it’ s only a matter  of time before the cruelties of t he world
begin at last to recede from our midst.DA Y 256
M a y  G o d ’ s  p e a c e  e x t e n d  t h r o u g h  m e.
I  do not s eek peace for myself al one, for I am not alone in the universe.
May Go d’ s man tle of peace be placed upon me, and extend through me
to bless the world.
God’ s greatest gift to me is a calm in my heart. W ithin that calm,
may I find my wisdom. Through my wisdom, may I find my strength.
And seeing my strength, may others find a strength within themselves.
God’ s gifts ar e never meant for any of us alone, for we ar e
blessed and healed together. I r e ceive God’ s gifts today on behalf
of everyo ne. May my life be a channel thr ough which they emer g e
into the world.DA Y 257
A w a r e  o f  m y  w e a k n e s s e s,  I  s u r r e n d e r  t h e m  t o  G o d.
I nstead o f trying to hide my faults, I consciously aim to find them in
order to deliver them to God. W hat I give to Him, He will take from me.
He will not punish me but corre ct me. I do not fear God’ s venge ance, for
God is never vengeful.
My greatest gift to Him and others is to be who I am capable of
being. M ay today be a day of growth for me. May I not re peat old
patterns, but break through into the regions of my highest self. M ay God
take awa y from me all that is false, and fortify in me His beauty and His
truth.
Dear God,
I seek to be
Who I am capable of being.
T ake away fr om me
The things I think
That hide Y our light in me.
May today be a day
When I br eak fr ee
Of old habits of fear
That bind me.
Amen.DA Y 258
I  i n c r e a s e  m y  f a i t h  i n  m i r a c l e s  t o d a y.
L ooking a round m e, there are re asons to believe in the power of my
problems and the problems of th e world. But I place my faith in miracles
instead. There is no problem that love will not solve; my knowing this,
attesting to this, and practicing this makes me a miracle-worker.
Thinking of one thing that seems to be an intractable problem, and I
place the light of God around it. I use my mind to af firm that in Him all
things ar e possible. I leave no room in my mind for doubt that this is so.
W ith this refusal, I increase the possibility that a miracle will occur.
May I not be tem pted to believe the testimony of my senses befor e
the testimony of God. In any situation, may I r emember th e
possibility of infinite possibility.  May my mind thus be a condu it
of mirac les, as I have faith tha t they exist in God in unlimited
supply.DA Y 259
I  u s e  t h e  p o w e r  o f  a  p o s i t i v e  a t t i t u d e  t o  u p l i f t  a n y
s i t u a t i o n.
M y doubt, fear, ne gativity, and judgment have destructive power. My
faith, lov e, posit ivity, and blessing have miraculous power. I will use my
power wisely today.
Sometimes it’ s just an encouraging word, a tender touch, or a
friendly smile that can bring h ope to someone’ s heart. Such moments
represent God’ s love on earth. I  will be His representative today, as I try
my best to bring love and hope to any circumstance.
Wher ever I go, may ther e be mor e love and peace because I’ m
ther e. M ay my mind be ever ale rt to ways I can ease the path for
someone. Dear God, please save me


 present state of
happiness and unhappiness.
2.Making sure your life has purpose and meaning.
Versus:  Focusing on daily practicalities, even those
that seem routine and meaningless.
3.Living according to a higher vision.
Versus:  Living for externals like a better job, more
money, a bigger house, etc.
4.Expanding your awareness in every decade of life.
Versus:  Viewing youth as the peak of life and old age
as a dwindling decline.
5.Devoting time and attention to personal growth.
Versus:  Staying the same as you always were and
feeling proud about it.
6.Following a sensible regimen of good diet and physical
activity.
Versus:  Eating a diet high in sugar, fat, and calories.
Promising yourself to exercise tomorrow, or next week.
7.Allowing your brain to reset by introducing downtime
several times a day.Versus:  Working your brain to the point of exhaustion
before allowing yourself to take a break.
8.Getting to know your inner world through meditation,
contemplation, and self -reﬂection.
Versus:  Avoiding what you really feel. Fearing what
you might ﬁnd if you dared to look inside yourself.
9.Practicing gratitude and appreciation.
Versus:  Grabbing as much as you can for yourself.
Never forgetting to look out for number one.
10.Learning how to love and be loved.
Versus:  Leaving romance behind in the past. Not
looking into the deep source of love in yourself.
As you can see, self-care goes far beyond eating our
vegetables and signing up for the gym. It amounts to a new
model for success and happiness, a model that abundant
medical evidence suppor ts. I’ll say more about that as we
proceed. There’s a reason for giving these general
principles ﬁrst. In a world where massive  attention is given
to the next fad diet, the gym-honed body, and the beauty of
youth, the truth is that a shift in consciousness produces
far greater beneﬁts.
