 (Dawkins, 1992; Beck and Cowan, 1996). This downside of vulnerability to rhetoric was also discussed at length in
Truth vs. Falsehood (Chapter 12). Like anyone else in society, the mind of the aspirant has also
unwittingly been programmed. This often escapes notice unless highlighted
by a Teacher. Many students adhere to a stereotype of what ‘being spiritual’
implies. Thus, there are often political/social/intellectual stereotyped beliefs
that need to be investigated as naïve programs. To seriously seek enlightenment is a very strict discipline that therefore
eschews the attraction of involvement in supposed spiritual movements that
are actually intrinsically political in nature and factional. The attraction of
‘changing the world’ (for the presumed better, of course) appeals to thenaïve idealism of the inner spiritual adolescent and is transcended with
maturity. The nature of human life is the automatic consequence of the
overall level of human consciousness itself. Therefore, to benefit the world,
it is necessary to change not the world but oneself, for what one becomes is
influential by virtue of its essence (nonlinear) and not its actions (limited
and linear). The purpose of action is to control others. Force (emotional or
otherwise) results in counterforce; power comes from the nonlinear level of
consciousness itself. Straight and narrow is the path, for without inner discipline, the spiritual
energy becomes dissipated in diverse attractions. Profound silence is more
influential and beneficial than an avalanche of redundant words and actions
that emanate from the spiritual ego and its platitudinous rationalizations. Spiritual rhetoric is still just rhetoric and represents spiritual sophistry. Commitment to Enlightenment alters and recontextualizes social roles. There are many attractive, aberrant spiritual groups, techniques,
practices, and teachings that become glamorized, popularized, peddled, and
even literally marketed. There is also seduction by proselytization, pop-
culture promotional venues, and effusive emotionality (Lewis, 2001). All
these attractions signify the seeking of a gain by their promotion. In
contrast, that which is integrous is self-fulfilled and therefore does not need
promotion. Eager, naïve students may be impressed by the opinions and enthusiasm
of followers of attractive, diversionary spiritual groups and leaders. Some
are impressed by web sites, celebrities, or emotional claims. There are
supposed ‘avatars’ by the dozens who are imagined to be the great saviors
of humanity (sometimes even by a prescribed date). These routinely
calibrate not only low but often below level 200—the critical level of Truth. Often added to the attraction are claims of performance of the miraculous
and unnatural oddities. Thus, it is not unusual at all for very famous, highly
proclaimed ‘miracle workers’ to calibrate as low as 175. It is therefore best
to avoid the bizarre or the unlikely and to remember that there is no
‘person’ who performs miracles in a cause-and-effect kind of
contextualization. The truly ‘miraculous’ is the emergence into actuality of
potentiality as a consequence of an overall contextual field that includes
karma, and it is therefore not ‘caused’ by nor can it be claimed by an
individual personality.Also invitational is the seductive lure of ‘secrets’ and membership (at a
cost) in ‘select’ inner subgroups, with accompanying titles and privileges. Common to such groups are also submission and obedience to the leader as
well as a variety of personal restrictions. All of these linear distractions
denote specialness rather than rational distractions of essence. As with any human endeavor, there is a sequence of levels of
maturation and mastery to progressive levels of sophistication, education,
experience, and acquisition of skills and knowledge. Early in the search for
truth, there is vulnerability to the allure of various promulgated programs
and personalities that tend to become an attractive theater invitational to
mystical and magical allure. There are glib ‘masters’ who even claim to be
‘higher than Jesus’ and attract great wealth. Others promote various forms
of sexuality and even ‘holy sex’ encounters with the leader. (These persons
all calibrate below 200, although some of them were temporarily in the
500s early in their careers.) Common are claims to exotic ‘other dimensions’ or realms with unique
nominalization. None of the aberrant pathways, teachers, or organizations
calibrates at an acceptable level of truth, and none appears in the list of
confirmed spiritual teachers or teachings (Chapter 11). The rule ‘caveat
emptor’ obviously applies and is adhered to by the wise (Partridge, 2003). While exploration of the new may seem like a harmless educative and
entertaining novelty, even that degree of exposure has unanticipated
consequences that are usually unrecognized. The mind is like the hardware
of a computer that is instantly programmable by linear content as well as
nonverbal energy patterns. Thus, the explorer of the pop pseudospirituality
of the astral circus of the typical ‘New Age Fair’ inadvertently picks up a
variety of energies that are out of awareness. The best protection is
avoidance out of humble respect for the limitations and the weaknesses of
the ego/mind. To flirt with that which is seemingly harmless is attractive to
negative subliminal energy patterns. The acquired spiritual flaws may later
affect the student adversely in ways that are out of awareness but detectable
by others. Thus, avoidance of that which can be deleterious to or delay
spiritual evolution is advised out of humility and respect for limitations
rather than fear. As mentioned elsewhere, traditional scripture advises to
eschew the paranormal and just ‘don’t go there’. As with other attractions, it is the ‘experiencer’ aspect of the ego that
leads to involvement with distractions and naïve errors of judgment,mistaken decisions, or conclusions. The avoidance of diversions and
attractions is not based on judgmentalism but instead on respecting the
value of the validation of truth. There are numerous integrous teachers and
teachings; thus, it is not necessary to seek for novel byways. The great
traditional pathways have sufficed for thousands of years, and their essential
truths have been confirmed by experience. They are now even more
adequately understood and confirmable. Frequently, serious spiritual students become waylaid by attractive,
deviant pathways, schools, and teachings and thereby devote time and
energy in fruitless pursuit of spiritual illusions. This may take up years,
decades, or even whole lifetimes that sometimes end up in regret or even
bitter disappointment. With the current availability of the techniques of
calibrating levels of truth, such errors can be circumvented. There are even
professional ‘deprogrammers’ to assist in recovery from cult indoctrination
and brainwashing that can result in severe loss of reality testing and
rationality, even to the degree of cult group suicide or bombing the
innocent, allegedly ‘for God’. Alignment with a Pathway
Chapter 11 gives the necessary information and guidelines to ascertain
purity, authenticity, and validity of teachers, traditions, religions, spiritual
schools, and organizations. Dedication is a more important sign of integrity
than enthusiasm. It is necessary to have faith in a pathway and clear away
doubts to ascertain if they are realistic or merely forms of resistance. A
seeker should have the security and support of inner certainty and firm
conviction that are consequent to study, personal research, and
investigation. Thus, a pathway should be intrinsically reconfirming by
discovery and inner experience. A true pathway unfolds, is self-revelatory,
and is subject to reconfirmation experientially. As spiritual awareness advances, the flow of spiritual energy increases
and enables transcending prior, seemingly insurmountable, obstacles. As the
attractions of the world and emotions decrease, there is a progressive
attraction to qualities, such as beauty, lovability, and peace, rather than
things or seeming gains. Forgiveness becomes a habitual attitude, and the
innate innocence of all Creation shines forth. The teachings of great saints
and teachers become one’s own from within. Q: Please discuss materialism.A: Formally, the term denotes belief in the theory that the material/physical
world is the only reality and that all phenomena are the consequence of
and can be explained in terms of physicality. It is expressed as physical
reductionism in the traditional scientific Newtonian paradigm and in
intellectual discourses pertaining to the arguments of ‘bottom up’ versus
‘top down’ theories of causality. The subject recurs in conferences
pertaining specifically to ‘science and consciousness’, or science and
religion or theology. Although the subject may sound abstract and primarily philosophical,
in practice it has profound practical consequences. Dialectical
materialism emerged as Marxism, which fomented worldwide
revolution and the deaths of many millions of people. Materialism
denies the reality of Divinity as the Source of Creation and life, and
consequently, it calibrates (as does Marx) at 130. Mechanistic
materialism sources skepticism (cal. 160), which is limited to the linear
domain. It denies the reality of the nonlinear, which calibrates at level
500 or above. Paradoxically, although skepticism ridicules faith, it has
great faith in its own very limited paradigm and philosophical
presumptions of which it is naïvely unaware. When applied to consciousness research, the bottom-up theorists
attempt to demonstrate that consciousness


tory. Meanwhile,  a  greater  percentage  of  the
human  race  suffers  from  malnutrition  than
[at]  any  other  time  in  recorded  history. John  Robbins,  May  All  Be  Fed
Prana  is  the  kinetic  force  of  the  universe. It  causes
the  earth's  movement  around  the  sun. This  heap  of
dirt  called  earth  becomes  a  mobile  dynamic  entity,
vibrating  with  complex  life,  because  of  prana. She  is
made  alive,  and  in  turn  generates  life  for  every  organ-
ism that  dwells  on  her,  whether  human  or  one-celled. Prana  moves  the  air,  water,  nerves,  and  memory  cells,
and  controls  expansion  and  contraction  of  the  earth's
surface. The  ebb  and  flow  of  the  oceans  and  the  moon's
orbit  around  the  earth  are  propelled  by  prana. Air  is  the  kinetic  energy  perceived  by  the  skin;  the
sense  of  touch  is  born  of  prana. Space  is  registered  by
the  saccule  of  the  ear;  our  spatial  orientation  within
our  gravitational  field  and  sound  is  produced  by  space. Prana  alone  controls  the  breath  of  the  planetary
heart. The  sharp  rise  of  heart-related  diseases  is  due
wholly  to  the  dysfunction  of  bodily  prana,  or  the  Vata
*  Although  vitiation  of  the  prana  body  is  primarily  caused  by
degeneration  of  the  food  body,  occasionally  disease  can  originate
in  the  subtle  body. This  occurs  when,  at  the  time  of  death,  the
unresolved  pain  of  the  mind  body  is  transported  into  the  subtle
body. Then  at  the  time  of  rebirth,  the  impaired  subtle  body
reawakens  to  its  ambiance  of  pain,  which  in  due  course  pel  incites
the  physical  being. dosha. When  breath  suffers,  sadness  prevails. This
eternal  breath  moves  the  entire  universe. Imagine  the
earth  spinning  in  her  galactic  dance  with  other  plan-
ets in  the  cosmos. What  a  gorgeous  feat  it  is. The
breath  of  the  planet  is  the  source  of  vitalization  and
renewal. When  this  layer  of  energy  is  sickened,  the
earth  exudes  fear,  pain,  tremors,  and  spasms. These
are  indications  that  her  stalwart  food  layer  has  been
pierced. Planetary  deterioration  is  more  readily  vis-
ible in  this  dosha  because  prana  is  affected  more  eas-
ily than  the  food  body,  owing  to  its  subtler  nature. Likewise,  the  system  of  vibrations  is  the  first  to  dete-
riorate within  the  prana  body  because  of  disharmoni-
ous noises  and  impulses. The  vitiation  of  universal
prana  is  directly  responsible  for  the  enormous  in-
crease of  planetary  insecurities. Prana  is  directly  descended  from  cosmic  space. This  is  why  we  are  able  to  dream  and  to  reflect  on  her
timeless  and  spatially  limitless  aspects. When  prana
resonates  in  nervousness,  the  very  spirit  of  our  being
is  pierced  and  pain  permeates  like  endless  rain. We
are  presently  enduring  this  grief. During  this  time,  we
need  to  become  vigilant  and  cherish  our  individual
differences,  while  also  knowing  our  true  nature  to  be
the  One  consciousness. The  Mind  Body:  Fire  (Pitta)
Manomaya,  the  third  layer  of  the  material  self,  is  sup
ported  by  the  mind  and  its  mental  functions. Fire  is
to  the  universe  what  the  mind  is  to  humans. The
mind  is  highly  evolved  and  controls  a  variety  oi  emo
tions. It  is  the  basis  of  the  will  and  the  architect  oi
desires. Manomaya,  the  transforming  expression  ol
consciousness,  is  the  propitious  power  oi  universal
transmutation  and  the  fire  force  oi  all  life  forms. The  Earth  has  a  mind  of  her  own  and  her  sell  con
structing  principle  is  fire. Fire  makes  the  entire  universe
visible. That  which  we  perceive  in  terms  ol  ideas,  \  ision,
and  imagination  is  but  a  speck  oi  the  mind's  dynamism
within  the  earth. Our  ability  to  project  the  names  and
forms  oi  creation,  nama  rupa,  only  hints  at  the  earth's
supremely  intelligent  principle. Our  potential  lot  ordered  intelligence  is  manifested
m  out  galaxies  and  planets. As  the  earth  metabolizes
ll> >m
THE    PRINCIPLES    OF    AYURVEDA
oxygen  and  fuel  into  fire,  so  the  Pitta  function  in  the
body  metabolizes  acids  and  enzymes  to  digest  foods
and  thoughts. Her  ability  to  balance  and  maintain  the
precise  temperature  within  the  immanent  force  of
the  cosmos  is  our  ability  to  maintain  bodily  tempera-
ture. Her  mind  and  intelligence  are  our  emotions  and
thoughts. The  transmuting  fire  of  the  universe  is  the  fire,  or
agni,  of  all  living  forms. As  well  as  providing  heat  for
proper  digestion,  it  is  kin  to  the  waters  of  taste  and
appetite. Fire  is  perceived  by  sight,  and  is  the  power
of  all  existing  forms. The  eye  and  the  sense  of  sight
are  created  by  the  element  of  fire. The  simple  art  of
cooking  with  fire  transmutes  food  to  make  it  suitable
for  the  human  system. Every  life-form  transmutes
food  in  its  own  way. In  most  life-forms  the  power  of
transmutation  resides  entirely  within  the  digestive
system. Humans  are  the  only  species  known  to  trans-
mute foods  with  both  external  and  internal  fire. This  creation  will  never  be  defined  or  captured  by
words. Our  capacity  as  humans  to  transcend  thoughts
and  dwell  in  the  oneness  of  the  universal  presence  is
due  to  the  self-constructing  prowess  of  earth's  fire. When  the  intelligence  embodied  and  living  in  us
loses  its  connection  to  the  core  of  the  earth's  magne-
tism and  dynamism,  the  thought  process  becomes
distorted  and  the  emotions  random. Once  the  food
and  prana  bodies  are  impaired,  the  more  subtle  body
of  the  mind  is  dramatically  altered. From  this  omi-
nous transformation  all  destructive  actions  take  birth. The  abhorrent  acts  of  fanaticism  are  the  result  of  a
distorted  mind  body. The  savage  turning  of  one  hu-
man against  another  signifies  the  intense  impairment
of  the  mental  fire. The  epidemic  of  self-obsession  and  self-absorp-
tion is  an  early  symptom