Getting peop le to turn inward is an important aspect, but
they have to know why. What Quantum Healing  aimed at
was far more radical: seeing yourself in a new way, as a
child of the universe. On the basis  of that realization, self-
care cannot help but begin at the source, where your
consciousness merges with cosmic consciousness. You can’t
truly value yourself until this happens, and then self-care is
like caring for Nature itself.
OceanofPDF.comCounting the number of cells in the human body is no
easier than counting the number of people in the world, but
the accepted  estimate is 50 trillion, or about 10,000 times
the Earth’s present population. Isolated and placed under a
microscope, the various kinds of cells—heart, liver, brain,
kidney, et cetera—look rather alike to the untrained eye. A
cell is basically a bag, enclosed by an outer membrane, the
cell wall, and ﬁlled with a mixture of water and swirling
chemicals. At the cente r of all but the red blood cells is a
core, the nucleus, which safeguards the tightly  twisted
coils of DNA. If you hold a speck of liver tissue on your
ﬁngertip, it looks like calf’s liver; you would be hard-
pressed to discern that it is speciﬁcally human. Even a
skilled geneticist would detect only a 2 percent diﬀerence
between our DNA and a gorilla’s. Of the liver cell’s many
functions, over ﬁve hundred at latest count, you would not
have a clue simply by looking at it.
As clouded as the mind-body issue has become, one thing
is indisputable: somehow human cells have evolved to a
state of formidable intelligence. At any one time, thenumber of activities being coordinated in our bodies is
quite literally inﬁnite. Like the Earth’s ecosystems, our
physiology appears to operate in separate comp artments
that in fact are invisibly connected: we eat, breathe, talk,
think, digest our food, ﬁght oﬀ infections, purify our blood
of toxins, renew our cells, discard wastes, vote for
Republicans, and much more besides. Each of these
activities weaves its way into the fabric of the whole. (Our
ecology is more plane tlike than most people  realize.
Creatures roam our surface, as unmindful of our hugeness
as we are of their minuteness. Colonies of mites, for
example, spend their entire life cycle in our eyelashes.)
Within the body’s vast array, the functions of any single
cell—such as one of the 15 billion neurons in the brain—ﬁll
a good-sized medical text. The volumes  devoted to any one
system of the body, such as the immune system or the
nervous system, take up several shelves in a medical
library.
The healing mechanism resides somewhere in this overall
complexity, but it is elusive. There is no one organ of
healing. How does the body know what to do when it is
damaged, then? Medicine has no simple answer. Any one of
the processes involved in healing a superﬁcial cut—the
clotting of the blood, for example—is incredibly complex, so
much so that if the mechanism fails, as it does with
hemophiliacs, advanced scientiﬁc medicine is at a loss to
duplicate the impaired function. A doctor can prescribe
drugs that replace the missing clotting factor in the blood,
but these are temporary, artiﬁcial, and have numerous
undesirable side eﬀects. The body’s perfect timin g will be
absent, as well as the superb coordination of a dozen
related processes. By comparison, a man-made drug is a
stranger in a land where everyone else is blood kin. It can
never share the knowledge that everyone else was born
with.The body, we must admit, has a mind of its own. Once we
understand this mysterious aspect of our basic nature, then
the miraculous nature of curing cancer should disappear.
Everyone’s body knows how to heal a cut, yet apparently
only a few people have  bodies that know how to cure
cancer.
—
Every doctor realizes that it is nature who cures disease, a
statement ﬁrst written by Hippocrates two thousand years
ago. What is the diﬀerence, then, between natur e’s
ordinary form of healing and unusual or “miraculous”
healing? Perhaps the diﬀerence is small and exists only in
our heads. If you are peeling potatoes and cut your ﬁnger
with a slip of the knife, the cut heals by itself, and obviously
you are not wonder-struck, because the process of healing
—the clotting of the blood to close the wound, the
formation of a scab, and the regeneration of new skin and
blood vessels—seems altogether normal.
Yet, we should be aware that this feeling of normalcy is
not the same as knowing what healing is or how to control
it. It is sobering to consider  how much of the knowle dge in
medical books pertains not to life but to death. By
performing autopsies on cadavers, examining tissue slides
under a microscope, and analyzing blood, urine, and other
isolated by-products of the body, the majority of medical
knowledge has been obtained. True, patients are examin ed
when they are alive, and tests can be run on many isolated
functions in their bodies. But the knowledge so acquired is
rudimentary compared to the volumes of super-
sophisticated data devoted to death. The poet Wordsworth
wrote this memorably terse line: “We murder to dissect.”