  tsp  cumin  seeds
1  tsp  coriander  seeds
'A  tsp  coarse  black  pepper
2  dried  red  chili  peppers
'A  tsp  turmeric
1  tsp  garam  masala
'A  tsp  dried  fenugreek  leaves
Pinch  of  sea  salt
'A  c  water
P  types:  omit  fenugreek  and  chili  peppers. Cut  cauliflower  into  florets  and  small  stem  pieces,
Scrub  potatoes  and  cut  into  I"  cubes. In  a  large  skillet,  heat  oil  and  brown  seeds,  black
pepper,  and  chili  peppers. Add  cauliflower  and  pota
toes. Cover  and  simmer  lor  5  minutes. Stii  in  tin
meric, garam  masala,  fenugreek, and  salt. Add  halt  ol
the  water. Cover  and  simmei  ovei  medium  low  heat
until  dry. Add  remaining  watei  and  tin  n  heat  to  low. Cover  and  simmer  lor  an  additional  10  minutes. Serve
with  appropriate  grain  and  a  pressed  salad  (see  pages 270-272). 225
^r
UNIVERSAL    RECIPES    FOR    EACH    BODY   TYPE
Squash  and  Potato  Souffle
ALL  TYPES,  OCCASIONALLY
Serves  4
1  butternut  squash
3  white  potatoes
2  tbs  fresh  plain  yogurt
1  tbs  umeboshi  paste
7<  tsp  salt
Scrub  squash  and  potatoes. Cut  into  large  chunks  and
boil  for  25  minutes  until  soft. Preheat  oven  to  450
degrees  F.  Peel  squash  skin  and  peel  potato  pieces. Discard  skins  and  mix  pulp  with  clean  hands  in  a
bowl. Add  yogurt,  umeboshi  paste,  and  salt. Place  souffle  in  baking  dish  and  bake  for  7  minutes
to  brown  the  top. Serve  hot. Brussels  Sprouts  and
Pepper  Rings
P,  PK,  K,  KP
Serves  2
2  red  bell  peppers
'A  c  water
xh  tsp  rice  vinegar
l/i  tsp  orange  juice
Pinch  of  turmeric
Pinch  of  salt
2  c  small  Brussels  sprouts
P  types:  add  a  touch  of  oil  to  marinating  mixture. Slice  peppers  into  rings  and  marinate  in  water,  rice
vinegar,  orange  juice,  turmeric,  and  salt  for  three
hours. Cook  Brussels  sprouts  in  boiling  water,  cov-
ered, for  5  minutes. Serve  with  the  marinated  pepper
rings. Karikai
(Eggplant  and  Potatoes)
K,  KV,  KP
Serves  2
1  c  cubed  C/2")  potatoes
V2  c  boiling  water
1  tsp  sunflower  oil
1  tsp  black  mustard  seeds
7s  c  toor  dhal
3  dried  red  chili  peppers
74  tsp  minced  ginger
2  whole  garlic  cloves
1  c  cubed  (72")  eggplant
Pinch  of  sea  salt
7:  tsp  turmeric
2  tbs  minced  fresh  parsley
Place  potatoes  in  boiling  water  and  cook  for  1 5  minutes. In  a  large  skillet,  heat  oil  and  add  mustard  seeds,
toor  dhal,  and  chili  peppers,  sauteing  until  dhal  turns
light  brown. Add  ginger  and  garlic  cloves. Saute  for  a
few  minutes. Add  cubed  eggplant,  salt,  turmeric,  pars-
ley, and  4  tablespoons  of  the  water. Drain  potatoes
and  add  to  eggplant  mixture  with  remaining  water. Cover  and  simmer  over  medium  heat  for  12  minutes. Serve  with  millet. Karikai
(Carrots  and  Plantain)
ALL  TYPES
Serves  2
1  c  72"  carrot  pieces,  cut  on  a  slant
1  c  72"  peeled  green  plantain  pieces,  cut  on  a  slant
1  c  boiling  water
2  tsp  sunflower  oil
1  tsp  split  urad  dhal,  without  skins
7s  c  toor  dhal
7:  tsp  coriander  seeds
226
jmir
UNIVERSAL   VEGETABLE    DISHES
'A  tsp  black  mustard  seeds
l/i  tsp  turmeric
'A  tsp  sea  salt
Garnish:
2  tbs  minced  fresh  cilantro
Add  prepared  carrots  and  plantain  to  boiling  water
and  cook  for  8  minutes. Drain,  reserving  cooking
water. In  a  large  skillet,  heat  the  oil  and  lightly  roast  the
dhals  for  a  few  minutes  until  evenly  browned. Add
the  seeds. When  mustard  seeds  begin  to  pop,  add  the
drained  carrots  and  plantains. Sprinkle  with  turmeric
and  salt. Cover  and  simmer  for  3  minutes. Add  one
quarter  of  the  vegetable  water. Cover  and  simmer
over  medium  heat  for  7  minutes,  until  dhals  are  well
cooked. Garnish  with  cilantro  and  serve  with  appro-
priate grain. Karikai
(Squash  Curry)
Karikai  is  a  thick  stew-like  curry. V,  VP,  P,  PV,
Serves  2
2  c  peeled,  cubed  C/2")  butternut  squash
'A  tsp  sea  salt
'A  tsp  turmeric
1  c  boiling  water
2  tbs  ghee
1  tsp  split  urad  dhal,  without  skins
2  dried  red  chili  peppers
'A  tsp  black  mustard  seeds
'A  c  freshly  grated  coconut
P  types:  omit  chili  peppers  and  reduce  ghee  to  I
tablespoon. Add  squash  cubes,  salt,  and  turmeric  to  boiling  water. Cover  and  simmer  for  10  minutes. Drain  squash  wa-
ter and  use  in  soup  or  salad  dressing. In  a  large  skillet,  heat  ghee  and  lightly  roast  urad dhal,  chili  peppers,  and  mustard  seeds  until  seeds
begin  to  pop. Add  coconut  and  saute  for  a  few  min-
utes. Add  squash  to  sauteed  spices  and  allow  to  sim-
mer for  2  minutes. Remove  from  heat. Serve  with
appropriate  grain  and  toor  dhal. Karikai
(Daikon  and  Sweet  Potatoes)
W\&\
V,  VP,  VK
Serves  2
1  c  cubed  C/2")  sweet  potatoes
1  c  boiling  water
1  c  cubed  C/2")  daikon 2  tbs  ghee
1  tsp  black  mustard  seeds
V2  tsp  coriander  seeds
3  dried  red  chili  peppers
1  tsp  split  urad  dhal
'A  c  freshly  grated  coconut
'A  tsp  turmeric
'A  tsp  sea  salt
Pinch  of  asafoetida
Place  potatoes  in  boiling  water  and  cook  for  7  minutes. Add  daikon  and  continue  cooking  for  another  5  min-
utes. Drain  water  and  use  in  soup  or  salad  dressing. In  a  large  skillet,  heat  ghee  and  lightly  roast  mus
tard  and  coriander  seeds,  chili  peppers


 a very powerful field, this field, this
spiritual reality, which then begins to lift and ef fect all of mankind. It ef fects
the whole paradigm of reality and values. So as I mentio ned before,
integrity is now becoming a predominant value in our society ; it’s being
talked about constantly in the media. We have a whole new value system. Now, that was not brought about by the mechanism of force. Nobody forced
the media to begin valuing integrity, but integrity emer ged as a social value. Not as a spiritual value, but as a social value. We all live by our own principles. Spiritual growth then means, What
principles do we live by? And as we grow and mature, we choo se different
principles. Some  people live by the principle of “Always be right—never
give the sucker a break.” People come out and state what their principles
are. Sometimes they seem quite outlandish, but you could say they’re
integrous to the degree that they live by them. To the degree that they live
by them, they are living by what they’re committed to. So I respect what
people say they’re committed to, and I think to the degree they live by that,
then they’re being virtuous by their own definition. So the calibrated level
of consciousnes s, to some degre e, then reflects the degree to which we live
by our own stated spiritual choice. You might say karma or spiritual destiny, the calibrated level of
consciousness, then, is the consequence of spiritual freedom of choice. So
we have  freedom  of choice at every moment, but this freedom  of choice
seems to be obscure. We seem to be run by programs. And one reason that
we try to transcend the ego is because we don’t want to be at the effect of
the ego. We would like the mind to stop long enough for us to deliberate
and make a choice. And so often we do a thing quickly and we regret it
later, and sort of get a feeling of resentment, thinking, Gee, I didn’ t really
have a moment to r eally think about that. Our spiritual choices, then, tend to determine which direction we choose
when the moment arises. If it wasn’ t for the silence of consciousness, you
would not be able to know what you’re thinking. It’s because of the silence
of the forest that you can hear sound. It’s because the mind is silent that you
can hear or see or picture what you’re thinking. Therefore, the content of
the mind  must be going on in the space of no mind, which is a classical
term, meaning thoughtless, form less consciousness, upon which thoughts
reflect themselves. So, we withdraw our investment and preoccupation andidentification with the content of thinking and begin to see that we’re the
space in which thinking can occur. The value of meditation, then, is that it focuses us so that we withdraw
our investment in identification with the content of thought to the space in
which the thoug ht is occurring. We begin to see that there is a witness  to the
thinking. There is an awareness  to the witness, and there’ s a substrate that
underlies all of it that is beyond time, beyond dimension, and that it is
independent of personal identification. And the identification then with
consciousness itself lifts us out of the identification of our reality as either
the body  or the mind or the thoughts or the feelings, and takes us to a
greater dimension. As we move into that greater dimension, then we confirm the spiritual
reality, which underlies our existence. People become involved in spiritual
work on a practical level. They want to know, “How can I forgive my
enemies when I hate them so much after all they’ve done to me? How can I
feel hope when I’m really depressed? How can I get rid of fear when I’m
scared all the time?” It starts out on a very practical level. Other people will
start out from a different level. They start out through inspiration. They will
hear an inspirational speaker and get uplifted. One can start from curiosity; one can start from sort of a spontaneous
evolution within one’s own consciousness. I think spiritually evolved
people inspire others outside of their awareness. Because they influence the
field, people who would have ordinarily not been interested in spirituality
suddenly become curious—not through any inner prompting, but as a
consequence of the field. So if you’re around people who are more
spiritually evolved, you may find your own interest in it spontaneously
becoming more intense. It’s not through any deliberate decision-making,
but just because it’s more interes ting—like how when you’re around people
who are into sports, you tend to listen more and be more interested in that. When people have some kind of disaster in their life—and we hear it all
the time about an illness or drugs or alcohol or criminality or grief or loss—
they want to know what they can do about it. The willingness to surrender
life to God, of course, is one of the most profound spiritual tools. People
ask, “What spiritual tools are the most powerful?” I would say, humility, the
willingness to surrender life—to let go of wanting to control it, to let go of
wanting to change it—the willingness to surrender how you see things toGod (or to some  higher spiritual principle, because God is not a reality. It’s
just a word to most people). For most people, God is a hoped-for reality, but not an experiential
reality until they become more spiritually advanced and begin to experience
the presence of the field itself and intuit its enormous power. Then they
revere God, because they respect the infinite power that they begin to intuit. What we can do on a practical level, then, is become the best person we can
become. I’d say to become kind toward all of life in all of its expressions,
no matter what. And that includes oneself: to be willing to forgive oneself,
to see the limitation of human consciousness. I always feel that the more educated you are about the quality of
consciousness, the nature of consciousness, the easier it is to follow
spiritual principles. If you understand that human consciousness is
intrinsically innocent and canno t control that which it is programmed by,
because it can’t tell truth from  falsehood, you begin to feel compassion
automatically. OceanofPDF.comChapter 4
OBSTACLES TO
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Oftentimes, the harder one tries to pursue a spiritual path, the more they
can feel like they are getting nowher e, continually pulled down by the cares
of this world or the feeling of desolation and abandonment by the divine. In
this important chapter, Dr. Haw kins discusses these obstacles to spiritual
growth so that you can identify them, overcome or avoid them, and get back
on the spiritual path. Dr. Hawki ns begins by discussing how following false
spiritual teacher s who promise to unveil unknown spiritual secrets can be
one of the gr eatest obstacles to true spiritual wisdom. There’ s a great deal of spiritual fiction out there. In fact, the best-selling
spiritual books are all fiction. The DaVinci Code, for example. There are all
kinds of psychics who tell all kinds of stories about the end of the world or
the code of God hidden in your genes. That which is spiritual truth is not
invisible nor is it encoded. It’s starkly wide open. There would be no point
to hide the secrets. What kind of secrets are you talking about? There are no
secrets to hide. Spiritual truth is transparent. For that which is veiled, mysterious,
cloaked, you have to pay money. “Mystical secret of the ancients! Give me
$500! I will whisper the secret of life into your ears!” And then you say this
mantra at the same time, “Oom  boom boomy boom. Oom boom boomy
boom.” You can see the profit motive. Spiritual truth has nothing to gain byits promulgation. It doesn’ t even care if you agree with it or not. Anybody
can repudiate anything I say, and it’s certainly their option. I have no
quarrel with it. There are no qualifications; you don’t have to be or prove
anything. You don’t have to pay anything. You don’t have to sign anything. You don’t have to justify. You don’t have to prove that you have any right
or claim. A true spiritual teacher frees you and so-called charlatans try to bind you. They try to own you, control you, tell you what to do. Spiritual truth is
freely given. It’s not provisional to conditions or who believe s it or who
doesn’ t believe it—or whether it’s provable or not provable, because what
the world considers provable is not provable. It’s not aligne d with any
particular thing. It doesn’ t have to exist here or there or be on a
mountaintop—as if we can only have a holy order on top of a mountain at
6,000 feet. RELIGIONISM AND THE DANGERS OF A NARCISSISTIC
EGO
A lot of people think they’re religious and really what they’re practicing
is religionism. The main problem with religion now is we deify the religion
rather than God. The printed word or the teaching of a teacher now
transcends divin it


 begin. The machine was plugged in, the switch was
thrown, but nothing happened. The intern jiggled the switch and made a few
adjustments, but still nothing happened. He went to get help while I became more
upset with the entire idea. Finally he returned with a young female intern and between
the two of them the EKG unit was finally activated, but they could not get the machine to record on the graph. They played with it for a number of minutes--the
blind leading the blind--until finally I could not contain myself any longer and got up and showed them how to work it, then I put myself back on the table while they made
the test. The results were negative. No evidence of any heart problem. Everything was
normal. But after a careful history was taken,  it was determined that the entire episode
was due to the effects of all the various drugs in my system, each one potentiating the action of another, interfering with normal body function. This incident reminded me of the story of the man who, when he regained
consciousness in his hospital bed, asked the doctor standing over him what had
happened. The doctor told him that all of his tiny time pills went off at once. The point of this whole experience is the frightening prospect that if I, in fact, was
having a heart attack, I could have easily died while running the gamut of hospital-
medical red tape and laxity most likely due to "routineness." I'm sure this is not always the case, but I wonder how many people have died "waiting"? My drug doses were of course reduced  and altered on subsequent visits to my
doctor, but I was ordered to continue ta king drugs. Soon I began to experience some
nausea and severe general itching as reactions to these drugs. I was then ordered to
take two more drugs. One was Dramamine, which was used for nausea, and the other was Periactin, which was used for the itching. Neither of these did much good and
there were many other signs of actual poisoning making themselves manifest, some of
which were drying of the mouth and mucous membranes, headaches, blurred vision, nervousness (for which the doctor prescribed phenobarbital), mental slowness, and
fuzzy mind--probably due to the phenobarbital. There were other signs, but these will
give you some idea of the dangers of drugs. This is known as iatrogenic disease,
doctor-induced disease, from the so-called "cure," which is usually worse than the
disease. In fact, I consider it a small mir acle that my infant son, born in December
1960, and my other son-to-be, who would be born in December 1963, were completely normal and had no genetic damage as a result of my system being loaded
with poisonous drugs, including one of the most dangerous--cortisone. After a few more months of treatment, my condition worsened to a point where I
began losing weight. I dropped eight or ten pounds from my average 170 pounds. This
was of course due to increased intensity of diarrhea, thereby causing dehydration and
loss of nutrients. There was also a decreased capacity to digest and absorb food. There was chronic, low-grade fever present, accompanied by malaise and weakness. As the
drugs were continued, they caused an alteration in the normal intestinal flora
(beneficial bacteria that produce vitamins and are an integral part in the digestive
process), creating more diarrhea, vitamin and mineral deficiency, bleeding with
subsequent anemia, putrefaction of bowel contents, and resultant gas formation, etc. All of the preceding problems contributed to what was to be a form of malnutrition--
another problem I didn't need. A sick body needs rest. A body that does not have the power to carry on proper
digestion needs rest. A body that is weak needs rest. Rest was one necessity that was
not supplied. My body was too busy working trying to digest food and detoxifying or
making harmless the many drugs being poured into it. How could the body possibly
heal itself under these circumstances? The factors necessary to maintain and restore health were never supplied. You will become very aware, later on, of the nature of
these factors. The sad part was that I was a llowed to deteriorate as far as I did with
none of my doctors being truly aware of the conditions necessary for health. From
here on it becomes a veritable nightmare. After two and one-half years Dr. Leopold finally gave up. He referred me to Dr.
Evans, early in 1961, who was rated as a "big specialist" with a broader knowledge
and experience in treating ulcerative colitis. So I began all over again with blood tests
and stool samples, which showed a type of anemia (low hemoglobin in my red blood
cells), and the upper GI series and barium enema, which showed worsening changes--
and which made me sicker afterward. After all the above tests were completed, Dr. Evans had me come into his office for
a proctosigmoidoscope to "see what's going on in there." He was quite concerned with
what he saw internally as well as my generally run-down external appearance and
decided I needed some additional drugs. So he started me on Donnatal to quiet things
down inside; Combex with C, a multivitamin; Betalin-S injections, a B vitamin which
was supposed to give me an appetite; Equanil, a tranquilizer; Haldrone, a member of the cortisone family; and calcium carbonate, to combat the indigestion and stomach
upset caused by these other drugs. Of course  he cut out most of the drugs that had
been prescribed by Dr. Leopold. My diet was now rearranged. Dr. Evans allowed me the similar mushy foodless
foods, but in addition he advised a very hi gh protein consumption. This consisted of
much eggs, milk, meat, and whole wheat bread, which are notorious allergens to
many people. A weakened digestive system cannot possibly handle this type of food
without having it ferment, rot, and further poison the body. So what happens when a
person with ulcerative colitis ingests these? Severe reactions occur such as increased
intestinal spasm and diarrhea, mucous form ation, and much gas from putrefaction of
these foods. I was also allowed coffee, which is a stimulant to the intestinal tract, and
I needed that like a proverbial hole in the head. You can see the inconsistency in medical treatment thus far, which continues as
time goes on. Harmlessness should be the watchword, but it was the exception rather
than the rule. I saw Dr. Evans approximately once a week for the year of 1961. I was
31 years old but felt twice my age and almost looked it. The proctosigmoidoscopy
was done twice at each office visit and was becoming a most uncomfortable and enervating procedure now because diarrhea was increasing to about 12 to 15 times a
day, the rectal area was becoming extremely sore, and painful hemorrhoids were
developing due to the constant spasms from the diarrhea. This meant it was difficult
for the doctor to push that scope past the hemorrhoids. I could feel myself beginning to crack emotionally. There were periods of apathy
and deep depressions accompanied by nervousness and irritability, making it most
difficult for my wife to cope with me. In f act, the strain was beginning to show in her. She felt so helpless to do anything for me. She could only watch the gradual wasting
away of a once happy and healthy human being. Since the hemorrhoids were becoming quite painful, Dr. Evans decided to use
injection therapy to destroy them. This is a treatment, or should I say torture, where a needle is thrust directly into the hemorrhoids to be destroyed while a strong drug is
deposited therein. I thought I had experienced pain before in my life, but this was the ultimate thus far. This I thought was the acme of pain--but I was wrong. I didn't know
it then, thank God, but there was still worse to come in the near future. My fever seemed to be more severe  at various intervals. It was becoming
increasingly difficult for me to maintain my podiatry practice, to maintain a social
life, and even a family life. But I remained with Dr. Evans for another few months
until early in 1962. He didn't seem concerned I was running an almost constant fever,
that there was infection in the colon area, and that I was becoming weaker and more debilitated. He just went on seeing me once or twice per week and "scoping" me twice
at each office visit until I became so abused physically that I could no longer tolerate
being under his care. When he began using ultraviolet light tubes by inserting them
into the rectum and up the colon, I decided enough is enough and quit. Being without a doctor was somewhat frightening, but then being with one was also
frightening. So where do I go from here? Should I take my chances and try living
from day to day without medical help? Or should I seek. out another doctor, even though I had built up a fear of them, who might be able to come up with some sort of
miracle? I really did not know what to do until some friends of ours, who knew how
sick I was, recommended I my third doctor-to-be. He had the reputation of being the
"best," but he was also the straw that broke the camel's back--he was