No truer statement has ever been made about the
limitations of medical research.The ﬁrst thing that is killed in the laboratory  is the
delicate web of intelligence that binds the body together.
When a blood cell rushes to a wound site and begins to
form a clot, it has not traveled there at random. It actually
knows where  to go and what to do when it gets there, as
surely as a paramedic—i n fact, more surely, since it acts
completely spontaneously and without guesswork. Even if
we break down its know ledge into ﬁner and ﬁner bits,
looking for the secret in some minute hormone or
messenger enzyme, we will not ﬁnd a protein strand
labeled “intelligence,” and yet there is no doubt that
intelligence is at work.
Part of this intelligence devotes itself to healing, and it
seems to be a very powerful force. Every fatal disease has
its mysterious survivors, not just cancer. Although I know of
no spontane ous cures of AIDS, there are long-term
survivors—those who remain alive after ﬁve years—whose
immune systems have somehow defended themselves
against a disease that under normal conditions is totally
devastating. Researchers tend to approach such
extraordinary physiologie s as biochemical freaks of nature.
By taking samples of their blood and isolating any unusual
components that can be detected in the immune cells,
molecular biologists hope to discover the unknown
ingredient that is protecting these people. If that can be
accomplished—it is an extremely tedious


 less than a week. Now bring your attention to
your skin and know that within one month the cells will be entirely
replaced and you will have new skin.
See your skeleton in your mind’ s eye. The atoms that currently
comprise it will be replaced by new ones in three months. Bring your
attention to your liver. Y ou will have a new one in six weeks.
Now feel your whole body. In one year almost all of it will have been
replaced. Now say to yourself: “I am renewing my body with every
breath I take.” See your body as it really is— infinitely flexible, fluid,
and forever in renewal.
Every day in every way, I am incr easing
my mental and physical capacity.
My Biostat is set at a healthy
 years of age.
I look and feel a healthy
 years old.
I am r eversing my biological age:
• By changing my per ception of my body, its aging,  and time.
3
Y ou Can Reverse Y our
Biological Age Through T wo
Kinds of Deep Rest—
Restful A wareness and
Restful Sleep

ACTION STEP #2
I am  r eversing my biological a ge thr ough two kinds of deep  r est—r estful
awar eness and r estful sleep.
I put this into practice by:
Experiencing r estful awar eness thr ough sitting meditation  with my
eyes closed for a minimum of twenty minutes twice  daily.
Experiencing r enewal and r ejuvenation every night thr ough  r estful
sleep.
Synchr onizing my biological r hythms with the r hythms of  natur e.
Agitation in body and mind
cr eates dis-ease and accelerates aging.
Deep r est in body and mind
r everses biological age.

Experiencing de ep rest in bod y and mind is the next step to growing
younger and living longer. An agitated body/mind system generates
entropy, decay, and aging. A rested body/mind system fosters creativity,
renewal, and reversal of aging. Since the body and mind are on e, when the
mind is deeply rested the body is also deeply rested. Of course, we know
from common experience that o ur mind is rarely in this rested state. In fact,
most of the time  it is in the fight-or -flight mode. The fight-or -flight or stress
response occurs when we feel threatened in any way, including when we
feel threatened by aging. The stress response creates physiological changes
that damage the body and accelerate aging. Y ou are surely familiar with
how it feels to be in stress mode, but you may not be familiar with what is
happening in your body. The physiological changes that accompany the
fight-or -flight response are:
Y our heart beats faster.
Y our blood pressure rises.Y ou consume more oxygen.
Y ou expel more carbon dioxide.
Y ou breathe faster.
Y our breathing becomes shallow.
Y our heart pumps more blood.
Y ou sweat.
One part of your adrenal glands pumps out adrenaline and
noradrenaline, which constrict blood vessels.
Another part of your adrenal glands pumps out cortisol.
Y our pancreas releases more of the hormone glucagon.
Y our pancreas releases less insulin.
As a result of the increased glucagon and decreased insulin, your blood
sugar level rises.
Y ou reduce the blood supply to your digestive or gans and increase the
blood supply to your muscles.
Y our pituitary gland releases less growth hormone.
Y ou produce lower levels of sex hormone.
Y our immune system is suppressed.