 the greatest fools, and you must never listen to them,”
said Udaka. Somebody gave a sharp laugh; the older bikkhus stirred
uncomfortably. “How can you meet God when God is invisible and ever -present. ”
Udaka asked. “If He is everywhere, you cannot meet God, and you cannot
leave Him, either. So how many of you are seeking God right now, with all
your hearts. ”
This time a great many of the men sitting around the campfire raised
their hands. “T ake a close look at yourselves,” said Udaka. “Y ou too are
fools. I just told you that God is everywhere. How can you seek what is
already here. If someone came up to you and said, ‘A thousand pardons,
sir, but I am seeking this mysterious thing called air. Can you tell me where
it is. ’ you would mark him down as a fool, wouldn’ t you. Y et you follow
like sheep somebody’ s word who told you that you must seek God. ”
What Udaka taught instead was redeeming the soul, or atman. “Your
soul is just as invisible as God, but it belongs to you. It’ s your divine spark,
hidden and disguised by restless desires. Y our atman is always watching
you, but you do not notice it. Y ou notice your next meal, your next
argument, your next fear. It is always drawing you closer to the divine, but
you do not heed it. Y ou heed a thousand desires instead. Be still and know
your soul. Seek it, and when you meet your soul, seize it for yourself,
because it’ s worth far more than gold. ”
Gautama, who had been disillusioned by the higher self, felt a sympathy
for this new teaching. For one thing, it gave him time in seclusion, where he
could meditate and sit in the cool silence that he considered his real home. Udaka knew that the other bikkhus held the new arrival in awe; they vied to
sit next to Gautama because his mere presence deepened their meditations. The guru put Gautama on his right hand when the group next sat together,
and this unspoken gesture was enough to raise him above even the most
senior monks, who were not so holy that they enjoyed being displaced. “Let them hate you, let them love you. It’ s all a waste of time,” Udaka
said indif ferently. Gautama believed him. He’d grown up in a world tornapart by worse things than petty jealousy in an ashram. “But if another monk hates me,” asked Gautama, “why can’ t he see that
he is being distracted from his purpose. ”
“He might. His soul could send him a message,” Udaka said. “But not always. He could go on hating me a long time, then. ”
“Yes. ”
Gautama felt a disquiet. “But if the soul is always loving, why doesn’ t it
tell him immediately not to hate me. What reason does it have to hold
back. ”
“You’re asking me to be wiser than the soul,” said Udaka, with a trace
of irritation. “Don’ t be so clever. I’ve never seen anyone think their way to
heaven. ”
Now Gautama knew what his disquiet was about. He had lost the forest
hermit and Alara. If he kept on this way, Udaka would fall away next. Disciples without masters are like fallow fields where no rain falls. He
couldn’ t do without nourishment. Udaka knew this too; he gave Gautama a
hard look. “Y ou have something more to say. Perhaps you want to ask me
about humility. ”
“No. ” Gautama kept his composure. “I wanted to tell you that I’ve been
having a vision. My wife comes to me. She says that I deserve compassion. Can you tell me what that means. ”
“Ignore it. ”
Udaka said this without the slightest sign that he cared about such
things. Gautama wouldn’ t be put of f, however. “Master,” he said, “many of the disciples have left homes and women
they love. Their children are for getting their father ’s face. Can’ t a devoted
wife be part of my soul. ”“No one belongs in your soul but you,” said Udaka. “Then perhaps her image is a message. Y ou said that the soul sends
messages. ”
“But it doesn’ t send dreams. She’ s the figment of an ignorant mind,”
Udaka said curtly. “What if you caught a cold. W ould you want me to tell
you what the soul means when it sends you a cold. Get over her as you
would get over any other disease. ” Gautama’ s master had never been
married, and like many yogis he made a sour face whenever women were
mentioned. Udaka’ s revulsion bothered Gautama. Does he imagine that
women have no souls. But the discussion was over. Gautama bowed and
left without an other word. That night he returned to his tent, where he found Ganaka sitting up
eating a bowl of millet gruel. “Why so worried, saint. ” asked Ganaka,
looking up. “You must be feeling better. ”
“Much. ” Ganaka began slurping the last bit of gruel from the bowl. “I
should be strong enough in the morning to leave. ”
“Where will you go. ” asked Gautama. “Deeper into the jungle. I don’ t intend to be found a second time. ”
Gautama was shocked. “Y ou’re going to try to kill yourself again. ”
“Of course. It’ s my Dharma. ” Ganaka looked perfectly calm and
serious, speaking without a trace of cynicism. “Strange, isn’ t it. I have to
eat to get the strength to go out and starve myself. ”
“I can’ t let you,” Gautama blurted out. He was so shaken that he wanted
to pace back and forth. Instead, he forced himself to sit on the ground with
his hands folded in his lap. His heart pounded. Ganaka said, “There are two things even a saint can’ t stop. One is being
born, and the other is dying. ” He waited for Gautama to protest. It was hardto miss who in the tent was calmer and more collected. “Killing yourself is a sin,” said Gautama, then he stopped himself. Ganaka wasn’ t a fool or ignorant of scripture. “Please explain what you
mean,” Gautama said. Ganaka burst out laughing. “Excuse me, but I just can’ t help myself,
little saint. Look at you. Y ou wanted to jump out of your skin when I told
you what I’m going to do. But you didn’ t. Oh, no, you controlled yourself. You know how a holy man acts, and I must say you’ve gotten it down. I
wish I could train a monkey half as well. ”
Gautama felt the heat creeping up his face. “That’ s unfair. ”
“Who cares. I’m going to die tomorrow. I can say what I want. ” The
strange thing is that Ganaka wasn’ t speaking harshly; his tone toward
Gautama was almost kind. “I once told you that you reminded me of my
younger self. Has it occurred to you yet that I might be your older self. ”
Seeing the scowl that Gautama was trying not to show, Ganaka broke out
into laughter again. “Y ou’re like a traveling show. I can see at least five or
six people fighting inside you. Quite a spectacle. ”
“Stop it. ” Gautama jumped to his feet and began pacing as anxiously as
he’d wanted to since entering the tent. “Good,” said Ganaka. “Even a cat is smart enough to thrash its tail
when it’ s disturbed. Most people aren’ t. ”
This show of implacable honesty caused Gautama’ s heart to sink. “You’re making me so sad,” he said, half pleading. “Then I’ll stop,” said Ganaka. “W isdom is never sad, and you want one
last word of wisdom, don’ t you. ” He stood up and placed his hands on
Gautama’ s shoulders to stop him in place. “Dharma is worthless unless it
teaches one how to be free. I have listened to all the masters, read all the
scriptures, bathed in all the sacred springs. I found freedom in none of
them. ”“And killing yourself will set you free. ”
“When all else fails, whatever is left must be right,” Ganaka said with
serious simplicity. He let go of Gautama and turned away for a moment. “What is freedom, little saint. It’ s the end of struggle. Is not death the same
thing. I want to meet God, but my ef forts have failed. Not just failed, but
made me more unhappy than when I was married and lived with a loving
wife. I do not say your seeking is a fraud. Perhaps you must walk as many
paths as I did before you reach this point. ”
He turned back and fixed Gautama with a clear, unflinching gaze. “Y ou
can shed your tears now. ”
“I won’ t weep for you,” said Gautama mournfully. Ganaka sat back down on the cot. It


 t  w e  a r e  s u b c o n s c i o u s l y  p r o g r a m m e d
t o  d o  s o. A n d  w h e n  a l l  o t h e r  e f f o r t s  f a i l,  w e  a r e  l i k e l y,  i f
o n l y  i n  t h e  s e c r e t  c h a m b e r  o f  o u r  h e a r t,  t o  a s k  G o d  i f  H e
w o u l d  p l e a s e  h e l p  u s. A n d  H e  w i l l. H e  w i l l  r e p r o g r a m  u s  a t
t h e  d e e p e s t  l e v e l s. A n d  t h e n,  t h r o u g h  t h e  a l c h e m y  o f  t h e
d i v i n e  c u r r i c u l u m,  w e ’ l l  m e e t  t h e  p e o p l e  w e ’ r e  s u p p o s e d  t om e e t,  i n  o r d e r  t o  g o  t h r o u g h  t h e  s i t u a t i o n s  w e  n e e d  t o  g o
t h r o u g h,  i n  o r d e r  t o  l e a r n  t h e  l e s s o n s  t h a t  w i l l  t r a n s f o r m  u s
f r o m  b e i n g s  o f  f e a r  t o  b e i n g s  o f  l o v e. W e  w i l l  b e  g i v e n
e v e r y  o p p o r t u n i t y  t o  l e a r n  t h r o u g h  j o y,  a n d  w h e n  w e  d e n y
o u r s e l v e s  t h a t,  w e  w i l l  l e a r n  t h r o u g h  p a i n. B u t  w e  w i l l
l e a r n. I t  i s n ’ t  e a s y,  g i v i n g  b i r t h  t o  o u r  s p i r i t u a l  p o t e n t i a l. S p i r i t u a l  l a b o r  c a n  b e  v e r y  a r d u o u s — o n e  h o l y  i n s t a n t  a t  a
t i m e  w h e n  w e  g i v e  i t  u p,  s u r r e n d e r,  s o f t e n,  d o n ’ t  c a r e  i f
w e ’ r e  r i g h t,  f o r e g o  o u r  i m p a t i e n c e,  d e t a c h  f r o m  t h e
o p i n i o n s  a n d  p r i z e s  o f  t h e  w o r l d,  a n d  r e s t  i n  t h e  a r m s  o f
G o d. B u t  t h e  e n d  r e s u l t  i s  t h e  l o v e  o f  o u r  l i v e s. W e  b e g i n  t o
f e e l  m o r e  c o m f o r t a b l e  w i t h i n  o u r s e l v e s,  l e s s  l a d e n  b y  t h e
c h r o n i c  a n g s t  t h a t  m a r k s  t h e  t i m e s  i n  w h i c h  w e  l i v e. W e
b e g i n  t o  f e e l  f r e e  a t  l a s t  o f  p a s t  h u r t s,  a b l e  t o  f e a r l e s s l y  l o v e
a g a i n. W e  b e g i n  t o  e x h i b i t  t h e  m a t u r i t y  a n d  s t r e n g t h  t h a t
w e r e  l a c k i n g  i n  o u r  p e r s o n a l i t i e s  b e f o r e. A  n e w  e n e r g y
e m a n a t e s  f r o m  w h o  w e  a r e,  a n d  o t h e r s  c a n  s e e  i t  t o o. A l l  o f  t h i s  i s  v e r y  s i m p l e,  w h i c h  i s  n o t  t o  s a y  i t ’ s  e a s y. T h e  s p i r i t u a l  p a t h  i s  n o t  a  m a t t e r  o f  g r o w i n g  m o r e
m e t a p h y s i c a l l y  c o m p l i c a t e d ;  i t ’ s  a  p r o c e s s  w h e r e  w e
a c t u a l l y  g r o w  s i m p l e r  a n d  s i m p l e r,  a s  w e  a p p l y  c e r t a i n  b a s i c
p r i n c i p l e s  t o  e v e r y t h i n g  w e  g o  t h r o u g h. W e  d o n ’ t  l e a r n
l o v e,  w h i c h  i s  a l r e a d y  e t c h e d  o n  o u r  h e a r t s ;  w e  d o,
h o w e v e r,  b e g i n  t o  u n l e a r n  f e a r. *  A n d  w i t h  e v e r y  c h a n g e  w e
m a k e  f r o m  b l a m e  t o  b l e s s i n g,  w e  p i e r c e  t h e  v e i l  o f  i l l u s i o n
t h a t  s e p a r a t e s  u s  f r o m  t h e  w o r l d  w e  w a n t.N o t  e v e r y  l e s s o n  w i l l  f e e l  l i k e  f u n  w h i l e  i t ’ s  h a p p e n i n g,
a n d  a t  t i m e s  w e  w i l l  r e s i s t  g r o w t h  f i e r c e l y. B u t  a s  l o n g  a s
w e  r e m a i n  o p e n  t o  m i r a c l e s — t h e n  w e  w i l l  f o r g e  a h e a d  i n t o
a  n e w  r e a l m  o f  b e i n g,  w h e r e  l o v e  h a s  e r a s e d  t h e  p a t t e r n s  o f
f e a r  t h a t  h a v e  s a b o t a g e d  u s  i n


  a r e
b o u n d  t o  h a v e  a n  a m b i v a l e n t  r e l a t i o n s h i p  t o  H i m. W h y
w o u l d  w e  w a n t  t o  a d m i t  o u r  m i s t a k e s  t o  s o m e o n e  w e  t h i n k
w i l l  j u d g e  u s  f o r  t h e m? W e ’ v e  c r e a t e d  a  G o d  i n  o u r  o w n  i m a g e :  a n g r y  a n d
j u d g m e n t a l  b e c a u s e  w e  a r e. G o d  H i m s e l f  i s  m e r c i f u l  a n d
a l l - l o v i n g,  b u t  w e  h a v e  p r o j e c t e d  o n t o  H i m  o u r  f e a r. T h i s
s e p a r a t e s  u s  f r o m  H i s  l o v e,  f r o m  H i s  h e a l i n g,  a n d  f r o m  e a c h
o t h e r. W h e n  w e  c h a n g e  o u r  p e r c e p t i o n  f r o m  a  G o d  o f  w r a t h
t o  a  G o d  o f  m e r c y,  w e  w i l l  r e a l i z e  G o d  i s  a  d i v i n ep h y s i c i a n. O u r  p a i n  i s  t h e  p a i n  o f  h e l l,  o r  s e p a r a t i o n  f r o m
l o v e. I t  i s n ’ t  G o d  w h o  s e n d s  u s  t o  h e l l  f o r  b e i n g  b a d,  i t ’ s
G o d  w h o  d e l i v e r s  u s  f r o m  h e l l  a f t e r  t h e  e g o  t o l d  u s  w e  a r e
b a d. H e l l  i s  w h e n  y o u  t h i n k  y o u ’ r e  a  t e r r i b l e  p e r s o n  a n d  y o u
n e v e r  d o  a n y t h i n g  r i g h t ;  G o d  i s  t h e  O n e  w h o  r e m i n d s  y o u
o f  t h e  i n n o c e n c e  i n  w h i c h  y o u  w e r e  c r e a t e d  a n d  t o  w h i c h
H e  w i l l  h e l p  y o u  r e t u r n. H e l l  i s  w h e n  y o u  f e e l  y o u ’ r e  a
c o m p l e t e  a n d  u t t e r  f a i l u r e  w h o  w i l l  n e v e r  s u c c e e d ;  G o d  i s
t h e  O n e  w h o  r e m i n d s  y o u  t h a t  H e  l i v e s  w i t h i n  y o u  a n d  t h a t
i n  H i m  a l l  t h i n g s  a r e  p o s s i b l e. H e l l  i s  w h e n  y o u  t h i n k  y o u
c a n  n e v e r  e s c a p e  y o u r  p a s t  m i s t a k e s ;  G o d  i s  t h e  O n e  w h o
m a k e s  a l l  t h i n g s  n e w. I t  i s  t h e  e g o — n o t  G o d —  w h o  c a s t s  u s
i n t o  t h e  “ f i r e s  o f  h e l l. ”  I t  i s  G o d  w h o  l i f t s  u s  o u t  o f  t h e m. T a k i n g  O u r  M e d i c i n e

G o d  k n o w s  u s  a s  H e  c r e a t e d  u s — p e r f e c t  a n d  i n n o c e n t  n o w
a n d  f o r e v e r. *  O u r  m i s t a k e s  d o n ’ t  c h a n g e  o u r  e t e r n a l
e s s e n c e,  a n d  i t ’ s  t h a t  w h i c h  t h e  F a t h e r  k n o w s  a n d  l o v e s. O u r  p r a y e r  f o r  h e a l i n g,  f o r  a t o n e m e n t,  f o r  c o r r e c t i o n,  i s  a
p r a y e r  t o  b e  h e a l e d  o f  o u r  o w n  f o r g e t f u l n e s s. W e  p r a y  t o  b e
r e m i n d e d  o f  w h o  w e  r e a l l y  a r e  s o  o u r  t h o u g h t s  a n d  b e h a v i o r
n o  l o n g e r  r e f l e c t  a  d i s s o c i a t i o n  f r o m  o u r  d i v i n e  s e l f. W e  c a n  p r a y  b e f o r e  e v e r y  d a y,  e v e r y  m e e t i n g,  e v e r y
e n c o u n t e r  t h a t  w e  w i l l  b e  o u r  b e s t — t h a t  w e  w o n ’ t  b et h r o w n  o f f  o u r  c e n t e r  b y  f e a r  a n d  e g o. A n d  a f t e r w a r d,  w e
c a n  s u r r e n d e r  e v e r y  a s p e c t  o f  w h a t  o c c u r r e d — w h a t  w e  f e l t,
w h a t  w e  d i d,  w h a t  w e ’ r e  a s h a m e d  o f,  w h a t  w e ’ r e  a n g r y
a b o u t  o r  f e e l i n g  h o p e f u l  a b o u t. W e  c a n ’ t  f i x  o u r s e l v e s,  a n d  w e  d o n ’ t  h a v e  t o. W h e n  w e
a r e  w i l l i n g  t o  o p e n  o u r s e l v e s  c o m p l e t e l y  t o  G o d,  s h o w i n g
H i m  o u r  d a r k n


 p e o p l e  a r o u n d  u s  w i l l  b e  k i n d e r ;  w h e n  w e ’ r e
p e a c e f u l,  p e o p l e  a r o u n d  u s  w i l l  b e  m o r e  p e a c e f u l. O n c e  w ef i n d  t h e  l o v e  w i t h i n  o u r s e l v e s,  c a l l i n g  i t  f o r t h  i n  o u r
r e l a t i o n s h i p s  c o m e s  m u c h  m o r e  e a s i l y. Y e t  e v e n  w h e n  r e l a t i o n s h i p s  a r e  g o o d,  t h e  e g o  i s  a l w a y s
a l e r t  t o  w a y s  i t  c a n  d r i v e  t w o  h e a r t s  a p a r t. T h e  e g o  d i r e c t s
u s  t o w a r d  l o v e  b u t  t h e n  s a b o t a g e s  i t  o n c e  i t  g e t s  h e r e. Y o u
t h i n k  y o u ’ r e  s o  i n  l o v e,  b u t  t h e n  y o u  a c t  n e e d y  a n d  r e p e l  i t. Y o u  t h i n k  y o u ’ r e  f e e l i n g  p e a c e f u l,  b u t  t h e n  l o v e  c o m e s  n e a r
a n d  y o u  g e t  t o t a l l y  n e u r o t i c. Y o u  w a n t  t o  m a k e  a  g o o d
i m p r e s s i o n,  a n d  t h e n  y o u  g o  a n d  a c t  l i k e  a n  i d i o t. T h e  e g o  i s  a l w a y s  o n  t h e  l o o k o u t  f o r  w a y s  t o  u n d e r m i n e
o u r  r e l a t i o n s h i p s  b e c a u s e  g e n u i n e  r e l a t i o n s h i p  m e a n s  d e a t h
t o  t h e  e g o. W h e r e  w e  u n i t e  w i t h  a n o t h e r,  G o d  i s ;  a n d  w h e r e
G o d  i s,  e g o  c a n n o t  b e. T o  t h e  e g o,  t h e r e f o r e,  u n d e r m i n i n g
o u r  r e l a t i o n s h i p s  i s  a n  a c t  o f  s e l f - p r e s e r v a t i o n. T h e  o n l y
w a y  t o  w a r d  o f f  i t s  d e s t r u c t i v e n e s s  i s  t o  s t a n d  f i r m  i n  y o u r
c o m m i t m e n t  t o  l o v e —  n o t  j u s t  a s  a  c o m m i t m e n t  t o  a n o t h e r
p e r s o n,  w h o  t o  t h e  e g o  m a y  o r  m a y  n o t  “ d e s e r v e ”  i t — b u t  a s
a  c o m m i t m e n t  t o  G o d  a n d  t o  y o u r s e l f. L o v i n g  t h o u g h t s  c a n  b e c o m e  a  m e n t a l  h a b i t. S o m e t i m e s,
w h e n  w e ’ r e  i m p a t i e n t  w i t h  e a c h  o t h e r,  i t  h e l p s  t o  t h i n k  o f
t h e  p e r s o n  w e ’ r e  d e a l i n g  w i t h  a s  t h e y  m u s t  h a v e  b e e n  l i k e
a s  a  c h i l d. F o r  a l l  o f  u s  a r e  c h i l d r e n  i n  G o d ’ s  e y e s. W h e n
c h i l d r e n  a r e  y o u n g  w e  k n o w  t h e y ’ r e  g r o w i n g,  a n d  w e  t a k e
t h i s  i n t o  a c c o u n t  i n  o u r  d e a l i n g s  w i t h  t h e m. W e  d o n ’ t  e x p e c t
a  t w e l v e - y e a r - o l d  t o  h a v e  t h e  m a t u r i t y  s h e  o r  h e  w i l l  h a v e  a t
e i g h t e e n. A n d  a s  a d u l t s  w e ’ r e  s t i l l  g r o w i n g  t o o,  w h e t h e r  o r  n o t  w e
c a n  a l w a y s  s e e  t h a t  i n  e a c h  o t h e r. W e ’ r e  n o t  f i n i s h e d  o n c ew e  r e a c h  a  c e r t a i n  a g e ;  r a t h e r,  w e  c o n t i n u e  t o  g r o w  a n d
d e v e l o p  a s  l o n g  a s  w e ’ r e  a l i v e. W e  l e a r n,  a s  c h i l d r e n  d o. W e
s t u m b l e,  a s  c h i l d r e n  d o. A n d  w e  s o m e t i m e s  f a i l,  a s  c h i l d r e n
d o. G o d  s e e s  a l l  o f  u s  t h a t  w a y,  n o  m a t t e r  h o w  o l d  w e  a r e. H e  h a s  i n f i n i t e  m e r c y  u p o n  u s,  a n d  w e  c o u l d  h a v e  m e r c y
t o o. N o n e  o f  u s  a r r i v e s  i n  a n y  r e l a t i o n s h i p  a l r e a d y  h e a l e d,
a l r e a d y  p e r f e c t. I n  a  h o l y  r e l a t i o n s h i p,  i t  i s  u n d e r s t o o d  w e
a r e  a l l  w o u n d e d  b u t  w e  a r e  t h e