The fight-or -flight response was first described by early-twentieth-
century American scientist W al ter Cannon. He wanted to understand why
some people became ill and oth ers even died under stress. He  discovered
that whe n you encounter a threatening situation, a part of your involuntary
nervous system becomes instantly and automatically activated. The nervoussystem triggers rises in blood pressure and heart rate and stimulates the
adrenal glands to release adrenaline. If the threat and the n eurological
response are severe and unrelenting, damaging bodily changes can occur.
Cannon researched tribal societies, where people who trespass against
important rules are banished fro m the community. A bone is pointed at the
of fender by the tribal witch doctor, resulting in a “curse.” From that point
on, the of fender is no longer considered to be part of the living community.
He is cut of f from all social interactions, including those with his own
family. These outcasts go into such an intense stress respons e that their
circulatory syste ms collapse. They literally die from fear, often within just a
few days.
Exploring the stress response further, another scientist, Hans Selye, found
that in addition to the changes t hat take place in the nervous system, many
important hormones jump into the fray. These hormones af fect every aspect
of the body, inc luding the heart, stomach, liver, sex or gans, and immune
system. If the st ress is long and  drawn out, the entire physiolo gy becomes
exhausted, the body is unable to maintain balance, and something
eventually breaks down.
Prolonged stress  can make you sick and can accelerate aging. Over time,
the stres s response can cause h igh blood pressure, heart disease, stomach
ulcers, autoimmune diseases, cancer, anxiety, insomnia, and depression.
This ma y lead you to ask, if the fight-or -flight response is so damaging,
why did nature create it? Th e original purpose of the fig ht-or -flight
response was to help mankin d survive in threatening situations. If a
ferocious anima l was about to eat you, the only way to survive was to either
fight bac k or run away. Considering that human beings do not have thick
hides, lar ge canines, or big tus ks, our ability to quickly react to a threat
helped us survive in a dangerous environment.
T oday, t his resp onse is still occ asionally useful, as when a fireman goes
into a burning building to rescue a child, or when you leap out of the way of
a rec kless driver speeding on a r esidential street. Most of the tim e, however,
the fight -or -flight response no longer serves us very well. Y ou may activatethe stress response when you are stuck in rush-hour traf fic or facing a
critical work deadline, but neither fighting nor running away is a viable
option. The pressure to do something without a way to release it causes
harm. T he long-term consequen ces of an activated stress response speed up
the aging process and makes us susceptible to illness.
The opposite of the fight-or -flight response is the r estful r esponse. There
are two  kinds of restful respo nses: restful awareness and restful sleep.
Restful awareness is the state when your body/mind system is in deep rest
but your mind is  awake. Restful sleep is the state in which your  body/mind
system i s in deep rest and your m ind is sleeping. Both of these states renew
the body, although some studies indicate that restful awareness may provide
even dee per rest  than sleep. How ever, for our purpose of age reversal, both
experiences are equally important. Restful awareness occurs during
meditation. Restful sleep includes both dream sleep and dreamless deep
sleep. Y our subjective experienc e of the restful response is relaxation. The
physiological changes that occur are:
Y our heart rate slows.
Y our blood pressure normalizes.
Y ou consume less oxygen.
Y ou use oxygen more ef ficiently.
Y ou expel less carbon dioxide.
Y our breathing slows.
Y our heart pumps less blood.
Y ou perspire less.
Y our adrenal glands produce less adrenaline and noradrenaline.
Y our adrenal glands produce less cortisol.Y ou make more sex hormones, particularly dehydroepiandrosterone
(DHEA).
Y our pituitary gland releases more growth hormone (an antiaging
hormone).
Y our immune function improves.
The Restful A war eness Response
Restful awarene ss is a natural mind/body response, as natural as the stress
responses. The most direct way to experience restful awareness is through
meditation. Med itation has been a part of Eastern cultures for thousands of
years, b ut it is comparatively new in the W est. Despite its re cent arrival
here, ma ny stud ies have shown that anyone can easily learn to m editate and
enjoy the physiological changes of experienced meditators.
The bodily changes of restful awareness in meditation are almost the
exact opposite of the fight-or -flight response. During meditation, breathing
slows, blood pressure decreas es, and stress hormone levels fall. The
consumption of oxygen during meditation falls almost twice as much as
during sleep. What is fascinatin g about these physiological changes is that
even as the body is resting deeply in meditation, the mind is aw ake, though
quiet. Brain wave studies show improved coherence between dif ferent parts
of the brain during meditation.  These changes in body and mind are not
seen dur ing wak efulness or sleeping. The unique combination of physical
relaxation and an alert yet quie t mind explains the term r estful awar eness
and distinguishes this state from restful sleep.
People who regularly experi ence restful awareness deve lop


 negative—with those
forces within that have created them. It brings us home to the
unitive core in ourselves, to our true, creative identity.