 t o g e t h e r,  a n d  h e r  a p p r o v a l  h i t  m e  l i k e  a  t i d a l  w a v e
o f  p o s i t i v e  e n e r g y. F r o m  t h a t  p o i n t  f o r w a r d,  i t  f e l t  l i k e  I  h a d
b e e n  b l e s s e d  b y  J a n e  F o n d a. I  w a n t e d  t o  m e n t i o n  t h i s  i n c i d e n t  w h e n  I  m e t  F o n d a
a l m o s t  t h i r t y  y e a r s  l a t e r,  b u t  I  d i d n ’ t. I  w o u l d  h a v e  f e l t
s t u p i d. W h a t  w a s  I  s u p p o s e d  t o  s a y :  “ I  s a w  y o u  t h i r t y  y e a r s
a g o,  a n d  t h e r e  w a s  l i g h t  p o u r i n g  o u t  o f  y o u r  h e a d,  a n d  w h e ny o u  s m i l e d  a t  m e  I  f e l t  l i k e  a  t h u n d e r b o l t  h a d  h i t  m y  c h e s t
a n d  I  k n e w  I  w a s  o k a y ”? T h a t  m o m e n t  h a d  c l e a r l y  p a s s e d. B u t  I  h a d  b e e n  g i v e n  a  g i f t  t h a t  w o u l d  s t a y  w i t h  m e  f o r e v e r
b e c a u s e  m y  c h o i c e s — o r  a t  l e a s t  o n e  o f  m y  c h o i c e s,  o n
s o m e  l e v e l  s y m b o l i z i n g  m a n y  o t h e r s — h a d  b e e n  v a l i d a t e d
b y  a  w o m a n  o f  p o w e r. T o d a y  m a n y  y o u n g  w o m e n  c o m e  u p  t o  m e  a t  m y
l e c t u r e s,  a n d  I  s e e  i n  t h e m  t h e  y o u n g  w o m a n  I  o n c e  w a s. T h e y  t e l l  m e  t h e y  w a n t  t o  d o  w h a t  I  d o,  a n d  I ’ m  s u r e  t h e y
w i l l — o n l y  b e t t e r. A  t o r c h  i s  a l w a y s  b e i n g  p a s s e d  f r o m  o n e
g e n e r a t i o n  t o  t h e  n e x t. M y  s p e a k i n g  m i g h t  h a v e  l i t  s o m e
s t a r  i n  t h e i r  s k y  t h e  w a y  o t h e r  w o m e n  h a v e  l i t  s t a r s  i n  m i n e. A l l  o f  u s  a r e  p a s s i n g  f r o m  o n e  s t a t e  t o  a n o t h e r  a l l  t h e  t i m e,
a n d  G o d  s e n d s  g u i d e s  a n d  a n g e l s,  i n s p i r e r s  a n d  m e n t o r s,  t o
l i g h t  o u r  w a y. H e  i s  a l w a y s,  a l w a y s  p r e p a r i n g  n e w  l i f e. T h e  I n - b e t w e e n  T i m e s

S o m e t i m e s  w e  a r e  l i v i n g  i n  t h e  i n - b e t w e e n  t i m e s :  w h e n
w e ’ r e  n o  l o n g e r  w h o  w e  u s e d  t o  b e,  b u t  w e  h a v e n ’ t  y e t
a r r i v e d  a t  o u r  n e x t  s t a g e  e i t h e r. I n  J a n u a r y  2 0 0 4,  I  t o o k  m y  d a u g h t e r  t o  s e e  B e t t e  M i d l e r
p e r f o r m ;  f o r  m e,  t h i s  w a s  t h e  t h i r d  t i m e. I  r e m e m b e r e d
s e e i n g  h e r  p e r f o r m  i n  N e w  Y o r k  C i t y  i n  t h e  s e v e n t i e s  a n d
t h e n  a g a i n  i n  L o s  A n g e l e s  i n  t h e  e a r l y  n i n e t i e s. T h e  y e a r sh a d  p a s s e d  a n d  s o  m u c h  h a d  c h a n g e d. T a k i n g  m y  d a u g h t e r
t o  s e e  t h e  s h o w,  I  f e l t  l i k e  I  w a s  p a s s i n g  o n  t o  h e r  a
b e a u t i f u l  g i f t  t h a t  h a d  m e a n t  a  l o t  t o  m e. M i d l e r ’ s  m u s i c  h a d
s t i r r e d  m y  s o u l,  a n d  n o w  i t  w o u l d  p e r h a p s  s t i r  h e r s. I t  w a s  i n t e r e s t i n g  t o  s e e  h o w  B e t t e  h a d  c h a n g e d  a n d  h o w
s h e  h a d  n o t  c h a n g e d. O n  o n e  h a n d,  j o k e s  t h a t  p l a y e d  w e l l
t e n  o r  t w e n t y - f i v e  y e a r s  a g o  d o  n o t  p l a y  t h e  s a m e  w a y  n o w :
t h e  w o r l d  i s  e n t i r e l y  d i f f e r e n t,  a n d  s o  a r e  w e. B u t  t h e
c h a n g e  t h a t  I  n o t i c e d  m o s t  w a s  i n  M i d l e r


failure is now available to each of us. on the nature of the stimulus. circumstances. of much greater authority who are
17. PHYSICAL HEAL TH. AND
It is this clinical phenomenon upon
cordial, sensitive and caring. The ladder of success seems to have
which treatment modalities such as
three main steps. Initially, it is what we
POWER
When we come to know the powerful
chiropractic, acupuncture, reflexology
"have" that counts; status depends upon
men of the world, captains of industry,
WE BECOME HEAL THY as well asand many others are based. All of these
visible signs of material wealth. As one
presidents of banking firms, Nobel Prize
wealthy by being wise. But what is
treatments, however, are designed to
progresses, status is af forded by what one
83
84
celebrities whose careers were blighted
winners and members of legendary
"does," rather than has. At this level on
wisdom? According to our research, it is
by such tragedies, it would fill a score of
American families, it is striking to see
the ladder, one's position and activities
the result of alignment with high power
pages-the movie stars (Judy Garland,
how many are open, warm, sincere and
bring significant social status. But theattractor patterns. Although in the
Marilyn Monroe, James Dean); the pop
view success as a responsibility, noblesse
attraction of social roles loses glamour as
average life we find a mixture of ener gy
stars (Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Jimi
oblige. These are truly successful people,
one achieves mastery and matures; it is
fields, the pattern with the highest power
Hendrix); the writers (Poe, London,
notably courteous and considerate to all,
what one has accomplished that is
dominates. W e have now explored
Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald)-the list
(171)
whether visiting potentates or
important. Finally, one is concerned only
suf ficient material to be able to introduce
goes on and on. In addition to such
servants, treating everyone as an equal. with what one has become as a result of
a basic dictum of nonlinear dynamics andnotorious examples of the price of
The truly successful have no inclination
life's experiences. Such people have a
attractor research: attractors create
celebrity are the uncounted thousands of
to act arrogantly because they consider
charismatic "presence" that is the outer
context. In essence, this means that one's
less famous "successful" lives ruined by
themselves not better but more fortunate
manifestation of the (172) grace of their
motive, which arises from the principles
drug problems or the twisting of than others. They see their position as a
inner power. In their company we feel
to which one is committed, determines
personality whereby formerly decent folk
stewardship, a responsibility to exercise
the ef fect of the powerful attractor ener gy
one's capacity to understand and, thereby,
become vain, cruel, self-centered and
their influence for the greatest benefit of
patterns with which they are aligned andgive significance to one's actions. inordinately self-indulgent. all. which they reflect. Success comes as the
The ef fect of alignment with principle is
It is not just that such people have gotten
What allows the truly successful to be so
automatic consequence of aligning one's
nowhere more striking than in its
too much wealth, too much fame, or too
gracious, open and giving can be
life with high power ener gy patterns. physiological consequences. Alignment
much attention, but that these influences
explained through our formula of
Why is true success so relatively with high ener gy attractor patterns
results distorted their egos and reinforced what
causality:
ef fortless? It might be likened to the
in health; with weak ones, in disease. might be called the small self instead of
magnetic field created by an electricThis syndrome is specific and
the big Self. The small self is the part of
current running through a wire. The
predictable. That high ener gy patterns
us that is vulnerable to flattery; the Self is
higher the power of the current, the
can be proven to strengthen and low
an aspect of our more evolved nature
greater the magnetic field that it ener gy patterns to weaken through a
which is humble and grateful for success. generates. And the magnetic field itself
demonstration meet- (174) ing the scientific
The self aligns with weak attractor
The truly successful identify with the
then influences everything in its criterion of one-hundred-percent
patterns; the Self is aligned with high
A>B>C. They realize that they are a
presence. There are very few at the top. replicability is a fact with which the
power ener gy fields. channel acted through to create success
The world of the mediocre, however, isreader is by now thoroughly familiar. in the outer world. Inasmuch as they
Whether it uplifts or destroys us depends
one of intense competition, and the
The human central nervous system
identify with the source of success, they
not upon success itself, but how it is
bottom of the pyramid is crowded. clearly has an exquisitely sensitive
have no anxiety about losing it. But a
integrated into our personalities. Whether
Charismatic winners are sought out;
capacity to dif ferentiate between life-
person who views his success in the
we are proud or humble, whether we are
losers have to strive to be accepted. supportive and life-destructive patterns. realm of A-B-C will always be insecure
egotistic or grateful, whether we deem
People who are loving, kind and High power attractor ener gy patterns
because its source is "out there." Solid
ourselves better than others because ofthoughtful of others have more friends
which make the body go strong release
confidence comes from the knowledge
our talents or consider them a gift for
than they can count; success in every
brain endorphins and have a tonic ef fect
that the source of success is "in here." By
which we are thankful-these are the
area of life is a reflex to those who are
on all the or gans, whereas adverse
believing that the source of power lies
determining factors. W e all know people
aligned with successful patterns. And the
stimuli, which release adrenaline,
outside oneself, one becomes powerless
for whom even a bit of success is
capacity to be able to discern the
suppress immune response and
and vulnerable and, therefore, defensive
corrupting, who become arrogant,
dif ference between the strong patterns of
instantaneously cause both weakness andand possessive. T rue success originates
of ficious and controlling when given a
success and the weak patterns leading to
enervation of specific or gans, depending
within, independent of external
little authority. And we all know people
failure is now available to each of us. on the nature of the stimulus. circumstances. of much greater authority who are
17. PHYSICAL HEAL TH. AND
It is this clinical phenomenon upon
cordial, sensitive and caring. The ladder of success seems to have
which treatment modalities such as
three main steps. Initially, it is what we
POWER
When we come to know the powerful
chiropractic, acupuncture, reflexology
"have" that counts; status depends upon
men of the world, captains of industry,
WE BECOME HEAL THY as well asand many others are based. All of these
visible signs of material wealth. As one
presidents of banking firms, Nobel Prize
wealthy by being wise. But what is
treatments, however, are designed to
progresses, status is af forded by what one
83
84
correct the results of an ener gy expose yourself to the influence of higher
does not. Eggs from or ganically fed free-or ganized medicine has
traditionally been
imbalance; unless the basic attitude
patterns, they begin to "rub of f;" as it is
run chickens have much more intrinsic
less than kind to innovators. It is helpful
which is causing the ener gy imbalance is
said, "Y ou get it by osmosis." power than eggs from caged and to remember that it is a foible of human
corrected, the illness tends to return. It is generally held by traditional
chemically fed chickens. The health food
nature to stoutly defend an established
People by the millions in self-helpmedicine that stress is the cause of many
movement seems to have been right all
position despite overwhelming evidence
groups have demonstrated that health and
human disorders and illnesses. The
along. against it; the only healthy way to deal
recovery from a whole gamut of human
problem with this diagnosis is that it does
Unfortunately, neither the American with such lack of recognition is
behavioral problems and illnesses comes
not accurately address the source of the
Medical Association nor the National
acceptance. Once we really understand
as a consequence of adopting attitudes
stress. It looks to blame external
Council on Food and Nutrition have a
the human condition, we will feel
correlated with high ener gy attractor
circumstances, without realizing that all
history of being enlightened in the field
compassion where we once might havepatterns. stress is internally generated by one's
of nutrition. The scientific


 Poetic in language, cryptic in n1eaning, pro
found in philosophical in1plications, it is the seedbed of Chinese
thought and culture. It is also the cradle of costnic sexuality in
China. The sixty-third hexagran1, for instance, is a syn1bol for
sexual intercourse, with the fen1ale trigran1 atop the tnale one, or
Yin above Yang. In other words, Yin (wonun) takes precedence. The sixty-third hexagrarn is ernblenutic of Taoism, whose no
tion of fenulc superiority distinguishes it rnarkedly fron1 Confu
cianism with its ideas of fernalc inferiority. (Incidentally, the birury systen1, the counting systen1 used in
cornputers, was inspired by the Yin and Yang sticks of the I Chiug
hexJgrams. The inventor of the birury systern reportedly got the
ideJ frmn a Frt'IKhman who lived in China and was intrigued by
tht' Jncient text.) Chinese cosn1ologists arnplitled the sexual dualisn1 of Yin and Yang ntetaphysically and philosophically. lnnuntl'rable pairs
of opposites-antong thern earth and heaven. shadow and light. softness and hardness. quiescence and activity. absorption and
penetration-carne to syntbo lize these two forces. These Sl'Xual
ratnitications are so pervasive in China. so accepted as natural. in
fact, that they scern to aftcct l'Vcry facl't of Chinese culture. The concept of Yin and Yang ntust have been partly responsi
ble for the secret, luxurious sex lives of this supposed ly inscruta
ble people. To understand their sexuality, however, and to ntake
usc of sonte of their bedroon1 secrets. it is essential first to take a
brief look at what the Chinese have been thinking and doing. ANCIENT AcHIEVEM ENTS
China as a nation has the oldest living and longest-lasting civili
zation. Until only a few centuries ago the Chinese had been de
veloping their own distinctive culture with recurrent flowerings
in science and technology as well as philosophy. The English phi
losopher Francis Bacon once named three inventions-printing,
gunpowder, and the magnet-as having done more than any oth
ers to speed humankind's progress into the modern world. He
termed the origins of these inventions "obscure and inglorious,"
and never learned that all of them were Chinese. And those were
by no means the only Chinese contributions toward human pr og
ress. The compass, block and movable-type printing, paper, por
celain, and lacquerw are are among the many well-documented
Chinese inventions. Since World War II, a new breed of Western Sinologists has
been claiming that for some twenty centuries Chinese culture
was in many respects far more advanced than that of Europe. Joseph Needham of Cambridge University, author of the monu
mental Science and Civilisation in China, has commented: "During
the first fourteen centuries of the Christian era... China trans
mitted to Europe a veritable abundance of discoveries and inven
tions which were often received by the West with no clear idea of
where they had originated." Between the fifth century B. c. and
the fifteenth century A. D., according to Needham, the standard of
living in China was higher than that in Europe. In the preface to The Genius of China, Robert Temple writes: THE SEN SUAL LAND SCAPE
12 "One of the greatest untold secrets of history is that the'modern
world' in which we live is a unique synthesis of Chinese and
Western ingredients. Possibly more than half of the basic inven
tions and discoveries upon which the'modern world' rests come
fron1 China. And yet few people know this." Orthodox Sinologists of the old school, it should be empha
sized, were obsessed with China's Confucianism but oblivious to
what Temple calls "untold secrets." And the Chinese themselves
today have forgotten much of what their ancestors discovered and
developed. Many centuries ago the Chinese built the 1, 700-mile Great
Wall, the only manmade structure visible from the moon, and the
I, 300-n1ile Grand Canal, with its innovative system of locks. According to Needham, Temple, and other Westerners, they were
also the first to make cast iron and steel, and the first to deep-drill
for oil and natural gas. They invented the seismograph, the rocket,
the umbrella, and the parachute (and this fifteen centuries before
Leonardo da Vinci's parachute sketches). It may be hard to believe all this if one looks at China today,
however. Why did China, so advanced in science and technology
during ancient and medieval times, suddenly lose its advantage
when n1odern science began to flourish in the West in the seven
teenth century? Why has it lagged so far behind that today it is in
some senses underdeveloped? There are various answers, but the
nuin ones involve overpopulation, overemphasis on literary and
artistic pursuits, and a disastrous encounter with opium. The ancient Chinese had a keen understanding of biology,
and devised quite a few lasting tricks with livi ng beings. Bonsai,
the art of dwarfing old trees and "aging" young ones, was in
vented in China. The Chi nese developed tiny, brilliant-hued gold
tlsh frorn large, dark-colored carp, and bred and rebred a ferocious
four-hundred-pound war dog into the snull Pekingese, a lapdog
kno wn around tht.· world. Moreover, the Chinese applied their
knowledge of biology to hurnan rnedicine and physiology. Be
cause their ancient practice was based on theories that were alien
to the West, it was largely and consistently ignor ed. Taoist and Zen rneditation, which originated in China, have
been considt.•rt.·d as pure rnysticisrn by nuny Westerners. But West
ern science is beginning to find that such n1editation gt.·nerates
brain wavt. 'S that enable the n1ind to benetlt the body. The Chinese have been using acupunctun.· as a tnedical treatnlt'tlt for tnore than
three thousand yt·ars; only relatively recently has it ht·en discov
ered by Westernl·rs. Tht· tnartial arts practiced in various Asian
countries today all can be traced to ancient Chinese nlotus tt·rics
where Buddhist and Taoist priests devist·d unanned but d eadly
methods of self-defense. In these and other ways, tht· ancil·nt
Chinese-and their dt•scendants-cultivatl·d knowlcdgl· of the
living organistn, of life, and of sexuality. PHILOSO PHY AND RE LIGION
More significant than science and technology in shaping ancient
Chinese culture were philosophy and religion. Here we may enu
nlerate three great n1olding forces: Confucianism, Taoism, and
Buddhisn1. The first two were already in full bloom in the sixth
century B. c., before the tin1e of Socrates, before the spread of
Christianity. Notable among the sages were the humanist Con
fucius, with his doctrine of ethics; the pacifist Mo Tzu, who taught
universal love; the legalist Hanfei Tzu, who inspir ed the earliest
known form of totalitarianism; and the Taoists Lao Tzu and
Chuang Tzu, who advocated individualism and naturalism. Of
these, Confucius and Lao Tzu have left the most lasting imprints
on Chinese civilization. Confucianism is a philosophy of morals and a code of ethics;
it is centered around the complex Chinese family system and ex
tends to the entire nation. According to this doctrine, every indi
vidual in a hierarchy, from the family to the nation, has a specific
authority and duty, and is guided by innate morals in dealing with
others. The highest moral value lies in filial piety. The Confucian
utopia is a world not only at peace but in total harmony (which,
incidentally, may preclude democracy). The self-contained, rigidly structured Confucian universe
thrived on meticulou sly prescribed etiquette, forms of dress and
address, rites and rituals; it even spelled out comportment as spe
cific as a gentleman's walking gait. In essence, Confucianism ad
vocated innate, personal morals in a humanist society steeped in
social consciousness. Conf ucianism limits itself to pragmatic hu
man relations. In its original form, it did not bother with cosmol
ogy or acknowledge the supernatural or metaphysical. THE SENSUAt LAND SCAPE
Counterp oint to worl dly Con fucian ism is otherworldly Tao
isnl, a cur ious trinity of philosophy, religion, and proto-science
inspired by the pursuit of imn1ortality. Taoism speculates boldly
on such profound ideas as