The lectures in this volume were carefully chosen to represent the
basic teachings of the Guide and give an overview. We recommend
that you read them sequentially, because the concepts are
introduced gradually and progressively. However, you will
understand them even if you pick at rst those titles that most
intrigue you.
It is possible to work with the lectures by yourself, following
through with whatever exercises for self-awareness the Guide
proposes in the lectures themselves. It is also helpful to form a small
group in which the lectures can be discussed and your self-work can
be shared. The Pathwork Centers oer introductory workshops as
well as ongoin g teaching and training programs that help you apply
the lecture material to your personal development. The Centers also
have trained helpers availab le to work individually or with groups.
You can also use the Pathw ork Lectures in your sessions with a
spiritually inspired therapist. Many psychotherap ists and
psychiatrists have already discovered that the Guide ’s lectures
contain materi al on transforming negativity that is nowhere else to be
found. And many clergy and other people doing spiritual service
have found in these lectures practical help in fullling their calling.
The important  thing is commitment to your personal truth, to your
own inner path.
The Guide’s teachings help us to purify ourselves so that we can
fulll our task on earth, become self-realized people, and learn tolove in the true sense of the word. As members of society our task is
to transform the planet Earth, and create a global brother-sisterhood
through the spreading of the new consciousness and devel oping new
ways of communication, interaction, and problem-solving.
Understanding our personal evolution as part of the evolution of the
planet Earth, and becoming  conscious co-creators of a new and
expanded reality, are the most joyful and positive aims of this path.
To absorb these lectures is the beginning of doing Pathwork. Let
them touch you deeply, not only in your mind, but also in your
heart. May they inspire you.
JUDITH SALY and D ONOVAN THESENGA
OceanofPDF.com1
What Is the Path?
A journ ey through the known into the unknown regions of the
soul is similar to the quest told in fairy tales. The ignorant hero or
heroine sets out from the familiar, everyday world because of a
longing to nd a greater life than the ordinary routine of a limited
existence. Frightening encounters, tests of all kinds follow. If you
pass the tests, you nd happiness. The reward is wealth and a life
partner; you become king or queen: a fullled adult.
The inner quest, if taken seriously, also takes courage, also
traverses dark regions, and also leads to maturity—and the treasure
is also always found. Just as in the fairy tales the hero doesn’t
sneak around the dragon but ghts him, and doesn’t run away from
the old witch but befriends her, you, too, must meet the destructive
forces within yourself and deal with them.
In this lecture the Guide shows how to follow the longing and
liberate the dormant powers within yourself, so that you come upon
the treasure of your wise, loving, inner Godself.
Greetings and welcome, my friends. Blessings for every one of
you. In this lecture I would like to discuss the path to the fulllment
of your deepest longings.
Longing for a Larger and More Fullling State of
ConsciousnessEvery human being senses an inner longing that goes deeper than
the longings for emotional and creative fulllment, although these
are, of course, part of the deeper and more essential desire. This
longing comes  from sensing that another, more fullling state of
consciousness and a larger capacity to experience life must exist.
As you translate this longing into conscious terms, you may
become involved in confusion and contradiction. Confusions and
apparent contr adictions come from the dualistic consciousness of
the human mind. The dualism is always present, for humans
perceive reality in terms of either/or, good or bad, right or wrong,
black or white. This way of perceiving life is at best only half true:
One can perceive only fragments of reality; the full truth  can never
be found. Truth always comprises more than what the dualistic way
of seeing reality can grasp.
One confusion  might be: “Am I longing for something unreal?
Would it be perhaps more realistic and more mature to give up this
longing and accept that life is just this at, dismal, gray place? Do
we not hear over and over that acceptance is necessary in order to
be at peace with oneself and life? Therefore I should really abandon
this longing.”
The way out of your confusio n can only be found when you take a
step beyond the dualism implicit in this dilemma. It is true that you
must accept your present state. It is true that life, as it manifests,
cannot be perfect. Yet this fact is not what truly makes you
unhappy, rather it is your demand that life should be perfect and be
handed to you in its perfection that creates a problem. If you go
deeply enough, you will inevitably discover that there is a part of
you that denies pain and frustration; a place where you are angry
and spiteful because there is no loving authority who will eliminate
undesirable experiences for you. Thus it is true that your longing for
this utopian kind of happier state is unrealistic and should be
abandoned.
The False DesireBut does this truly mean that the longing per se stems from
immature, greedy, or neuroti c attitudes? No, my friends, it does not.
There is an inner voice tellin g you there is much, much more to your
life and yourself than you are capable of experiencing at this time.