 still b e present interacting with the world. I had
found my teacher. Even though I felt an immed iate sense of relief that I
was no longer alone on my inner journey, some areas of
tension had to be worked ou t. To begin with, the word
God  was not part of my everyday vocabulary. Yogananda
not only  used the word as fre ely as his breath flowed, but
he used  it with a sense of intense devotion that took your
breath away. Yogananda’s passion showed most in the
songs that he wrote:
My hea rt’s afla me and my soul’s afire—Just for
You, You, You, Just You. Interestingly, I could relate to that. Since I had
touched that beauteous place deep inside of me, my
heart w as aflame too. In f act, I had lost interest in
everything else. I only wanted to meditate my way back
beyond myself. I could relate to God as associated with
that place hidden deep inside of me. My study of Zen
taught me that Buddha passe d through absolute stillness
and peace on his way into nirvana. I had heard that
Christ said that the Kingdom is within you,  a nd I was
aware that the Bible talked about a p eace beyond all
understanding. I knew  about such a place i nside of me
where the peace was so de ep that it had completely
transformed my entire life. Another word that I couldn’t relate to at first was
Spirit. I thought this was a Christian word, yet
Yogananda use d it all the time. He spoke of invoking the
Spirit and feeling it pulsate through him. He related
times w hen he  held up his hands and felt the Spirit move
into and out of them. Cou ld he be referring to that
powerful flow of energy I had been experiencing since
my very deep m editation? I often felt that field of energyflow from the point between my eyebrows, down my
arms, and out the center of my palms. Could Spirit be
another word for this inner energy flow, and could that
focal po int between my eyebrows be the location of what
Yogananda kept calling the Third Eye  or Spiritual Eye? More and more I began to re alize that I could personally
relate to Yogananda’s teachings. Autobiography of a Yogi  changed my view about
everything that had been happening to me. Once I
finished reading that book, God was no longer just a
word to me. It  represented where I wanted to go. I had
begun t his journey by wanting to know who I was who
was wa tching the mental voice. I now realized that the
great saints and masters of all the religious traditions
had gone beyond their person al self to find their spiritual
self. Yogananda called it self-realization. Wh at a  perfec t
term for all I was about at that point of my life. I wanted
to realize the nature of the one who watches—my true,
innermost self. Bob Merrill had told me that  he received lessons from
Self-Realization Fellowship,  t he  org anization Yogananda
had fou nded in America. Yogananda had left the body in
1952, but he had been kind enough to leave his teachings
behind in the form of weekly lessons. I had heard of a
mail-order bride but never a mail-order guru. I signed up
for the lessons immediately and integrated them into my
regular practices. I remember that around that time I
decided to read the Bible. I had never read the New
Testament before. I found it very inspiring, and so much
of th e teachings were completely aligned with what I had
been experienc ing in meditation. For example, there was
the notion that you have to die to be reborn. That is
exactly what I had been tryin g to do, die of the personal
to be reborn in  the spiritual. I put pictures of Christ and
Yogananda on the altar where I meditated. Some very
great beings had walked this path before me. I wanted tolearn from them. I was just starting to realize that I
couldn’t walk the path alone—I needed some help.S e c t i o n  I I
The Great Experiment
Begins1 3. T h e  E x p e r i m e n t  o f  a  L i f e t i m e
T hus far my entire path to inner freedom was focused
around my meditations. That was where I went to
become filled with a deep se nse of peace and serenity. And it was working, to a degr ee. I could sit for hours with
a b eautiful flow of energy lifting me upward, but I
couldn’t break through to where I longed to go. Furthermore, the personal mind always returned once I
got up and bec ame active. I n eeded help, and it came one
day in a flash  of realization. It dawned on me that
perhaps I’d been going about this in the wrong way. Instead of trying to free myself by constantly quieting the
mind, p erhaps I should be asking why the mind is so
active. What is the motivation behind all the mental
chatter? If that motivation were to be removed, the
struggle would be over. This realization opened the door for an entirely new
and exciting dimension to m y practices. As I explored it
inwardly, the first thing I no ticed was that most of the
mental activity revolved around my likes and dislikes. If
my mind had a preference toward or against something,
it actively talked about it. I could see that it was these
mental prefer ences that were creating much of the
ongoing dialogue about how to control everything in my
life. In a bold  attempt to free myself from all that, I
decided to just stop listening to all the chatter about my
personal preferences, and instead, start the willful
practice of accepting what th e flow of life was presenting
me. Perhaps this change in focus would quiet things
down inside.I started this new practice with something very simple,
the wea ther. C ould it really b e so hard to just let it rain
when it rains and be sunn y when it’s sunny without
complaining about it? Apparently the mind can’t do it:
Why did it have to rain today? It always rains
when I don’t want it to. It ha d all week to rain;
it’s just not fair. I simply replaced all that meaningless noise with:
Look how beautiful; it’s raining. I found these practices of acceptance very powerful,
and the y definitely served to q uiet the mind. So I decided
to push  the envelope and bro aden the range of events I
would learn to accept. I clearly remember deciding that
from no w on if life was unfolding in a certain way, and
the only reason I was resisting it was because of a
personal preference, I would let go of my preference and
let life be in charge. Clearly, these were uncharted waters for me. Where
would I end up? If my preferences were not leading me,
what would happen to me? Th ese questions did not scare
me; the y fascinated me. I didn’t want to be in charge of
my life; I wanted to be free to soar far beyond myself. I
began to see this as a grea t experiment. What would
happen to me if I just inwardly surrendered my
resistance and let the flow of life be in charge? The rules
of the experiment were very simple: If life brought events
in front  of me, I would treat t hem as if they came to take
me beyond myself. If my personal self complained, I
would use each opportunity  to simply let him go and
surrender to what life was presenting me. This was the
birth of what I  came to call “the surrender experiment,”
and I was totally prepared to see where it would take me. You may think that only a ma dman would make such a
decision. But, in truth, I had already experienced someamazing things that the flow of life had done. I had
witnessed firsthand what happened when I let go and
followed the subtle events that led me to the hills of
Mexico and then to those wonderful experiences with the
Mexican villagers. When I got back to the States, I had
been le d to my beautiful new property, and look what
happened with  the house. I just wanted to build a simple
hut, and that turned into an unexpectedly rich
experience. It was clear to me that I had not done these
things— they had happened to me. I n fact,  if I had not let
go o f my initial mental resis tance, none of them could
have happene d. I had gone through most of my life
thinking I knew what was g ood for me, but life itself
seemed to know better. I w as now going to test that
presumption of nonrandomness to the max. I was willing
to roll the dice and let the flow of life be in charge.1 4. L i f e  T a k e s  C h a r g e
S urrendering to  the flow of life may have seemed like a
bold move, but the truth is, I wasn


. On one occasion, my attention relaxed sufficiently that I became aware
not only of the music but of the fact that I was listening to the music. In other words,  I became aware that I was aware. There was nothing extraordinary about this. On the contrary, the fact of
simply being aware, or awareness itself, was clearly the most familiar and inti -
mate aspect of my experience. However, I had previously overlooked it, so
exclusively focused was I on my experience – on this occasion, the content of
the music. In time, my attention was again drawn to the music, but I noticed that
at certain points during the recital it spontaneously disengaged from it and
returned effortlessly to the fact of being aware. It even felt at times as if my
attention were being pulled backwards, away from its content, towards the
fact of simply being aware, or awareness itself. After some time, I noticed that I had the ability to travel backwards and
forwards with my attention, between the music in the foreground and the
presence of awareness in the background. I began to explore this new faculty, and at some point it became clear that
in between the background of being aware and the foreground of the music
there was an intermediary layer of experience, a middle ground, so to speak,
of thoughts, feelings and sensations of the body. There were now three elements of my experience: one, the external world
(consisting of the concert hall, the audience and the music); two, my mind
16know thyself
and body (comprising the internal world of thoughts, feelings and sensations);
and three, in the background, the fact of being aware or awareness itself. It was as if I had taken a step back from my mind and body, with which
I normally identified myself. They were now part of the foreground of my
experience and I was standing as the presence of awareness behind them,
watching them just as I was watching the performance. As my attention travelled back and forth between these three realms,
it occurred to me that the person I normally considered myself to be – my
mind and body – was itself part of the objective content of experience that
I was aware of, along with the auditorium, the audience and the music. In particular, I noticed that my thoughts and feelings were a layer of
experience that not only was added to my experience of the world, like subtitles
superimposed upon a movie, but also through which I interpreted the world. Some time later I would also notice that my experience of the world was
itself filtered through my sense perceptions, which impose their own limita -
tions on whatever is perceived. This would, in turn, give rise to the question
as to what the world is in itself, beyond these limitations. But for now, this
challenge to my customary sense of myself was enough. a shift in identity

At some point a question spontaneously arose in my mind: Who am I really? Am I the thoughts, feelings and sensations that I am aware of, or am I the
one that is aware of them? I was familiar with the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi’s use of such ques -
tions, a method known as ‘self-enquiry’, but had found it rather heady and
abstract. No doubt the question that emerged at this stage was prompted by
my previous interest in these matters, but nevertheless it arose in me this time
as if for the first time and was profoundly connected to my experience. This questioning was not just a mental exercise. Nor was it a method
I was practising in order to bring about a certain result. It seemed to be taking
place spontaneously, although I was cooperating with it. It became obvious that whatever it is that knows our thoughts and images
is not itself a thought or image. What is that? Whatever it is that is aware of our feelings and sensations is not itself
a feeling or sensation. What is that? 17you are the happiness you seek
     Whatever it is that perceives the world is not itself a sight, sound, taste,
texture or smell. What is that? It is simply that which knows or is aware. It is our self. It is awareness or
consciousness itself. *

Until this recognition I had considered myself to be a person, a body-mind,
an amalgam of thoughts, feelings and sensations. It seemed to be myself
as this person  who was aware of the world. As such, I considered awareness
an attribute  of the body-mind, a faculty that I as a person possessed. I now realised that the person I previously imagined myself to be was
something that I was aware of, along with my experience of the world. I recognised that I was essentially that which knows  or is aware of  the
entire content of experience, including the thoughts, images, memories,
feelings and sensations that constitute the mind and body. I realised that it is not myself as a person  who is aware of the world, but
rather myself as  awareness  that is aware of the person and the world. The transition from the belief that we are a person with the faculty of
awareness to the understanding that we are awareness itself may seem like
a small step, but it has enormous implications for any individual and for the
evolution of humanity as a whole. Indeed, I would suggest that it is the
next evolutionary step, and that upon which the survival of humanity, as we
know it, depends. The understanding ‘I am awareness’ is the first great understanding. This is not an extraordinary recognition or something that is difficult to
access. In fact, it is enshrined in common parlance. We say, ‘ I know  my
thoughts and images’, ‘ I am aware  of feelings and sensations’ and ‘ I perceive
the world’. In each of these statements, we recognise ourself as the knowing, aware
or perceiving  element, and thoughts, images, feelings, sensations and percep -
tions as objects  that we know, are aware of or perceive. In other words, we are not essentially our thoughts, images, memories
or stories about our life; we are that which knows them. We are not essentially
our feelings or sensations; we are that which is aware of them. We are not the
18* The terms ‘awareness’ and ‘consciousness’ are used synonymously throughout this book. know thyself
sights, sounds, tastes, textures and smells that constitute our experience of
the world; we are that which perceives them. We are nothing that is experienced; we are that which experiences. We are not essentially anything that we are aware of; we are simply the
fact of knowing, being aware or awareness itself. letting go

I understand that I’m not my body or mind, but who would I be if I were to let
go of everyone and everything with which I associate and identify myself? You would be the same inherently peaceful and unconditionally fulfilled self
that you are now, although you do not currently recognise your self as such
because of your entanglement in, or identification with, the content of ex -
perience. The only difference is that what you now consider a distant possi -
bility would become your lived and felt experience. Every night you willingly and effortlessly let go of everyone and everything
with whom you associate or identify and fall deeply asleep. In the experience
of deep sleep you are all alone. Everything that is not essential to you has been
removed and, as a result, you experience the peace of your true nature. If letting go of everyone and everything were a traumatic or frightening
experience, we would dread falling asleep at night. But we look forward
to it! Why? Because it gives us access to the peace of our true nature,
which is veiled by the activities of thinking, feeling, acting and relating
during the day. In fact, when we fall asleep we do not enter a new state. We are always
essentially the presence of awareness. However, during the waking and
dreaming states, we forget or overlook this or, more accurately, it is obscured
by thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions. In these two states aware -
ness is so thoroughly mixed with the content of experience that it is not rec -
ognised as such. It is veiled by experience. Likewise, when we emerge from deep sleep into the dreaming and waking
states, the presence of the awareness that we essentially are does not change
or disappear. It is simply veiled by experience. Our essential self of pure
awareness does not need to be liberated. It is already and inherently free of
the content of experience. 19
     So it is not necessary to let go of anyone or anything. All that is required
is to recognise our essential nature of pure awareness that lies behind all
experience and shines in the midst of all experience. Nor will you lose your ability to think, feel, act, perceive and relate. On the contrary, these activities will be greatly enhanced by this new under -
standing of your self, for the one on whose behalf they arise, and in whose
service they are undertaken, will be clearly known. 20you are the happiness you seek
20chapter three
Are You My Sel f? Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you,
or home is nowhere at all. herman hesse

If the presence of awareness is the primary fact of experience, why are most of us
not in touch with it? It is simply because we become lost in or identified with the content of our
experience. If someone were to ask us to look around the room in which we
are currently sitting and describe what we are experiencing, most of us would
refer to chairs, books, papers