How then can we nd clarity  about what is real and what is false
about your deepest longin g? The desire is false when your
personality wishes love and fulllment, perfection and happiness, or
pleasure and creative expansion without paying the price of strictest
self-confrontation. It is false when you do not assume the
responsibility for your prese nt state, or the state you long for. For
example, if you feel sorry for yourself because of your unfullled
life, and if you in any way blame others for your present state, no
matter how wrong those others may be, whether your parents, your
peers, your associates, or life as a whole, then you do not assume
responsibility. If this is the case, then in some way you also wish to
receive the new and better state as an unearned reward. You may
try to be a good little obedient follower of a powerful authority
gure in order to be rewarded. Since the reward in reality can never
come from the outside, no matter what you do, you must feel
disappointed, resentful, cheated, and angry, and you will resort
again and again to your old, destructive patterns that are in fact
responsible for the state that creates your unfullled longing.
The Realistic Longing
The longing is realistic when you start from the premise that the
clue to fulllment must lie in you; when you wish to nd the attitudes
in you that prevent you from experiencing life in a fullled and
meaningful way; when you interpret the longing as a message from
the core of your inner being, sending you on a path that helps you
to nd your real self.
However, when the inner message of longing is misinterpreted by
the negative, greedy, ungiving and demanding personality,
confusion sets in. The longing is then put into channels of
unrealizable fantasies of magic. You believe fulllment is supposedto be given to you, rather than attained through the courage and
honesty of looking at yourse lf as you now are, even at areas you
would rather avoid. If a life situation is painful and you react with
rage, complain ts, and other defenses against cleanly experiencing
this pain, you are not in truth about your present state. But if you
just let the pain be and feel it, without playing games like “it will
annihilate me,” or “it will last forever,” the experience will release
powerful creative energies to increasingly work for you in your life
and open the channels to your spiritual self. Feeling the pain will
also yield a deeper, fuller, and wiser understandin g of the
connections between cause and eect. For instance, you will see
how you attracted this particular pain. Such insight may not come
immediately, for the more you force it, the more it will elude you.
But it will come if you stop the inner ghting and resisting.
Do not abandon the longing itself. Take it seriou sly. In fact, cultivate
it and learn to understand it, so that you will follow its message and
take the inner  path to your core; go through that part which you
want to avoid, which is the real culprit solely responsib le for your
less than fullled and joyful state.
Do not abando n the longing that comes from the sense that your
life could be much more, that there is a


said in effect: "Mr. P.C., your condition  is
medically  tabulated  as leucocythaemia  or splenic anaemia, and
according  to the Medical Profession,  you have but three months to live.
Your disease has been brought  about by an ill balanced,  denatured  diet.
None the less you can be saved by fasting and urine‐therapy."  I went on
to explain the details.  Then he told me his story. The gist of it was as
follows
Shortly before Easter  of that year (1927) he had  developed  a cold, for
which  he had "doctored"  himself. By the Good  Friday, his condition  had
been such that his wife and  his brother  had  become alarmed and  sent
for a young physician  who had  diagnosed  high  bloodpressure.  On a
second  examination  the following  day,  however,  he had said it was not
high  blood‐ pressure  after all, and  that he had  found  traces of other
symptoms,  which  he did not particularise.  A specialist was then called
in. He examined  the patient, pointed  out the region of the swollen
spleen to the general practitionerand  diagnosed  the case  as 58
 leucocythaemia.  Mr. P.C. was then informed  that the disease was rare
in England, and asked if he had ever been to the East or the Tropics? His
relatives were told that the malady always proved fatal, but that the
patient might live from three  to six months  if given deep X‐ray
treatment,  drugs, and  a series of injections.  (No mention was made of
diet, except that liver would be good for the patient.) Mr. P.C.
accordingly  attended at the local  infirmary,  where  he was examined  at
various times by the visiting physicians,  who became  interested  in him
as "a somewhat  rare  specimen."  All of them were unanimous  as to the
name of the disease and  the length of time the patient had  still to live.
His blood  was tested by the staff pathologist  and  registered  at 556,000
more  white  corpuscles  than red ones per cubic millimeter.
That was the position when Mr. P.C. was brought to me, five weeks
after the disease had  been given its polysyllabic  and  high‐sounding
name.
Mr. P.C. was not an easy patient, and was not prepared to fast without
interruption  as long a period as I considered  essential for his grave
condition,  which had  been complicated  by all the medical X‐ray
treatment  he had undergone.  However,  although he only fasted a week,
during which  he was rubbed  with urine by his wife and  friends  for
lengthy periods (and, of course, he did not omit the essential  part of
the treatment,  the drinking of his own urine), he was  so far improved
that he could walk into my house unaided. Indeed, his improvement
was so marked that, under pressure,  I consented  to his breaking his fast,
provided that I should dictate what and  when he should eat, and  that
the rubbings  and the intake of his urine were not discontinued.  His food
during the next week was to consist  of fresh raw fruits (apples, oranges 59
 and  bananas, chiefly), salads, tomatoes,  steamed vegetables,  potatoes
in their jackets, fresh  uncooked,  unpasteurised  milk, and  honey; all of
which  were to be consumed  in small quantities.  Later  on he was
permitted  steamed fish, meat,  etc., in short  a wellbalanced  diet minus
tinned meats or twice  cooked meats of any sort. He was to continue to
drink  his own urine. All this he faithfully carried out.
Six weeks from the day I first saw him, Mr. P.C. had a further  blood  test.
This revealed that, whereas the blood  count  had  previously  been
556,000 white corpuscles  in excess of red, it now showed less than half
that amount  per cubic millimeter.  Mr. P.C. was so cheered by this
report that he consented  to further  fasts of a week's duration. Thus,
during the next six weeks he underwent  fasts of seven days each. The
third and final blood  test  revealed that the blood content was quite
normal.  Soon  after the twelve weeks in all of vigorous  treatment  were
ended, Mr. P.C. was back at work ‐a well  man.
Nevertheless,  the story  has no happy ending.  Despite my having
impressed  upon him that his condition  had arisen through  an ill‐
balanced "rubbishy"  diet, in the course of time (as I afterwards  learned)
he reverted to his old habits  of eating just any "mess" he "fancied."
Although,  for two years after his penance and while he kept up rational
feeding, he did not even have one cold to contend  with, after those two
years he gradually began to backslide,  and  although he had  a few boils
and colds by the way of warnings,  he paid no attention,  and finally died
during drug treatment  for influenza six years after his recovery from his
grievous illness.
Truly,  “the way of the transgressor  is hard.”  60
 Apropos of Mr. P.C.'s case,  I was destined  to lose an old school  friend
through  the same fatal medical treatment  for splenic anaemia. He had
for some time been undergoing  deep X‐ray  for this  disease, and,
learning of my success  with


  forces  neede d to open
each  center.  This process  happens  in a split  second,  but can take
months or  years of subtle  fine tuning  of ener gy between lovers.
That is w hy a commitment is usuall y neede d to get to  the higher
levels of  Dual Cultivation- -it requir es a great  deal  of time to
understa nd the pla y of subtle  forces,  and to refine  your more gross
physical and emotional  energies.
- 278  -Chapter  VIII
Fig. 8.46 Bringing  Sexu al Energy to  the Kidneys
C. Develo pment of a Strong Nervous System
   Your nervous  system must also  be strong  enou gh to handle  the
increased  flow of Chi experience d during  a Valle y Orgas m. An y Tai
Chi, Y oga, Chi Kung  or other  purif ying meditative  work is invaluabl e
- 279  -Dual Cultivation
in developin g this kind of  strength  as it speeds  up and clarifies the
process.
D. Mental Sp iraling of the Energy
    The Valle y Orgas m can  happen  when both  lovers  have
harmonized  their will power and their  breathin g during  the Yin-Yang
exchange.  The energ y is flow ing betw een the man and  woman  as
they collectively  focus  their  attentio ns on each  center.  It helps  to
mentally  spiral  the energ y in a three -inch diameter  circle  (male
clockw ise, female counter  clockw ise) at a point  about  three  inches
inside  the body  near  each  center  You should  experiment  with the
location  of the point  you focus  on, as som e people  find the energy
is more po werful a little  closer  to the  spine.
    The Chi energy  likes to mo ve in a spiraling  motion; therefo re, by
mentally  spiraling  at ke y points,  you may trigge r the release  of a far
more po werful Valley  Orgasm. This spiraling  movement of  the Chi
itself is caused  by the interaction  of ma le and female energi es.
This can be  seen  geometrically  in the symbol  of the  female--the
circle, and  that of  the male--a  straight  line with an arrowhead. The
fusion  of these  two signs is a spiral:  a circular  energy  containin g a
linear  energ y moving toward the center  of the  circle.  When a ma n
and woma n make love,  the same thing  occurs:  the Yang Chi enters
the circle of  the Yin Chi. The Chi fuses,  and the circle  of energ y
expands  and spirals  upward throug h both  bodies.  The energ y will
naturall y travel  in a sequenc e, spiraling  throug h the follow ing centers.
(1) Navel Center,  or Lower  Tan Tien
   Man y routes  of the  body  join at  the navel  center  or lower Tan
Tien. When the  navel  is open,  all routes  in the  body will be joined.
You will regain  something  of the  terrific  vitalit y of the  new born baby
for its energy  has been  fed to  it by the mother throug h the navel.
(2) So lar Plexus
    The solar  plexus  controls  the digestive  system, sto mach, spleen
and liver. This w ill greatly  strengt hen your health  and will. At the
solar  plexus  center  the pow er is mu ch strong er purer  and
widespread. However you must first open  the navel  for the  power
to flo w up.
- 280  -Chapter  VIII
(3) Heart Center,  or Mid dle Tan Tien
   Important  to strength ening the heart,  lungs and thymus  gland
and to am plify your power of love,  sympath y and rejuvenatio n is
your heart  center.  This is the center  of the mi ddle Tan Tien, and
extends  into the areas  immediately above  and below  it.
Fig. 8.47  The Vallrey  Orgasm is actu ally the fusion  of Ching  (Essential
             Energy),  Shen (Spirit)  andChi (Vital Energy).
- 281  -Dual Cultivation
(4) Throat
   The throat  energy  center  is the  thyroid gland  and is the energy ’s
doorway between man and  heaven. Since it controls  speech,  it is
also kno wn as the center.
(5) Yin- Tang,  or Third  Eye
   The Y in-Yang, or third  eye, is located  betw een the eyebrows,
and controls  the nervous  system and  soul.  Its development  calms
the person  and lessens  the influence  of stress  and fear.
(6) Pai-Hui  (Crown)  or Upper Tan  Tien
   Finall y direct  the pow er to the Pai- Hui, the  crow n, the center  of
spiritual  knowledge, and the door way to higher  spiritual  evolution.
6. Valley Orgasm Su mmary
   a. First ma ke love activel y using  three  or six shallo w strokes  for
each  deep  one,  or nine  shallo w and one deep.
   b. Stop thrusting  when you feel y ou are appro achin g orgasm.
Use the  Orgas mic Up ward Draw, or your male partne r the Big Dra w,
to bring  pow er up to the  Pai- Hui  (crow n).
   c. Em brace  and synchronize  the breathin g. Place  yourselv es in
comfortable  positions  without undue  stress  on the limbs.
   d. Open  the Microcosmic Orbit  by directing  your Chi arou nd the
circuit w ith the power of thoug ht.
   e. Exchange  pow er by circulatin g your energ y in and  arou nd
your entw ined bodies  using  meditation.  Focus  your attentio n on
the polar  balance  of energ y in your lower Tan Tien. W hen the  power
builds,  move it up ward in a w ave toward your middle and upper
Tan T ien.
   f. W hen your energ y has been  transformed  up, or you feel the
loss of  50 perce nt of your arousal,  start to  thrust  again  if you wish
and build  up more energ y, keeping  the urog enital  diaphragm closed,
and stopping  before  ejaculation.
   g. Exchange  pow er several  times. Each  time try  to bring  the
energy  up to  increasingl y higher  centers,  meditating  on each  Tan
Tien for as long  as you feel com fortable.
   The exchangin g practice  is a me ntal and spiritual  operati on. The
higher  ener gy in woman  is different  from ma n, a study  that mer its
a com plete  undert aking  and is projected  for a later  volume.
- 282  -Chapter  VIII
E. Helpful Hints
   Man y women  who have  partne rs will want to share  the techniqu es
learned  here  with their  partners  to enhanc e their  mutual
experiences.  The follo wing are som e helpful  hints  in sharing  the
practice.
1. For Lesbian Couple s
    Women who share  these  techniques  with their  wome n partn ers
will find it eas y to communicate  the infor mation,  since they both
practice  the sam e exercises.  One  area  that the Taoists  claim is
important  is the  polarity  of Yin and Yang. For Valley  Orgasm to be
experience d, the Taoists sa y that the polarity  of Yin and Yang work
together  to produce  a synthesis of their  opposing  qualities.  If both
partners  are women,  theref ore Yin in natur e, there  may not be
enough  tension,  or magnetic  energ y available  to “lift off:  ‘ as it w ere.
One way to increase  the polarizatio n is for  one partne r to acquire
more Y ang energ y. Since the  most Yang source  in our environment
is the  sun, one  partner  can take  more sun,  the absor ption  of w hich
will increas e her Yang energ y. If possible,  she can take  the solar
energy  into her  ovaries  via the  genitals,  if she  has the privacy  to do
this. Other wise, she can  sit in  the sun  and “think,”  or mentally  direct,
the energy  into